Cubs Minor League News: I-Cubs win in extras, Pelicans score 11 runs in 4th inning, more |
The minor league circuit not only continues to be jam-packed, but has been filled with plenty of action across the board. You have the usual prospects going about their business making a case for themselves to climb in the ranking while new names continue to emerge for what seems like every day. That is precisely what you want to see with a rebuilding organization, as the more names they have contributing, the better.
It took long enough for Iowa to get on a role, but they are playing great with a four-game winning streak. Joe Biagini made his first start in several weeks and did what he was doing earlier in the season, putting the Cubs in a position to win. Across his six innings, Biagini was impressive, allowing three runs on six hits to go with seven punchouts before he turned things over to the pen. One of those pitchers was Jason Adam, who made his AAA season debut and struck out a pair in one inning. Not only did Omaha strike first using a Cam Gallagher single in the first to take a 1-0 lead, but they kept the pressure on with Nick Pratto going deep for his 15th homer in the third to make things 2-0. They added to that lead in the sixth off the Ryan McBroom homer as the Cubs were held scoreless through six, trailing 3-0. It may have taken seven innings for the Cubs offense to get going, but they continued to battle with Abiatal Avelino and Andrew Romine connecting for RBI singles in the seventh to pull within 3-2 before Avelino tied things up in the eighth with a sacrifice fly and helped get the game to extras. Fast forward to the 12th, and the Cubs had the bases loaded with a chance to strike. Taylor Gushue made sure to capitalize on that chance as his bases-clearing double put the Cubs in front for the first time 6-3. Omaha had a 12th inning rally of their own, with Erick Mejia picking up an RBI groundout ahead of the Pratto single to pull the Storm Chasers within 6-5. That would be as close as they would get as Juan Gamez closed things out for the series win. The Cubs had plenty of hits (10), but Ian Miller and Johneshwy Fargas led the way with two. Brennan Davis moved his AAA hitting streak to four games, going 1-4 in the win. It took 12 innings, but we made it FOUR in a row over Omaha! pic.twitter.com/dyujGl2MsD
Despite another fine effort for South Bend in the first half of the game Friday, Quad Cities had the last laugh scoring six runs late in the game, including five in the sixth to pull away for another win. Chris Clarke was on the mound for the Cubs and capped off his final start of the year in losing fashion. After giving the Cubs five great innings, Clarke lost it in the sixth and was charged with five earned runs in 5 2/3 innings of work. He finishes his season 0-6, but there was plenty to like when it comes to his overall body of work. Clarke was dealing with traffic throughout his start, but limited the damage through five innings with just a Jake Means RBI single in the second as his lone blemish through five. Still trailing 1-0 in the fourth, the Cubs offense took the lead for the first and only time in the game, with Yonathan Perlaza tying things up with an RBI groundout before the Jake Slaughter fielder's choice had the Cubs in front 2-1. At that point, the Cubs could have pulled Clarke after five in hopes of getting him his first win, but Manager Michael Ryan chose to leave him out there, and that plan backfired. Logan Porter quickly tied the game up with his 14th homer of the season before things went from bad to worse for South Bend. With the bases loaded, Gavin Stupienski singled home the winning runs as an error on the play allowed a total of three runs to score, with Quad Cities now on top 5-2. They added another run on the Rubendy Jaquez double to push their lead to 6-2. Quad Cities continued to build on that lead, with Eric Cole going deep in the seventh before another South Bend error stretched the lead to 8-2 after eight. The Cubs picked up one more run off a Slaughter ninth-inning sacrifice fly, but in the end, it wasn't enough falling 8-3. Bryce Ball and Tyler Durna had two hits and accounted for four of the team's seven hits. Perlaza, Yohendrick Pinango, and Slaughter added the other three. Jake Slaughter drove in two of South Bend's three runs, but the Cubs can't overcome a five-run sixth in Quad Cities' comeback win. pic.twitter.com/J7y7fEe7zq
