Down on Cubs Farm: Russell homers, Pels and Ems deliver walk-offs, SB rallies, more |
Sunday may have been one of the most exciting days on the farm as the Cubs managed to go 4-1 in league play. It wasn’t the record that stood out, but instead, the way things went down as a pair of walk-off wins and a third extra-inning game stole the show.
IOWA CUBS 5 – Salt Lake City Bees 2: Matt Swarmer is suddenly putting together a nice string of starts as he delivered another six-plus inning outing of 2ER to lift the Cubs to a 5-2 win. Swarmer is now 8-10 on the season while the Cubs have moved to 64-55. It took four innings for any scoring to take place, but it was the Cubs striking first and never looking back. Johnny Field put the Cubs in front for good with a sharp single to left before Taylor Davis added an RBI groundout for a 2-0 lead. That lead doubled to 4-0 in the fifth when a pair of passed balls allowed to runs to score with Iowa now in full control. Moving to seventh with the score still 4-0, it was the Bees cutting into the lead as Roberto Pena put an end to the shutout bid with an RBI single to make it a 4-1 game. Erick Salcedo added a sacrifice fly later that frame making it a 4-2 game. Addison Russell provided the final run of the game in the bottom of the seventh inning as he went deep for his fifth homer of the year to give the Cubs a 5-2 win. Jim Adduci and Russell had the best days at the plate, as they picked up a pair of hits each in the win. Mark Zagunis, Donnie Dewees and Field tallied the teams final three hits with Davis going 0-4 despite that RBI. Wyatt Short continues to set the tone since his promotion to AAA, as he tossed 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief before Danny Hultzen sealed the deal in the ninth for his second save. Quality outing from the @EMCInsurance Player of the Game ?? pic.twitter.com/f0hXgC9tpr Danny Hultzen sets the Bees down in order in the ninth for his second save of the year! pic.twitter.com/0YPyiROgQx TENNESSEE SMOKIES 7 – Biloxi Shuckers 11 (10 innings): The hard-luck losses continue for the Smokies as the five-run 10th proved to be enough for the Shuckers in an 11-7 win sending the Smokies to 49-70 for the year. Erick Leal suffered the toughest of fates in the loss, however, as he tossed five innings of one un-earned ball before the bullpen imploded late to hand him a no-decision. Tied 1-1 heading to the bottom of the fifth, it was Jared Young giving the Smokies their first lead of the night as his sacrifice fly made things 2-1 in favor of Tennessee. That lead was short-lived, however, as the Shuckers busted out their bats in the sixth. With a passed ball tying things up 2-2, Biloxi picked up RBI’s from Joantgel Segovia and Cooper Hummel before an error put the Shuckers up 5-2. Tennessee closed within 5-4 in the bottom of the sixth when Charcer Burks delivered an RBI double ahead of the Connor Myers sacrifice fly. Now down 6-4 in the bottom of the eighth, the Smokies were able to tie the game up with some good fortunes as a wild pitch and throwing error allowed both Nico Hoerner and Vimael Machin to come home tying the game up 6-6 and forcing extra innings. It was in the extra frame when Biloxi flexed their muscles as a bases-loaded Cooper Hummel walk proved to be the winning run with the Shuckers adding five runs in that frame to make things 11-6. Hoerner added an RBI groundout in the bottom of the 10th to cut things to 11-7, but that was as close as they would get. For the first time in a while, Hoerner picked up a multi-hit game as he paced the offense from the leadoff spot going 3-6 with that RBI. Jhonny Pereda added a pair of hits to join Hoerner in the multi-hit category while three other Smokies picked up the remaining three hits. Machin managed to go 1-4 but did pick up a pair of walks in the loss. Oscar De La Cruz and Jake Stinnett were the lone relievers not to allow a run combining to give Tennessee two scoreless frames. We're onto Jacksonville. https://t.co/95JRXbWyZj MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 1 – Wilmington Blue Rocks 0 (10 Innings): It was another extra-inning game that proved to be exciting as this one was dominated by pitching. After both teams posted bagels through nine innings, the Pelicans managed to pick up one run in the 10th to walk off the Blue Rocks 1-0 and improve to 46-71. Alexander Vargas certainly set the tone in this one, tossing six shutout innings allowing five hits and three strikeouts in a no-decision effort. Tyler