Cubs Minor League News: Canario smacks 7th homer, Cassie's first homer with Pelicans, more |
It was nice to have a full slate of minor league games on Thursday as all seven teams were in action. However, it was a rough night on the diamond from top to bottom as the Cubs struggled to walk away with wins in their worst showing of the week.
In total, the organization posted a 1-6 record, with only the DSL Cubs coming away with a win. Regardless of that record, it was great to see everyone on the diamond again, as COVID had prevented a particular organization from playing baseball in over a week.
The Cubs continued their back-and-forth affair with the Indians this week, dropping game three 6-2. Making a rare start was Ryan Kellogg, who didn't pitch terribly, but still needs to improve. The right-hander allowed four runs on 10 hits in five innings of work, but when your offense struggled to score, it makes the final line look worse. Two of those four runs off him came in the first inning when Jared Oliva went deep for just the second time this season to put the Indians up 2-0. Two innings later, Indianapolis extended their lead to 3-0, with Hunter Owen connecting for an RBI double, putting the Indians up big early. Not ready to go down without a fight, the Cubs clawed back in the top of the fourth using a Jared Young RBI triple to get on the board before Trent Giambrone added an RBI groundout to pull within 3-2. That would be as close as the Cubs would get as Diego Castillo got one of those runs back with an RBI double in the bottom of the fourth before Bligh Madris added two RBIs late in the game to cap off the 6-2 win. Not only were runs hard to come by, but so were hits, with the Cubs connecting for just four hits in the loss. Young was responsible for two of those hits, with Zach Davis and Nick Martini grabbing the rest. Indy took game three tonight. pic.twitter.com/2AwIoyULky
No team has gone through more than Tennessee has gone this past week as they finally returned to the diamond. You could tell there was a ton of rust for all the players as the Trash Pandas made quick work of them 9-0. Javier Assad got the start and went just 3 2/3 innings as he was charged with eight runs on seven hits. His line isn't as bad as it looked, considering the defense did him no favors as he was charged with only four earned runs. Things were not that bad early with Ray-Patrick Didder connecting for his fifth homer of the season in the first before an error gave the Trash Pandas a 2-0 lead. That would be the last of the runs until the fourth as Assad was able to settle in briefly to keep his team close. It was in the fourth when everything went south as Rocket City pushed across six runs in that inning to jump in front 8-0. Livan Soto opened the scoring with an RBI single to extend the lead to 3-0 before the Luis Aviles RBI triple put the Trash Pandas up 5-0. Didder added to his home with an RBI single making things 6-0 before David MacKinnon left the yard for the 12th time this season, putting Tennessee in a massive 8-0 hole. The rest of the game saw limited offense as Mitch Nay connected for a solo shot in the seventh for the final run in a rough 9-0 loss. The Smokies had chances to score with seven hits, but Christopher Morel led the way with three hits as he continues his recent surge at the plate. Carlos Sepulveda, Brennen Davis, Greyson Byrd, and Edwin FIguera all had hits in the loss.
