Cubs Minor League News: Roederer drives in 7 runs, Hull pitches gem, Rojas raking, more
Roederer had a career day with two homers and seven RBIs

Cubs Minor League News: Roederer drives in 7 runs, Hull pitches gem, Rojas raking, more
by - Senior Writer - Sun Jul 02 10:00:22 GMT-04:00 2023

The last full slate of games for the week, saw the Cubs have six of their seven teams in action with five games taking place. Chicago couldn't have asked for much better results with the organization going 3-1 with the other game having both DSL teams take the field.

IOWA CUBS AT OMAHA STORM CHASERS (Postponed makeup 7/2)

TENNESSEE SMOKIES 11 - CHATTANOOGA LOOKOUTS 10

Saturday will go down as Cole Roederer day as the Cubs outfielder delivered. The former top-10 prospect picked up three hits, including a pair of homers, as he drove in seven runs to spark the offense. The Smokies needed that as DJ Herz struggled to get through four innings in his start.

Trailing 1-0 in the fourth, Roederer delivered his first homer of the game as his Grand Slam made things 4-1. Tennessee would score six times in that inning, with Nelson Maldonado adding an RBI single to give the Smokies a 6-1 lead. Just when you thought the Smokies had the momentum, Chattanooga answered with four runs of their own as the Quincey McAfee triple brought home two before two more crossed home to make things 6-5.

The back-and-forth affair continued into the fifth, with BJ Murray Jr picking up the rare two RBI fielder's choice to extend the lead to 8-5, only to have the Lookouts match them to pull within 8-7. An Alex McGarry double in the sixth tied things up before the Michael Trautwein homer in the seventh gave the Lookouts their first lead. Chattanooga added a run on a balk later in that inning to take a 10-8 lead into the eighth.

That was when Roederer elected to put the team on his back again as he belted his second homer of the game to plate three more, putting the Smokies back in front 11-10.

The Tennessee pen took care of things the rest of the way as they knocked off the first-half champs in an exciting game.

BELOIT SKY CARP 6 - SOUTH BEND CUBS 5

These two teams have had plenty of great battles over the years, and this was no exception. With the Cubs trailing by three late in the game, the Cubs began to rally and pulled within one run in the ninth. In that ninth, the Cubs had the bases loaded, only to have Luis Verdugo end the game on a deep flyout.

Connor Nolad made another start for the Cubs, and although it wasn't as good as his past starts, he still pitched well. Noland gave South Bend five innings but allowed five runs, with four coming as earned runs. Most of the damage against him came in the second after the Yohendrick Pinango homer gave the Cubs a 1-0 lead.

Beloit not only got to Noland in that second inning, but they used a massive inning to seize control as the three-run blast from Jake Thompson put the Sky Carp on top 3-1. Kahlil Watson added an RBI single later in the second as Beloit finished the inning with a 4-1 lead. Hoping to keep things close, the Cubs did pick up RBI singles from Ed Howard and Fabian Pertuz over the next few innings, but they still trailed 5-3.

Holding that 5-3 lead into the seventh, Jacob Berry came through with the biggest hit of the day as his RBI single put the Sky Carp up 6-3. That hit proved to be game-winning, as the Sky Carp needed that run in the end. Already with one homer in the game, Pinango doubled up to go deep twice, pulling the Cubs within 6-4 in the eighth.

South Bend continued to battle back in the ninth, with Kevin Alcantara leading things off with a double.

Following a wild pitch that moved him to third, James Triantos pulled the Cubs closer as his single made this a 6-5 game. Alexander Canario reached base on an infield single, with Felix Stevens working a walk-on walk to have the Cubs leave the bases loaded to end the game.

MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 6 - CHARLESTON RIVERDOGS 3

Like last season, the Pelicans were the first-half Champions of the Carolina League only to fade in the second half. Given their promotions in the past two weeks, no one would be surprised to see that again. Instead, the Pelicans have gotten off to a great start in the second half and continued their winning ways with a 6-3 win.

Nick Hull got the start and improved to 4-2 on the season. Hull gave the Birds six shutout innings, allowing two hits and striking out seven as his ERA fell to 3.71. Hull was given plenty of support, with the Pelicans pushing across two runs in the first for an early 2-0 lead. Jefferson Rojas reached via a fielder's choice, with Juan Mora picking up a sacrifice fly.

Still holding a 2-0 lead in the fifth, the Pelicans continued to build on their lead with that combo coming through again. Rojas started the three-run frame with a two-RBI single, while Mora added another RBI single to push the lead to 5-0.

Rojas added an RBI walk in the sixth to put the Pelicans in front 6-0 as Charleston picked up three runs in the ninth to make things closer. Rojas and Mora provided all the offense in the win.

ACL CUBS 9 - ACL DIAMONDBACKS 5

The Cubs closed out another week of ACL ball with a solid win over the Diamondbacks. Yenrri Rojas got the start for the Cubs and gave them four innings of one-run ball to set the tone. He had the most success regarding the pitchers, as the Cubs struck out fewer than six batters in the game.

While Rojas was doing his thing on the mound, he was backed by an offense that gave him plenty of support. That made things much easier for him on the mound as Adan Sanchez used an RBI single to put the Cubs on top for good in the first. Holding that 1-0 lead in the third, Christian Franklin doubled the lead with an RBI double for the Alexis Hernandez single, making things 3-0.

The Cubs continued their offensive onslaught in the first inning, with Brayan Altuve extending the lead to 4-0 with his homer, which was followed by another Alexis Hernandez RBI single that gave the Cubs a 6-0 lead. Despite holding a big lead, the Cubs offense started to stall late in the game, which left the door open for the Diamondbacks.

They got on the board with a wild pitch in the bottom of the fourth before scoring three times in the fifth to make things 6-4. A Cristofer Torin single drove home one of those runs, as did a balk and an RBI groundout. The Cubs picked up a massive insurance run in the sixth off the Franklin RBI groundout, but the Diamondbacks responded with one of their own to keep things close at 7-5.

Down to the final inning, the Cubs were looking for some additional support and got that via a walk and an Anderson Suriel double as the Cubs had a pair of runners on and one out. A wild pitch followed that double to push across another run while the Christopher Paciolla walk kept the Cubs offense in business before a second wild pitch gave them a 9-5 lead.

DSL CUBS BLUE 6 - DSL CUBS RED 5

The best part of having two teams in one Rookie League is that they have to play each other several times throughout the season. When that happens, it is the one day where wins and losses don't matter, as DSL Red used a massive four-run inning to grab the lead before a late-game meltdown gave DSL Blue the win.

That four-run frame came in the third, and it came with the Score tied 0-0. Joan Delgado delivered the big blow that inning as his bases-loaded double brought home three to make things 3-0. DSL Blue pushed their fourth run across on a wild pitch and led 4-0. Not to be phased by that big innings, DSL Red began to chip away at the lead with a pair of sacrifice flies from Henniel Alcala and Carlos Altuve, making things 4-2 in the fourth and another one from Darlyn De Leon in the fifth to make things 4-3.

Clinging to a one-run lead, it was Daniel Benschop coming through as his homer gave DSL Red a 5-3 lead late. DSL Red then proceeded to have a meltdown in the seventh inning with a bases-loaded hit by pitch making things 5-4 before a costly error allowed for two more runs to score, which was the difference in the game.

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