Peyton followed that up with a pair of scoreless innings of his own before Manuel Rodriguez tossed the final two innings to earn the win in relief. Neither team mounted much offense throughout with both sides failing to cash in scoring chances early in the game. After the Pelicans wasted their best opportunity in the sixth, many felt like it wasn’t going to be their night on the diamond. That all changed as we headed to extras with Wladimir Galindo ripping the game-winning single to walk off Wilmington 1-0. ??HIGHLIGHT?? The Pelicans managed just five hits in the game with Grant Fennell, Cam Balego, Miguel Amaya, Delvin Zinn and Galindo each recording one. Zac Taylor continues to rise through the system as he is now playing for his third organization this season going 0-3 with a pair of strikeouts on the night. Walk 'em off, take 'em off! @galindowladi38 is your @panerabread Bread Winner of the Game ?? pic.twitter.com/qbUwGRz4u7 SOUTH BEND CUBS 8 – Fort Wayne Tin Caps 3: Late offense was the name of the game for South Bend as they pushed across seven runs in their final three frames to pick up another 8-3 win and improve to 64-53 for the year. Peyton Remy got the start in this one and lasted just 4 1/3 innings allowing all 3ER before the bullpen was lights out over the final 4 2/3. South Bend managed to strike first in the first inning when Nelson Maldonado ripped an RBI single for the early 1-0 lead. That score held up until the fourth inning when Justin Lopez picked up his 13th double to tie the game up 1-1. One inning later saw the Tin Caps steal the lead as a pair of stolen bases mixed with a throwing error suddenly had Fort Wayne in front 3-1. Looking for some late game magic, the Cubs were able to draw even 3-3 in the sixth as both Fidel Mejia and Marcus Mastrobuoni tallied RBI singles in their half of an inning. The very next inning saw the Cubs take the lead for good as their offense was now in full go mode. With the bases juiced, Nelson Velazquez smoked a double down the left field line to clear the bases with the Cubs back in front 6-3. Yonathan Perlaza added a pair of RBIs’ in the eight with his first homer of the season as those were the final runs in the Cubs 8-3 win. Six of the nine Cubs in the lineup recorded hits with each of them having a multi-hit night with two hits each. Darius Hill, Maldonado, Velazquez, Mejia, Mastrobuoni, and Perlaza were the six players swinging a hot bat in the win. Following Remy on the mound, South Bend received 1 2/3 scoreless frames from Ivan Medina before Eugenio Palma tossed the final three frames for the win. Figured we might as well hop on the comeback win train too. @Cubs ??#FlyTheW pic.twitter.com/X4Z1cVEQtj
Wladimir Galindo provided some early fireworks tonight with this walk-off single!!! ??????
???: @zachbigs pic.twitter.com/CJiWMmKqKx
EUGENE EMERALDS 3 – Vancouver Canadians 2: As the second half plays on, Eugene continues to play inspired ball despite a plethora of roster turnover the past few weeks. Their efforts continued Sunday as the Emeralds moved to 26-29 on the season following a 3-2 walk-off win. This year's fourth-round pick Chris Clarke got the start, setting the tone with three scoreless frames before the pen took over. Clarke now has a 1.38 ERA for the year.
After Clarke departed, it was Alex Whitney on the hill as he quickly yielded two runs in the fourth to put his team in a 2-0 hole. Those would be the only two runs the Canadians scored in the game as Whitney recovered nicely to strike out six in four innings. That two-run deficit didn’t last long as the Emeralds were able to tie things up in the fifth courtesy of both Josue Huma and Fernando Kelli to make things a 2-2 game.
With the score still knotted 2-2 and the Emeralds coming to bat in the ninth it was now or never to finish things off in regulation. Caleb Knight wasted no time finishing things off his single brought home Pedro Martinez to give the Cubs the 3-2 walk-off win. Knight was one of six players to record a hit in the win joining Kelli, Martinez, Edmond Americaan, Huma and Jacob Olson. Hunter Bigge earned the win lowering his ERA to 1.20.
In the final Copa game of the season, los Monarcas de Eugene and @CalebKnight13 walked it off tonight in the bottom of the 9th against Vancouver. pic.twitter.com/0D0XDXGpjs
— Eugene Emeralds (@EugeneEmeralds) August 12, 2019
A picture says a thousand words. #GoEms | #ItAllStartsHere pic.twitter.com/kIWmnQCHK4
— Eugene Emeralds (@EugeneEmeralds) August 12, 2019
