Cubs Minor League News: Iowa explodes for 12 runs, but rest of Cubs’ system falters |
Dustin Riese
· · 10 hours ago
We are getting down to the nitty-gritty when it comes to Minor League baseball, as we have entered the final stretch run for most teams. When it comes to the Cubs, one team has already clinched a playoff spot after a dominating second half, while another team seems to have run out of gas after making a late-season push to make a surprising playoff run.
In what marked the start of the final full week of competition, the Cubs hoped to kick things off with a bang, as they would love to win some games down the stretch. Tuesday wasn't the night for that as the Cubs limped to a 1-3 showing on the day.
The lone win of the night came in AAA, and it came in dominating fashion as the Cubs took care of business 12-0. The newly acquired Austin Gomber made his first start in the Cubs organization and came through in a big way as he scattered two hits across five shutout innings, striking out five to grab the win. Keegan Thompson, Tyson Miller, and Ethan Roberts followed him up, but it was the offense that stole the show in this one, using a nine-run inning to break things open for the win. Leading 1-0 in the third after Owen Caissie opened the scoring with an RBI fielder's choice, it was the Cubs' offense catching fire quickly as they scored nine times in the fourth to break things open 10-0. Dixon Machado brought home the first two runs off an RBI double, while singles from Parker Chavers and Moises Ballesteros made this a 7-0 Cubs lead. The big blow in the inning came from Carlos Perez, who connected for his 24th homer of the season, extending the Cubs' lead to 10-0. For Perez, his homer was a historic blast as he has posted one of the best offensive seasons by a catcher in Iowa history. Perez was just getting started as he added a second homer later in the game to cap off the scoring as the Cubs knocked out the Storm Chasers 12-0. Perez carried the offense in this one, picking up three hits and driving in five as the Cubs' offense was alive and kicking. Machado added three hits with Jonathon Long picking up two.
While most of the Cubs system was decided by the offense, this one was all about the pitching as the Trash Pandas picked up a rare 1-0 win over the Smokies. Tommy Romero was the tough-luck loser for Knoxville, giving the Smokies seven innings of one-run, three-hit baseball. He walked three and struck out three as he did his part on the mound. Offensively speaking, the Smokies had their issues as Walbert Urena struck out eight across 6 2/3 shutout innings, setting the tone for what was to come. The lone run of the game came in the third inning on Oscar Colas' single, as the Trash Pandas held on for the win. Both teams were held to four hits as Pablo Aliendo led the way for Knoxville with two. Corey Joyce and Brett Bateman had the rest of the Smokies' hits.IOWA CUBS 12 - OMAHA STORM CHASERS 0
ROCKET CITY TRASH PANDAS 1 - KNOXVILLE SMOKIES 0
WISCONSIN TIMBER RATTLERS 6 - SOUTH BEND CUBS 3
After pulling into a first-place tie with Beloit just over a week ago, the Cubs have seemed to run out of gas as they have now dropped seven straight games. Their most recent defeat came on Tuesday as the Rattlers doubled up South Bend 6-3 to open their final series of the season.
Dawson Netz continues to improve from one start to the next, and after allowing two runs across five innings with six punchouts, he continues to show that he has a bright future ahead of him. Netz went pitch for pitch with Tanner Gills, who matched him with five innings, allowing one run and striking out four.
The scoring started on the Daniel Guilarte single in the second to put Wisconsin on top 1-0, only to have Kay-Lan Nicasia go deep in the fourth to double the lead 2-0. South Bend didn't waste any time battling back as they used an Alexis Hernandez single in the fourth to get on the board, only to have Ariel Armas tack on a single in the sixth to make this a 2-2 game.
Just as quickly as the Cubs tied things up, it was the Timber Rattlers taking the lead for good as Andrew Fischer's double proved to be the game-winning hit and put the Rattlers in front 4-2 in the seventh. Wisconsin would tack on a pair of runs in the ninth to push their lead to 6-2 before winning by the 6-3 score. Kade Snell provided the game's final run with his ninth-inning sacrifice fly.
COLUMBIA FIREFLIES 11 - MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 8
Over the next two weeks, these teams will become very familiar with each other as they will not only close out the regular season but also meet in the playoffs. That means there will be at least eight, if not nine, meetings from now until then, as these two teams are going to go at it.
In the first of these meetings, it was the offense that stood out, as 19 total runs crossed home. That included nine runs from the Fireflies from the sixth inning on as they used that to storm back and grab the 11-8 win. You would've guessed the score would've ended up how it did, especially with Alfredo Romero on the mound. The right-hander took a no-decision, allowing two runs in five innings, as his ERA sits at 2.89 for the season.
Both of those runs came in the first two innings off a pair of singles from Stone Russell and Luke Nowak. Even at that, it was the Pelicans in front early as they used a three-run first inning to open up an early 3-1 lead, setting themselves up for another win. Jose Escobar tied things up with an RBI single, but it was an Angel Cepeda double that gave them the 3-1 lead.
Cepeda was just getting warmed up as the Pelicans used their second three-run inning of the game in the fifth, capped off by a two-run blast by Cepeda to make this a 6-2 game. There was also a balk mixed during that inning that led to the first run, as the Pelicans were in command up to this point. It was in the sixth when things began to change as the Fireflies began to tee off on the Pelicans pen.
That all started with a three-run sixth to pull within 6-5 as the Jose Cerice single paired with two bases-loaded walks did the damage. Myrtle Beach responded with two runs of their own in the bottom of the inning as Ty Southisene delivered the first run with a single, while Alexey Lumpuy's homer made this an 8-5 game.
From that point on, it was all Fireflies as they closed out the game with six unanswered runs to secure the 11-8 win. Cerice played a role in that with another RBI single in the seventh, but it was the Pelicans' defense that let them down, as a pair of mental mistakes led to two more runs, making the score 8-8.
Then came the eighth, where the Nowak single put the Fireflies on top for good, 9-8, only to have Columbia tack on two more runs in the ninth to secure the 11-8 win. Russell had an RBI triple in that inning with a sacrifice fly leading to the game's final run. Escobar and Cepeda led the way with three hits, but it was Cepeda paving the way with four RBIs.
