Cubs Minor League News: 5-1 record, Avelino impressive in I-Cubs loss, Trio homer for SB, |
The weekend is for winners. At least, that is the case for the Cubs farm system as they continue to go about their business with an impressive showing on the field. With seven teams in action, compiling seven games, the Cubs put together an outstanding showing going 5-1 with one game against each other that doesn't go against the wins and losses category.
When you look at how things are going at the major league level, winning baseball is fun to watch, and the minor leagues are becoming very fun to watch at this point. Hopefully, the system can keep this up to give fans something to look forward to in the future.
While most of the system played well, Iowa didn't as they were the lone team without a victory, getting hammered 13-1. Adrian Sampson was one of three pitchers and a position player used on Saturday as he allowed seven runs in five innings of work. Dakota Mekkes was the lone pitcher not to allow a run in what was an ugly day. One inning into the game, and the Cubs dug themselves a 4-0 hole with homers from Tucupita Marcano and Cole Tucker to get things started before a bases-loaded walk and hit by pitch extended that lead. In the second, a Bligh Madris homer brought home two more runs as the Indians raced out to a quick 6-0 lead after two. Home runs continued to be the theme for the Indians, with Michael Chavis getting into one in the fourth to push the lead to 7-0. Two innings later saw Joe Hudson rip an RBI double ahead of a Chris Sharpe two-run single as the Cubs were now in a 10-0 hole. Unlike the other night where Iowa was able to make things interesting, Nick Martini picked up an RBI single in the eighth to get the Cubs on the board, only to see the Indians push across three more in the ninth to win 13-1. The offense was hard to come by with just four hits as Abiatal Avelino led the way with two. Martini and Zach Davis collected the other two in an overall rough night. Not our night. pic.twitter.com/kZ5zbioJJM
Sometimes rain can be a good thing, and for the Smokies, that was exactly the case as they managed to top Montgomery 5-2 in a weather-shortened win. With Javier Assad getting a turn on the hill, the right-hander delivered, only allowing one unearned run in six innings to set the tone in the win. That run came in the fourth inning when Ruben Cardenas picked up a sacrifice fly to give the Biscuits a 1-0 lead. That run was courtesy of a Smokies error earlier in that inning. Still, down a run in the seventh, Christopher Morel connected for an RBI single, helping to tie things up 1-1. One inning later saw the Smokies offense come to life as they managed to use their late-game offense to put the game away. It all started with a Delvin Zinn fielders' choice to give Tennessee the lead before a Jared Young single had them in front 3-1. Nelson Velazquez added to that lead with a two-run triple as he continues his hot start in AA. Needing some late offense, Xavier Edwards connected for an RBI double in the bottom of the eighth to pull within 5-2, but mother nature wouldn't let them get closer as the Smokies came away with the win. Young paced the offense with another multi-hit game, as Tennessee managed just six hits in the win. Morel, Velazquez, Chase Strumpf, and Tyler Payne rounded out the rest of the hits in the victory, with Brennen Davis getting the day off.
After having their games suspended 3-3 in the seventh, the Cubs and Chiefs picked up their game before playing their regularly scheduled contest. On the strength of a five-run eighth inning, the Cubs were able to put the Chiefs away, winning 8-3. A bases-loaded walk to Bryce Windham started that rally before a Harrison Wenson double busted the game open 6-3. Add in an Edmond Americaan sacrifice fly, and the Scott McKeon sacrifice fly, and the Cubs picked up an 8-3 win.INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS 13 – IOWA CUBS 1
TENNESSEE SMOKIES 5 – MONTGOMERY BISCUITS 2
SOUTH BEND CUBS 8 – PEORIA CHIEFS 3 (CONTINUATION OF FRIDAY)
SOUTH BEND CUBS 10 – PEORIA CHIEFS 6
The Cubs looked to technically make it two for two on Saturday as they took to the field for a second game. This time the Cubs built a big early lead and then held off a Chiefs rally to secure the win. Chris Clarke continues to go about his business as a starter, delivering 4 2/3 innings of three-run ball to go with seven strikeouts. He gave way to a bullpen that was good outside three unearned runs off Burl Carraway.
After the Leandro Cedeno homer had the Chiefs up 1-0 in the second, South Bend responded with three runs courtesy of a Dean Nevarez single and the Josue Huma two-run blast to take a 3-1 lead. One inning later saw the Chiefs pull even again as Chandler Redmond and Matt Koperniak connected for RBI singles keeping the Chiefs in it 3-3.
That would be all the offense Peoria would have for quite a while as the Cubs took the lead for good in the bottom of the third-off solo shots by Alexander Canario and Bryce Ball to take a 5-3 lead. A Nevarez single in the sixth extended the lead to 6-3 before they busted things open in the seventh. Looking to put the Chiefs away, the Cubs used a four-run seventh inning to bury them as Jake Slaughter, Windham and Nevarez had RBI singles pushing the lead to 9-3. D.J. Artis capped off that inning with an RBI force out as the Cubs led 10-3.
The Chiefs were not going to go away quietly, as they benefited from sloppy defense and command issues from Carraway on the mound. That led to a bases-loaded walk and hit by pitch ahead of an Aaron Antonini single to pull within 10-6. Fortunately for the Cubs, that would be as close as they would get as South Bend finished them off for the win.
The bottom of the lineup did the most damage combining for 10 hits and seven RBIs. Wyndham and Nevarez had three hits, but Nevarez led the way with three RBIs while Wyndham had one. Slaughter and Huma picked up two hits with three combined RBIs, while Canario, Ball, and Tyler Durna had the remaining hits in the win.
MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 10 – COLUMBIA FIREFLIES 8
After being one of the worst teams in the system in 2019, the Pelicans are rolling after picking up a 10-8-win Saturday. This marked their season-high fifth consecutive win as they move within one game of .500. Starter DavidJohn Herz was on the mound, and despite allowing three runs in 4 1/3 innings, continues to pitch well. He walked two and added eight more strikeouts to his team lead while his ERA sits at 3.78 for the year.
Herz didn't have to be at his best either, as the Pelicans treated him to plenty of early offense, including a six-run first inning to set the tone. Surprisingly, all six of those runs came on singles, with Pablo Aliendo and Ed Howard picking up one-run singles while Yohendrick Pinango and Luis Verdugo added a pair of two-run singles for the early 6-0 lead.
The Pelicans continued to build off that lead in the fourth, with Jordan Nwogu and Aliendo adding a pair of RBI singles yet again to stretch the lead to 8-0. In the fifth, the Fireflies started to make their comeback as a pair of wild pitches mixed with the Gage Hughes single and Jose Marquez double saw them cut the deficit in half 8-4.
Three innings later, the Pelicans finally put things away, with Jacob Wetzel coming through with the game-winning RBI single to put Myrtle Beach in front 9-4. Pinango added a huge insurance run with a single of his own later in that inning as the Pelicans held a 10-4 lead. For the second time in the game, Columbia was able to cut the deficit in half in the eighth using a Herard Gonzalez double and Saul Garza groundout to pull within 10-7. Jean Ramirez added an RBI single in the ninth to pull within 10-8, but that was as close as they would get.
Nwogu was one of four hitters to record multiple hits as he led the offense with three to raise his average to .236. Alien, Verdugo, and Pinango added the rest of the multi-hit efforts, with Verdugo and Aliendo knocking home two runners and Pinango three. Howard, Kevin Made, and Wetzel recorded the remaining hits.
ACL CUBS 7 – ACL ATHLETICS 6 (10 innings)
While things may not always be easy, the Cubs continue to win games in Arizona, picking up a walk-off win against the A's to end another week of play. Luis Rodriguez had a great day on the mound, giving the Cubs four shutout innings of one-hit ball to lower his ERA to 1.10 on the season. He did his part while the offense took care of him in the early going.
That all started in the second inning when the big-man Felix Stevens connected for his third homer of the season, putting the Cubs up 2-0. Two innings later, Luis Verdugo added to that lead as his RBI single had the Cubs rolling 3-0 after four. In the fifth, Luis Rodriguez was pulled, and no one was happier to see that than the A's.
Immediately following that pitching change, the Athletics wasted no time tying the game as a pair of sacrifice flies from Jorge Romero and Wilson Alvarez helped get things going along with a wild pitch. One inning later, it was another sacrifice fly, this time off the bat of Jose Bonilla, and just like that, the Cubs were down 4-3 after opening the game with a 3-0 lead.
Down, but not out, Reggie Preciado would make sure his teams wouldn't let that get to them as his ground-rule RBI double brought things back to even and helped send the game into extras. Things were not looking good for the Cubs after the top of the 10th as an error mixed with yet another Alvarez sacrifice fly had the Cubs down 6-4 as they were coming to bat.
Like all good teams do, the Cubs found a way to win, which started with Stevens and his RBI single to pull them within 6-5. Following a pair of walks to load the bases, Yeison Santana came through with his biggest hit as a pro picking up the walk-off single to give the Cubs a 7-6 win. The Cubs had plenty of hits to go around as they tallied 13 as a team. Stevens, Santana, Preciado, and Kevin Alcantara all had multi-hit efforts in the win. Ismael Mena and Bradlee Beesley were the lone starters without a hit.
DSL CUBS BLUE 7 – DSL CUBS RED 6 (10 Innings)
Just like in the ACL, the DSL Cubs needed extra innings to secure a win as both Cubs teams faced off once again. A pitcher's duel early, turned into an offensive show late as Blue ended the week with a couple of nice wins to gain some confidence.
After Jose Herrera singled home the game's first run in the bottom of the second, Blue answered in the third, with Raul Guzman adding an RBI single of his own to tie things up 1-1. That was short-lived, with Red retaking the lead off a wild pitch in the bottom of the third only to see blue tie things up in the fourth off a wild pitch.
With things still tied 2-2 in the sixth, Wilmer Bolivar benefitted from another error in the field as Red took a 3-2 lead. They extended their lead to 4-2 in the seventh, with another wild pitch helping their cause. Needing two runs in their final at-bat to extend the game, Blue had the bases loaded with no outs and had a chance to make things happen.
After Joanfran Rojas grounded into a double play to push across a run, Red was on the verge of getting out of things only to let Blue pull even and force extras with a wild pitch. In the extra frame, Cristian Hernandez picked a great time to hit his first homer of the season, going deep for a three-run shot to give Blue a 7-4 lead.
Not ready to go home quite yet, Herrera answered that homer with one of his own as Red was back to within one 7-6. That would be the final run of the game, however, as Anderson Suriel and Andrews Cruz went down after that homer to give Blue a much-needed 7-6 win. For Blue, Ezequiel Alvarez and Christian Hernandez led the way as they had two hits to go with the three-run Hernandez homer. Herrera's two hits and three RBIs led Red Red, with Suriel joining him with two hits.
