Cubs Minor League News: Rookie League Action

Patrick Gorski - USA Today Sports

by Dustin Riese - Senior Writer - Tue Jul 25 09:31:06 GMT-05:00 2023

Another Monday means another start to a week of Minor League Baseball as the Cubs Rookie League teams were back in action. Granted, the performances of their three Rookie League squads haven't been great, but all that matters is the performances of some individuals as they continue to produce.

Mix that with the recent draft selections during the 2023 MLB draft, and these Rookie teams will look very different in the coming weeks, especially down in Mesa. Until we get to that point, the Cubs opened up another week of Minor League competition with an overall showing of 2-1 as they will look to build on this going forward.

ACL CUBS 7 - ACL GUARDIANS 6

In a back-and-forth game, the Cubs scored a pair of seventh-inning runs to hold off the Guardians 7-6. Take Freilyn Silverio out of the equation, and the Cub's pitching was strong, especially Gregori Montano in relief. The right-hander threw a pair of scoreless frames while fanning five of the six hitters he faced.

Both teams had their offense going early and often as Alexis Hernandez opened up the scoring with an RBI double in the first for the 2-0 lead. If he keeps this up, it is only a matter of time before he joins his older brother Cristian in Myrtle Beach. Immediately after the Cubs scored a pair of runs, the Guardians answered with three, with Rafael Ramirez and Nelson Aranguren picking up RBI singles to tie things up. A sacrifice fly was also mixed in there as the Guardians took a 3-2 lead.

The offensive surge continued into the second, with Ke'Shun Collier tying things up with a sacrifice fly before the Jaison Chourio homer in the bottom of the second gave the Guardians the 5-3 lead. That would be the final lead of the night for the Guaridans as the Cubs began to claw back, with Christian Olivo picking up an RBI double in the fourth while Lizardo Ruiz tied things up in the fifth on a single.

With the game still tied in the seventh, the Cubs broke through at the perfect time as Collier came through with his biggest hit as a pro thus far and picked up a two-run single to give the Cubs a 7-5 lead. They would make that lead hold up as the Guardians picked up an Emerson Purroy homer to pull within one before falling by that score.

DSL CUBS BLUE 7 - DSL PIRATES 1

Sparked by a pair of late three-run innings, the DSL Blue Squad came from behind to top the Pirates 7-1. Diego Duarte has been much better his past few times out and continued with four strong innings allowing one run and striking out five. He was part of a Cubs staff that allowed two hits in the game and struck out 10.

The lone run Dugarte would allow came in the first inning when Samuel Escudero came through with an RBI double to put the Pirates up 1-0. That was the only lead they would have in the game, and they found a way to maintain that lead until the third, when Carlos Altuve picked up an RBI single to make things 1-1.

Those would be the only runs scored until late in the game when a pair of three-run homers busted the game open for the Cubs. First, the Cubs top International pickup this offseason, Derniche Valdez, went deep for his fifth to make things 4-1 in the fifth. One inning later, Brailin Pascual got into one for his first as the Cubs rolled 7-1. Grenyerbert Velazquez paced the Cubs offense with two hits, as did Altuve and Erbin Jaque.

DSL TIGERS 7 DSL CUBS RED 6 (F/8)

Unlike the full-season leagues, the Rookie leagues differ in game length as some could be seven innings and some could be nine. After trailing most of the game, the Cubs rallied for six runs in the sixth to tie things up and forced extra innings. In the extra frame, the Tigers got the last laugh as they walked off the Cubs 7-6 in eight innings.

Zhiorman Imbriano had one of his worst outings of the season for the Cubs, as he allowed five runs in three innings. It all started with a two-run Geury Estevez single in the first to put the Tigers in front 2-0 with a double steal leading to another run in the third.

Already in front 3-0, the Tigers continued to add on in the third with a pair of RBI forceouts leading to two runs to extend the lead to 5-0. The Tigers picked up another run off a wild pitch in the fifth and opened a 6-0 lead with two innings to go. Despite being silenced through five innings, all it took was one inning for the Cubs bats to come to life as they used a massive sixth to pull even.

All six Cubs runs came in this inning as the Tigers had no answers for what was happening. Andrews Cruz opened the scoring with an RBI double while the Ludwing Espinoza two-run single cut the deficit in half 6-3. Throw in a pair of RBI doubles from Joan Delgado and Albert Gutierrez, and the Cubs clawed all the way back to bring things back to even 6-6.

That was enough to force this game into extras, where the Tigers were looking to finish what they had started. All it took was four pitches and two batters for the Tigers to pick up the winning run as Heison Sanchez delivered the walk-off single to give the Tigers a 7-6 win over the Cubs. Cruz finished the game with three hits for the Cubs.