Cubs Minor League News: Mervis homers, Nwogu blasts dingers, Little impressive, more
Photo courtesy: Iowa Cubs

Cubs Minor League News: Mervis homers, Nwogu blasts dingers, Little impressive, more
by - Senior Writer - Sat Aug 19 10:10:11 GMT-04:00 2023

It is amazing what 24 hours can do for a team and its entire minor league organization. One day after the Cubs minor league system failed to win a game, they completely flipped the script where the full-season teams posted a 3-1 record on the evening.

Mix that with a pair of Rookie League games that saw them go 0-2, and you have a 3-3 record for your system. That isn't great, but at this point in the season, you are starting to get a good feel about who is a legitimate team and who isn't.

LOUISVILLE BATS 5 - IOWA CUBS 4

Iowa finds themselves in a similar spot to the Chicago Cubs as every game from here on out matters if they want to make the postseason. For that to happen, they can't be dropping games like this, as it could come back to haunt them later. Despite being desperate for starting pitching and having to go with bullpen games virtually every other day, the Cubs are holding up as Brendon Little gave Iowa three strong innings in his start.

He allowed one run on two hits while striking out one before handing it over to the rest of the Iowa relievers. The big story was Luke Little, who not only tossed two scoreless frames but struck out five in those two innings. Chris Clarke was saddled with the loss after surrendering three ninth-inning runs to give Louisville the win.

After spotting Louisville a run in the second, the Cubs entered the third trailing 1-0 before doing all of their damage. Luis Vazquez provided the first run for Iowa with a solo blast.

The three-run shot from Matt Mervis put them in front 4-1, capping off a four-run third.

Iowa maintained that lead until a fifth-inning sacrifice fly, but still managed to hold that lead until the ninth.

Once the ninth inning rolled around, things went south in a hurry as Chuckie Robinson picked up an RBI double to pull Louisville within 4-3 while a Matt Reynolds sacrifice fly tied things up. Later in the inning, you had the former Cub Nick Martini come back to haunt his old team as his RBI single capped off a three-run inning and lifted the Bats to a 5-4 win. Mervis had a three-hit day for Iowa to go with three RBIs.

TENNESSEE SMOKIES 10 - ROCKET CITY TRASH PANDAS 5

Rocket City has given Tennessee some issues this week, but that was different than Friday as the Smokies made quick work of their rival. Walker Powell got the start and picked up his team-leading 10th win. Powell gave Tennessee six innings, allowing two runs and striking out eight without a walk.

His performance certainly helped set the tone, but the offense made life easier for him, with BJ Murray Jr picking up a homer in the first inning to put the Smokies on top for good, 2-0.

Following an RBI groundout that made things 2-1, the Smokies continued to rely on the long ball as Jordan Nwogu went deep in the third and followed by Cole Roederer in the fourth to make things 5-1.

Another Rocket City run came in the fifth when former Cubs farmhand Tyler Payne picked up an RBI groundout to make things 5-2. That was as close as they would get as Haydn McGeary took his turn to leave the yard, belting a three-run blast in the fifth to extend the lead to 8-2.

The Trash Pandas did a great job battling back in the eighth with a bases-loaded walk leading to one run and a Tucker Flint single making things 8-5.

Nwogu capped off the scoring with his second homer in the bottom half of the eighth as Tennessee picked up a nice 10-5 win. Nwogu was one of five Smokies with multiple hits as he led the team with three RBIs. He was joined by McGeary in both the hits and RBIs, with Murray Jr, Roederer, and Pablo Aliendo all having two hits.

SOUTH BEND CUBS 6 - WEST MICHIGAN WHITECAPS 5

Despite allowing four late-game runs from West Michigan, the Cubs did enough early damage to stay close, while a ninth-inning run proved to be the difference in the game. The combination of Brody McCullough and Nick Hull was brilliant on the mound as they combined to give the Cubs seven innings, allowing just two combined earned runs.

Their effort stands out even more, especially when the Cubs fell behind 1-0 in the first of a catcher's interference error. Once the second inning rolled around, the Cubs offense went to work as Josh Rivera tied things up with a double in the top half of the second before a Matt Shaw double gave the Cubs a 3-1 lead in the third.

Moises Ballesteros added an RBI knock as part of that three-run third as the Cubs took an early 4-1 lead.

The Cubs would add another run in the fourth on a Luis Verdugo RBI single, as this would be the final run of the game for a while for the Cubs. Holding a 5-2 lead in the seventh, West Michigan continued to battle back as Austin Murr left the building for a solo shot in the seventh while an RBI groundout pulled the Whitecaps within one entering the ninth.

It was in the top half of the ninth when Christian Franklin would provide the winning run as his solo blast put the Cubs up 6-4 and gave them the insurance they would need.

That is because Carlos Mendoza added an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth to pull the Whitecaps within 6-5 before falling by that score.

MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 5 - COLUMBIA FIREFLIES 3

Like the South Bend Cubs, Myrtle Beach saw a big lead start to evaporate late but did enough early on to hold off Columbia. Kevin Valdez battled through command issues in his four innings of work but didn't allow a run to give the Pelicans a good start.

He was backed by a strong offensive effort that got things rolling in the third on the Brian Kalmer triple to take a 2-0 lead and never looked back. Brett Bateman added an RBI groundout in the fourth to push the lead to 3-0 as the Pelicans were in control early. It took six innings for Columbia to break through as a sacrifice fly from Brett Squires pulled the Fireflies within 3-1.

Fortunately, the Pelicans had the answers for that as Jefferson Rojas left the building in the seventh to extend the lead to 4-1 with an error leading to the game's final run for Myrtle Beach in the eighth. Those runs loomed exceptionally large as Columbia added a pair of ninth-inning runs to pull within 5-3 but couldn't get any closer.

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