After being held scoreless through five innings, the South Bend offense came to life late as they tried to make a game out of things. Unfortunately, the Captains used a big ninth inning to put any hopes of a comeback to rest to top the Cubs 8-5. Bailey Horn, who was acquired in the Ryan Tepera deal, made his first start with South Bend. Horn has been up and down since joining the Cubs, and in 2 2/3 innings on the mound, he was charged with three earned runs on four hits as his start didn't go as planned. All three runs that Horn allowed came on homers, with Jose Tena and Jhonkensy Noel going yard in the first while Joe Naranjo went deep in the second to build an early 3-0 lead. Homers continued to be the theme in the fifth inning, with Noel going deep for the second time in three plate appearances to push the Captains lead to 4-0. It took seven innings for the Cubs offense to get going, but they came out strong in the seventh and tied things up in the process. Edmond Americaan got the scoring started with an RBI single before Yohendrick Pinango followed up with a Two-run single to pull within 4-3. Later in the inning, it was Tyler Durna's turn to cash in as his RBI double knotted things up 4-4. Still tied in the ninth, the Captains picked a perfect time to start hitting the ball again as Quentin Holmes put them back in front with an RBI triple. The big blow came from Tena, who brought home the winning runs with his RBI single before a wild pitch gave the Captains an 8-4 lead late. The Cubs managed to pick up a run in the bottom of the ninth off the Alexander Canario homer, but that was it in an 8-5 loss. ?High-A South Bend? Bryce Windham is quietly having an excellent season for South Bend as he raised his average to .295 following a three-hit night. Luis Vazquez and Durna added multiple hits with Pinango, Canario, Americaan and Liam Spence all grabbing hits. Alexander Canario's ninth-inning blast wasn't enough, as the Cubs drop their third straight to Lake County after going into the ninth tied up. pic.twitter.com/1zNDkiuMEn
After winning the first two games of their series, the Hillcats cooled off the Pelicans topping them 7-3. Manuel Espinoza did his best to keep the game close, as he allowed four runs, three of them earned in 4 2/3 innings. The right-hander walked two and struck out seven as his stuff was very good. His stuff was excellent early as both teams were scoreless through three until Korey Holland put Lynchburg in front 1-0 in the fourth off an RBI single. Fortunately for Myrtle Beach, Owen Caissie made sure that lead didn't last long, belting his first Low-A homer in the bottom of the fourth to pull even 1-1. ?Low-A Myrtle Beach? One inning later saw the Lynchburg bats come to life as they not only took the lead, but put the game away for good. With Petey Halpin getting the scoring started with an RBI triple, Angel Martinez delivered the game-winning hit as his two-run homer had the Pelicans trailing 4-1 at that point. Add in the homer by Alexfri Planes in the sixth, and Lynchburg was in control 5-1. Despite being in control, the Hillcats didn't make things easy on themselves as an error followed by the Jonathan Sierra RBI groundout pushed across two runs to pull the Pelicans within 5-3 after six. That would be as close as Myrtle Beach would get with Halpin and Martinez bringing home two runs in the top of the ninth to pick up the 7-3 win. The Pelicans recorded six hits in the win, with Jordan Nwogu leading the way with two. Caissie, Kevin Made, Peter Matt, and Ethan Hearn had the rest, with Christian Franklin going 0-4 with three punchouts in the loss. Owen Caissie homered. That was cool. #MBPelicans pic.twitter.com/YjKzPayYE7
After beating the Rockies twice not that long ago, the ACL Rockies showed the Cubs exactly why they are the best team in the ACL, topping the Cubs 11-5. Ironically, the Cubs grabbed the lead first with Ezequiel Pagan and James Triantos hitting solo shots in the first for the quick 2-0 lead. That lead didn't last long as the Rockies pushed across four runs the next two innings, including three RBI singles from Zach Kokoska, Nic Kent, and Cole Zabowski in the second to build a 4-2 lead through three. Following a wild pitch in the top of the fifth that saw the Rockies lead 5-2, Carlos Morfa connected for his first homer of the season to pull the Cubs within 5-3. One inning later saw another wild pitch mixed with the Adael Amador double extend the lead to 7-3. Felix Stevens kept things close by hitting the Cubs' fourth homer as the Cubs pulled within 7-5 after six. Unfortunately, that would be as close as they would get as the Rockies pushed home four runs in the ninth to seal the win. Both Stevens and Pagan not only homered, but they led the offense with two hits in the loss. Triantos, Miguel Fabrizio, and Morfa rounded out the hits, with Kevin Alcantara and Ronnier Quintero combining for five strikeouts on the day.
