Cubs Minor League News: Steele rehab, Caissie homers, Franklin raking, Shaw struggling |
The next few days will be hectic across the Cubs Minor League circuit, as 10 games are set to be played the next two days. Two teams have doubleheaders to take place, with Iowa having theirs on Wednesday and Tennessee following suit on Thursday.
What better way to kick off the first full slate of games for the week than the Cubs posting a 3-2 mark as they hope to continue their winnings ways. IOWA CUBS 6 - OMAHA STORM CHASERS 5 (F/8) Although the Cubs Minor League system has plenty of players to keep tabs on, all eyes will be on Iowa the next few days. Not only has Cade Horton recently been promoted, but Wednesday, Justin Steele took the mound as he looks to complete his rehab stint. The results may not have been what the Cubs were hoping for, but Steele still looked good on the mound, as it was the Cubs finding a way to walk things off 6-5 in extras. Steele pitched into the fourth, giving Iowa 3 1/3 innings and allowing three runs. He walked one and struck out four before handing things over to Cam Sanders and the rest of the pen. Steele faced off against fellow lefty Daniel Lynch, but after Lynch went four innings and allowed just one run, the Cubs were playing catchup. All the damage against Steele came in the first two innings, with Nick Pratto cashing in with an RBI single in the first to make things 2-0. Nick Loftin added an RBI single in the second to push the Omaha lead to 3-0, but that was it for Steele as he settled in to finish his outing strong. In case you missed it -- Justin Steele took a step towards returning to the Cubs starting rotation in his first MLB rehab start with the @IowaCubs yesterday on @WatchMarquee. pic.twitter.com/8BtmVu4gnX It took four innings for Iowa to cash in, with Owen Caissie taking Lynch deep for the solo shot to make things 3-1. Trailing 4-1 in the fifth, the Iowa offense broke out in a big way as they pushed across four runs to take a 5-4 lead. Darius Hill started things with an RBI single while the Luis Vazquez double pulled the Cubs within 4-3. Later in the inning saw David Peralta cash in for the go-ahead RBI single to put the Cubs in front 5-4. The Cubs' lead didn't last long. Sanders surrendered a solo shot to Devin Mann, and just like that, things were tied 5-5. After seven innings weren't enough, the teams needed extras to settle the score, and the Cubs came away with the victory as Miles Mastrobuoni raced home on a wild pitch. OMAHA STORM CHASERS 5 - IOWA CUBS 1 (Game 2) Looking to sweep their doubleheader on Wednesday, the Cubs found themselves behind early before falling 5-1. Chris Clarke made the start for Iowa and, after allowing five runs in two innings, was replaced by Sam McWilliams, who went on to strike out five in three nearly perfect innings. Clarke didn't have it in this one and that does happen sometimes as a steal of home opened the scoring for Omaha while the Devin Mann single pushed home the game winning run to make things 2-0. That would be all Zach Davies would as the former Chicago Cub tossed five shutout innings with four punchouts. Already up 2-0, the Omaha offense continued to put the ball in play in the second as Clarke gave up hard contact all game. John Rave kept the line moving with an RBI double that opened up a 4-0 lead, with Nick Loftin picking up an RBI single to close out the Storm Chasers' scoring. BJ Murray Jr ended the shutout bid with his sixth-inning RBI single, but that would be it in the Cub's 5-1 loss. Went .500 today. Back at it tomorrow! pic.twitter.com/OukTv0JYYP BILOXI SHUCKERS 5 - TENNESSEE SMOKIES 3 Tennessee's first month of the season has been up and down, and that continued Wednesday with another series-opening loss. Brandon Birdsell pitched 5 1/3 innings of four-run (3ER) ball for the Smokies. He was replaced by Michael Arias, who gave up a rare run in 1 2/3 innings, seeing his ERA rise to 1.26 while the Smokies' offense was largely held in check. A big reason for that was the combination of Bradley Blalock and Shane Smith on the mound, as they combined to allow just three runs in seven innings with nine strikeouts. Six of those strikeouts came from Smith, as there will be plenty of Cubs vs Brewers action to follow this weekend. Ironically, the Smokies offense struck first off of Blalock, with Josh Rivera delivering an RBI triple to put Tennessee in front 1-0 in the second. Their lead didn't last long as Biloxi responded with back-to-back two-run innings to open up a 4-1 lead in the fourth. Carlos Rodriguez started that with his go-ahead two-run single in the third, while an Ernesto Martinez double in the fourth made things 3-1. Darrien Miller added a sacrifice fly