Cubs Minor League News: Bote blast, Rojas homers, Triantos raking, Walk-off win, more
Photo courtesy: Iowa Cubs

Cubs Minor League News: Bote blast, Rojas homers, Triantos raking, Walk-off win, more
by - Senior Writer - Sat Apr 06 09:30:07 GMT-04:00 2024

At long last, Minor League baseball is in full swing, as AA, High-A, and Low-A took the diamond for the first time last night. That means for the next five months, baseball will be in full swing, and there will be plenty of starts to keep tabs on this season if you are a Cubs fan.

Last night saw the Cubs post a 2-2 record overall, but they came real close to going 3-1, which is all you can ask for as an organization. Keep in mind that Tennessee is coming off a Southern League title, Myrtle Beach made the playoffs, and Iowa is loaded, so expect a ton of wins from the system this season.

TOLEDO MUD HENS 4 - IOWA CUBS 3

Iowa's early-season trends continued on Friday, as they were involved in not only a close game but also another one-run game decided in the ninth inning. Chris Clarke continues to pitch well when called upon, but after going 3 1/3 innings, he still has not given the Cubs much length.

Iowa has had a tendency of playing from behind a lot this season, which was the case again. Bligh Madris delivered a fourth-inning RBI double to give the Mud Hens a 1-0 lead before scoring on the Dillon Dingler single. Madris would add his second RBI double in as many innings to put Toledo in front 3-0 as Iowa had some work to do.

It took eight innings for the Cubs offense to get rolling, but as you have seen many times, they can score with the best of them as the Matt Mervis sacrifice fly made things 3-1. The big hit of the night for Iowa came from David Bote, whose homer brought things to 3-3 and had the Cubs looking for another win.

Unfortunately, Toledo got the last laugh as Keston Hiura delivered the game-winning RBI single off Richard Lovelady in the night to lift Toledo 4-3. Bote led the offense with two hits while driving in those two.

TENNESSEE SMOKIES 7 - ROCKET CITY TRASH PANDAS 6 (F/10)

The defending Southern League Champions took to the field for the first time in 2024, and it was an exciting night overall. Sure, Brandon Birdsell and Blake Whitney's pitching could've been better, but Porter Hodge and Manuel Espinoza came through, striking out seven in five scoreless frames before the Smokies walked off the Pandas.

Things got off to a great start for Birdsell, who struck out a pair of hitters in the first before the Smokies' offense made an immediate statement. A leadoff single from James Triantos, followed by the Cole Roeder walk, had the Smokies in business, as the Haydn McGeary sacrifice fly gave them an early 1-0 lead. Christian Franklin extended that lead with an RBI single, but the Pablo Aliendo three-run blast broke the game open as the Smokies took a 5-0 lead in the first.

Their lead didn't last long as Rocket City put together a massive second inning to chase Birdsell from the game and pulled within 5-4. David Calabrese and Arol Vera delivered a pair of RBI knocks in that frame, while the bases-loaded walk to Nelson Rada and a fielder's choice made things 5-4. Rocket City continued their comeback attempt in the fourth, with Cole Fontenelle delivering another RBI single to tie things up 5-5, as those would be the final games of regulation.

In extras, Rocket City scored first as they made it six unanswered runs to take the 6-5 lead. Not about to go home with a loss, Triantos came through with another RBI hit, and once again, things were tied 6-6. That set the stage for the biggest Trash Panda killer in McGeary, who had 26 RBIs against them a season ago. Already with one RBI under his belt, McGeary did what he does best against Rocket City as his walk-off RBI single gave the Smokies a 7-6 opening night win.

Triantos had a great night at the dish, picking up four hits while Franklin added two.

SOUTH BEND CUBS 3 - QUAD CITIES 1

Looking to have a bounce back season with a new manager in 2024 are the South Bend Cubs who are coming off a terrible season. The best way to improve is by starting your season off with a win, as the Cubs went on the road to take down the River Bandits 3-1. Taking the ball for South Bend was left-hander Drew Gray, and although he went three innings, he pitched well, striking out the side in the first and finishing with six punchouts in total.

Gray was backed by instant run support as the 18-year-old Jefferson Rojas took Ben Kudrna the opposite way for the solo blast and put South Bend up 1-0. The Cubs would never look back, as a mix of strong pitching from Tyler Santana, Chase Watkins, and Jose Romero held the River Bandits to seven hits while striking out an impressive 16. Santana earned the win, picking up five punchouts in his outing, as he is looking for a massive 2024.

The Cubs stretched their lead to 3-0 by the sixth inning with Jonathan Long picked up his first South Bend RBI with a fourth inning single with Brett Bateman adding one in the sixth. Quad City ended the shutout bid against Romero in the ninth as Carson Roccaforte used an RBI double to make things 3-1 before falling by that score.

FAYETTEVILLE WOODPECKERS 10 - MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 3

Myrtle Beach had the roughest go of things among the Minor League teams as a sixth-run seventh inning was the difference in this one. Marino Santy looked good in his three innings, striking out four and allowing two runs, while the rest of the pitching staff didn't do well.

The Pelicans opened the scoring in the first with an Andy Garriola fielders choice, jumping in front 1-0 early. The Pelicans held that lead until the third, when RBI singles from Oliver Carrillo and Kenni Gomez put the Woodpeckers in front 2-1, only to have Carter Trice tie things up with his RBI double in the bottom half of the third.

Carrillo was in the middle of the action in the fifth inning as his solo shot put the Woodpeckers in front for good, 3-2, with Gomez adding his second RBI single to extend the lead to 4-2. Then came the Woodpecker's six-run seventh inning to break the game open as the bases-loaded RBI double off the bat of Xavier Casserilla put the Woodpeckers in front 10-2.

Myrtle Beach managed to pick up a run in the bottom half of the seventh on the Cristian Hernandez double, but that was all they could do in what was a 10-3 loss. This is going to be a huge season for Hernandez, and with two hits and his RBIs, he got off to a great start.

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