Cubs Minor League News: Hernandez with three hits, Alcantara raking, Postponements, more |
Saturday was supposed to be a full slate of minor league action, but mother nature had other plans, as not one, but two games were postponed until Sunday. That means that Sunday will give fans six games of action in what will be a jam-packed afternoon on Sunday.
With two teams getting the night off Saturday due to weather, it led to a light night on the diamond as only two of the Cubs four affiliates were in action. That allowed fans to focus more on individual games instead of bouncing around as much as the Cubs saw their system post a 1-1 record on the evening.
🚨☔️ Today’s 3:08 game has been postponed due to weather! We will play Two 7 inning games tomorrow beginning at 1:08pm🚨☔️ pic.twitter.com/nFkJyNyA5B Tennessee Smokies vs. Montgomery Biscuits (Postponed, Makeup 4/16)
Despite the Cubs struggles against Beloit this weekend; they can earn a series split with a win on Sunday. That was only made possible due to a dominating win on Saturday that started with strong pitching and finished with an offensive barrage. As a staff, the Cubs allowed four hits, starting with Brandon Birdsell, who gave the Cubs 3 2/3 with one hit allowed. Following his outing was Frank Scalzo Jr, who improved to 2-0 on the season after tossing 3 1/3 scoreless frames of relief. Bailey Reid and Didier Vargas finished the final two innings as the Cubs pitching was strong. Good pitching is one thing, but your life is much easier when you are given four runs of support in the first inning. RBI groundouts from Yohendrick Pinango and Haydn McGeary put the Cubs in front 2-0, with Casey Opitz picking up a triple to extend the lead. Optiz would then come home to score on the Ethan Hearn single as the Cubs had a 4-0 lead after one. The Cubs extended their lead to 5-0 with a Fabian Pertuz sacrifice fly in the second before the Sky Carp finally got on the board in the fourth on the Brady Allen sacrifice fly to make things 5-1. Not only was that the lone run of the game for Beloit, but the Cubs offense was about to heat up again, with Kevin Alcantara delivering an RBI double in the fourth before scoring on the Pertuz single. One inning later saw Alcantara in the middle of the action again as his first South Bend homer saw the Cubs extend their lead to 8-1. Jacob Wetzel capped off the scoring in the sixth with an RBI groundout as South Bend took care of Beloit 9-1. Everyone, but Scott McKeon had a hit in the win, with Alcantara leading the way with three hits and two RBIs. McGeary and DJ Artis added two hits, with Pertuz driving in two. CUBS WIN! pic.twitter.com/Y2BIBPQ30OIowa Cubs vs. Omaha Storm Chasers (Postponed, Makeup 4/16)
— Montgomery Biscuits (@BiscuitBaseball) April 16, 2023
SOUTH BEND CUBS 9 - BELOIT SKY CARP 1
LYNCHBURG HILLCATS 11 - MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 3
The 2023 season continues to be a work in progress for the Pelicans, which may be the case for most of the year. Despite what the scoreboard shows, this game was better than the score indicates early on, as Koen Moreno was strong in his start.
The right-hander gave the Pelicans three innings and allowed just one run on three hits to keep his team in the game. The problem was the Pelicans bullpen allowing 10 runs, including five coming off of Erian Rodriguez, who turned a close game into a blowout. That was more than enough support for Alonzo Richardson, who tossed five shutout innings in the win.
The lone run off of Moreno came in the third inning when a bases-loaded hit by pitch put the Hillcats in front for good. Take that away, and he had an otherwise solid outing and will look to build off it. Once the fifth inning began, it was all Lynchburg as they scored 10 times over the next four frames.
Four of those 10 runs came in the fifth, with Lexer Saduy connecting for a three-run shot to bust the game open. The Hillcats also benefitted from a balk, a wild pitch, and a Saduy sacrifice fly to take a 7-0 lead in the seventh before pushing the lead to 9-0.
It took nine innings for the Pelicans offense to show signs of life, but they were already down 11-0. All three Pelicans runs came on one swing, with Christian Franklin delivering a bases-loaded RBI double to end the shutout bid, but Myrtle Beach still lost 11-3. Franklin had two hits with his three RBIs, but Cristian Hernandez led the offense with three hits and is now hitting .350 for the season.
