Cubs Minor League News: Ballesteros and Brujan raking, Brethowr homers, Paciolla clutch
Photo courtesy: Iowa Cubs

Cubs Minor League News: Ballesteros and Brujan raking, Brethowr homers, Paciolla clutch
Dustin Riese Dustin Riese - Senior Writer - 3 hours ago

Friday started what is going to be a busy weekend for the Cubs and their Minor League system. As long as the weather holds up this weekend, which it looks like it will, the Cubs will have several make-up games along with their regular games, giving them even more baseball action to talk about.

You started to see that on Friday as Knoxville played a doubleheader, giving the fans five games to keep track of instead of four. With the Cubs on the West Coast through next week, some fans may check in on some of these games to pass the time, and with a 2-3 record yesterday, there was plenty of action to go around.

TOLEDO MUD HENS 7 - IOWA CUBS 3

On paper, you could make the case that the Iowa Cubs have the most talented roster in AAA, at least from an offensive side. However, their offense will only take them so far, as it will still fall on the pitching to get them back to the playoffs for the first time since 2019.

Starting Trevor Richards wasn't necessarily in the Cubs as Friday was more of a bullpen game for the Cubs, and it backfired. Richards only lasted 1 2/3 and was charged with three earned runs, all coming on the bases-loaded triple from Jack Dunn to put Toledo in front 3-0 in the second. The Mud Hens never looked back as the Cubs pulled within 3-1 in the third, only to have Riley Unroe deliver a two-run single in the fourth to make this a 5-1 game.

That score would hold until the seventh when the Cubs had to manufacture a pair of runs as the Kevin Alcantara sacrifice fly and Greg Allen grounder made this a game again with the Cubs down 5-3.

That is as close as Iowa would get as Toledo delivered the knockout blow in the eighth on the Jace Jung homer to pick up the 7-3 win. Iowa did have 12 hits in the loss as Vidal Brujan and Moises Ballesteros led the way with three.

KNOXVILLE SMOKIES 4 - ROCKET CITY TRASH PANDAS 0

Anytime you play a double-header, your goal should be to, at the very worst, earn a split. They did their part and more by taking game one from Rocket City, using a five-hit shutout to get the job done 4-0. Will Sanders set the tone in this one, going 4 2/3 shutout innings, walking two, and striking out seven en route to a tough no-decision?

No decision or not, Sanders was a big reason why the Trash Pandas' offense was held in check. It was their offense that broke through for three runs in the second, ultimately putting an end to the game. The long ball accounted for three of the Smokies' four runs, with Jaylen Palmer and Felix Stevens picking up a pair of solo shots in the second and Ed Howard adding a double.

Palmer was just getting started as he went on to belt his second homer of the game in the fifth to close out the scoring as Knoxville got the job done 4-0. Palmer was the lone Smokie with more than one hit as every one, but Brett Bateman had a hit in the game.

ROCKET CITY TRASH PANDAS 7 - KNOXVILLE SMOKIES 6

In what was more of a back-and-forth game, the Smokies came very close to earning a double-header sweep only to come up short in the end. Based on how things started, you would've never guessed that as the Smokies erupted for five runs in the second to back Nick Hull and opened up a quick 5-0 lead.

Parker Chavers got the scoring binge started in the second, reaching base on an RBI fielder's choice while an error allowed for an additional run to score. After a wild pitch made this a 3-0 game, Pedro Ramirez capped off the massive inning with a two-run single, as it was all Smokies up to this point.

Not only did the Smokies offense go quiet the rest of the way, but this was the beginning of the end for Hull, who allowed a Josh Crouch solo shot in the second before the Trash Pandas found a way to score four times in the third to tie things up 5-5. Crouch played a role by picking up the game-tying single, but the Denzer Guzman three-run shot put the Trash Pandas within striking distance before they tied it up later.

With things still deadlocked 5-5 in the fifth, the Trash Pandas grabbed the lead for good as Christian Moore connected for a two-RBI double off of Tyler Santana, and suddenly, this was a 7-5 game. Knoxville did manage to battle back on a Stevens RBI single in the sixth, but that was it, as Knoxville earned the double-header split.

SOUTH BEND CUBS 4 - PEORIA CHIEFS 3

Apparently, all the Cubs needed to get back to winning games was some home cooking as they have taken the first three games of this series to improve to 3-3. Those games have also sent the Chiefs to 0-6 on the young season, as it has been a rough go early on.

This was one of those strange games where all seven runs came in two innings, with each team having a big inning. The first of those came in the second, when the Chiefs not only took the lead but scored all three of their runs as Chase Adkinson touched up Nick Dean for his first homer of the season, making this a 3-0 game.

Apart from that, Dean was as good as advertised as the right-hander finished off his start with three runs (2ER) and six strikeouts across four innings. Those three runs were looking to be enough in the early stages as Juan Salas silenced the Cubs through three before running into trouble in the fourth.

All it took to flip the game around was an Ivan Brethowr solo shot as the Cubs were finally on the board. That ignited a four-run fourth inning as the Reggie Preciado single pulled the Cubs within 3-2 before tying things up on the Carter Trice double. Reivaj Garcia capped off the four-run frame and closed out the scoring as his RBI single not only put the Cubs in front 4-3, but was the game's final run for either team.

South Bend had eight hits in the win, with Cristian Hernandez and Drew Bowser collecting two. Johzan Oquendo continued his strong start out of the pen, tossing two scoreless frames and striking out four.

CAROLINA MUDCATS 10 - MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 9 (F/12)

By far the most entertaining game of the night, it was the Pelicans falling to the Mudcats in extras on a back-and-forth affair. This was one of those games where the pitching was non-existent, and that was evident from the eight runs scored in the first inning when both offenses came to play.

Five of those came from Carolina as the Marco Dinges double opened the scoring, while a pair of RBI singles from Luis Pena and Demetrio Nadal made this an early 3-0 lead. Following a double steal to extend the lead to 4-0, the Luiyin Alastre triple closed out the frame with the Mudcats in front 5-0 in the first.

Not to be outdone, the Pelicans responded with a big first inning of their own, as their offense is starting to round into shape. Unlike Carolina, where they had countless players coming through, all of the Pelicans' runs came on one hit, with Owen Ayers collecting a bases-loaded double to make this a 5-3 game. Throw in the Matt Halbach double in the second to make this a 5-5 game, and this had the making of being one of those high-scoring affairs.

That was until both offenses went quiet for six innings as the relief pitching took over and held the offenses in check. Evan Aschenbeck was the main reason on the Pelicans side, as the left-hander went five scoreless frames, allowing two hits and striking out six.

In the eighth, the offenses got rolling again and started to hit the ball like they did in the first.

Jesus Made got all that started with a massive three-run shot as the Mudcats were back in front 8-5. The Pelicans responded with two runs of their own in the bottom of the inning as the Cole Mathis double made this an 8-6 game ahead of the Halbach single to pull the Birds within 8-7. Myrtle Beach continued their comeback bid in the bottom of the ninth, using the Christopher Paciolla single to tie things up and forced extras.

Paciolla was just getting started as he added an RBI double in the bottom of the 11th to answer the Josh Adamczewski double to keep things tied 9-9.

Carolina would get the last laugh as Blayberg Diaz came through with an RBI fielder's choice in the top half of the 12th, which proved to be the winning run in the Mudcats' 10-9 win. Paciolla paced the Pelicans offense with four hits, but it was the Halbach and Ayers show as they combined for six RBIs in the loss.

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Cubs Minor League News: Ballesteros and Brujan raking, Brethowr homers, Paciolla clutch
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