Cubs Minor League News: Strumpf clutch, PCA smacks triple, Stevens stays hot, more |
As mentioned at the end of last week, this week was going to be much busier when it comes to minor league baseball as the Rookies Leagues began their play this week. Despite some teams struggling, they all picked up wins, and it looks like it will be an exciting summer across the board.
Looking to finish their final full slate of the week, the wins were alive and well on Saturday as the Cubs system posted a 5-2 mark. That includes a perfect 3-0 record from their Rookie League Squads as they can enter their off-day riding a positive wave of momentum.
After going through a little rut and letting the Saints pass them in the division, the Cubs seem to be getting back on track and have pulled within .5 games of first. Riley Thompson delivered one of his best starts in quite some time as he lasted 4 2/3 innings while allowing two earned runs. From there, the bullpen took over, including a four-strikeout performance from Ryan Jensen. Both of the runs Thompson allowed came on the long ball, with Andrew Bechtold going deep in the second and Joey Gallo following in the third. Considering Kenta Maeda allowed no runs through his four innings, that two-run lead looked good until the Cubs offense kicked it into gear in the fifth. Dom Nunez got the Cubs on the board with an RBI double while a pair of bases-loaded walks put them in front 3-2. Chase Strumpf capped off the five-run fifth with a two-run single as Iowa was now leading 5-2. Nice bases loaded AB for Chase Strumpf who drives in 2. pic.twitter.com/5ey8cuv6Fk Their sudden offensive barrage would not stop there as they continued to build on their lead in the sixth. An error led to one run, and a bases-loaded hit by pitch brought home the second run, with Nelson Velazquez delivering a sacrifice fly to make things 8-2. David Bote added a sacrifice fly later in the game as the Cubs took game five from the Saints 9-3. Nunez led the offense with three hits, with Yonathan Perlaza, Darius Hill, and Sergio Alcantara picking up two. We go for the series win tomorrow! pic.twitter.com/SwQ2D9pL3H
While most of the Cubs system played well on Saturday, the Smokies didn't and have started to cool off in recent days. Kohl Franklin took the loss as he allowed three runs in four innings of work. He walked three and struck out three as he battled through those innings. The problem was his opponent on the other side as Landon Marceaux was tough, giving the Trash Pandas 6 2/3 innings on the mound while also striking out four. Leading 1-0 after an Owen Caissie RBI groundout in the first, the Trash Pandas tied things up in the bottom of the first on a Livan Soto RBI single. Tennessee retook the lead on a Cole Roederer triple in the fourth, but that was the last run they would score. Like in the first, Rocket City responded to a Tennessee run as Kevin Maitan came through with the game-winning single to make things 3-2. Rocket City added to their lead with a bases-loaded walk in the fifth before capping off the scoring with the Edgar Quero single in the sixth to win 5-2. Haydn McGeary and Pete Crow-Armstrong paced the offense with two hits, with Roederer and Caissie grabbing the RBIs. A rule of thumb with a PCA hit: if the helmet comes off, it's probably a triple. pic.twitter.com/oBUIiEfQ5q The boys come up a little short. | @zips3mincarwash pic.twitter.com/JoST7g5CnB Former @Vol_Baseball Star Liam Spence is coming to Kodak! @LiamSpence15 has been sent up to the Smokies from the South Bend Cubs! #SmokiesBaseball #BestYearEver pic.twitter.com/I0mFTuEsiE
Entering the week, the Cubs knew they needed to put together a great series if they wanted to put themselves back in a position to win the first half. They got off to a great start by taking the first two games this week, but things have gone south since, including another tough 3-1 loss Saturday. Manuel Espinoza did his part on the night and deserved a better fate on the mound. Espinoza struck out four in five innings, allowing just one hit. The problem was a costly error that allowed two runs to score, as that was the difference in the game. Mistakes like that can't happen against a pitcher like Jack Perkins, who gave the Lugnuts seven shutout innings of five strikeout baseball. Both of those unearned runs against Espinoza came in the fourth inning as the fielding error brought home the game's first run, with Brayan Buelvas picking up what proved to be the game-winning RBI double to make things 2-0. Holding that 2-0 lead in the sixth, the Lugnuts capped off their scoring with a Jonny Butler homer as they built a 3-0 lead. South Bend ended the shutout bid in the ninth as Yohendrick Pinango picked up an RBI single, but nothing more would come from it. Pinango led the team with two hits, as did Ed Howard. Fabian Pertuz also picked up a hit as the Cubs outhit the Lugnuts 5-2. Final on a Saturday in South Bend pic.twitter.com/d2rQXhhcM4
