Cubs Minor League News: Perlaza raking, Hertz impressive, PCA smacks homer, more
Perlaza continues to rake

Cubs Minor League News: Perlaza raking, Hertz impressive, PCA smacks homer, more
by - Senior Writer - Sun Jul 30 10:30:17 GMT-04:00 2023

For the first time this week, the Cubs minor league system had a losing record overall, which is impressive when you think about it. With the DSL teams scheduled to be off until Monday, it does lighten the load a bit, as only five of the Cubs affiliates were in action instead of seven.

Overall, there was plenty of action to keep track of as you had some strong pitching in some games, some great offense in other games, and just overall poor play in a couple more games giving the fans a broad spectrum of games to keep track of. That led to an overall record of 2-3, as the Cubs have had one of their better weeks of play this season.

IOWA CUBS 13 - MEMPHIS REDBIRDS 9

This was a classic game of a team battling until the finish as the Cubs dug a massive early hole and had to climb out of it. They did so by scoring seven times in the final two innings, including four in the ninth to secure the 13-9 win. Iowa went with a bullpen day that saw the Cubs throw a plethora of arms, but two guys stood out the most in Keegan Thompson and Chris Clarke.

The duo combined to toss 3 1/3 scoreless frames with seven strikeouts as Thompson made his first appearance in over a month and looked like the Thompson of old. Iowa opened the scoring in the second as a pair of RBI singles from Yonathan Perlaza and Matt Mervis led to two runs, while a PJ Higgins sacrifice fly was mixed in to give the Cubs a 3-0 lead.

Memphis responded in their half of the third with a trio of RBI singles, including one from Tommy Edman and Masyn Wynn, as they rallied back to tie things up 3-3. After Nelson Velazquez put the Cubs up 4-3 with his single in the fourth, Memphis responded with two more in their half of the fourth as they took their first lead of the day, 5-4.

With one swing in the sixth, Higgins brought things back to even as he connected with his second homer since returning to the Cubs. Mervis would add his second RBI single later in the frame to put the Cubs back in front 6-5 as the back-and-forth affair continued. The big swing of the game came in the bottom of the seventh when Tres Barrera connected for the go-ahead Grand Slam to put Memphis in front 9-6.

The Cubs could have folded immediately after that, but credit their offense for battling back as the Perlaza homer pulled the Cubs within 9-7 before Jared Young tied things up with a single. Once the ninth inning rolled around, Iowa started to pull away as Perlaza came through with the game-winning two-run shot while David Bote added an RBI double. The Cubs also scored a run on a wild pitch to pick up a 13-9 win.

With 20 hits, there was plenty of offense to go around, but it was Perlaza having the best day picking up four hits and four RBIs. Edwin Rios and Mervis added three hits, with Young and Higgins delivering two.

TENNESSEE SMOKIES 7 - ROCKET CITY TRASH PANDAS 2

Looking to put an end to their two-game skid, the Smokies got an outstanding pitching performance from DJ Herz and the pen while a four-run seventh proved to be the deciding factor in their 7-2 win. Herz was dialed in from the start as he gave the Smokies nine impressive innings of one-run one-hit ball to lower his ERA to 3.97. He walked three and struck out nine and is starting to look like the 2021 version of himself.

Herz was backed by a Pete Crow-Armstrong homer in the third to give the Smokies a 1-0 lead, but that was the only run they would score for quite a while, as this was a pitching battle early. A costly error in the fifth saw Rocket City tie things up, as Herz was finished after that inning and left with a no-decision.

Still tied in the seventh, the Smokies offense finally came to life and broke the game wide open with a massive inning. Levi Jordan and Owen Caissie picked up RBI singles to make things 3-1, with Pablo Aliendo connecting for a huge RBI triple to extend that lead to 5-1. Jeremiah Jackson picked up a triple of his own to plate the final Rocket City run in the bottom of the eighth with a BJ Murray Jr single and Cole Roederer sacrifice fly, giving the Smokies the 7-2 win. Nearly every player in the lineup had a hit, but it was Weber and Murray Jr. leading the way with two.