The final homestand of the year has not started as planned for the Pelicans, but maybe an 11-2 win can change the narrative a bit. Led by great pitching across the board where three pitchers combined to allow four runs on nine hits to go with 12 punchouts, the Pelicans scored all 11 of their runs in one inning as that was more than enough to win. Down 1-0 in the third after Adam Zebrowski singled in the fourth, Cade Bunnell took matters into his own hands connecting for his 17th homer of the season to stretch the Greenjackets lead to 3-0 in the fourth. Once the inning flipped to the bottom of the fourth, it was all Pelicans as they batted for what seemed like forever. With Ethan Hearn putting the Pelicans on the board with an RBI single, the Josue Huma triple tied things up before a Jacob Wetzel single had the Pelicans in front 4-3. The Pelicans were just getting started as the Jordan Nwogu sacrifice fly was followed by RBI singles by Peter Matt and Ed Howard as Myrtle Beach extended their lead to 7-3. Still batting, it was Hearn coming through again using a two-run double to push the lead to 9-3 before Chrisitan Franklin capped off the 11-run frame with an RBI single putting the Pelicans up 11-2. That big 4th inning was highlighted by Josue Huma's bases clearing triple. That score would hold until the sixth when Christian Robinson homered for the third time in the series, making things 11-4. The Pelicans went on to win by that score as they ended their three-game skid with Augusta. All we needed was one big inning. Hearn led the way with a pair of hits to go, with three RBIs joining Wetzel and Howard with multi-hit efforts. Jonathan Sierra was the lone player without a hit in the win.IOWA CUBS 6 – OMAHA STORM CHASERS 5 (12 innings)
TENNESSEE SMOKIES vs. BILOXI SHUCKERS (Postponed, doubleheader on Saturday)
QUAD CITIES RIVER BANDITS 8 – SOUTH BEND CUBS 3
MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 11 – AUGUSTA GREENJACKETS 4
Crack of the Bat Play of the Game presented by @VinesPlumbingSC pic.twitter.com/NLbKejcEzL
Final Saturday game day tomorrow. #MBPelicans pic.twitter.com/w5MqfeMLte
ACL REDS 6 – ACL CUBS 0
The perfect week for the Cubs came to an end on Friday as the Reds upended them 6-0. Making his second appearance of the season was the Cubs third-round pick Drew Gray as he went two innings, allowing just an unearned run to go with five strikeouts. That run came off the Andrew Salcedo single in the first, as that proved to be the difference in the game.
Now leading 2-0 in the fourth, the Reds busted things wide open using a Fidel Castro single and the Alvin Fernandez double to double their lead from 2-0 and made it 4-0. Jay Allen capped off the four-run fourth inning with a two-run shot, and that is all the Reds needed in the 6-0 win. The Cubs managed just two hits in the game, with Ezequiel Pagan and Edgar Camargo grabbing those hits. Yovanny Cuevas, Malcom Quintero, and Camargo also added walks.
DSL PIRATES 11 – DSL CUBS BLUE 2
Sparked by eight runs in the first two innings, the Pirates offense got rolling early and often and cruised to an easy win. Before the Cubs knew what hit them, they were down 6-0, with Shalin Polanco and Ruben Vizcaya connecting for first-inning RBI triples. A Rafael Escalante single and Kelvin Diaz sacrifice fly was mixed in as it was all Pirates from the start.
Now trailing 8-0 after Polanco ripped an RBI double in the second before scoring on the Isaias Dipre single, the Cubs offense looked to chip away at the lead. Frank Hernandez lifted one to the outfield for the sacrifice fly with the bases loaded, but a costly base running play from Wally Soto saw him get thrown out at second for a double play, killing a potential big inning. The Pirates uncorked a wild pitch shortly after to push home another run, but things were still 8-2 at that point.
That bottom of the fourth saw the Pirates close out the scoring on the afternoon using a Fabian Urbina single to push the ninth run across before an error and a wild pitch made things 11-2. The Cubs would lose by that score as they couldn't get much going late. The Cubs had just three hits, with Leonel Espinoza, Frank Hernandez, and Daniel Ferreira collecting one.
DSL CUBS RED 5 – DSL GIANTS 4
Things were not all bad for the DSL teams, as DSL RED continues to play lately, picking up another win. Most of their damage came late, where they scored four runs in the final three innings, including one in the ninth to walk off the Giants. After both teams exchanged runs in the first, the Giants grabbed momentum in the second using the Jose Ramos bases-loaded walk to take the lead before a wild pitch stretched the lead to 3-1.
A sacrifice fly from Javier Francisco in the fifth saw the Giants leading 4-1 as that was all the offense, they would generate the rest of the way. Still trailing by three in the seventh, it was the Cubs who picked a great time to get their bats working, with Elias Fabian going deep for the first time this season to make things 4-2. A Bases loaded hit by pitch to Andrews Cruz pulled the Cubs within one before the bases-loaded walk to Cristian More tied things up 4-4.
Needing a run in the ninth or extra innings, the Cubs came to bat as they had the momentum. With two outs and a man on base, Pedro Ramirez was gifted the game-winning run as a fielding error from the Giants led to the winning run to score, and the Cubs walked off the Giants 5-4.
