Cubs Minor League News |
After playing their best baseball as an organization the past few days, Wednesday was a bit of a step back for the Cubs. Sure, they did find a way to win some games, going 2-3, but you never want to finish a night with a losing record, as they will look to bounce back on Thursday.
Following the completion of their suspended game in which the Cubs won 10-2, the Mud Hens returned the favor for game two as they topped the Cubs 10-8. It didn't come easy, as Iowa started to put together a late-game comeback effort only to run out of time. Chris Clarke did his job on the mound, holding Toledo to just two runs in four innings. The bullpen struggled, with Keegan Thompson and Daniel Palencia walking five and allowing five runs. Palencia also left his outing with an injury, which isn't a good sign as he is rehabbing from a current shoulder injury. With the score tied 0-0 entering the third, Parker Meadows got things rolling with a solo blast only to have the Nick Madrigal double tie things back up 1-1. It was a carbon copy of that in the fourth, with Bligh Madris going deep for Toledo while the Bryce Windham double brought things to 2-2. The top half of the fifth is when things got out of hand for Iowa as the lack of command from Thompson and Palencia loomed large, with Toledo scoring five times to take a 7-2 lead. Spencer Torkelson started the scoring with a long single to center, while Ryan Kreidler added a two-run single late in the inning. Backed by an Ali Sanchez homer in the bottom of the fifth, the Cubs kept things close at 7-4 only to have the Mud Hens stretch their lead to their most significant advantage of the day 10-4. Iowa continued to battle back late in the game, with Windham adding another RBI double in the seventh to make things 10-5, with Owen Caissie adding a grounder to make things 10-6. Alexander Canario closed out the four-run seventh for Iowa with a two-run single, but it wasn't in the Cubs 10-8 loss. Windham and Sanchez had two hits to lead the Cubs with Miles Mastrobuoni also picking up two.
Heading into the week, the Smokies knew what was at stake, as a series win would move them into a first-place tie with Birmingham. After dropping the first game of this crucial series on Tuesday, the Smokies had to step up their game, which they did on Wednesday. Led by a strong pitching performance and some timely offense late, the Smokies evened things up as they took down the Barons 3-1. In what has been a solid season for Connor Noland thus far, the right-hander continued that as he tossed six innings of one-run (0ER) ball to lower his ERA to 2.84. Noland didn't walk a man and struck out three as he continued to do his thing. Following his outing was Blake Whitney, who struck out five in his two innings to move to 5-0 on the season, with Frank Scalzo Jr locking down his eighth save while keeping his ERA at 0.00. Like Noland, Drew Thorpe was equally good in his six innings, allowing just one run and striking out seven. His lone earned run came off the James Triantos leadoff homer as the Smokies took a quick 1-0 lead. Tennessee held that lead until the third when Jason Matthews came through with a sacrifice fly, but apart from that, offense was tough to come by as this remained a 1-1 game entering the eighth. It was in that inning when the Smokies put the game away for good, with Triantos cashing in with the game-winning RBI double before scoring off the Matt Shaw single as the Smokies took care of business 3-1. Triantos was responsible for three of the six hits adding two RBIs in the win.
Like AA, runs were at a preimum most of the night in South Bend, only to have the teams combine for three runs in the eighth. Unfortunately for the Cubs, it was the Whitecaps coming away with two of those runs as that was enough to take down the Cubs 3-2. Arguably, one of the best pitchers in the Cubs system that no one is talking about is Sam Armstrong, as his great season continued on Wednesday. The hard-throwing right-hander gave the Cubs five scoreless frames to lower his ERA to 1.66 while scattering two hits and striking out three. With West Michigan taking more of a bullpen approach to this game, neither team was able to cash in early, as this remained a scoreless game until the sixth. At that moment, the Whitecaps grabbed the lead first off an RBI groundout, only to have the Cubs tie things up in the bottom of the inning off a wild pitch. Sitting at 1-1 in the eight, all the Whitecaps needed to put this game away was one swing from Jim Jarvis, whose two-run blast put West Michigan on top for good 3-1. The Cubs did manage to get one of those runs back on the Jefferson Rojas single in the bottom of the eighth, but couldn't get any closer. Rojas led the offense with two hits and an RBI, and Reivaj Garcia added two more hits to remain one of the top hitters in the game.
Mother Nature wasn't too kind to the Pelicans on Wednesday as rain prevented a potential comeback win in their 4-3 loss in six. Mason McGwire lasted just one inning on the mound before handing things off to Jerel Vizcaino, who struck out four in three innings. Andy Gariola opened the scoring for the Birds with a first-inning sacrifice fly, only to have the Greenjackets answer with a Will Verdung single that put them on top for good, 2-1. Augusta would tack on two more runs in the second and third innings, with Harry Owen adding a double in the second before Noah Williams singled out the scoring for the Greenjackets. Down but not out, the Pelicans began to mount their comeback attempt in the middle innings, with Ismael Mena picking up a bases-loaded hit by a pitch in the fifth ahead of the Alfonsin Rosario bases-loaded walk in the sixth to pull the Pelicans within 4-3. This is where things would end as the rains came shortly after, preventing this game from finishing.
It was a rough day for the Cubs in the Desert as the Reds scored fast before handling them 9-2. Eight of their nine runs scored in two innings, with five coming in the first. Luis Reyes opened the scoring with a single before the John Michael Faile double extended the lead to 3-0. Later in the inning, Luis Chevalier connected for the massive blow as his homer made things 5-0. The Cubs answered with a Carter Trice single in the bottom of the first, but that was as close as the Cubs would get with the Reds adding four more runs, three coming in the fifth. Faile started the scoring in the fifth with a single, while Iverson Espinoza closed out the scoring for the Reds. Anderson Suriel stayed red hot by adding a homer late in the game, but it wasn't enough to top the Reds 9-2. TOLEDO MUD HENS 10 - IOWA CUBS 8
TENNESSEE SMOKIES 3 - BIRMINGHAM BARONS 1
WEST MICHIGAN WHITECAPS 3 - SOUTH BEND CUBS 2
AUGUSTA GREENJACKETS 4 - MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 3 (F/6)
ACL REDS 9 - ACL CUBS 2
