Cubs Minor League News: Rookie League Action |
With only one more day until the Chicago Cubs return to the field, we continue to focus on the Cubs Rookie League teams, which have been the center of attention since Monday. That continued to be the case on Thursday, as only one team was in action on a much lighter day.
That team is in the DSL, and it wasn't an overall great performance, as they lost the only game in action, 6-2. Now, comes the biggest organizational change of the season, as all of the Cubs rookies will now sign their contracts and be placed accordingly into the Cubs system.
After making strides in their past few games, the DSL Blue squad has hit a snap in recent days, and that continued with their 6-2 loss to the Angels. This was a close game early until the Angels broke the game open with a three-run fourth inning inning before tacking on two massive runs late. Ismael Morey and Leudy Tirado went pitch for pitch on the mound as Morey gave the Cubs three innings of one-run ball, with Tirado tossing four innings and striking out three. Ludwing Espinoza continues to provide a lot of the Cubs offense of late as he connected for a solo homer in the first to put the Cubs in front 1-0. That lead didn't last long, as the Angels tied things up on a balk in the second inning, and this remained a 1-1 game until the fourth. In the fourth inning, the Angels seized command for good, pushing across three runs to open up a 4-1 lead. Bryan Martinez put the Angeles in front for good with an RBI triple before he came into score on the Byron Castillo single to extend their lead to 3-1. That single would go down as the winning hit as the Angels added another run off a throwing error to make things 4-1. After delivering the first run of the game for the Cubs, Espinoza made it two RBIs as his single in the sixth brought the Cubs within 4-2. Unfortunately for the Cubs, he was the only offense they could generate, as DSL Blue couldn't get much offense going. The Angels officially put the game away in the seventh by adding two more runs as Greylin De La Paz brought home the fifth run of the game for the Angels with a double. De La Paz came home to score later in the frame off a wild pitch as the Angels sent the Cubs home 6-2. The top of the Cubs order did most of the damage as Alexey Lumpuy, Juan Monso, and Espinoza all had two hits. Espinoza also drove in both runs in an excellent game for him. DSL ANGELS 6 - DSL CUBS BLUE 2
