Cubs Minor League News: Shaw and Ballesteros homer, Supak impressive, more |
Another day came and went with a full slate of Cubs Minor League baseball. This was one of those days where you loved what you saw from the pitching the most, but the offense could've been better, especially in the full-season games. That all led to a 2-5 record on the night, which was the Cubs' worst showing of the week so far.
IOWA CUBS 1 - INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS 0 In a world where offense is the king in AAA, it's nice to have a low-scoring affair every now and then, which is what Iowa and Indianapolis had. With Trey Supak making his AAA debut and tossing six shutout innings before handing things off to Ethan Roberts and Hunter Bigge, the Cubs didn't need a ton of offense. Quite the I-Cub debut for @treysupak9 !! pic.twitter.com/scYgtd8eAJ In fact, all they needed was one run with Moises Ballesteros taking Jake Woodford deep in the second for his first career AAA homer, which would be all the Cubs would need. The first Triple-A home run for @moisesballest17 is your @GreatClips Clip of the Game! pic.twitter.com/VoCKhtsp70 All Ballesteros has done since his promotion is hit as he is now at .500 through three games. Matt Mervis, Cole Roederer, and Luis Vazquez had the rest of the hits for the Cubs, with Roberts striking out three more in his 1 2/3 scoreless frames. If you don't allow a run, you can't lose. Pretty simple! pic.twitter.com/QhEnkaPN1Y TENNESSEE SMOKIES 4 - MISSISSIPPI BRAVES 3 When this week started, the Smokies' mission was clear: Win as many games as possible to try to clinch a playoff spot. Through three games, the Smokies have yet to lose to the Braves, and they have pulled within .5 games of the top spot in the division. This time the Smokies got a great start from Brandon Birdsell, who may not have gotten a decision but was still very good. Birdsell went six innings, allowing three runs on five hits and striking out six before the bullpen took over. He opposed Drew Parrish, who also pitched into the sixth, allowing three runs but only striking out three. You always love when you can get instant offense and with a Luis Verdugo sacrifice fly mixed with Haydn McGeary's first-inning single, the Smokies jumped out to a 2-0 lead. The Braves got one of those runs back on a Javier Valdes homer in the second, only to have Matt Shaw answer with one of his own in the bottom of the inning to push the lead back to 3-1. Home runs were an issue for both starters in this one. The Braves tied things up in the fourth on a Cal Conley homer, which was the final run of the game for quite some time. That was until Christian Franklin came through with the game-winning single in the seventh to put the Smokies in front 4-3 before they won by that score. Shaw led the offense with two more hits as his average is creeping closer to .250. Franklin, McGeary, and Ezequiel Pagan added the rest of the hits for the Smokies, who continue to be without Kevin Alcantara, who is nursing some injuries right now. Welcoming new and familiar faces to Smokies Stadium! pic.twitter.com/HBclT5PHQp A wild finish in Kodak tonight! | @zips3mincarwash LAKE COUNTY CAPTAINS 3 - SOUTH BEND CUBS 1 Three games into this series, the Cubs are still looking for their first win as they dropped another contest to the Captains. This time, a lack of offense cost them, as the pitching was outstanding on both sides. Erian Rodriguez was very impressive in his High-A debut, as he lasted five innings, allowing three runs and striking out seven. Erian Rodriguez was absolutely filthy tonight, setting a new career high with 7 strikeouts in his #SBCubs debut 🔥 All those runs came in the second inning off a pair of RBI singles from Zac Fascia and Angel Genao as the Cubs found themselves down 3-0 early. From there, the South Bend pitching settled in as Rodriguez was outstanding over his final three innings before giving way to AJ Perry and Jose Romero. Perry struck out six in three scoreless frames. Despite their best efforts, Carter Spivey and the Chiefs pitchers were slightly better as they combined to allow just one run. That run came off a Rafael Morel single in the fourth to pull the Cubs within 3-1 as they fell by that score. Morel was joined by Parker Chavers, Pedro Ramirez, and Brett Bateman as they had four hits in the loss. Final Score: KANNAPOLIS CANNONBALLERS 4 - MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 3 Although the Cubs hoped for a better fate overall in their system, most of the games were at least competitive, with this being another one. All it took was a four-run inning for the Cannonballers to do all their damage as they withstood a late-game rally for the win. That big inning came after Carter Trice opened the scoring with a single in the second as the Pelicans led 1-0 early. Making his third start for Myrtle Beach, Jaxson Wiggins continued to pitch well as he held the Cannonballers scoreless through three before running