Cubs Minor League News: Cristian Hernandez's brother with walk-off, Sanchez plays hero

Charles LeClaire - USA Today Sports

by Dustin Riese - Senior Writer - Wed Jul 20 12:00:06 GMT-05:00 2022

You never realize how you miss baseball until baseball is gone. Granted, Baseball is not entirely gone, but with no major league or full-season minor league action until the weekend, it feels like the COVID and Lockout days all over again.

However, this time, fans still have the opportunity to watch or at the very least follow two of the Cubs seven Minor affiliates as the DSL continues to press along with their season. Unlike the ACL and the rest of the leagues in the United States, the DSL elected not to go with an all-star break this week and continues to power through their season.

Tuesday saw the Cubs go 2-1, but technically 2-0 as that loss was from their suspended game on Monday. For the Cubs and their fans, that means that even though the quiet times of the all-star break, baseball will still be played as this is just the first step in the player development process. You had it all, from great starting pitching to high-powered offenses as things are trending in a solid direction.

DSL CUBS RED 3 - DSL PIRATES 2

After their completed game from Monday ended with the Pirates dominating the Cubs 13-3, DSL Red returned to the diamond against the Pirates again, where they picked up a well-earned 3-2 win. The pitching stood out the most as four of the five runs scored came after the fifth inning, including all three by the Cubs, which resulted in a walk-off win.

Melvyn Amador has had some ups and downs this summer, but this was undoubtedly an up for him. Across his three innings on the mound, Amador allowed just one unearned run despite walking four and striking out one. That proved problematic early on, with Pitterson Rojas tossing four shutout frames before the bullpen let things get away from the Pirates.

The lone run that the Pirates managed to push across against Amador came in the second inning as a costly throwing error made things 1-0. The Pirates would then add another run in the sixth off the Gustavo Armas double to double their lead, but it was time for the Cubs bats to come to life.

Alexis Hernandez, younger brother of No. 2 prospect Cristian Hernandez put the Cubs on the board with an RBI single as he has started to heat up at the plate. That single was followed up by the Yodel Diaz RBI fielder's choice to bring things back to even 2-2.

With the Pirates going down quietly in the seventh, the Cubs were down to their final three outs as they were looking to cap off the comeback. Leave it to Hernandez to play hero as his walk-off sacrifice fly capped off the Cubs comeback and gave them a 3-2 walk-off win. Hernandez led the way with two hits and two RBIs as he is now hitting .178. However, across his last 10 games, he has been hitting .275 as he is starting to see the ball well.

DSL CUBS BLUE 8 - DSL YANKEES 7

One of the teams that has given the Cubs fits all summer has been the Yankees, but on this day, it was the Cub's turn to turn the tables. They managed to come away with the win using plenty of late-game offense, including a five-run fifth to kick start the rally.

Pitching was not the Cubs strong suit in the early stages of the game, which is surprising considering who had the ball. Gabriel Agrazal has been the best pitcher in the DSL all season, and after allowing three runs in three innings, his ERA rose to 1.36. That shows you how good he has been this year. All three of those runs came on one swing of the bat as the three-run shot by Roderick Arias put the Yankees in front 3-0.

That lead was extended to 4-0 in the fourth courtesy of a costly error, but it was in the fifth when the Cubs offense started to come to life. What started with a two-run error, the Cubs pushed across five runs in their half of an inning to take a 5-4 lead. Geuri Lubo pulled the Cubs within 4-3 with an RBI double before Jose Herrera, and his team-leading fourth homer saw the Cubs grab a 5-4 lead.

That lead didn't last long, with David Beckles going deep for the second time against the Cubs this season to put the Yankees back in front 6-5 in the bottom of the fifth. Still trailing by one in the seventh, Lubo picked up another RBI hit to tie things up before a costly wild pitch gave the Cubs a 7-6 lead.

For the second time in-game, the Yankees used a homer to erase a deficit, with Willy Montero tying things up with a solo shot in the bottom of the seventh. However, the Cubs would laugh last as Sandy Sanchez delivered a game-winning single in the eighth inning to give the Cubs an 8-7 win.