Cubs Minor League News: Canario homers, Kilian impressive, Nwogu and Morel raking, more |
Saturday was an overall great day for the Cubs, as they posted a 3-2 record on the diamond. That game, with one game getting suspended and two losses coming by a combined two runs, the Cubs were very close to going a perfect 5-0 on the day.
Saturday was one of the rare instances where neither team scored a ton of runs. That isn't the norm for AAA, and it was a painful loss for Brandon Birdsell, who was making his second career AAA start. Despite his command being shaky at times, Birdsell still held Memphis to two runs in six innings, which is usually good enough for him to win. This wasn't one of those days, as Ian Bedell had himself a day, going 7 2/3 and allowing just one run to go with five strikeouts. That run came in the first inning off an Alexander Canario Homer (17) as the Cubs opened up a 1-0 lead. Alexander Canario keeps on CRUSHING 👊 Their lead was short-lived, unfortunately, as the Redbirds tied things up on a Jose Fermin RBI double in the second before taking the lead for good in the third on the Tommy Saggese single. Those were the only runs of the game for either side as the Cubs offense couldn't get anything going in their 2-1 loss. Iowa was held to six hits in the game, with Chase Strumpf and Moises Ballesteros posting two each. Along with Birdsell, Caleb Kilian continues to look like a different pitcher out of the pen as he tossed two more scoreless frames of relief. Tonight's final pic.twitter.com/bS06K92LFc
With first place on the line this weekend, this was expected to be the most anticipated series in the Cubs system this week. It lived up to the expectations on Friday and started to live up to expectations on Sunday until Mother Nature suspended the game until Sunday. Before the suspension, you had Matt Thompson battling through two innings, allowing one run in the process, which came in the second inning off a Nelson Rada sacrifice fly. That tied things up as Matt Shaw delivered an RBI single in the first inning to give the Smokies the lead, and it was his fourth RBI of this series. That is where things will pick up on Sunday when this game is resumed. Tonight's game has been postponed due to weather conditions. The 9 inning game will resume tomorrow at 1:00pm, followed by a 7 inning contest. pic.twitter.com/O71c4lT8gl
The Cubs organization came close to winning all six of their games on Saturday, but with Mother Nature ending one early and a pair of one-score losses, the Cubs only managed to win three of those games. This is the one that hurts the most, as South Bend gave up a late lead to the River Bandits before falling 8-7 in extras. Making his High-A debut was Jaxson Wiggins, who, although he wasn't perfect, showed a ton of promise. Wiggins gave the Cubs four innings of three-run ball, walking one and striking out four as he continues to impress on the mound. Chicago Cubs number-19 prospect Jaxon Wiggins made his #SBCubs debut tonight, striking out four batters in four innings of work! In three of the four frames, he sent down the side 1-2-3 💪 pic.twitter.com/0vflT0TH9I He gave way to Ben Leeper, who struck out the side in the fifth, and Nick Hull, who tossed two scoreless innings before the back end of the pen was roughed up. Wiggins was backed by some early offense, with Brian Kalmer putting the Cubs on top 1-0 with a second-inning sacrifice fly. It was in the third when all of the damage Wiggins allowed happened as Quad Cities responded for a three-run third inning. Jack Pineda and Jared Dickey picked up two runs with a pair of RBI singles, while a wild pitch led to the third run. Not to be outdone, the Cubs offense got back to work in the fourth and continued to hammer Henry Williams, who has struggled against this team all season. With Kalmer picking up his second RBI to pull the Cubs within 3-2, the Jordan Nwogu triple put South Bend back in front, and the Cubs led 4-3. Nwogu wasn't done having a great game, as he added an RBI single in the sixth to extend the Cubs' lead to 5-3, which they held until the ninth inning. That was when things began to come unglued for the Cubs as they were unable to stop the River Bandits late. Having Spencer Nivens deliver an RBI triple to make things 5-4 certainly didn't help, as he came in to score on a sacrifice fly to tie things up and send this game into extras. In the extra frame, the River Bandits offense continued to go to work as they took the lead for good on a sacrifice fly while RBI singles from Nivens and Carson Roccaforte extended their lead to 8-5. Down to their final three outs, South Bend wouldn't go down without a fight, and they continued to battle back. With Reivaj Garcia picking up a single to make things 8-6, it was Wally Soto keeping the line moving as his RBI single pulled the Cubs within 8-7. That was as close as they would get as the River Bandits held on for an 8-7 win. Final Score: The Cubs had plenty of offensive firepower in this one, with Garcia, Rafael Morel, and Nwogu picking up two hits. Nwogu also led the way with three RBIs, with Kalmer chipping in two.
