Cubs Minor League News: Rookie League action

Jerry Lai - USA Today Sports

by Dustin Riese - Senior Writer - Tue Jul 11 12:00:28 GMT-05:00 2023

If you are a fan of Rookie League Baseball, then this is your week as it is all about Rookie League baseball. With the MLB having their all-star break, all full-season leagues will be off until Friday to coincide with that break. The end result allows the Rookie Leagues to be the center of attention this week which is a good thing.

Despite the ACL Cubs also having the next few days off, there were three games to be played on Monday, with DSL Blue having a doubleheader and DSL Red playing one game. The result was a 1-2 showing, but all that matters is the improvement many of these players continue to make.

DSL CUBS RED 6 - DSL TIGERS 2

Sparked by a four-run fourth inning, the DSL Red squad scored all six of their runs in the first four innings to pick up a nice win. Alfredo Romero got the start for the Cubs and turned in a great outing. Across four innings, Romero allowed one run on two hits and came away with four strikeouts. His ERA sits at 1.61 this season as he is the ACE of the DSL Red staff.

After a scoreless first inning, Romero was backed by some second-inning support as the Cubs never looked back. Andres Bonolis opened the scoring for the Cubs as his RBI double made things 1-0. The Cubs extended their lead to 2-0 in the third as a costly error allowed another run to score.

It took four innings for the Tigers to break through against Romero, with Geury Estevez using an RBI grounder to pull the Tigers within 2-1. Once the bottom of the fourth inning rolled around, the Cubs offense went to work and put the game away. Elizaul Chalas opened the inning with an RBI double to push the lead to 3-1 with an error shortly after leading to two more runs. Ludwing Espinoza capped off the four-run inning with an RBI double that had the Cubs in front 6-1 as they would win 6-2.

DSL PIRATES 2 - DSL BLUE CUBS 0

Despite the DSL Blue squad getting shut out by the Pirates, they still had another chance later in the day to pick up a win. Getting back to this game, the pitching stood out, with both of the game's runs coming in one inning. Juan Archibold was the starter in this one, giving the Cubs four shutout innings.

Archibold left with the score tied 0-0, but once Dalbert Mosquea took over in the fifth, it was the Pirates breaking through. With a pair of runners on, Carlos Tirado came through with an RBI triple which was all the Pirates would need in the 2-0 win. The Cubs had five hits in the loss, with Derik Alcantara leading the way with two.

DSL PIRATES 12 - DSL BLUE CUBS 9

Despite the Cubs offense putting up nine runs in their second game of a doubleheader, it was their pitching that let them down as the Cubs got swept by the Pirates in a doubleheader. Ironically things were not as bad early on, with Vincent Nunez picking up a sacrifice fly in the first to give the Cubs a 1-0 lead before the Moises Febrillet triple extended the lead to 2-0 in the second.

Edward Vargas followed that up with an RBI single to push the lead to 3-0 as the Cubs were in complete control early. All it took for the Cubs lead to evaporate was one swing from Rodolfo De La Cruz as his three-run shot brought things back to even 3-3 in the second.

Following a scoreless third innings, both offenses came to play in the fourth, with the Cubs striking first and using a four-run frame to take a 7-3 lead. Vargas started things off with an RBI single to make things 4-3, with a Brayan Altuve single following that to extend the lead to 6-3. There was also an error on that play allowing another run to score as the Cubs took a 7-3 lead.

Unfortunately, that was the last lead they would have as the Pirates erupted for five runs in the bottom of the fourth to take an 8-7 lead. Two bases-loaded walks aided two of those runs with an error and a sacrifice fly leading to more damage. The Pirates would add four more runs across the next two frames to take a commanding lead as the Cubs struggled to do much after that fourth inning.

Carlos Altuve and Vargas would add two late-game RBIs for the Cubs, but that wouldn't be enough as the Pirates completed the double-header sweep 12-9. Vargas led the way with three hits and three RBIs, with Altuve delivering four RBIs.