Cubs Minor League News: Young raking, Wicks impressive, Stevens homers again, more
Photo courtesy: Iowa Cubs

Cubs Minor League News: Young raking, Wicks impressive, Stevens homers again, more
by - Senior Writer - Fri Aug 18 11:00:31 GMT-04:00 2023

With the Cubs enjoying their third day off in a week, all the focus shifted to the Cubs minor league system, where the wins have been piling up. For the fans that don't have a chance to watch much minor league ball, the Cubs system is one of the better systems, checking in as the No. 4 system in baseball.

They also rank in the top three in system winning percentage, as three of their teams are battling for a playoff berth. Looking to keep things rolling, Thursday saw the Cubs in unfamiliar territory as wins were difficult to come by and nonexistent as the organization posted an 0-7 night on the diamond.

LOUISVILLE BATS 6 - IOWA CUBS 5 (F/10)

Just like that, the Cubs season-high seven-game winning streak ended as the Bats rallied off of Tyler Duffey and the Cubs pen to win in extras. After finding out he could be in line for a September call-up, Jordan Wicks continues to do his thing, as he has yet to lose a game this season.

Wicks may not have gotten the win in this one, but he also didn't take the loss as he went 4 2/3 allowing two runs on five hits with seven strikeouts.

Wicks was backed by plenty of early offense, with Alexander Canario ripping a two-run double in the first to put the Cubs in front 2-0 before the Jared Young single made things 3-0.

The Cubs made that lead hold until the fifth inning when both earned runs against Wicks came to fruition. Matt Reynolds put Louisville on the board with an RBI double, while former Cub Nick Martini laced an RBI single to pull Louisville within 3-2. The Cubs got one of those runs back in the bottom of the fifth on the Matt Mervis double, only to be thrown out on the same play.

Leading 4-3 in the sixth, Luis Vazquez took it upon himself to keep the Cubs in front by two as his RBI single made things 5-3. That was it for their offense, as it would come down to their pitching to get the job done. Unfortunately, that was their issue as Reynolds homered in the seventh to pull the Bats within one in the seventh, while Jose Barrero doubled home the tying run in the eighth to force extras. Barrero would then push home the game-winning run on a sacrifice fly in the 10th as Louisville battled back to end the Cub's winning streak.

Mervis and Young led the offense with two hits while driving in two runs. Canario added a hit with a team-high two RBIs while nearly every player in the lineup had at least one hit.

ROCKET CITY TRASH PANDAS 6 - TENNESSEE SMOKIES 0

The only team that can knock the Smokies out of the playoffs right now is Rocket City, and boy, are they giving them a run for their money right now. After splitting the first two games of the week, the Trash Pandas took the series lead after blanking the Smokies 6-0 on Thursday.

Brandon Birdsell made the second start of his AA career and had mixed results. Birdsell went 4 2/3 allowing three solo homers but also walking none and striking out six. That is typically a good enough performance to win, but more was needed as Ivan Armstrong and company stuck out 10 Smokies on the ninth to pick up the shutout.

With the score tied 0-0 in the third, David Calabrese brought home the winning run for Rocket City with the first of three solo shots off of Birdsell. One inning later, it was the long ball again as Jose Gomez and Gabe Matthews left the building to push the lead to 3-0. Following the homer barrage, the Smokies pen did a good job keeping the Trash Pandas' offense in check, apart from a three-run seventh inning that saw the game busted wide open.

Nolan Schaunel picked up a massive RBI double in the top half of the seventh to stretch the lead to 4-0, with Tucker Flint adding a two-run single later to cap off the scoring in the 6-0 win.

The Smokies didn't have much of anything going offensively, as they had four hits in the loss, with all of them coming as singles.

WEST MICHIGAN WHITECAPS 3 - SOUTH BEND CUBS 2

It doesn't matter what South Bend does at this point, as they can't win games. When they get good pitching, the offense struggles. When the offense delivers, the pitching struggles, as there has been no in-between.

Grant Kipp made his High-A debut as he turned in an excellent start for the Cubs. Kipp only went four innings, allowing two runs on five hits and striking out four. He left trailing as the Cubs offense had a tough time getting much of anything going against Garrett Burhenn. Both of the runs Kipp allowed came in the first inning as Luke Gold ripped an RBI single to make things 2-0.

West Michigan never trailed from there as they managed to hold off the Cubs offense the rest of the way. It took five innings for the Cubs to get on the board, with James Triantos using an RBI single to pull South Bend within 2-1. Still holding their one-run lead, West Michigan added a massive insurance run in the eighth on the RBI groundout by Austin Murr as the Cubs trailed 3-1 entering the ninth.

That groundout was crucial for the Whitecaps as Felix Stevens belted a homer in the ninth to pull the Cubs within 3-2, only to see them fall by that score.

Despite the loss, the Cubs had nine hits as Ezequiel Pagan paced the offense with three hits to raise his average to .312. Matt Shaw and Stevens picked up two hits as Stevens hit his organization-high 24th homer.

COLUMBIA FIREFLIES 8 - MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 1

Sparked by a pair of four-run innings, the Fireflies proved too much for Myrtle Beach and grabbed their first win of the week. Luis Rujiano had a rare rough outing, but it wasn't as bad as the numbers indicate. Sure, he allowed four runs in less than five innings, but only two were earned as he continues to pitch well.

Even with him doing his part, Shane Panzini and the Fireflies staff were far too much as Panzini tossed five shutout innings with seven strikeouts to pick up the win. Columbia proved that you don't need a ton of innings to score a ton of runs, as all eight of their runs came in two innings. Four came in the second when Trevor Werner ripped a bases-loaded triple to put Columbia in front 3-0. Werner would come home on the Jared Dickey grounder later in the inning to put the Pelicans in an early 4-0 hole.

The lone run of the game for Myrtle Beach came in the seventh when Andy Garriola left the building for a solo shot to pull the Birds within 4-1. That was as close as they would get as Columbia tacked on four more runs in the bottom half of the seventh as an error mixed with a wild pitch led to two of those runs while the Omar Hernandez single and the Carson Roccaforte sacrifice fly capped off the scoring in the Fireflies 8-1 win.

ACL RANGERS 15 - ACL CUBS 7

DSL RED SOX 11 - DSL CUBS RED 7

DSL ORIOLES 4 - DSL CUBS BLUE 3

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