later in the fourth as the Shuckers were up 4-1. Martinez continued to put forth a great game as he connected for a rare homer off Arias in the sixth to cap off the scoring for Biloxi and put the Shuckers up 5-1. Despite the Smokies doing next to nothing through five, they did start to rally off of Smith in the sixth, with Moises Ballesteros picking up an RBI double before coming home to score on the Christian Franklin single to pull within 5-3 before falling by that score. ICYMI: Christian Franklin was 2-3 last night with an RBI single and 2 stolen bases. @CF13_ #NextStopWrigley #LastYearBestYear pic.twitter.com/zAVAumKpp4 James Triantos and Franklin led the offense with two hits as the Smokies picked up eight total hits. Matt Shaw continues to struggle as he is stuck in the worst slump of his young career and has seen his average fall to .226. That's okay. We have two chances tomorrow! | @zips3mincarwash SOUTH BEND CUBS 9 - LANSING LUGNUTS 3 Almost all it took for the Cubs to start playing winning baseball was to lose a few games to the best team in the league. Those losses showed that this team can play with anyone, and they are using that to their advantage. Backed by a pair of strong pitching performances and an offensive barrage that collected 15 hits, the Cubs took the first two games 9-3. Will Sanders made the start and pitched well for the second straight outing. Sanders was charged with one unearned run on one hit while walking one and striking out five. Sam Armstrong took over from there and delivered 3 2/3 innings of one-run ball as he saw his ERA fall to 0.51. With both teams exchanging runs in the first two innings, Yohendrick Pinango picked up a single in the first and a CJ Rodriguez walk in the second, and it was the Cubs offense that started to go to work in the third. Jefferson Rojas started what was five unanswered runs for the Cubs with an RBI single, putting them in front for good at 2-1. That was followed by an Ed Howard triple in the fourth, pushing the lead to 3-1, before coming home on the Jonathan Long single, extending the lead to 4-1. Leading 5-1 in the eighth, Brett Bateman kept the line moving as his RBI single pushed the Cubs lead to 6-1 in the eighth. Despite the comfortable lead, Lansing wouldn't go down quietly as Danny Bautista Jr added an RBI single to make things 6-2. South Bend responded with three more runs in the top half of the ninth as Reivaj Garcia singled home a pair before Ethan Hearn capped off the Cubs offense with a solo blast. Hearn and Bateman led the offense with three hits, and Garcia paced the offense with three RBIs. CUBS WIN! pic.twitter.com/Ve9LnIVnio MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 6 - SALEM RED SOX 4 There is a reason why a baseball season is a marathon, not a sprint. Just because you get off to a slow start doesn't mean you can't come back from that, as the Pelicans are starting to play much better baseball. Led by two big innings that saw the offense put up five runs, the pitching held up late to deliver another victory over Salem. Mason McGwire was much better this time out than his last start, but with three walks and no strikeouts in 2 2/3, his command continues to be an issue. McGwire allowed his only run in the second off a wild pitch as the Red Sox opened up a 1-0 lead. Salem maintained that lead until the fourth when a costly error not only allowed for the tying run to score, but opened things up for a big inning with Christopher Paciolla delivering the go-ahead single to put the Birds in front 3-1. That lead didn't last long as the Red Sox responded with two runs in the bottom of the fourth, anchored by the Nelly Taylor double. One inning after scoring three times, the Pelicans offense kept the pressure on and pushed across two more runs to retake the lead. Alfonsin Rosario delivered the go-ahead RBI double, but it was an error that ultimately allowed the winning run to score to give the Pelicans a 5-3 lead. This ball was SMOKED. 105 off the bat. Christian Olivo added an RBI single later in the game, with Salem picking up an RBI forceout in the sixth as the Pelicans make it two straight against Salem 6-4. Cristian Hernandez continues his great start with three more hits and is now hitting .329. He could be on the verge of a promotion to South Bend as he is finally starting to play to his potential. Olivo also added two hits to go with his RBI. What a way to start May.#MBPelicans | #YouHaveToSeeIt pic.twitter.com/ITTZwbcfM2
Box score: https://t.co/6TEZUeqgZu pic.twitter.com/dki2WIrfBu
Alfonsin Rosario brings in his fifth RBI of the season on a double and later comes in to score.
Birds up 5-3 in the fifth. #MBPelicans | #YouHaveToSeeIt pic.twitter.com/TtqbP0A0Ch
