Cubs Minor League News: Rookie League Action

Jerry Lai - USA Today Sports

by Dustin Riese - Senior Writer - Wed Jun 28 10:00:28 GMT-04:00 2023

Unlike most Tuesdays, where every minor affiliate would be in action, things are slightly different, with the full-season leagues getting an extra day off before resuming play on Wednesday. That meant another day for the Rookie Leagues to take center stage, which is always good for the diehard fans.

After a rough 0-3 night on Monday, the Cubs bounced back to pick up a winning day on the diamond posting a 3-0 record for the night.

DSL CUBS BLUE 3 - DSL RED SOX 2

What is better than winning a game? Winning a game via a walk which is what DSL Blue had happened to them on Tuesday. Diego Dugarte set the tone on the mound as he gave the Cubs four innings of one-run five strikeout ball. Adrian Santana and Francis Reynoso took over from there to strike out seven across the final five frames.

Opposing Dugarte Obed Balderas, who gave the Red Sox five strong innings. He allowed two runs (1ER) to match Dugarte while striking out three in what was a fabulous pitched game. The Red Sox jumped on the Cubs early as Frederik Jimenez picked up an RBI single in the first to give the Red Sox a 1-0 lead.

Their lead didn't last long, with Derniche Valdez picking up a single in the bottom of the first as an error on that play allowed for a run to score and a 1-1 tie. Daniel Ferreira gave the Cubs the lead with a sacrifice fly in the second, but that was the last of their offense for quite some time. Like in the bottom of the first when the Cubs answered the Red Sox, it was the Sox's turn to answer in the third as the Starlyn Nunez fielder's choice brought home another run to tie things up 2-2.

That was it for the Red Sox offensively, as the pitching was solid on both ends. Tied 2-2 in the ninth, it was the Cubs coming to bat with extra innings looming if they couldn't get it done. Fortunately, they got it done as Derik Alcantara laced an RBI single up the middle to plate the winning run as the Cubs walked off the Red Sox 3-2. Alcantara was one of three players with multiple hits joining Eriandys Ramon and Edward Vargas.

ACL CUBS 4 - ACL GIANTS 3

It is amazing what 24 hours can do for a team. One night after a late-game meltdown saw the Cubs let a game get away, it was the bullpen that showed up in a big way before the Cubs walked things off in the ninth. Brailyn Marquez made his second appearance of the summer as he continued to work his way back and gave the Cubs a scoreless inning.

He was followed by Stephen Gonsalves and his inning before Dominic Hambley and the rest of the Cubs pen took over. Looking to back their pitching staff with some offensive support, Cristian More opened the scoring with a first-inning triple to put the Cubs in front 2-0. More would eventually come around to score on an Adan Sanchez single as the Cubs opened up a 3-0 lead.

Not only did the Cubs make that lead hold for most of the game, but all of the Giant's runs came in one inning, with Hambley being the victim. Like the Cubs in the first, Justin Bench opened the scoring for the Giants in the fifth and used an RBI triple to pull within 3-2. The bench would then trot home on a wild pitch, and just like that, things were tied 3-3.

Those runs would be the final runs of the day for the Giants, but you still had a Cubs offense going on seven-plus innings since they last scored. Down to their final three outs and staring extra innings in the face, Leonel Espinoza made sure it wouldn't come to that as his RBI single in the bottom of the ninth gave the Cubs a massive walk-off 4-3 win. Espinoza led the way with two hits as he was joined by More, Sanchez, and Christopher Paciolla. On a side note, Alexander Canario was out of the lineup, and it appears he is on his way to full-season ball to continue his rehab progression.

DSL CUBS RED 11 - DSL RED SOX RED 6

While the pitching was the story for the Blue squads, it was the offense that stole the show for the Red teams, with DSL Red topping the Red Sox Red Squad 11-6. Most of the Red Sox offense came late in the game, as the Cub's pitching was outstanding early on. That started with Alfredo Romero, who allowed two runs (1ER) in four innings to bring his ERA to 1.15.

Luis Reyes followed him up with a scoreless frame before Jeral Vizcaino tossed the final four frames, allowing four runs, with three coming as earned. Despite Gilberto Batista striking out seven in four innings, the Cubs offense jumped on him and struck four runs, with three of them earned.

After a scoreless first two innings, the Cubs took the lead on an error in the third, only to have the Red Sox answer with the Andrum Musett RBI single to tie things up 1-1. The following two innings were when the Cub's offense started to get rolling as they scored seven times in the next two frames, with three coming in the fourth.

Yidel Diaz picked up a sacrifice fly to start that inning, with Daniel Benschop adding a two-run single to make things 4-1. The Red Sox responded with an Albert Chalas single in the bottom of the fourth before the four-run fifth by the Cubs opened up the 8-2 lead. Joan Delgado brought home the first run with a double before the two-run single off the bat of Albert Gutierrez made things 7-2. Josias Ramirez capped off that inning with another RBI single as the Cubs were in complete control.

The Cub's offense continued to roll in the top half of the seventh, with the Diaz double making things 9-2 before the bases-loaded walk brought home another run. Once the bottom of the seventh rolled around, the Red Sox showed signs of life as RBI hits from Nixson Cueche and Yohander Linarez pulled the Red Sox within 10-5. Each team would add a run later in the game, with Gutierrez picking up the final RBI for the Cubs.