into trouble in the fourth. He, along with Sam Thoreson, combined to allow four runs in the fourth, but Wiggins was only charged with two earned runs and struck out five in 3 1/3. Luis Pineda opened the scoring for Kannapolis with an RBI single to tie the game, but with a crucial error on that same play, an additional run was made to cross home to put the Cannonballers in front for a good 2-1. They added two more runs later in the inning on a Drake Logan single, taking a 4-1 lead after four. That score held until the ninth inning, when the Pelicans not only put pressure on the Cannonballers but also began to mount a late-game rally. All it took was one swing from Alfonsin Rosario to make things happen, as he connected for his ninth homer to pull the Birds within 4-3. That was as close as they could get, as the Cannonballers finished things off from there to even the series 2-2. Rosario paced the offense with two hits and two RBIs, the only one with multiple hits. Trice, Ismael Mena, and Christian Olivo had the remaining hits. On to the second half.#MBPelicans | #YouHaveToSeeIt pic.twitter.com/q8atFKkupL ACL ANGELS 6 - ACL CUBS 5 (F/10) It didn't come easy, but the Angels delivered a walk-off win over the Cubs in 10 innings. With Yovanny Cruz struggling with his command, allowing six walks in two innings, he was fortunate only to allow three runs, with most of the damage coming in the third. That was after an Anderson Suriel single and a Geuri Lubo grounder in the first gave the Cubs a 2-0 lead before the Angels got one of those runs back in the bottom of the inning. With Yahil Melendez tacking on another single in the second to extend the lead to 3-1, the Angels rallied in the third using a bases-loaded hit by a pitch to grab another run, with the Victor Rodriguez single tying things up. YOu also had a double play ball mixed in that brought home a third run as the Angels now led 4-3. The Cubs didn't waste any time answering back, with Jefferson Encarnacion connecting for an RBI double in the fourth to tie things up. That was the final run of regulation, and this game went to extras tied 4-4. Still tied in the 10th, Lubo put the Cubs back in front with an RBI triple, but after the offense failed to bring him home, they had to settle for a 5-4 lead. That proved costly in the end as the Nathanael Santana double brought things back to even 5-5 before the Angels walked off the Cubs on a Jonathan Linares single. Encarnacion led the Cubs with two hits, while Lubo added two RBIs. On another note, Luis Devers also saw time on the mound for the Cubs as he allowed one run in his two innings. Devers was injured earlier this season and will begin working to get back with South Bend. DSL RED SOX 8 - DSL CUBS BLUE 5 After a solid start to the season, the DSL Blue squad has hit a bit of a route as they have won just two of their last nine games. That included an 8-5 loss on Thursday as a four-run third for the Red Sox ignited the offense in a big way. DSL Blue opened the scoring off a first-inning error, only to have the Giants respond in a big way with a four-run third innings. Tavano Baker opened the scoring with an RBI triple before coming home on a Moises Bolivar single. The Giants capped off their four-run inning with a Justin Gonzalez homer as they opened up a 4-1 lead. The Giants added to their lead with an RBI triple from Ilan Fernandez in the fifth before a two-run double off the bat of Bolivar extended the lead to 7-1 in the sixth. Trailing 8-1 in the seventh, the Cubs began to rally back as an Enyel Rosario sacrifice fly ended the Giants scoring run to make things 8-2. The big blow of the inning came off the bat of Josias Ramirez, whose bases-loaded double made things 8-5 before falling by that score. DSL PADRES 6 - DSL CUBS RED 3 This game was very interesting for the Cubs, who fell to the Padres 6-3. With neither team being able to push across a run through the first four innings, seven runs scored in the fifth, including six runs from the Padres, which was the difference in the win. Andrws Cruz opened the scoring with an RBI single in the top half of the fifth as the Cubs took a 1-0 lead at that point. Their lead was short-lived, with the Giants responding in a massive way in the bottom half of the inning with all six runs coming across in that frame. Santiago Contreras doubled home a pair to put the Giants in front for good, while a pair of RBI singles from Eddson Martinez and Eduarlin Tejada extended the lead to 5-1. The Giants added another run later in the inning to take a 6-1 lead as the Cubs were in catchup mode the rest of the way. Like with DSL Blue, most of their offense came in the final inning with Edgardo De Leon doubling home the Cubs second run of the game with an RBI groundout closing out the scoring in a 6-3 loss.
Box Score: https://t.co/EiCYl7fxa8 pic.twitter.com/QuiaMy0513
Our @PEGGS_SouthBend Player of the Game! pic.twitter.com/tA3PqwVBZj
Cubs - 1
Captains - 3 pic.twitter.com/QIsjYt6kK4
