Cubs Minor League News: Davis crushes his eighth homer, Maldonaldo and Aliendo with dinger |
For the most part, this week has been a big success for the Cubs farm system as they have won plenty of games. Many of those games have resulted in shutout wins which is always something you want to hear from an organization desperate for pitching help. Sunday saw the Cubs put an end to the week in .500 fashion, going 2-2 on Sunday as they continue to play better than earlier in the season.
Although Iowa dropped the series finale to Toledo, they played well enough to win the game, falling 3-0. Adrian Sampson continues to be one of the Cubs more trusted starters this season, as the right went five innings, allowing three runs on six hits. He gave way to a trio of bullpen arms, including Manuel Rodriguez and Trevor Megill, who struck out five hitters across 2 1/3. Outside of the first inning, and Sampson pitched well as he surrendered a solo homer to Willi Castro and a Yariel Gonzalez RBI groundout to put the Cubs in a 2-0 hole. Sampson did come out to start the sixth, but was unable to finish it as he was charged with his third earned run off an Aderlin Rodriguez RBI double. That 3-0 lead was too much for the Cubs to overcome as they managed just six hits, but none resulted in an RBI. Matt Duffy appears ready to come off the IL when eligible as he led the way with two hits and is hitting .308 during his rehab stint. In his fourth major league rehab game with us tonight against Toledo, Matt Duffy went 2-for-3 including this double. He is your @EMCInsurance Player of the Game. pic.twitter.com/mD4Xu7kRGm Alfonso Rivas, Trayce Thompson, Nick Martini, and Andrew Romine rounded out the rest of the hits for Iowa. David Bote suffered an 0-3 day at the plate and is still searching for his first hit on his rehab stint. Toledo takes the series with a 3-0 win. pic.twitter.com/UiB3B4q2I0
Record aside in which the Smokies are sitting at 27-35, this was one of the best series Tennessee played all year as they capped it off by doubling up the Braves 6-3. Dakota Chalmers surrendered two runs in 4 2/3 innings on the mound, as Juan Gamez earned the win in relief to improve to 3-0 on the season. Chalmers gave the Smokies a good outing, but he had his team playing from behind early on. Not only did he surrender a Shea Langeliers double in the first, but surrendered a Jalen Miller solo homer in the fifth to put the Smokies in a 2-0 hole. Levi Jordan erased that deficit in the bottom of the fifth as he connected for his third homer of the season to tie things up 2-2. Langeliers put the Braves back in front 3-2 in the sixth with his second RBI hit of the game, only to see Brennen Davis tie things up in the bottom half with his eighth homer of the season. With the game still tied in the seventh, Nelson Maldonado came through with the game-winning hit as his three-run shot proved to be the difference in the 6-3 Smokies win. FINAL: M-Braves 3, Smokies 6. Nelson Maldonado's 406 foot home run gave the Smokies the WIN today! #SmokiesBaseball #GoSmokies pic.twitter.com/52Tpud9Odt Maldonado entered the game for Christopher Morel, and went 2-3 with those three RBIs. Tim Susnara and Carlos Sepulveda added multi-hit games, with Davis, Jordan, Jared Young, and Darius Hill collecting hits.
After winning four straight against Cedar Rapids, the Kernels took their frustration out on Sunday using an eight-run inning to top the Cubs 13-3. Max Bain got the start and labored through three innings of work, but it was Tyler Suellentrop who really struggled. Not only did he allow eight runs, but six runs were earned as he didn't record a single out. That was more than enough for Ben Gross, who improved to 4-0 after striking out eight hitters in 5 1/3 innings of relief work. The Kernels had things rolling right from the start using a wild pitch to grab a 1-0 lead and never looked back. Wander Javier added a first-inning single to give them a 2-0 lead before Max Smith doubled in the second to put the Cubs in a 3-0 hole. South Bend wouldn't go away without a fight using a Grayson Byrd double to get on the board before Yonathan Perlaza made things 3-2 with a sacrifice fly. In the third, a Jair Camargo homer extended the lead to 4-2 only to see D.J. Artis homer for the second time this series to keep things close 4-3. That would be a close as the Cubs would get as the Kernel busted the game wide open in the fourth, pushing across eight runs to take a 12-3 lead. Edouard Julien had the big blow that inning with a grand slam, but command issues certainly didn't help. Not only was Carmargo hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, but DaShawn Kiersey and Michael Helman took bases-loaded walks to extend the lead to 11-3. A Gabriel Maciel force out put an end to the inning with the Cubs trailing 12-3. Cedar Rapids one more run later in the game off a Smith homer as they dominated South Bend 13-3. The Cubs collected seven hits in the loss, but Nelson Velazquez had the best day ending a lengthy slump with three hits. Ryan Reynolds joined, Byrd, Artis, and Perlaza to pick up the final hits. Newly acquired first basemen Bryce Ball went hitless in his South Bend debut.
The Pelicans capped off a successful series with Columbia, using some late-game offense to secure a 5-2 win. Richard Gallardo appears to have weathered a growing pain storm and is getting back to delivering great outings. Not only did he get through five innings, but he did so, allowing one run on two hits helping to set the tone of the game. After allowing an Austin Dennis homer in the third, Gallardo kept the Fireflies bats in check before Kevin Made bailed him out with an RBI single in the fifth to hand him a no-decision. Rubendy Jaquez put Columbia on top for the second time with a sixth-inning RBI double, before Pablo Aliendo delivered the game-winning RBI with a two-run shot in the bottom half of the sixth to give Myrtle Beach a 3-2 lead. We were down, then we weren't - thanks to @pabloaliendo14's go-ahead blast in the 6th. Looking for some late-game insurance, Jordan Nwogu connecting for a ground-rule double before coming home on the Ezequiel Pagan sacrifice fly as the Pelicans took a 5-2 lead into the eighth inning. That was more than enough for Gabriel Jaramillo to secure the two innings save as he lowered his ERA to 1.64 in the process. Aliendo continues to see the ball well, connecting for two hits to go with two RBIs as Made joined in with a multi-hit effort. Nwogu and Page added the remaining hits for the Pelicans as Yohendrick Pinango went hitless.TOLEDO MUD HENS 3 – IOWA CUBS 0
TENNESSEE SMOKIES 6 – MISSISSIPPI BRAVES 3
CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 13 – SOUTH BEND CUBS 3
MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 5 – COLUMBIA FIREFLIES 2
Crack of the Bat Play of the Game presented by @VinesPlumbingSC pic.twitter.com/mzbpe0EcgZ
