Cubs Minor League News: Rookie League action

Patrick Gorski - USA Today Sports

by Dustin Riese - Senior Writer - Wed Jul 12 12:00:26 GMT-05:00 2023

With the MLB All-Star game taking place on Tuesday, all the teams stateside continue to be off as they are enjoying their all-star break. However, there is still one league going on right now, and that happens to fall in the Dominican Republic as the DSL league continues to push forth.

When it comes to the Cubs and their minor league system, the DSL is often a hectic place as the Cubs have not one but two DSL teams to keep tabs on. Although neither team has had a good season thus far, several players are starting to turn heads, which is always a good thing for an organization. Tuesday saw the Cubs go 1-1, which is about how things have gone thus far.

DSL CUBS BLUE 8 - DSL RED SOX 4

It's not about how you start, but how you finish, and the Cubs certainly finished this one strong. After trailing 4-2 late in the game, the Cubs scored six times in the final two innings, including a five-run ninth to secure the 8-4 win. Diego Dugarte got the start for the Cubs and allowed three runs in three innings. However, the work from the bullpen gave the Cubs a chance, including Charbel Gonzalez, who had his best showing of the season.

Moises Febrillet opened the scoring with an RBI groundout in the second, only to see the Red Sox tie things up shortly after. The Red Sox offense continued to go to work in the bottom half of the third, with Yohander Linarez and Gerardo Rodriguez adding RBI singles to put the Red Sox up 3-1. Jancel Santana added an additional RBI single in the fourth to extend the lead to 4-1, but it was all Cubs after that, as they ended the game with seven unanswered runs.

The first of those runs came on the Erbin Jaque triple in the sixth to make things 4-2. Offerman Hernandez pulled the Cubs within 4-3 in the eighth with an RBI single before their offense put things out of reach in the ninth. Jaque started the massive inning with a game-tying RBI single before a bases-loaded walk gave the Cubs a 5-4 lead. Offerman Hernandez then came through with the massive hit as his bases-loaded double busted the game wide open and gave the Cubs an 8-4 lead.

Hernandez had a massive game for the Cubs, leading the team with three hits and four RBIs. Febrellet added two RBIs, as did Jaque, in what was an outstanding win for the Cubs.

DSL TIGERS 4 - DSL CUBS RED 0

While the DSL Blue team delivered plenty of offense, DSL Red was not, as they were held to just three hits in a shutout loss. Zhiorman Imbriano made another start for the Cubs and gave them three very good innings. He allowed one run on one hit and lowered his ERA to 2.22.

As good as he was, Moises Rodriguez was even better as he held the Cubs to two hits across five scoreless frames. His ERA is now sitting at 1.90, as he has looked outstanding this season. The offense was at a premium most of the game, as it took three innings for the Tigers to cash in. Franyerber Montilla changed all that as his RBI single in the third gave the Tigers the only run they would need and put them in front 1-0.

Following that inning, the runs started to come more frequently for the Tigers, with a wild pitch making things 2-0 in the fourth and the Wagnel Luna double extending the lead to 3-0 in the fifth. The Tigers closed out their scoring on another Montilla single in the seventh to cap off the shutout win. Ludwing Espinoza, Albert Gutierrez, and Andres Bonolis had the three hits for the Cubs.