Cubs Minor League News: Iowa wins 9th straight, Knoxville and South Bend close strong |
Dustin Riese
· · 6 hours ago
For the final time in 2025, the Cubs Minor League System had a full slate of games as South Bend saw its season come to an end. That means from here on out, there will only be three affiliates in action, which will soon dwindle to two as the Minor League Season is rapidly coming to a close.
As mentioned early this week, when all is said and done, this could go down as one of the best, if not the best, overall weeks of Minor League competition when you look at the overall wins and losses. Had it not been for Myrtle Beach having their game cancelled ahead of the playoffs, who knows what could've happened, but with a 3-0 mark to close out the week, the Cubs couldn't have been happier.
Make that nine consecutive wins for the Iowa Cubs as they completed the six-game sweep against Omaha 5-3 on Sunday. Whatever has gotten into this team has brought plenty of late-season excitement; unfortunately, it may be too little too late for this team to make a serious run. For the second time in as many starts since joining the Iowa rotation, Austin Gomber was dialed in as he struck out four across five innings of one-run baseball to bring his record to 2-0 with a 0.90 ERA with the Cubs. Facing off against Cole Ragens, who had seven strikeouts in three innings, the Cubs needed Gomber to deliver as James Triantos and Carlos Perez backed him with a pair of solo shots in the third and fourth innings to put the Cubs on top 2-0. The lone run off Gomber came in the fifth, and it came off the Dairon Blanco single that pulled Omaha to within 2-1, only to have the Cubs respond in the bottom of the fifth. Moises Ballesteros played a role in that with a sacrifice fly, but it was the Perez double that would go down as the game-winning hit and had the Cubs up 4-1. With Gomber out of the game in the sixth, Omaha began to battle back as they used a bases-loaded walk to score their second run of the day before a John Rave single made this a 4-3 Cubs lead. That was as close as they would get as Triantos capped off the scoring with a late sacrifice fly to give Iowa a 5-3 win. Iowa had six hits in the win, with Perez leading the way with two hits and two RBIs.
Sometimes all it takes is one big inning to get a win, and that was the case for Knoxville on Sunday as they scored all three of their runs in the first in a 3-1 victory. Yenrri Rojas took the ball for Knoxville, and although he took a no-decision, he was impressive as he struck out five across four innings to bring his ERA to 2.25. With Walbert Urena striking out six in five innings, runs were going to be tough to come by, but it was the Smokies who came out strong to send a message in the first inning. Not only did all their runs come in the first, but they came on one swing with Pablo Aliendo unloading for another massive homer as his three-run shot would be all the Smokies would need. Rocket City picked up their run in the fourth inning on the David Calabrese double, but it wasn't enough as the Smokies took care of Rocket City to claim the series 3-1. Knoxville had six hits in the win, two coming from BJ Murray Jr and Pedro Ramirez.IOWA CUBS 5 - OMAHA STORM CHASERS 3
KNOXVILLE SMOKIES 3 - ROCKET CITY TRASH PANDAS 1
SOUTH BEND CUBS 5 - WISCONSIN TIMBER RATTLERS 1
Another tough year has come to an end for the Cubs, but if the second half is a sign for what is to come, big things could be on the horizon for this team. Backed by a three-run first inning of their own and a strong start from Kenten Egbert, it was the Cubs ending their season in style as they took down the Rattlers 5-1.
Egbert has had an interesting season, to say the least. However, after going 6-2 in his final eight decisions, he managed to finish the season with a 7-8 record. He picked the best time to have his best start of the season, allowing one run on seven hits across 8 2/3 innings to drop his ERA to 4.26. He walked none and struck out four as he had the Rattlers guessing.
Egbert was backed by some instant offense in the first as the Cubs came out swinging and never looked back. Logan Poteet started the party with his first professional homer, taking Tanner Gillis deep in the first to put the Cubs on top 3-0. That score would hold until the sixth when the Cubs added their final two runs on a Kade Snell single and a wild pitch as they were in control of things 5-0.
Still trailing by that score and down to their final three outs, Egbert came out to pitch the ninth as he was looking to complete the shutout. Although that didn't happen with Luis Castillo coming through with an RBI single, he still dominated from start to finish as the Cubs rolled for the 5-1 win. Poteet and Leonel Espinoza led the way for the Cubs with two hits as Poteet drove in three.
MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS vs COLUMBIA FIREFLIES (Canceled)
Next up, the playoffs, as they will once again see this same Fireflies team.
