Cubs Minor League News: Strumpf with game-winner, Shaw and Mervis homer, Aliendo raking |
After sporting back-to-back .500 overall records this week, the Cubs Minor League system continued its business as we get down to the very end. With one team heading to the postseason and another one that will be on the outside looking in, this is the point of the season where all you are trying to do is finish strong.
Going 2-0 will help with that, as the Cubs won both their games on Thursday.
Not only has this been an entertaining series this week, but it has also been fun, as these teams are about as balanced as you can be. Following a back-and-forth game that saw things tied at four and heading to extras, the Cubs got the last laugh as Chase Strumpf delivered a walk-off hit in the 11th to pick up the 5-4 win. Connor Noland was on the bump for the Cubs as he was making his final home start of the season. Noland has been one of the Cubs pitchers this season across the organization, but he has struggled a bit since his promotion to AAA. With five innings of three-run, six-strikeout baseball, Noland continues to battle as he puts his team in a position to win. After spotting the Bats with a first-inning run off a Levi Jordan homer, Noland settled in on the mound while the Cubs offense decided to play long ball themselves to pick up their right-hander. That all started in the third with Reivaj Garcia connecting for his first homer as an Iowa Cub to put the Cubs on the board with Matt Mervis putting Iowa in front 2-1 with a solo blast in the fourth. WELCOME TO DES MOINES, REIVAJ GARCIA! pic.twitter.com/LNQRg8M9Fd MATT MERVIS OFF THE VIDEO BOARD! pic.twitter.com/S8Ab0oIxWP Homers continued to be the theme of the game for both sides as Eric Gonzalez connected for the go-ahead two-run blast in the top of the fifth, only to have Matt Shaw answer with one in the sixth to make things 3-3. MATT SHAW DEAD CENTER! pic.twitter.com/2Xjg8apiJe That homer proved to be the end of the night for Brandon Liebrandt as the right-hander struck out 10 across his six innings. With things still tied 3-3 in the ninth, Ivan Johnson took it upon himself to put the Bats back on top as his solo blast off Cam Sanders made this a 4-3 Louisville. As was the case several times throughout the game, Iowa found a way to battle back with Darius Hill coming through with a massive sacrifice fly to tie things up 4-4 and forced extra innings. After neither team managed to score in the 10th, Gavin Hollowell dominated in the eleventh as he picked up four strikeouts across his two flawless innings of work. That set the stage for the Cubs offense in the bottom of the 11th as Strumpf banged one off the Center Field fence for a double, pushing across the winning run in the Cubs 5-4 walk-off win. CHASE. STRUMPF. BALL. GAME. PLAY THE DAMN SONG! pic.twitter.com/e59BDIwXAt The Cubs won this game despite striking out 15 times and picking up six hits, Shaw leading the way with two. Along with Hollowell's strong outing, the Cubs also saw Jorge Lopez make a rehab appearance, scattering one hit in one inning of work.
The beat goes on for the Smokies as they responded from a blowout loss on Wednesday to get back on track 5-2 on Thursday. Sam Armstrong has continued to improve each time out on the mound, and he waited to save his best for last in what could be his final outing of the season. Armstrong lowered his AA ERA to 2.70 after six innings, allowing two unearned runs. He walked one and struck out three as he continues to be one of the biggest surprises this season. All it took for the Smokies to grab the lead was one big swing from Pablo Aliendo as he connected for a three-run shot in the first to put the Smokies on top for good 3-0. Pablo Aliendo sends his 10th homerun of the season TO THE MOON! @pabloaliendo14 #LastYearBestYear #NextStopWrigley #YouHaveToSeeIt pic.twitter.com/Icx2L8mXlW That hit would go down as the game-winning hit, as Tyler Schweitzer didn't have his best stuff. Sure, he struck out eight across five innings, but with four walks and five runs allowed, the Smokies made him pay for their mistakes. What makes this victory all that more impressive was that four of the five runs came on two hits, with Cole Roederer delivering an RBI triple in the fourth to push the lead to 4-0 before scoring on a wild pitch to make things 5-0. Those two hits were the only hits of the night for the Smokies, as they had to rely on Mitchell Tyranski and Blake Whitney the rest of the way. Birmingham did manage to get two runs in the sixth off a Wilfred Veras single, and DJ Gladney sacrifice flies, but with Tyranski and Whitney coming in to slam the door, that was it for the offense as the Smokies improved to 86-48 with the win. We are so back. #LastYearBestYear #NextStopWrigley | @zips3mincarwashIOWA CUBS 5 - LOUISVILLE BATS 4 (F/11)
TENNESSEE SMOKIES 5 - BIRMINGHAM BARONS 2
Box Score: https://t.co/SSLULOHIqW pic.twitter.com/ULh2FcRt0Z
