Cubs Minor League News: Ballesteros raking, Pinango and Wetzel homer, Hernandez hot, more |
Had it not been for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans bringing their bats to the party on Sunday, it would've been a winless day for the Cubs system as the Minor Leagues went 1-3.
Pair that with the Cubs getting walked off by the Boston Red Sox, and it wasn't a great day to be a Cubs fan when it comes to baseball. BUFFALO BISONS 2 - IOWA CUBS 0 Given the amount of injuries the Cubs have sustained this season, it's hard to believe that both the MLB team and AAA are having the success they are having. Even with this one being a loss, you had to like what you saw pitching-wise as the Cubs continued to put together strong pitching efforts. Dan Straily was recently signed by the Cubs and immediately took the ball on Sunday. While command was an issue, the right-hander still got through three innings, allowing two runs with only one earned run before handing things off to Riley Martin. Both of the Runs Straily allowed came in the fourth, with Steward Berroa knocking home the winning run with a single while the second run scored on a double play. One inning later, the skies opened as this was a 2-0 rain-shortened five-inning win. The rain won today. pic.twitter.com/Q1dltcEnhi ROCKET CITY TRASH PANDAS 6 - TENNESSEE SMOKIES 1 One day after watching Cade Horton dominate them on the mound, it was the Trash Pandas turn to return the favor as they held the Smokies scoreless until the ninth while their four-run fourth broke the game open. Connor Noland was coming off his best start in AA, only to get lit up for five runs in 3 2/3. With Chase Chaney giving Rocket City five scoreless frames of five strikeout ball, the early deficit the Smokies faced was too much for them to overcome. Arol Vera opened the scoring with an RBI single in the second, but the fourth inning put the game away. Nelson Rada started the four-run fourth with a two-RBI single before coming home on the Cole Fontenelle homer. Vera added his second RBI single in the sixth to extend the lead to 6-0, as it was a game of duces wild for the Trash Pandas early on. It took the Smokies nine innings to score, but with Christian Franklin ending the shutout with his RBI single, the Smokies can at least get to their next series with some confidence after a good week. Tennessee was held to five hits, and Moises Ballesteros led the way with two. We're back at home on Tuesday. | @zips3mincarwash QUAD CITIES RIVER BANDITS 8 - SOUTH BEND CUBS 2 You have to feel for the Cubs this week, as they gave the best team in the Midwest League all they could handle. However, the results were never there. The Cubs were tied 1-1 with Quad Cities until the sixth, when the River Bandits scored seven times across the next two innings to blow the game open. That took away from Tyler Schlaffer's fine start. He allowed just one run in four strong innings. He was able to match Shane Panzini, who also went four innings, allowing just one run in the process. The Cubs found themselves down almost as quickly as the game began, with Brett Squires starting things off with an RBI double in the first to put the River Bandits up 1-0. After taking a few innings to settle in, the Cubs' offense responded in the third, with Jonathan Long continuing his great week with an RBI single to tie things up 1-1. That was the only run for the Cubs for quite some time, but with their pitching standing tall, they managed to keep things tied 1-1 entering the sixth. In that inning, the River Bandits offense came to life and had the Cubs and their staff searching for answers. Jared Dickey started the four-run sixth with a solo homer to put the River Bandits back in front, while a pair of bases-loaded walks and a balk led to three more runs to make things 5-1. One inning later, the Quad Cities bats continued to do damage, with the Justin Johnson double making things 6-1 before the Jack Pineda single pushed that lead to 8-1. Yohendrick Pinango did manage to pick up a solo shot later in the game to make things 8-2, but the Cubs offense couldn't do much more as they fell to the River Bandits by that score. Long paced the offense with two of the team's five hits and had the best series of his season so far. Off to Michigan on Tuesday. pic.twitter.com/oLhLAbOK3o MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 12 - LYNCHBURG HILLCATS 8 While most of the Cubs system struggled to score runs on Sunday, the Pelicans didn't as they scored 12 runs to pick up the win. That was after the rest of the system scored a combined four runs as their offense has had a great week overall. Most of the Pelicans damage came in three innings which made up for a lackluster pitching performance from Alfredo Romero on down. The Pelicans wasted no time grabbing the lead as the Jacob Wetzel first-inning homer put them in front 3-0, and they never looked back. Lynchburg did manage to pull within 3-2 in the third, as the second-inning RBI single from Robert Lopez put them on the board, and an error added another run in the third. That was as close as they would get the rest of the way as the Pelicans next big inning came in the fourth when they pushed across four more runs to stretch their lead to 7-2. An error led to the first of those runs, but Leonel Espinoza and Cristian Hernandez collected RBI hits to drive in two additional runs. You also had the Christian Olivo sacrifice fly mixed in as the Pelicans offense was alive and kicking early. Not to be outdone, the Hillcats offense continued to battle back, with Lopez homering in the fourth to make things 7-3 before tacking on two more runs to pull within 7-5 in the sixth. All it took for the Pelicans to put this game out of reach was one big swing from Alfonsin Rosario, whose second homer of the weekend pushed across three more runs to put the Birds in front 10-5 late. Each team pushed across some more runs late, with Drew Bowser and Reggie Preciado adding solo homers to cap off the scoring for the Pelicans in a big win. The Pelicans had four players secure multi-hit games, with Cristian Hernandez, Frank Hernandez, Preciado, and Olivo grabbing those games. Myrtle Beach also had four homers, with Wetzel, Preciado, and Bowser all connecting for their first of the season. Birds win on Sunday afternoon!#MBPelicans | #YouHaveToSeeIt pic.twitter.com/hclAD1kXhz
Box Score: https://t.co/LLkp6I5vRB pic.twitter.com/7fHdptd0uM
