Cubs Minor League News |
Dustin Riese
· · 4 hours ago
This has been an excellent week for the Cubs' Minor League system, and that continued into Saturday. Despite the system posting a 2-3 record, it was the full-season squads that showed out, as they managed to go 2-2 with several close games.
It's not always how you start a game, but rather how you finish it. On Saturday, the Cubs not only struggled to get off to a good start but also had trouble finishing the game well, resulting in a 7-4 loss to the Sounds. Connor Noland got the start for the Cubs and struggled with his command, as this wasn't his best outing. Noland gave the Cubs five innings, walking four and allowing four runs, as his ERA is now at 3.98 for the season. Noland got off to a great start before a third-inning sacrifice fly put the Cubs in a 1-0 hole. That was followed by the Drew Avans fourth inning double and a Jared Oliva fifth inning triple as the Sounds opened up a 3-0 lead. Oliva wound up scoring later in the fifth on the Jorge Alfaro double, as it was all Sounds through five, 4-0. Despite the slow start to the game, the Cubs' offense is one of the more potent in all of AAA, and with one swing from Carlos Perez, the game was tied at 4-4 as he connected for his third grand slam of the season in the sixth inning. Unfortunately for the Cubs, those would be the only runs of the night as Nashville tacked on three runs against Ethan Roberts in the eighth to secure the 7-4 win. Despite scoring four runs, the Cubs were held to two hits as Kevin Alcantara added the only other hit to go with the Perez grand slam.
Once again, the Smokies and Shuckers were locked into a tightly contested matchup, but that is expected when the Cubs and Brewers get together. After putting things away in extras on Friday, the Smokies used a pair of two-run innings to grab the lead before holding off the Shuckers late. Grant Kipp has been on quite a roll as of late and is starting to make a nice 1,2 combo with Jaxon Wiggins in the rotation. Following another strong six-inning performance where Kipp allowed two runs, his ERA is now at 2.98 for the season. Kipp went pitch for pitch against Brett Wichrowski, who allowed two runs across five innings. As was the case on Friday, it was Pedro Ramirez who got the scoring started as he connected for a two-run double to put the Smokies on top 2-0. It was a short-lived lead for the Smokies as the Shuckers responded with two runs in the bottom of the third, with the first coming home on a wild pitch ahead of the Cooper Pratt double to tie things up 2-2. With things still tied 2-2 in the fifth, Felix Stevens came through in the clutch as his two-run single not only put the Smokies on top 4-2, but proved to be the game-winning hit. Biloxi managed to get one of those runs back on a ninth-inning sacrifice fly, but that was it as the Smokies held on for the 4-3 win.
What was shaping up to be a pitcher's duel early turned into an offensive shootout late as the Captains pulled away for the 10-5 win. This was a game that saw 11 runs scored in the final two innings, including a six-run ninth that broke the game open for the Captains. Ryan Gallagher may not have been his dominating self, but with three runs allowed in 5 2/3 innings, he did more than enough to secure the win. The right-hander walked one and struck out six as his ERA sits at 3.04 for the season. This was one of those games where the long ball did Gallagher in, as he allowed a pair of solo shots to Jonah Advincula and Juan Benjamin in the second inning. Those homers came after Wulifredo Antunez opened the scoring with a first-inning single, as all three runs charged to Gallagher came in the first two innings. South Bend did a good job of keeping things close early with Carter Trice picking up his third leadoff homer of the month to tie things up 1-1 in the first, but that was all Matt Wilkenson would allow as he struck out eight across five innings. Both teams managed to tack on a run in the eighth to make things 4-2 before the Lake County offense exploded in the ninth for six runs to open up a 10-2 lead. Jose Devers and Johnny Tincher were responsible for three of those runs with a pair of RBI doubles, while Juan Benjamin and Christian Knapczyk tacked on RBI singles. South Bend also uncorked a wild pitch during that inning, which allowed the final run, as the ninth inning was a complete nightmare. Credit the Cubs offense for bouncing back from the rough top half of the ninth, as they did their best to keep things close as Brian Kalmer's double made this a 10-3 game. Trice followed suit with his second homer of the night to pull within 10-5 before falling by that score. Trice had a massive day at the plate, picking up three hits and three RBIs to lead the Cubs. Ivan Brethowr added two hits for the Cubs, who had nine hits in the game.
Another day, another win for the Pelicans, as they have started the second half of the season with a pair of victories. This one was all about the pitching as both offenses combined for three runs, with the Pelicans doing one better in a 2-1 walk-off win. Nazier Mule continues to round back into form after missing more than a month as he got the start and proceeded to give the Pelicans 2 2/3 innings of one-run ball. He walked three and struck out five before yielding to Kevin Valdez, who tossed 5 1/3 scoreless frames with four strikeouts. This one was of those games where hits were at a premium, as both of the runs in regulation came off defensive miscues, with the Pelicans picking up the game's first run on a second-inning error, only to have Fayetteville tie things up in the third off a double steal. That 1-1 score would hold the rest of the way as this game was ticketed for extra innings. In the extra frame, it was the Pelicans standing tall as the fast-rising Eli Lovich delivered the walk-off single in the Birds' 2-1 win. Lovich had one of six Pelicans hits, with Matt Halbach leading the way with two.NASHVILLE SOUNDS 7 - IOWA CUBS 4
KNOXVILLE SMOKIES 4 - BILOXI SHUCKERS 3
LAKE COUNTY CAPTAINS 10 - SOUTH BEND CUBS 5
MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 2 - FAYETTEVILLE WOODPECKERS 1 (F/10)
