Cubs Minor League News: Rookie League Action |
Monday ended Rookie League Monday as the final games were played. Granted, the season will continue for the next few days, but this is the final Monday of the summer when we solely highlight the Rookie Leagues and all they have become.
Hoping to end the league on a high note, the Cubs did manage to split both of their games, going 1-1 on the day. The offense was solid throughout, but one game saw the pitching get lit up, which has been an issue for most of the season for most of the Rookie League teams.
Although neither of the DSL teams will see the postseason in 2024, it was nice to see one team finish with the first winning record since 2021. That shows how tough things have been for his organization in the rookie season and how much of an improvement they have made this season. This was one of those games where a pair of big innings gave the Cubs all of their runs, as they scored three times in the fifth and twice in the eighth to secure the win. Ronny Lopez had an excellent start for the Cubs as he scattered two hits and allowed just one unearned run through four innings. He walked one and struck out six in a great way to end his season. The only run that Lopez allowed came off a throwing error in the fourth inning, which put the Cubs in a 1-0 hole. That deficit didn't last long as the Cubs offense came out swinging in the bottom of the fifth as they scratched across three runs to take a 3-1 lead. Diego Gonzalez started the scoring with a go-ahead two-run single before a wild pitch extended the Cubs lead to 3-1. That score held until the top half of the seventh when the Guardians offense started to go to work against the Cubs pen. It all started with the Garbirel Rodriguez RBI double as the Guardians were within 3-2. Later in the inning, you saw the Cubs gift the Guardians their second run of the game as a costly balk brought home another run to make this a 3-3 game. Just like the last time the Guardians struck first, the Cubs offense did a great job bouncing back and took the lead for good in the eighth. All it took was one swing of the bat from Josias Ramirez, whose two-run blast went down as the winning hit to put the Cubs in front 5-3. Alejandro Blasco added an RBI single in the top half of the ninth to pull within 5-4 as the Cubs won by that score.
A long season got even longer on Monday as the Brewers dismantled the Cubs 12-5. The good news is that the Cubs' offense played pretty well and they only have one day left in a challenging 2024 season. This was one of those games in which the Brewers' offense scored early and often, as Carlos Rangel and company didn't have it on the mound. Juan Martinez opened the scoring for the Brewers with a first-inning RBI double. At the same time, a second-inning wild pitch and the third-inning Handelfry Encarnacion homer gave the Brewers a 3-0 lead three innings in. Considering how Gabriel Colmenarez struck out six in four scoreless innings, three runs were looking to be enough, only to have the Brewers offense erupt for three runs in the bottom of the fifth to break the game open. A bases-loaded walk and a wild pitch allowed for two of those three runs to score, with a sacrifice fly helping to give the Brewers a massive 6-0 lead. It took DSL Red a little while to get going, but with a wild pitch and an Andrws Cruz double pushing across two runs in the sixth, the Cubs were within 6-2 and threatening to get more. They did get more, with Cruz tacking on two more runs with his second RBI double in the eighth, but with the Brewers tacking on three runs in both the seventh and eighth innings, it was the Cubs falling to the Brewers 12-5. Cruz had a great day at the plate, picking up two hits to lead the Cubs while driving in four of the five runs. DSL CUBS BLUE 5 - DSL GUARDIANS 4
DSL BREWERS 12 - DSL CUBS RED 5
