Cubs Minor League News: Powell returns, DSL Cubs Red win in the rain, Dogs walk it off |
Dustin Riese
· · 7 hours ago
Apart from Rookie League Monday, the Cubs' Rookie League affiliations don't receive as much attention as the full-season squads. That is to be expected when both seasons start later and end sooner, with most of their rosters comprising of rehabbing or young players getting their first taste of professional ball.
However, things are going to change next week as the MLB All-Star break will be underway, thus canceling out baseball for four days. That leaves the Rookie Leagues as the only affiliations that will have games, allowing them some time to themselves. Monday saw an overall mixed review for the Cubs' Rookie League teams, as torrential rain in the Dominican Republic affected two games, with both ending early. The end result was a (1-2) day as the Cubs continued to push through their season.
For whatever reason, the offensive numbers are down across the ACL, which is surprising given its history. Monday was another one of those low-scoring pitchers' duels as the Diamondbacks got the best of the Cubs, 3-2. Making his first appearance since early in the 2024 campaign was left-hander Walker Powell, who is now on a rehab assignment. Powell did everything and more for the Cubs, tossing three perfect innings and striking out one, as his much-anticipated return was just what the Cubs were hoping for. He was matched up against Jaitoine Kelly, who, despite allowing two runs in six innings, managed to pick up the win as the Cubs offense wasn't able to come through when they needed to. It took five innings for either side to push across a run, with the Diamondbacks striking first for two in the fifth to take a 2-0 lead. Tytus Cissell started the scoring with a sacrifice fly, while a wild pitch from Geovanny Vasquez made this a 2-0 game. The Cubs didn't have to wait long to get on the board themselves as they matched the Diamondbacks with two runs in the sixth to tie things up. Edgardo De Leon continues to impress as his RBI triple put the Cubs on the board before the Jan Luis Reyes sacrifice fly made this a 2-2 game. Just as quickly as the Cubs tied things up, it was the Diamondbacks grabbing the lead right back as another Vasquez wild pitch in the bottom of the sixth led to the game-winning run as Arizona knocked off the Cubs 3-2. De Leon and Reyes had two hits for the Cubs.
The game that was affected the most came from DSL Red as rain saw this game end three innings early. Despite that, the Cubs were on top when it was called, as they used a strong pitching performance to pick up a 2-1 rain-shortened win. In what is becoming a broken record, Luis Ghisays was on the hill and once again put forth a dominating effort. Across five innings, Ghisays had Arizona guessing as he walked one and struck out eight to allow just one unearned run. His ERA is down to 2.55 for the season, as he has been, by and large, the Cubs' best DSL arm. Ghisays was backed by an Ivan Cespedes sacrifice fly in the first that put the Cubs on top for good, while the Leonel Vivas fourth-inning double proved to be the game-winning hit as the Cubs led 2-0. Arizona would get their only run in the top of the fifth off a throwing error, only to have the rain wipe away any chance of a comeback. Wilfri De La Cruz was one of five Cubs to register a hit in the win, joining Freiker Betencourt, Cespedes, Vivas and Jeury Ramirez.
Backed by a four-run third inning that gave the Reds the lead, the Cubs saw a late-game comeback attempt thwarted by the rains and had to settle for the 6-3 defeat. Iker Redona may have gone just three innings, but it was three perfect innings for the Reds as he struck out six in three perfect frames and has yet to allow a run this season. Add that to an offense that scored four runs in the third inning to put the Reds on top, and this was a long day for the Cubs and their hitters. Liberts Aponte opened the scoring for the Reds with a two-run single in the third as they took the lead and never looked back 2-0. They would push across two more runs later in the inning off an error and a balk, opening up a 4-0 lead. Over the next two frames, DSL Blue did a great job battling back as a bases-loaded Juan Tomas walk put the Cubs on the board in the fifth to make this a 4-1 game. Then came the sixth when Breyner Figuereo delivered an RBI knock, pulling the Cubs within two while a wild pitch had the Cubs within 4-3. That was as close as they would get as the Reds responded with two runs of their own in the bottom of the sixth off a pair of wild pitches to push across the final two runs before the lightning came. Figuereo had one of the two hits for the Cubs, joining Josias Ramirez.
If you want to talk about the comeback of the year for the Dogs, look no further than this one as the Dogs erased a five-run deficit by scoring seven times in the final three innings to walk off the Cougars. Jack Nedrow was on the mound for the Dogs, and despite allowing five runs in six innings, he was only charged with three earned runs in what was a good outing. Nedrow was victimized by a Robby Martin two-run homer in the second that gave the Cougars the lead before Marcus Chiu added an RBI double in the third. Todd Lott also got in on the fun in the third with an RBI single as the Cougars were off and running early, 4-0. After Claudio Finol went deep in the fourth to make this a 5-0 game, it was looking as if this wasn't the night for the Dogs as Jack Fox was dialed in early. Fox went on to give the Cougars seven innings of six-strikeout baseball, but after holding the Dogs scoreless through six, the bottom started to fall off in the seventh as Chicago began to make things interesting. All it took was one big swing to get the momentum on the Dogs' side as Chance Sisco took Fox deep for the three-run shot to pull the Dogs within 5-3. Trailing 6-3 in the eighth after Tripp Clark tacked on an RBI in the top of the inning, Jacob Teter responded with another RBI as his RBI groundout made this a 6-4 game. The Dogs would add an additional run later in the inning off an error as the comeback was on 6-5. Still trailing by that score and down to their final at-bats, it was the Dogs who would get the last laugh as Teter came through with a two-run single to walk off the Cougars 7-6. Teter and Cisco were responsible for six of the team's seven runs despite having two combined hits.ACL DIAMONDBACKS 3 - ACL CUBS 2
DSL CUBS RED 2 - DSL ARIZONA 1 (F/6)
DSL REDS 6 - DSL CUBS BLUE 3 (F/7)
CHICAGO DOGS 7 - KANE COUNTY COUGARS 6
