Cubs Minor League News: Rookie League action

Jerry Lai - USA Today Sports

by Dustin Riese - Senior Writer - Fri Jul 14 08:47:45 GMT-05:00 2023

With the full-season leagues set to kick back off on Friday, there was one more day of Rookie League action to be the center of attention. Unlike earlier in the week when it was all DSL, the ACL Cubs returned to the field on Thursday to put all three Rookie League teams in play.

Expecting a busy day on the diamond turned into a one-team show as both DSL games were postponed due to heavy rains and will be made up later. That put all the focus on the ACL Cubs, who didn't play until late as they went on to post a 4-3 loss to give the Cubs an 0-1 showing on the night.

ACL WHITE SOX 4 - ACL CUBS 3

It is rare when the ACL teams are the only teams in action which was the case for the Cubs on Thursday. Despite falling 4-3 to the White Sox, baseball was still going on, which is all you can ask for as fans. Mason McGwire continues to take his bumps in the ACL but did look better than in his last few outings.

McGwire pitched into the fifth but couldn't finish as he allowed four runs on five hits in 4 2/3. Only two of those runs were earned, so his line isn't that bad, as he walked three and struck out six. Both unearned runs against him came in the first inning when a costly throwing error from Jose Escobar allowed one run to score and an additional run to score later as the Cubs fell behind 2-0 early.

That was the score heading into the bottom of the third when the Cubs finally broke through. With one swing from Anderson Suriel, the game was tied as his two-run blast brought the Cubs back to even and had momentum on their side. Despite that homer, baseball is a game of momentum, and the Cubs were unable to keep that momentum going for too long.

Looking to get through five innings and the game still tied, McGwire ran into some trouble which loomed large in the end. Not only did Arxy Hernandez open the scoring by reaching on that error, but his two-run single in the fifth put the White Sox in front for good as they grabbed a 4-2 lead. Those were also the lone earned runs against McGwire for what was otherwise a great day.

Like in the first when the White Sox took the lead, it took a little while for the Cubs to answer as Suriel brought home the third and final run for the Cubs with an RBI groundout in the seventh. Suriel was responsible for all three of the Cubs runs, but it wasn't enough in the end, as they fell short 4-3.

DSL CUBS RED vs DSL DODGERS (Postponed)

Despite a rough start to their season, there is still plenty of time for the Cubs to turn things around. However, they must figure out how to do it against the Dodgers and their tough organization in a doubleheader next time they meet.