Cubs Minor League News: Davis with nasty collision, Caissie homers, Wick pitches gem, more |
Unlike most of the season, where the Cub's minor league system has been tearing it up, this week was a struggle, and the losses piled up. That culminated with one of their worst overall showings on Sunday, which saw the organization post an 0-4 record.
Throw that in with the Cubs losing to the Marlins, and the Cubs went 0-5 overall to end the week. The only good news to take away from that is that every team, including the Chicago Cubs, is posting a .500 record or better, with all four minor league teams sitting above .500 at the moment.
For the most part, the Iowa offense has carried them this season, but even that isn't enough sometimes. The Cubs chose to go with a bullpen game, with Baily Horn and Tyler Duffey giving the Cubs four scoreless frames to start. Once Riley Thompson took over, things went south as the right-hander allowed five earned runs. With the arrival of Kyle Hendricks to the rotation, Thompson has moved to the bullpen, and the results have not been great. Columbus matched Iowa in terms of a bullpen game, but unlike the Cubs, Columbus took care of things all the until the final inning. Iowa not only opened the scoring with a Christopher Morel single in the first, but Brennen Davis added an RBI groundout in the second to push the lead to 2-0. That score held until the fifth inning when Columbus scored six runs to take the 6-2 lead. The first of those runs came from Richie Palacious, who used an RBI double to put Columbus on the board. However, Zack Collins delivered the big blow as his Grand Slam busted the game wide open with the Cubs now trailing by four. Morel with a rocket off the wall, but hit it so hard that Brennen had to hold up and then things got ugly. Walked off alright but not what you want to see. pic.twitter.com/JQj89i5xwM Columbus continued to build on their lead, including another Bo Naylor homer to take a 9-2 lead into the ninth. In that ninth inning, the Cubs tried to mount their comeback with Jake Slaughter connecting for a three-run shot. For Slaughter, that homer was the sixth of the season for him, but he also has homered in four straight games to provide the lone bright spot in the 9-5 loss. Slaughter led the way with three RBIs, with Morel and Sergio Alcantara leading with two hits. Back home on Tuesday. pic.twitter.com/hkoFhpjGMZ
For the most part, the Smokies had an excellent series against Rocket City, and they were able to hold on late until the week could have been better. Jordan Wicks was at it again on the mound as he continued showing his ability. Despite allowing one run in five innings, it was an unearned run as his ERA fell to 2.39. Wicks walked one and struck out four while also not hitting the Trash Pandas in the process. The lone run off of Wicks came in the first inning as an early error put a runner on third before Orlando Martinez drove him in with a sacrifice fly. The Smokies wasted little time pulling even with Jordan Nwogu going deep to bring things back to even 1-1 in the second. That score held until the sixth inning when Owen Caissie ended a long homerless drought with a two-run shot to make things 3-1. Owen Caissie oppo taco Bradlee Beesley added a solo shot in the eighth inning to push the lead up to 4-2, with Michael McAvene set to take over in the eighth. Bradlee Beesley with sneaky power pic.twitter.com/UU4PUEPehD Luke Little - 6 Ks in 2 innings in his AA debut pic.twitter.com/tnxN3TGmAq It was in that inning when the game got away from the Smokies, as McAvene had a tough time getting through the eighth inning. Kyren Paris started the eighth with a solo shot to pull within 4-3, but the Zach Humphries homer later in the frame capped off the three-run eighth and a 5-4 win for Rocket City. This was Humphries's first homer of the season, which makes this loss sting a bit more. Oh well. See you back at Smokies Stadium on Tuesday! pic.twitter.com/sBitXDN79l
The nightmare of a week for the Cubs has finally ended as they don't want to see the Kernels for a long time. Tyler Santana was making his second start since being moved to the rotation and came away with a positive showing. The right-hander went four innings and allowed two runs on three hits while also striking out eight. The problem was Kyle Jones taking care of business and allowing one run through five innings. Mix that with an offense capitalizing on a rough outing from Bailey Reid, and the Cubs had no answers for Cedar Rapids. The Kernels grabbed the early lead with an RBI ground out in the second while adding on in the third. Ben Ross picked up an RBI double in that inning as the Cubs trailed 2-0. Looking to respond, the lone run for the Cubs came in the third, with the suddenly scorching-hot Christian Franklin picking up an RBI single. Cedar Rapids put the game away in the fifth when they used a four-run inning to bust the game open and cruise to the 6-1 win. Jose Salas and Willie Joe Garry Jr had RBI singles in that massive inning, which proved too much for the Cubs. Franklin has been on a tear the past 10 games and led the way with two hits. His average may be .222, but he has been taking a ton of walks to get on base. The Cubs had seven hits as a team in the loss. Cedar Rapids takes the finale and the series today at Four Winds Field.
Credit the Pelicans for at least battling the Fireflies all week, even if the results didn't show. Brody McCullough had his worst start of the season as he surrendered four runs in just over three innings. Even with that, his ERA is still just 3.20, as he also struck out seven on the evening. Early on, it was the Pelicans backing McCullough, with Miguel Fabrizio picking up an RBI single in the first and Felix Stevens adding a solo shot in the third. A Dionmy Salon homer was mixed in with that, but the Pelicans still held a 2-1 lead through three. Once the fourth inning got underway, things began to unravel quickly as the Fireflies used a four-run frame to put them in front 5-2. Erick Pena tied things up on an RBI Fielder's choice, with Brennon McNair using a sacrifice fly to make things 3-2. Throw in a wild pitch from Angel Hernandez and another sacrifice fly, and the Pelicans were playing from behind again. Even at that, it didn't last long as their offense started to come to life, and they used a big inning of their own to retake the lead. Parker Chavers started the party with an RBI double to pull the Pelicans within 5-3 before Fabrizio tied things up with another RBI double. Miguel Pabon capped off the inning with an RBI single as the Pelicans were back in front 6-5. However, those were the final runs they would score as Columbia retook the lead in the fifth on a wild pitch and the McNair triple before adding another run late to secure the 8-6 win and series victory. Stevens led the offense with three hits, while Fabrizio added three RBIs to pace the team. Fabrizio was one of several players to record multiple hits joining Chavers, Pabon, and Jefferson Encarnacion. Cristian Hernadez grabbed a hit but did strike out three times as he is hitting .256 thus far. Columbia takes the series finale.COLUMBUS CLIPPERS 9 - IOWA CUBS 5
ROCKET CITY TRASH PANDAS 5 - TENNESSEE SMOKIES 4
CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 6 - SOUTH BEND CUBS 1
Next stop: 📍 Appleton, Wisconsin! pic.twitter.com/XlkKid0auICOLUMBIA FIREFLIES 8 - MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 6
Pelicans are back at home against Lynchburg on Tuesday at 7:05.#MBPelicans | #NextStartsHere pic.twitter.com/WraE446aCv
