Cubs Minor League News |
Tuesdays are always one of the busier days on the Minor League circuit as they mark the beginning of a full slate of games. Unlike most Tuesday's where all seven Cubs affiliated teams were in action, only six teams on the diamond as the ACL Cubs enjoyed the day off. Regardless, the Cubs couldn't have asked for a much better day as they posted a 4-2 record for the night, which is all you can ask for as an organization.
INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS 4 - IOWA CUBS 2: One of the two losses came in AAA, where the Indians doubled up the Cubs 4-2. Thomas Pannone was the losing pitcher, allowing three runs in four innings. He turned things over to Sam McWilliams, who allowed the other to run with Zac Leigh and Frank Scalzo Jr., who also saw time on the mound. This was the AAA debut for Scalzo, who continues to dominate on the mound and has yet to allow an earned run. Domingo German picked up the win for the Indians, going six innings and allowing just two runs. The Pirates fell in love with those types of outings when they called him up. Backed by a second-inning homer from Matt Gorski, the Indians were jumping in front 1-0 before doubling their lead on the Alika Williams single in the third. Both Cubs runs came in the fifth off the bat of Hayden Cantrelle, as his first triple of the season made things 2-2. It didn't take the Indians long to respond, with Canaan Smith-Njigba pushing home the winning run with a sacrifice fly in the fifth before tacking on another run on the Andres Alvarez double in the sixth. Speaking of AAA debuts, Moises Ballesteros also made his AAA debut and did so by picking up two hits to lead the team. TENNESSEE SMOKIES 6 - MISSISSIPPI BRAVES 0: In what was one of their more dominant performances of the season, the Smokies kept their first-half playoff hopes alive by tossing a three-hitter in a 6-0 win over the Braves. Connor Noland was impressive, going seven innings and scattering just three hits despite recording no strikeouts. He was helped out by a pair of homers, with Matt Shaw picking up the first of those homers in the first and Haydn McGeary adding one in the second to put the Smokies up 2-0. Those would be the only runs the Smokies would need, but their offense would continue. McGeary added an RBI single to his name in the bottom half of the third, along with a Yohendrick Pinango double, as the Smoikes doubled their lead to 4-0. Pinango added to his game with a solo shot in the fifth, with Shaw capping off the scoring with a sacrifice fly in the sixth in the Smokies' 6-0 win. The three guys mentioned were not only responsible for all six runs, but all of them had two hits as did Josh Rivera in the win. LAKE COUNTY CAPTAINS 8 - SOUTH BEND CUBS 4: The worst showing on the night came in High-A, where the Cubs were doubled up by the Captains 8-4. Will Sanders wasn't at his best on the mound, as he allowed five runs in three innings, but you will have those outings from a young starter. He was opposed by Parker Messick who struck out five in six innings, allowing three runs, but also 11 hits. Tied 0-0 entering the second, it was Lake County grabbing the lead as Jorge Burgos opened the scoring with a double before trotting home on the Angel Genao single. South Bend managed to get one of those runs back in the bottom of the second on the Brett Bateman single to pull within 2-1, but that was as close as they would get. Lake County broke the game wide open in the third with a three-run to push their lead to 5-1. Guy Lipscomb and Maick Collado had RBI singles in that inning, and Jose Devers mixed in an RBI double. The Captains lead grew to 7-1 in the fourth off the Alex Mooney homer in the fourth before they closed out their scoring with a Cooper Ingle double in the sixth to push the lead to 8-1. From that point on, it was all Cubs as they did their best to battle back and keep things close. Brian Kalmer started that comeback bid with a two-run shot in the bottom of the sixth, with Jefferson Rojas adding one in the seventh to pull within 8-4. Those would be the game's final runs for either side as the Cubs fell 8-4. Ed Howard had an excellent game from the No. 9 spot, leading the Cubs with three hits. Bateman, Rojas, and Reivaj Garcia also had solid days with two hits. MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 5 - KANNAPOLIS CANNONBALLERS 4: It didn't come easy, but the Pelicans managed to take down one of the best teams in the Carolina