Cubs Minor League News: Cubs Go 2-2 on day highlighted by Taillon’s strong rehab outing

Kamil Krzaczynski - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese · Senior Writer · 2 hours ago

Things have been out of whack as of late when it comes to makeup games and how the Rookie League schedule has unfolded. Barring any changes due to weather, etc., things will be normal the rest of the way, which means the Full Season squads were the focus on Wednesday.

Overall, it was a solid day record-wise with the Cubs going (2-2) for the day. However, that wasn't the story as most of the attention was on Iowa, where Jameson Taillon was making what could be his final rehab start before rejoining the Cubs this weekend. If it was, it went about as well as the Cubs could've hoped for, as he appears ready to roll.

IOWA CUBS 1 - WORCESTER RED SOX 0

Behind a great start from Taillon and a clutch hit from Chase Strumpf, it was the Cubs finding a way to outlast the Red Sox as they hung on for a 1-0 win. As mentioned, Taillon made the start for Iowa for what appears to be his final rehab start before heading back to Chicago.

If that is the case, Taillon finished with a bang as he gave the Cubs 5 1/3 innings of shutout baseball, walking two and striking out four. Was it perfect? Not even close, but Taillon did his part on the mound before yielding to Keegan Thompson and the rest of the Cubs pen.

Taillon was locked into a pitcher's duel with Kyle Harrison, who, despite struggling with his command early on, managed to get through five innings, allowing just one hit and striking out eight. He walked four batters, which was the downfall of his outing, but the Cubs were unable to capitalize on those walks as they let him off the hook.

With things tied in the sixth, it was the Cubs coming through with the game's only run as Strumpf laced an RBI double that not only put the Cubs on top 1-0, but proved to be enough as they would win by that score as the Cubs' bullpen took care of the rest. Porter Hodge and Luke Little followed up Thompson, who earned the win as that duo, in particular, Hodge didn't make things easy, but still got the job done.

Iowa was held to four hits in the win, with Carlos Perez leading the way with two. Strumpf and James Triantos had the rest of the hits in what was a great pitching match-up from the start.

ROCKET CITY TRASH PANDAS 5 - KNOXVILLE SMOKIES 0

Two games into this week's series, and not only are the Smokies looking for a win, but they are also looking for a run as they have now been shutout in back-to-back games. This time, it was Antonio Santos taking the loss as the right-hander struck out five across five innings, allowing three runs (2ER).

That was more than enough offense for Mitch Ferris, who allowed just three hits in six innings, striking out seven. Both pitchers were locked in early, as this was a 0-0 game entering the fourth, only to have the Josh Crouch single in the bottom of the fourth put the Trash Pandas in front for good, 2-0.

Another RBI hit from David Mershon pushed the Trash Pandas' lead to 3-0 with Oscar Colas belting a two-run shot in the eighth to cap off the scoring in the Trash Pandas' 5-0 win. Knoxville was held to five hits in what was another quiet night offensively.

SOUTH BEND CUBS 12 - BELOIT SKY CARP 1

Another day and another win for the South Bend Cubs as their second-half playoff push is getting fun. This was a game that was close early on, only to have the Cubs score nine times in the span of two innings late in the game to break things open.

Erian Rodriguez delivered arguably his start of the season, getting through five innings and allowing just one hit as his ERA fell to 2.81. He walked two and struck out nine as he had the hitters guessing. It didn't take the Cubs long to grab the lead as Rafael Morel opened the scoring with a second-inning RBI single, only to have Drew Bowser's sacrifice fly push home the winning run to make this a 2-0 game.

South Bend would never look back as they pushed their lead to 3-0 in the fourth off a balk. That score would hold until the sixth when the Sky Carp put an end to the shutout with an error to pull within 3-1. Leave it to the Cubs to put things away in the seventh as the Cubs' offense erupted for three runs to break things open 6-1. Once again, it was a Morel single getting things started, while a bases-loaded walk and another RBI knock from Leonel Espinoza did the damage.

Then came the eighth, where the Cubs went nuclear, scoring six more runs to make this a 12-1 game. For the third time in the game, it was Morel getting things started as another RBI hit made this a 7-1 game. South Bend added runs on a bases-loaded hit by pitch to Christopher Paciolla, with Espinoza picking up an RBI groundout.

The big blow in that inning came from Bowser, who uncorked a bases-loaded RBI triple to close out a five-RBI night in the Cubs' 12-1 win. Morel has been on a heater the past few games, and with a team-high four hits and three RBIs, that hot streak continued. Brian Kalmer added three hits with Bowser picking up two with his five RBIs.

COLUMBIA FIREFLIES 7 - MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 6 (F/10)

What was looking like another win for the Pelicans turned sour late as the Fireflies capped off a massive comeback win with a walk-off in extras. It all started with a four-run ninth inning to tie things up before striking for two more runs in the bottom of the 10th to secure the win.

Apart from the offensive outburst late, it was the Pelicans' pitching that set the tone as the Fireflies' offense was quiet throughout. Kevin Camacho picked up where he left off in his last start, allowing just one run in five innings while striking out six. That run came in the second as an RBI groundout gave the Fireflies their lone lead until walking it off late.

After the Pelicans tied things up on the Kane Kepley single in the third, things remained tied until the seventh when a Christian Olivo single put the Birds in front 2-1. Kepley would tack on an RBI triple later in that inning to close out the three-run frame as Myrtle Beach suddenly opened up a 4-1 lead.

With Ty Southisene adding an RBI single in the ninth to push the lead to 5-1, you had to like the Pelicans' chances of winning this game, considering how things have played out in the second half. Then came the bottom of the ninth when the wheels began to fall off as a bases-loaded walk to Henry Ramos opened the door and made this a 5-2 game.

Columbia was just getting started as the Brennon McNair single pushed home a pair to make this a 5-4 game, only to have an RBI forceout lead to the tying run, and helped send this one into extras. In the extra frame, it was the Pelicans wasting no time as they retook the lead on an Angel Cepeda double play that put the Pelicans on top 6-5.

That double play was especially painful as the Pelicans had a chance to tack on more runs and thus put the pressure back on the Myrtle Beach pen to keep things that way. This was one of those days where the pen wasn't at its best as Ramos added his second bases-loaded walk in as many innings to tie things up, leading to the walk-off sacrifice fly off the bat of Tyriq Kemp to give the Fireflies a massive 7-6 win.

This was the Kepley coming-out party as the rookie paced the Pelicans with three hits and three RBIs to raise his average to .409. Jairo Diaz and Olivo added multi-hit games for the Pelicans, as this was a rare loss for them in the second half.