Led by a five-run third inning, the Pelicans overcame a shaky pitching performance to take care of Augusta and win the series. For the first time this season, left-hander Jackson Ferris showed signs he is human as he allowed four runs in just 1 2/3 innings. Once he departed, Koen Moreno and the bullpen shut the Greenjackets down, with Moreno going three scoreless innings followed by two-plus scoreless from Johzan Oquendo. After gifting the Greenjackets their first run on a wild pitch in the first, Ferris delivered a second wild pitch in the second to bring home another run. Bryson Worrell added a single in that inning as the Greenjackets were off and running 4-0. Despite Adam Shoemaker pitching very well, his defense let him down, as all six runs against him came as unearned runs. Five of those runs happened in the fifth when the Pelicans offense started to sink their teeth in. With the first run coming home on a fielding error, everything that followed was unearned, with Andy Gariola picking up a two-run single and Felix Stevens putting the Birds in front for good with his 11th homer. Another error in the fourth brought home the Pelican's sixth run, as that would be the final run until the later innings. With just six outs standing between the Birds and another win, EJ Exposito pulled the Greenjackets within one as his sacrifice fly made things 6-5. That was as close as things would get, with Juan Mora adding a ninth-inning RBI single to pick up the 7-5 win. Along with his 11th homer, Stevens picked up a second hit to lead the team with two hits. Ismael Mena also grabbed two hits from the ninth spot. Ismael Mena is currently batting .400 with a .920 OPS in his 8th game in Myrtle Beach. Doubled here to spark a 5-run 3rd. Good hustle to get there. pic.twitter.com/TSzp01KKsN
Winning can be contagious, and after picking up their first win on Thursday, the ACL Cubs closed out their first week of competition with another win against the Diamondbacks. Credit the Cubs for refusing to give up as they fell behind early only to score seven times in the final three innings, including two in the ninth for the walk-off win. The Diamondbacks came out firing, pushing home a pair of runs in the first and adding two more in the second to jump in front 2-0. It took four innings for the Cubs to break through as Jefferson Encarnacion got them on the board with a double while Miguel Fabrizio made things 4-2 with an RBI groundout. The Cubs continued to battle back in the seventh, with Wally Soto picking up another RBI to pull ACL within 4-3. Once the eighth inning rolled around, both offenses started to take off, with the Diamondbacks using a Dominic Gonnella homer to extend the lead to 5-3. Not to be outdone, the Cubs offense wouldn't go away as the Fabrizio single tied things up 5-5, with Christopher Paciolla putting the Cubs in front for the first time 7-5 with his two-run shot. Looking to close things out in the ninth, the Cubs bullpen struggled as the Diamondbacks reclaimed the lead by scoring three times. Cristofer Torin and Jean Walters were responsible for those runs, as they used a pair of RBI singles to get things done. However, the Cubs would get the last laugh as the scorching hot Anderson Suriel came through with a walk-off two-run single to lift the Cubs 9-8. This was a wonderful sight this morning - seeing @Cubs OF @alex_canario07 running the bases as a part of his injury rehab! He was running and cutting the corners on the bases. #Cubs #CubsProspects #injuryrehab pic.twitter.com/290OEg9VIH
The DSL Red squad closed out their week of competition in dominating fashion as they took care of the Red Sox 12-1. Not only did they get strong pitching from Alfredo Romero, who went five innings, but the offense scored all 12 runs in two innings and were clicking right from the start. Tied 0-0 in the fourth, the Cubs used a five-run frame to take the lead and realistically put the game away. Daniel Benschop opened the scoring with an RBI double, while Andrws Cruz provided the game-winning hit with a single. Add in the Ludwig Espinoza homer, and the Cubs ended the fourth with a commanding 5-0 lead. As if that five-run frame wasn't good enough, why not score seven more times in the sixth as the Cub's offense continued to roll? Benschop was in the middle of that again, starting the inning with an RBI triple to extend the lead to 7-0. After an error made it 8-0, Yidel Diaz used an RBI single to push the lead to 9-0 before Josias Ramirez closed out the scoring with a three-run shot. The Red Sox added a run in the ninth, but that is all they would get offensively.
The DSL Blue squad couldn't have asked for a much better week this week as they went 4-1 to kick off their season. Sparked by a four-run inning in this one, the Cubs had to hold off a furious Tigers rally but still picked up the win. Diego Dugarte got the start and struck out five in 3 2/3 while allowing two runs on one hit. Fraimin Marte followed that up with 2 1/3 scoreless frames before things got interesting late. After the Cubs grabbed a 1-0 lead via an error in the third, the Tigers offense responded as the Luis Watter fielder's choice tied things up 1-1 while a steal of home put the Tigers up 2-1. Once the third inning rolled around, the Cubs benefitted from another error that tied things and awakened what was a sleeping offense. An RBI triple from Erbin Jaque followed that error to put the Cubs in front, with Abel De Leon using a single to make things 4-2. Another error later in the inning capped off the four-run inning with the Cubs leading 5-2. That score would hold until the seventh, when another error made things 6-2. That error was significant as it proved to be the winning run, with the Tigers mounting a rally late. Watter started that rally with an RBI single while a bases-loaded walk and a forceout brought home two more runs to make things 6-5. The Cubs wouldn't let it get any closer as David Olivo settled in and finished things for the win.IOWA CUBS 9 - SAINT PAUL SAINTS 3
ROCKET CITY TRASH PANDAS 5 - TENNESSEE SMOKIES 2
LANSING LUGNUTS 3 - SOUTH BEND CUBS 1
MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 7 - AUGUSTA GREENJACKETS 5
ACL CUBS 9 - ACL DIAMONDBACKS 8
DSL CUBS RED 12 - DSL RED SOX 1
DSL CUBS BLUE 6 - DSL TIGERS 5