League on Tuesday 5-4. They did it in comeback fashion as they scored three times in the ninth to cap off their victory. It only took two arms for the Pelicans to get the job done, with Kenten Egbert getting the start and going five innings. He allowed two runs on three hits, striking out five as his ERA sits at 2.29 for the season. He turned things over to Angel Hernandez, who finished the game with four strong innings of one-run ball and lowered his ERA to 1.86. Their efforts alone weren't looking good early as Jake Bockenstedt shoved for five innings, allowing just one run and striking out six. The Pelicans didn't help themselves much early as a first-inning error allowed two runs to score and put the Birds in an early 2-0 hole. It took the Pelicans four innings to crack Bockenstedt, with Alfonsin Rosario connecting for a solo shot in that inning only to have Mikey Kane answer with one of his own to the deficit at two. Home runs continued to play a role for the Pelicans in the sixth, with Jacob Wetzel adding his second homer in as many games to pull within 3-2, but once again, the Cannonballers had an answer as the Rikuu Nishida triple pushed their lead back up to 4-2 and was the final run of the night for Kannapolis. Still trailing by two in the ninth, the Pelicans needed offense in a hurry, and with Drew Bowser going deep to make things 4-3, you could see the momentum shifting. His homer was followed by a Reggie Preciado single later in the inning, which tied things up before a wild pitch aided in the go-ahead and eventual winning run to score in the Pelicans comeback 5-4 win. Preciado, Bowser, Carter Trice, and Alexis Hernandez all had multi-hit games in the win. DSL CUBS BLUE 11 - DSL WHITE SOX 4: Despite the Cubs struggling to win games recently, they are a much better team than they were a season ago, as they delivered plenty of offense in the 11-4 win over the Sox. Although the pitching could've been slightly better, any time you get 11 support runs, you don't need the pitching to show up. It didn't take the Cubs offense long to get rolling as they pushed across three runs in the first to open up a 3-0 lead. Derik Alcantara opened the scoring with an RBI single before two more came in to score on the Josias Ramirez single. Following an Albert Alberto single in the second and Eduardo Herrera triple in the third, things were back to even, only to have the Cubs answer with two more runs in the fourth to take the lead for good, 5-3. Ludwing Espinoza put the Cubs in front for good with his RBI triple, but another Alcantara single will go down as the winning hit. Leading 5-4 in the fifth, the Cubs continued their relentless approach as they tacked on three more runs to extend their lead to 8-3. Sandy Sanchez opened the scoring with a single before coming home on the Darlyn De Leon single. There was also an error in that inning, leading to the third run. Two innings later, same story as the Cubs offense was in kill mode. Another De Leon single made things 9-3 with an RBI groundout and balk, leading to the final runs in the Cubs 11-4 win. Ramirez, De Leon, and Alcantara led the way with two RBIs, with Alcantara also adding three hits. DSL CUBS RED 10 - DSL REDS 9: Despite allowing six early runs, it was the Cubs coming back late as they scored five runs in their final at-bats to seal the victory. After taking a 1-0 lead on the Cesar Lugo first-inning single, the Cubs found themselves in a massive hole as the Reds pushed across six runs in the second. A pair of bases-loaded walks aided in two of those runs, with a pair of RBI singles from Ichiro Cano and Jaset Martinez leading to the remaining four. Down but not out, the Cubs used that to their advantage and pushed across three more runs in the second to pull within 6-4. An error mixed with a steal of home led to two of those runs while Andrws Cruz added an RBI single. Another single from Edgardo De Leon in the third pulled the Cubs within 6-5 before they soared in front in the bottom of the fifth off singles from Cruz and Daniel Campos mixed with an RBI double off the bat of Jesus Meneses to take a 9-6 lead. That lead didn't last long as the Reds tied it up with one swing in the sixth as Cano connected for his first homer of the summer to make things 9-9. Not to be discouraged, the Cubs benefitted from a late-game error as that error pushed across the winning run. Cruz, De Leon, and Meneses all had two RBIs in the win, with Lubo leading the offense with three hits.
