Cubs Minor League News: PCA doing PCA things, Sanders lights out, more |
DES MOINES - As the end of Spring Training approached and you started to see some of the names heading to minor league camp, all eyes shifted focus to AAA Iowa. Any time you have guys like Matt Mervis, Alexander Canario, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Owen Caissie hitting consecutive in a lineup, it has the makings of something special which the Cubs are hoping to see.
Through their first five games of the Minor League season, Iowa has been locked in nothing but close contests. Four of those games were decided by two runs or less, with three coming as extra-inning games. Thursday had the looks of that again, only to have the offense step up late. Backed by three hits from PCA and a strong pitching performance from Tommy Pannone, the Cubs got back in the win column as they took down the Mud Hens 5-1. Pannone has been nothing short of impressive through two starts as he went 5 2/3 on Thursday, scattering two hits and striking out seven. That makes 10 2/3 scoreless frames to begin the season with 12 strikeouts to counteract that. It didn't take long for Iowa to grab the lead as they jumped out in front early and never looked back. After coming through with several big hits across the first five games, PCA finally got into his first homer of the season as he delivered a leadoff homer in the bottom of the first to make things 1-0. Leadoff homer from PCA🚀 pic.twitter.com/kE6d84XRcX It was a lead the Cubs held for quite a while, only to have Curt Casali add a sacrifice fly in the fourth to double the lead. No one knew at that time, but his sacrifice fly would go down as the game-winning RBI as Pannone and company continued to deal. Holding their 2-0 lead in the sixth, Pannone retired the first two men he faced before being removed in favor of Cam Sanders. Like Pannone, Sanders has yet to allow an earned run this season, as he struck out three in just over an inning of work. Looking to add on late, PCA was in the middle of the action again as his leadoff single against Wilmer Flores put a runner on base. He then used his legs to steal second before scoring on a passed ball to make things 3-0. The Cubs hope to see more of those moments leading to success in the bigs. As if a 3-0 lead wasn't good enough at this point, the relentless Cubs offense got right back to work in the bottom half of the eighth as they looked to add on. Walks to Luis Vazquez and BJ Murray Jr. started things off, as the Cubs offense was threatening again with no outs. Although a double play looked to kill what was a potential rally, patience was the key to the Cubs in this inning, with Casali drawing another walk to put runners on the corners. That brought PCA back to the plate, and as he had done so often before, he came through with a massive RBI double for his third hit of the game to give the Cubs a 4-0 lead. Chicago ended up adding a second run on that play off an error as they took a 5-0 lead into the ninth. The legend of PCA grows, pt. 2 -- Shades of el Mago, postseason 2016. pic.twitter.com/CApmiTMs1O PCA what do you say? You just stole home today! pic.twitter.com/Y45xXvlkDV Colten Brewer was looking to seal the deal and keep the shutout intact. Unfortunately, Brewer did lose the shutout as Jace Jung took him deep for the solo shot, but that was it for Toledo, as the Cubs picked up another home win 5-1. If the Cubs' pitching can keep this up all season, they will win a lot of games. They combined to walk one and strike out 12 hitters in the game, all while allowing just four hits. Nasty pitch by Cam Sanders here. Nasty bordering on brutal. pic.twitter.com/S4cwuiZTp6 Offensively, it was PCA or bust, as he had three of the team's five hits and two RBIs. Casali had the only other RBI, with Mervis and Canario adding the other two hits. W secured ✅ pic.twitter.com/A4dhYBTdHf