Even with the losses piling up in the DSL, it is good to see the Cubs starting to score. Now it is up to the pitching to hold their end of the bargain. Just like in the ACL, it was the Cubs striking first as Frank Hernandez picked up an RBI single in the first to give the Cubs a 1-0 lead. Nathanael Rodriguez answered with a single of his own to tie things up in the second, only to see Dilan Granadillo give the Cubs a 3-1 lead in the third with an RBI double. From that moment forward, it was all Rays, with Jhonny Pagan tying things up with an RBI double in the fourth before the Rays took an 8-3 lead in the fifth courtesy of the five-run frame. Wilmer De La Cruz singled home the go-ahead runs, but the Jhonny Piron homer was the big blow that pushed across the winning runs. In the sixth, the Cubs remained within striking distance, using a Cristian Hernandez RBI fielder's choice mixed with a wild pitch to pull within 8-5 before Frank Hernandez added a second RBI to make things 8-6. The Rays had other ideas in mind as they not only finished the game with seven unanswered runs, but six of them came in the ninth as they finished off the Cubs 15-6. The Cubs managed just six hits coming from six different players as no one could ever get in a groove. Esmarly Tatis, Cristian Hernandez, Frank Hernandez, Granadillo, LIzardo Ruiz, and Daniel Ferreira had the hits with Frank Hernandez and Granadillo driving in two runs each.
We saved the best for last as the DSL Red Cubs came away with the lone win using extra innings to get it done. Most of the scoring didn't happen until late in the game, with Cristian More picking up an RBI single in the third along with the Brahman Silva double in the bottom half of the inning to remain tied 1-1. After the Cubs cashed in off a wild pitch in the top of the sixth to take a 2-1 lead, the Phillies answered with three runs in the bottom of the sixth with an error and a wild pitch helping to ignite the Phillies offense. Down but not out, Pedro Ramirez pulled the Cubs within one in the seventh off his RBI single before the More RBI groundout tied things up 4-4. Once again, the Cubs helped the Phillies out in the bottom half of the seventh as another wild pitch put them back in front before Kliubert Avila added an RBI single to extend the lead 6-4. Not backing away from the challenge at hand, another error led to the Cubs fifth run of the game before Andrews Cruz tied things up 6-6 with an RBI single in the eighth. That is where things would stand after nine innings as the teams moved to extras. The Cubs found themselves striking first in the extra frame, with Samuel Duarte picking up the go-ahead RBI single in the 10th. Unfortunately, Erick Brito had the answer as he too singled in the 10th to tie things up 7-7 and sent the game into the 11th. That is when the Cubs officially put the game away as they scored nearly as many runs in that inning as they did the entire game. Bases loaded walks to Moises Ballesteros, and Brayan Altuve gave the Cubs the lead for good, but the bases-loaded double by Starlin Mateo proved to be the difference, with the Cubs leading 12-7. That double was especially critical when you consider that Jackie Pertuz added a two-run single of his own in the bottom of the inning, but all is well that ends well, and the Cubs won 12-9. With three hits, Ramirez brings his season average to .389 and has a legitimate shot at reaching .400 for the season. Geuri Lubo and Cruz joined him with three-hit games as they combined for nine of the teams 13 hits. More added two RBIs with his hit joining Ballesteros, Duarte, and Mateo.INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS 6 – IOWA CUBS 2
ROCKET CITY TRASH PANDAS 9 – TENNESSEE SMOKIES 0
LAKE COUNTY CAPTAINS 8 – SOUTH BEND CUBS 5
OF Alexander Canario homers (7) on a fly ball to left center field ??pic.twitter.com/8vk5NL9BjV
LYNCHBURG HILLCATS 7 – MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 3
OF Owen Caissie homers (1) on a line drive to right center field ??
His 1st home run since being assigned to Myrtle Beach!@owen_caissie pic.twitter.com/WtQbPoIsL6
ACL ROCKIES 11 – ACL CUBS 5
DSL RAYS 15 – DSL CUBS BLUE 6
DSL CUBS RED 12 – DSL PHILLIES 9 (11 innings)