PEORIA CHIEFS 7 - SOUTH BEND CUBS 2

With a series victory in hand, the Cubs tried to make it five straight only to fall to the Chiefs 7-2. A massive four-run frame from the Peoria offense aided that, but the Cubs offense struggled to get things done against the Peoria staff, as a trio of arms allowed just six hits in the game.

The same can't be said for Michael Arias, who was roughed up in his four innings. Despite striking out six, Arias also allowed six runs and gave up seven hits, as it wasn't his day on the mound. With a pair of wild pitches leading to a run in both the first and third innings, Arias found himself trailing 2-0 early before the Chiefs offense put things away in the fourth.

Jeremy Rivas opened the massive inning with a two-run single to double the Chiefs lead, while RBI doubles from Francisco Hernandez and Tyler Reichenborn put the Chiefs in front 6-0, and they wouldn't look back. Peoria would add another run on the Osvaldo Tovalino single in the seventh as the Cubs faced a 7-0 deficit.

It took the South Bend offense nine innings to score a run, but they managed to end the shutout during their final at-bat. Doubles from Moises Ballesteros and Felix Stevens led to those RBIs as the Cubs fell to South Bend 7-2. Ballesteros picked up another mult-hit game as Kevin Made joined him.

FREDERICKSBURG NATIONALS 12 - MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 2

This has been an excellent week for the Pelicans as they have not only taken the first four of the series but did so in blowout fashion. Saturday saw the Nationals return the favor as they scored 12 runs in two innings to blowout the Birds 12-2.

Drew Gray took the ball for Myrtle Beach as he continues to adjust to full-season pitching. Gray wasn't at his best as he allowed four runs in less than three innings for his worst start as a Pelican. After him, you had a bullpen that had some great moments but one that also allowed eight runs, as it was a long night for the Pelicans and their fans.

Not only did the pitching struggle, but so did the hitting, as the Nationals staff finally had a great showing on the mound. Luke Young set the tone with five strong innings of two-run ball before the bullpen took over and shut the Pelicans out the rest of the way.

With the score tied 0-0 entering the third, Fredericksburg took the lead on a bases-loaded walk as their offense was just getting started. That walk was followed by a Maxwell Romero double to make things 3-0, while the John McHenry single extended the lead to 4-0 before ending the inning with a 5-0 lead.

Looking to get something going in the game's middle stages, the Pelicans offense finally came through in the fifth as they tried to battle back from the dead. Parker Chavers provided all the offense in that inning as his two-run shot made things a 5-2 game.

However, that was it for the Pelican's offense, as the Nationals had one more massive seven-run frame to put the game on ice.

You had a bit of everything in that frame as a sacrifice fly from Leandro Emilani led to the first run, with Armando Cruz picking up a bases-loaded double to end the scoring in that frame. The Nationals also benefited from a bases-loaded walk and a pair of RBI singles from Sammy Infante and Romero as their seven-run frame capped off the scoring in the 12-2 win.

Miguel Pabon and Andy Garriola led the offense, with Pabon coming away with three hits and Garriola adding two. Chavers delivered both RBIs in the loss.

ACL ATHLETICS 19 - ACL CUBS 6

It was a rough night on the diamond for the ACL Cubs as the Athletics offense was alive and well. Using a nine-run inning will do that for you, but so will several other massive innings, as the Cubs had no answers for their offensive assault.

After taking a 2-0 lead in the first, it was all downhill for the Cubs as the Athletics opened the game with 19 unanswered runs, including the nine-run seventh inning that saw them take a 19-0 lead. You had an error lead to the first two runs in that inning, while a wild pitch and a balk led to two more. The Athletics also had a quartet of RBI singles from Angel Rivera, Nick Schwartz, Jacob Wilson, and Mario Gomez to deliver the other five runs in that inning.

Regarding the Cubs and their offense, all six runs came in one inning, which was the bottom of the eighth. A wild pitch aided the first run in that frame and opened the floodgates for the Cubs offense. That wild pitch was followed by Ke'Shun Collier's double to make things 19-3, with a Jose Escobar double making it 19-4.

The Cubs capped off their big inning with the Wally Soto RBI forceout and another RBI hit from Leonel Espinoza, but it wasn't nearly enough in the Cubs 19-6 loss.

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