Cubs Minor League News: Alcantara and Davis homer, Santos impressive, Suriel raking, more |
On what was the last day of competition for two of the Cubs Minor League teams, the organization ended their week on a high by going 3-1 for the day. That includes the Tennessee Smokies sweeping another series, as they will now get into playoff mode with one final series before the postseason begins.
As expected, the lone loss in the Cubs system came in AAA, where the Saints continue to give the Cubs fits. Despite what the scoreboard says, this was a close game most of the day until the Saints scored seven runs in their final three innings, including back-to-back three-run frames to break things open. Riley Thompson was about as good as you can be in his six innings on the mound, as he allowed three runs (2ER) with eight punchouts. Thompson has had a rough season but has been looking much better lately. Thompson went pitch for pitch with Travis Adams, who allowed two runs in his six innings, but a horrendous outing from Daniel Missaki was the difference. It took three innings for either team to score, with Kevin Alcantara opening up the scoring with a two-run shot to give the Cubs a 2-0 lead. Kevin Alcantara's fourth Triple-A bomb gives us the early leadđź’Ł pic.twitter.com/Dmf3vWSdS4 It was a short-lived lead, with Payton Eeles and Chris Williams picking up a pair of RBI singles in the third and fourth innings to tie things up before Saint Paul took the lead on the Jefferson Morales double in the sixth. With the game still up for grabs in the seventh, Brennen Davis took it upon himself to keep it that way as his solo blast in the top of the seventh brought things back to even. BRENNEN DAVIS INTO THE TREES! This 445-foot blast, tied for fourth longest by an I-Cub this season, ties it at three in the seventh đź’Ł pic.twitter.com/DlZTI30986 That was the Cubs' final run in the game, as the Saints responded with consecutive three-run frames to pull away 9-3. Three of those runs came on the Carson McCusker homer in the seventh, with Diego Castillo driving home the rest of the runs on a weird single in the ninth to give the Saints another win. Iowa had seven hits in the win, coming from seven different players. Final home series of the year starts Tuesday! pic.twitter.com/BbFxEP9dea
Tennessee better get comfortable with Birmingham over the next two weeks as they not only finish the regular season against the Barons, but also will be hosting them in the playoffs. Before we can get to those games, the Smokies had one order of business to take care of as they closed out the sweep of the Braves 10-3. This was a highly competitive game until late when the Smokies scored six runs off the Braves pen, including four runs in the eighth to blow things open. Antonio Santos has been solid for the Smokies all season, but there were some concerns after several rough outings the past month. For now, Santos put those concerns to rest as he gave the Smokies five shutout innings with six strikeouts to pick up the win. Jonathon Long was the offense in the early going. He picked up a sacrifice fly in both the first and third innings to put the Smokies in front 2-0, and they never looked back. Long then came back with a two-run single in the top of the fifth to push their lead to 4-0, as that hit was the game-winning hit. Long is hitting .343 since his promotion to AA and is coming off a Southern League Player of the Month. It took six innings for the Braves to get on the scoreboard, with Brandon Workinger picking up an RBI triple to keep things close 4-1. One inning later, Pablo Aliendo put the game out of reach as his two-run blast pushed the Smokies lead to 6-1. Then came the eighth with a pair of wild pitches leading to two runs, while the Cole Roederer single capped off the runs for the Smokies offense, 10-1. Mississippi did grab two runs late on the Cody Milligan triple in the bottom of the eight, but it wasn't near enough as the Smokies dominated the Braves all week. With two hits and four RBIs, Long led the offense as he single-handedly outscored the Braves in the win. Roederer added two hits and two RBIs, as they were the bulk of the offense. The Smokies sweep the Braves in the final road series of the regular season! | @zips3mincarwash
The 2024 season was rough for the Cubs, which is the main reason they were the worst team in the organization. Despite that, this team showed a lot of growth and improvement down the stretch, and they capped off their season by winning 3-1 over the Tin Caps. Erian Rodriguez will be one of the young arms to watch next season, as he had an excellent campaign. In his final start of the year, Rodriguez went four innings and scattered just one hit as he set the tone from the first inning on. Rodriguez was backed by a third-inning Cam Smith double to put the Cubs in front 1-0, as some are starting to wonder if Smith will get the bump to AA for their playoff run. That run was the only run of the game until the seventh, as Isaiah Lowe was excellent through four innings. Still holding their 1-0 lead in the seventh, Cristian Hernandez came through with one of his biggest hits since joining South Bend as his two-run single put the Cubs in front 3-0 and was the difference. Addison Kopack cut the Cubs deficit to 3-1 with his single in the bottom of the seventh, but that was the only run of the day for the Tin Caps as the Cubs won by that score. South Bend had eight hits in the win, with Ed Howard being the only player without a hit. Cubs win the season finale in Fort Wayne‼️ pic.twitter.com/VFONjxNcMS
Like the South Bend Cubs, the Pelicans' 2024 season has been a struggle, but they did manage to turn things around in the second half and went 33-30 to finish in second place. That included their two-hit shutout to end the season with an 8-0 win. Kenten Egbert has been one of the Pelicans' lone bright spots. He capped off a 7-2 season with a strong start. Egbert allowed no runs on two hits while striking out six to finish the season with a 3.04 ERA. Egbert was immediately backed by a first-inning Alfonsin Rosario sacrifice fly before he got right back to it with a single in the third to make things 2-0. It was the only offense the Birds would need, but on this day, their offense was flying high. A Drew Bowser fourth-inning single igniting a four-run fourth inning opened up a 6-0 lead. Anderson Suriel followed that single with a double, while a costly throwing error led to the final two runs scoring in that inning. Once the fifth inning rolled around, it was time for the Pelicans to deliver the exclamation point by playing long ball as Cameron Sisneros went deep in the fifth to make this a 7-0 game, with Suriel capping off the scoring with his solo blast in the seventh. Cameron Sisneros with his third home run of the season! Anderson Suriel goes deep! Rosario and Suriel were the engines in this one, as they both had three hits and two RBIs in the win. FINISHED. STRONG. From Myrtle, with love.SAINT PAUL SAINTS 9 - IOWA CUBS 3
TENNESSEE SMOKIES 10 - MISSISSIPPI BRAVES 3
Box Score: https://t.co/Kt1cdIds7n pic.twitter.com/lMDAuVABKNSOUTH BEND CUBS 3 - FORT WAYNE TIN CAPS 1
MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 8 - FAYETTEVILLE WOODPECKERS 0
Birds up 7-0 in the sixth.#MBPelicans | #YouHaveToSeeIt pic.twitter.com/jmROFSMxHY
His third hit of the day makes it 8-0 Pelicans!#MBPelicans | #YouHaveToSeeIt pic.twitter.com/k8sPHZIBVp
Pelicans shut out the Woodpeckers in the final game of the season!#MBPelicans | #YouHaveToSeeIt pic.twitter.com/IhVfedfbKu
Thank you for a great 2024 season! pic.twitter.com/Lx4yCDCH0B
