Cubs Minor League News: Brown impressive, Caissie hits 18th homer, Stevens smack homer

Cubs Minor League News: Brown impressive, Caissie hits 18th homer, Stevens smack homer
by - Senior Writer - Mon Jul 31 10:30:19 GMT-04:00 2023

For the most part, the Cubs had an excellent week of minor league competition, but the beginning was much better than the end. After posting a losing record on Saturday, the Cubs hoped to finish the week in style before getting set for another week of competition.

Instead, the Cubs limped to the finish line and ended the week with an 0-4 showing on the diamond. That will happen occasionally, but when the week was as good as it was heading into Sunday, it was just a brutal way to go out.

MEMPHIS REDBIRDS 2 - IOWA CUBS 0

Of all the games on Sunday, this one has to be the toughest pill to swallow as the Cubs wasted a great start from Ben Brown. Granted, he may not have been at his best command-wise with four walks and four strikeouts, but Brown still pitched outstanding as he allowed one run on four hits through five innings. Those are the types of performances they need from him going forward.

While Brown pitched well enough to win, Michael McGreevy was even better as he gave the Redbirds seven shutout innings on the mound to lift them to a victory. The only run Brown would allow came in the first inning when Luken Baker picked up an RBI double. Baker has been one of the main contributors all series long, and the Cubs are happy they don't have to see him for a while.

That was the only run of the game until the eighth inning when Jose Fermin unloaded for his second homer of the season to give the Redbirds the 2-0 win.

Iowa had four hits in the win, with Bryce Windham, Yonathan Perlaza, Matt Mervis, and Jake Slaughter grabbing those hits.

ROCKET CITY TRASH PANDAS 11 - TENNESSEE SMOKIES 2

As we mentioned earlier in the week, Rocket City has given the Smokies fits the past two seasons, and after dropping the first three games of the week, they managed to pick up a series split. They capped that off by dominating the Smokies 11-2 on Sunday, as a massive six-run inning paved the way for that win.

Manuel Espinoza was on the mound, and despite lasting just three innings, it was three good innings. Espinoza was tagged for two runs, but only one was earned as the bullpen fell apart in a big way. Opposing Espinoza was Robinson Pina, who gave Rocket City six impressive innings. Despite walking five and striking out five, Pina limited the damage as the Smokies pushed one run across against him with two hits.

Rocket City opened the scoring in the bottom of the first when Nolan Schaunel picked up an RBI single to make things 1-0. Their lead didn't last long, with Owen Caissie tying things up in the third with his RBI forceout, only to see Rocket City take the lead for good in the bottom of the third off an Espinoza wild pitch.

The Trash Pandas extended their lead to 4-1 in the fifth on the Sonny DiChiara single, only to bust the game wide open in the seventh. In that seventh inning, Rocket City scored six times to open up a 10-1 lead. Anthony Mulrine opened the scoring with a two-run single, while Schaunel cleared the bases with a triple to extend the lead to 9-1. A Jeremiah Jackson double closed out the massive frame as the Smokies had a ton of work to do.

David Calabrese added an RBI single in the eighth to close out the scoring for Rocket City, with Caissie adding his 18th homer in the ninth to end the game 11-2.

Caissie was the Smokie's offense in this one, picking up two of the team's five hits with both RBIs. Bradlee Beesley, Nelson Maldonado, and Cole Roederer had the remaining three hits.

PEORIA CHIEFS 5 - SOUTH BEND CUBS 4 (F/10)

Despite dropping the final two games of this series, including a walk-off win on Sunday, the Cubs still had a great week as they managed to take this series from the Chiefs. Connor Noland got the start and did his part on the mound as he gave the Cubs six strong innings to lower his ERA to 3.67.

Noland allowed three runs on five hits while also striking out six as he continued to pitch well on the mound. Noland was backed with early-run support as Yohendrick Pinango delivered a first-inning double to make things 1-0. That lead didn't last long, with Jimmy Crooks tying things up with a double in the bottom of the first, while the Francisco Hernandez homer in the second gave Peoria the 3-1 lead. Those would be the only runs Noland would allow the rest of the way as he settled in nicely.

Playing from behind is never easy, but Pinango did his best to bring the Cubs back as he pulled them to within 3-2 in the third. That would be the last run until the seventh, when the Chiefs were gifted a run on the Jarod Wright wild pitch to push their lead back to 4-2. Needing some late-game offense in a hurry, Felix Stevens played long ball as he connected for a solo shot in the eighth to pull the Cubs within 4-3.

One inning later, it was the Cubs offense once again coming through as the Ethan Hearn RBI single brought things back to even and helped send the game into extras. After the Cubs went down quietly to begin the 10th, the Chiefs kept the pressure on Sheldon Reed, only to have Osvaldo Tovalin come through with a massive RBI single to give the Chiefs a walk-off 5-4 win.

Stevens was one of four players to pick up multiple hits joining Moises Ballesteros, Luis Verdugo, and Ed Howard. Pinango led the offense with two RBIs.

FREDERICKSBURG NATIONALS 9 - MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 8

Like South Bend, the Pelicans did win this series but also dropped the final two games of the week. Pitching was, let's say, not very good in this one, as both offenses came to play in a big way. After taking a 1-0 lead on the Andy Garriola first-inning RBI, the Pelicans extended their lead in the third on the Reivaj Garcia double and Jefferson Rojas single to make things 3-0.

In a matter of 30 minutes, the Pelicans not only saw their lead evaporate, but it was the Nationals taking a 4-3 lead using a four-run third to do the damage. Courtland Lawson started the big inning with a two-run double to pull the Nationals within one, while the Blake Klassen single gave Fredericksburg the lead.

That lead didn't last long as the Pelicans used a five-run fourth to retake the lead, but that inning provided them with most of their damage. With Pedro Ramirez tying things up with an RBI fielder's choice, Cristian Hernandez came through as his RBI double put the Birds up 6-4. That double was followed by the Garriola double to make things 8-4 as his massive series came to a close.

Despite holding the 8-4 lead, that would be it for the Pelicans on offense, as they hoped the pitching could be enough to hold off the Nationals. That was not the case, as Fredericksburg pulled within 8-6 in the fifth before pulling within 8-7 in the sixth. Once the seventh inning rolled around, the momentum shifted back to the Nationals as they tied things up on the John McHenry single. Fredericksburg would eventually take the lead later in the inning on the Johnathan Thomas sacrifice fly before winning by that 9-8 score.

Garcia and Hernandez had great days at the plate as they picked up three hits and combined for six of the team's nine hits. Garriola drove in three more runs and finished the series with more than 12 RBIs; he now has 53 RBIs this season.

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