Cubs Minor League News: Rookie League Action

Jerry Lai - USA Today Sports

by Dustin Riese - Senior Writer - Tue Jun 27 11:04:08 GMT-05:00 2023

Per usual, Monday was all about the Cubs Rookie Leagues, but things will look slightly different this week. Not only are the Rookie League teams the focus on Monday, but they will also be the focus on Tuesday as full-season leagues will resume on Wednesday. That also means that next Monday will have full-season ball as they will be on the field for 12 consecutive days leading into the MLB All-Star break.

Getting back to Monday, where you had three Rookie League teams back in action and looking for better results to start a new week of competition. Not only was that not the case with the system posting a 0-3 mark, but the offense was tough to come by as the Rookie League teams combined for five runs across the three games.

ACL DIAMONDBACKS 8 - ACL CUBS 4

For the most part, the Cubs were right in this game until a five-run eighth inning saw the Diamondbacks seize the advantage and win. Mason McGwire and Max Bain were outstanding on the mound, but the other Cubs pitchers struggled. McGwire got the start and allowed one run through four innings of work, while Bain followed suit to toss a pair of scoreless frames with three strikeouts. Bain continues to post a 0.00 ERA, and it is only a matter of time until he is off to full-season ball.

Pitching was the name of the game for both sides early on, with Denny Larrondo matching the Cubs duo pitch for pitch through four innings as the score was tied 0-0 entering the fifth. In that inning, the Diamondbacks struck first, with Cristofer Torin coming through with an RBI single. The Cubs responded in the bottom of the fifth off an error before RBI singles by Leonel Espinoza and Alexis Hernandez gave the Cubs a 3-1 lead in the sixth.

The Diamondbacks used a pair of miscues from the Cubs in the seventh to tie things up 3-3, with Geuri Lubo putting the Cubs back on top with an RBI groundout to make things 4-3. Trailing by one in the eighth, the Diamondbacks broke out in a big way as they put the game away with a massive five-run frame.

Juan Aparicio, Daniel Torres, and Torin picked up RBI singles for the first three runs, while a bases-loaded hit by pitch and sacrifice fly made things 8-4. The Cubs would fall by that score as they were unable to cash in late. Lubo, Espinoza, Jose Escobar, and Jefferson Encarnacion paced the Cubs offense with two hits.

DSL TIGERS 6 - DSL CUBS BLUE 0

It is hard to win a game when you only have five hits, but when you have two teams combined for one run, it is near impossible for wins. That is what the Cubs organization saw on Monday as their DSL teams combined for one run in two games. This has been an issue for DSL Blue lately, which continued with a 6-0 loss to the 3-13 DSL Tigers.

Saul Siri got the start for the Cubs and allowed three runs (2ER) in his two innings before the bullpen took over for the last four. While there was some bad within the pen, Fraimin Marte was outstanding as he tossed three scoreless frames to lower his ERA to 1.88. The biggest issue for the Cubs was trying to solve Frank Moreno, who struck out six in five scoreless frames.

The Tigers did all their damage in two innings, with all six runs coming in the first three innings. The first three came in the first off of Siri as a steal of home led to the game's first run, with the Tigers never looking back. Enrique Jimenez added an RBI single shortly after, with an error aiding the third and final run for the early 3-0 lead.

Two innings later, the Tigers continued to build on their lead as they pushed across three more runs. A pair of wild pitches from Yafrelyn Vasquez certainly didn't help as that led to two runs, with the Johan Estrada groundout plating the sixth and final run for the Tigers. Not only were the Cubs held to five hits, but they also committed five errors which are not good. Moises Febrillet led the way with two hits, while Derik Alcantara, Brayan Altuve, and Edward Vargas picked up the other three.

DSL PIRATES 7 - DSL CUBS RED 1

Like DSL Blue, runs were tough to come by for DSL Red as they were held to just three hits. However, their pitching was much better, apart from the five-run inning that busted the game wide open for the Pirates. David Bracho gave the Cubs 2 1/3 innings of work but was charged with six runs, with only four coming as earned runs.

After him, you had a pair of Cubs arms combine to allow one run, with Ronny Lopez striking out four in his 3 2/3 scoreless frames. Despite his outing, Clevari Tejada was the real story as the Pirates hurler struck out nine in five scoreless frames. Tejada was backed by a first-inning Angel Perez single that put the Pirates in front 1-0, but the third inning put the game away.

With Bracho looking strong through two innings, things came apart for him in the third, which doomed the Cubs. Miguel Rodriguez opened the scoring with an RBI single in that inning, but the bases-loaded triple from Perez made things 5-0 as he finished with four RBIs. Leading 6-0 in the seventh, the Pirates added another run as Carlos Cano went deep for his second homer.

Fortunately for DSL Red, they managed to avoid the shutout as a late solo homer from Albert Gutierrez pushed across the Cub's lone run in the 7-1 loss. Ludwing Espinoza added one of the Cubs three hits, as did Josias Ramirez, who is hitting a .341 this summer.