After having to wait an extra 24 hours to start their second half, the Pelicans kicked things off with a bang as strong pitching and a pair of big innings pushed them to a 5-1 win. Juan Bello set the tone with four innings of one-run, four-strikeout balls before yielding to Tyler Schlaffer and the rest of the pen. The Pelicans needed strong pitching across the board, and Josh Hansell was equally as good, although the final line may not indicate it. With things tied 0-0 entering the third, Jacob Wetzel opened the scoring with an RBI single as the Pelicans never trailed. His single was followed by an error, leading to a second run, with Alfonsin Rosario tacking on another single to extend their lead to 3-0. That would be all the offense they would need, as their pitching was locked in from start to finish. Columbia's only run of the game came in the fourth off a wild pitch to pull within 3-1, which was the score until the fifth when Rosario laced a two-run double to cap off the 5-1 win. Rosario paced the offense with two hits and drove in three runs in the win. Saturday sweep for the Pelicans!
In nearly a carbon copy of game one, the Pelicans again used a pair of big innings to back strong pitching and picked up a doubleheader sweep. This time, it was Luis Rujano getting the start and allowing just one unearned run in 3 2/3. He gave way to Yenrri Rojas, who finished things off and gave up an unearned run. Just like in the first game, where neither team scored right away, the Pelicans' offense got rolling first, striking for three runs off Jonatan Bernal in the second. Reggie Preciado and Cristian Hernandez plated two of those runs off a pair of RBI singles, while a Wetzel sacrifice fly was mixed in to put Myrtle Beach on top for good, 3-0. They held that lead until the fourth when Columbia got on the board with a sacrifice fly, only to have Rosario leave the yard in the fifth to make things 4-1. Another sacrifice fly from Columbia kept things close, with the Birds leading 4-2 in the fifth, but the bases-clearing double from Wetzel in the sixth broke the game wide open and capped off the scoring with the Pelicans picking up the 7-2 win. Wetzel led the offense with two hits and four RBIs, and nearly everyone in the Pelicans' lineup had one hit. Christian Olivo also had two hits in the win.
Behind five strong innings from Connor Schultz, who allowed two runs and struck out four, it was the Cubs who delivered an impressive win as they doubled up the Royals 8-4. Look no further than a pair of three-run innings as the difference in this one, with Angel Cepeda and Eriandys Ramon picking up two RBIs each in the win. MEMPHIS REDBIRDS 2 - IOWA CUBS 1
His 17th big fly of the year goes 408 feet! pic.twitter.com/aWIt2IemvO
TENNESSEE SMOKIES 1 vs ROCKET CITY TRASH PANDAS 1 (SUSPENDED in the second)
QUAD CITIES RIVER BANDITS 8 - SOUTH BEND CUBS 7 (F/10)
River Bandits - 8
Cubs - 7 pic.twitter.com/T4jNhWaQrmMYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 5 - COLUMBIA FIREFLIES 1 (Makeup from 7/19)
We close out the series tomorrow at 5:05.#MBPelicans | #YouHaveToSeeIt pic.twitter.com/UVMhhbvCrjMYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 7 - COLUMBIA FIREFLIES 2
ACL CUBS 8 - ACL ROYALS 4
