Cubs Minor League News: Shaw collects 4 hits, Alcantara raking, Caissie with 4 hits, more |
Coming off their second perfect day of the week, the Chicago Cubs Minor League system aimed to finish the week strong. Instead, they had arguably their worst showing of the week, as some lousy pitching led to an 0-2 record.
They will now regroup and focus on the final week of the season.
The bats were certainly alive and well in Des Moines on Sunday as the Bats outslugged the Cubs 17-10. Despite the horrible pitching, several significant milestones were accomplished as the Cubs offense heated up. Matt Shaw was the big story of the day as he became the first 20-homer/20 stolen base player in the Cubs system while logging his first four-hit game in AAA. You also had several other top-100 prospects put forth strong efforts at the plate, as you could see one or two of these kids in Chicago in the coming days. For the most part, Brandon Birdsell has been as good as advertised since his promotion to AAA, but his last two starts haven't been great. Birdsell pitched into the fourth but wasn't able to finish. He allowed five runs in 3 2/3 innings and has now allowed 12 runs in his last two starts. Pitching was an issue for both sides, but one pitcher had a horrific night, which we will get into shortly. Despite Birdsell's struggles on the mound, the Cubs offense gave him some instant support, with Kevin Alcantara unloading for a two-run shot in the first to put the Cubs in front 2-0. KEVIN ALCANTARA 2-RUN BLAST ONTO THE ROOF! pic.twitter.com/woNzi4Re1K Darius Hill would add a sacrifice fly later in the inning as Iowa opened up a 3-0 lead after one. Louisville managed to get one of those runs back in the second on the Francisco Urbaez single, but with Alcantara tacking on an RBI single in the second, followed by the Shaw two-run shot, it was the Cubs opening up a 6-1 lead through two. MATT SHAW FOR THE SECOND STRAIGHT GAME! pic.twitter.com/fKrQDYWiI5 It was all Louisville from that point on, as they outscored the Cubs 16-1 the rest of the way, with four coming in the fourth. An Eric Yang single pulled Louisville to within 6-3 before another former Cub, Nick Martini, left the building to make this a 6-5 game. Moises Ballesteros managed to get one of those runs back with a double in the bottom of the fourth, but it was in the fifth when Louisville took the lead. Shaw Triples and then Ballesteros drives him in! Matt is a double short of the cycle through four innings! This is fun! pic.twitter.com/ssK0Ycd7ps Urbaez played a role with an RBI double as that hit brought things back to even 7-7. Louisville would eventually take the lead on an Erik Gonzalez RBI grounder. Still, this game was far from over as the Cubs tied things up on an Owen Caissie homer in the bottom of the sixth. For the 19th time this year, OWEN CAI-SEE YOU LATER! pic.twitter.com/n44IE5yPjl That score would hold until the eighth when the Louisville offense took the lead and broke things open, scoring nine times the next two innings. Three of those nine runs came in the eighth, with Edwin Rios putting the Bats in front for good with an RBI single while an error pushed the lead to 10-8. Urbaez would then tack on another RBI single as the Bats opened up an 11-8 lead. In the ninth inning, the Bats broke the game wide open, and it came against Jorge Lopez, who was back on the mound to continue his rehab stint. Unlike last time, Lopez was rocked as he served up six earned runs in that inning to put Iowa in a massive 17-9. Martini opened the scoring with a two-run shot while Urbaez and Gonzalez tacked on a pair of RBI doubles to make this a 17-9 game. That big inning came after Matt Mervis pulled the Cubs to within 11-9 with his eighth-inning single as Darius Hill added a solo shot in the ninth to close out the scoring in the 17-10 loss. And, quite fittingly, the last home run at Principal Park this season comes on DARIUS HILL's first home run at home this season! pic.twitter.com/Ih9nAAtJSj The top of the Iowa lineup was as lethal as possible, with Caissie and Shaw leading the way with four hits. Alcantara chipped in with three and three hits, and Ballesteros and Hill added two. Thank you for your support all season! We'll be back at Principal Park in a few short months, but we'll be back on the field in Rochester, New York, Tuesday! pic.twitter.com/vvZrkAM5em
As if the past six games weren't enough, these teams will meet at least two more times next week as they open the Southern League Playoffs against one another. As expected, this was a very evenly matched series this week, with both teams exchanging blows, but the Barons won the finale 5-0. After getting the promotion from high-A to AA, Will Sanders made his debut, and it wasn't as bad as some thought it would be. Sure, Sanders only lasted four innings, giving up three runs, but with one walk and four punchouts, he kept his team in the game. The problem was a Barons pitching staff that struck out 13, including Garrett Schoenle, who struck out eight of a possible nine men in three innings. It didn't take the Barons long to open the scoring as DJ Gladney capped off his massive series with another homer to put the Barons in front 2-0. Gladney was just getting started as he added his second homer in as many at-bats in the third to push the lead to 3-0, which was all Sanders would allow in the game. Once Sanders exited, it was up to the Smokies pen to keep things close, and for the most part, they did. That was until the seventh inning when a Terrell Tatum single pushed the lead to 4-0. Birmingham added an additional single in the eighth from Michael Turner, as that was the game's final run in the Baron's 5-0 win. Tennessee was held to just three hits in the loss, with Cam Smith, Felix Stevens, and Parker Chavers grabbing those hits. Nick Hull also continued his strong run in the pen, as he struck out two to lower his ERA to 1.38. Don't worry! We still have a playoff game at home on Tuesday! | @zips3mincarwashLOUISVILLE BATS 17 - IOWA CUBS 10
BIRMINGHAM BARONS 5 - TENNESSEE SMOKIES 0
Box Score: https://t.co/WDnrPkcOnH pic.twitter.com/8vVmn7Nhdk
