Cubs Minor League News: Schlaffer deals, Halbach homers, Iowa heartbreaker

Patrick Gorski - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese · Senior Writer · 5 hours ago

The beat goes on for the Cubs Minor League system, as Wednesday was a much lighter day. With all three Rookie League teams enjoying the day off, the focus was on the full-season squads, who went out and posted a (2-2) for the day.

COLUMBUS CLIPPERS 8 - IOWA CUBS 7

Talk about a heartbreaking loss for the Cubs. One day after falling to the Clippers 12-0, Iowa returned the favor, opening up an early 6-0 lead. Then came the second half of the game as Columbus rallied to score eight of the last nine runs to send the Cubs to 0-2 to start the second half.

Jake Woodford got the start for the Cubs, and although he was far from perfect, he still turned in a great outing. Woodford gave the Cubs six innings, allowing three runs and striking out seven, as he continues to provide this team with great depth. Woodford was backed by a flurry of early game runs started by an Owen Caissie solo shot in the first.

That was the beginning of a rough day for Austin Peterson, who was touched up for six earned runs in three innings. The Cubs offense continued to roll in the second, with Christian Franklin and Carlos Perez delivering a pair of RBI doubles to open up a 4-0 lead. Then came the fifth, with James Triantos leaving the yard for the first time this season with Dixon Machado tacking on a sacrifice fly as it was all Cubs early, 6-0.

As rough of a start as it was for the Clippers, sometimes all it takes is one inning to get things going, as Milan Tolentino and Dom Nunez delivered a pair of fourth-inning doubles to pull within 6-3. Trailing 7-3 in the eighth after Moises Ballesteros tacked on a fifth inning RBI, it was CJ Kayfus coming through again as his grand slam brought things back to even 7-7.

For Kayfus, it was his second homer in as many games, as he may never want to leave Des Moines. With things tied and a chance to win the game late, Columbus delivered as Chase DeLauter delivered a game-winning RBI single off Luke Little to secure the 8-7 victory.

Kevin Alcantara led the Cubs offense with three hits while Perez and Triantos added two.

BIRMINGHAM BARONS 8 - KNOXVILLE SMOKIES 6

The offense was king in AA on Wednesday night as the Smokies and Barons combined for 14 runs. Unfortunately for the Smokies, it was the Barons coming out on top as they picked up an 8-6 win.

Nick Dean did his best to keep his team in the game, but after allowing five runs in 5 1/3 innings, he seemed like he was starting to run out of gas late. Dean was backed by some instant offense from Pedro Ramirez, who homered for the second straight game in the first to put the Smokies in front 1-0.

It was a lead that didn't last long as the Barons jumped on Dean in the second to push across three runs to take a 3-1 lead. Mario Camilletti opened the scoring for the Barons in that inning with a single, only to have Jason Matthews tack on another single to put the Barons in front 3-1. Knoxville continued to keep things interesting in the fourth, with Ramirez picking up another RBI on a forceout to pull them within a run.

That set the stage for BJ Murray Jr, who came through with another clutch as his two-run single put the Smokies back on top 4-3. As was the case the last time the Smokies had the lead, it was the Barons who had all the answers, responding with four runs in the sixth to take the lead for good, 7-4.

Unlike most big innings where a homer or extra-base hit does the damage, the Barons decided to single the Cubs to death as they collected a quartet of RBI singles to do the damage. Both Matthews and Camilletti had RBI singles during that inning, as did Jacob Burke and Calvin Harris. Over the next two innings, the Smokies did their best to battle back, with Corey Joyce picking up an RBI in the sixth ahead of a Parker Chavers seventh-inning single to make this a 7-6 game.

That would be it for the Smokies offense as Camilletti closed out the offense for the Barons with his third RBI hit of the game to hand Birmingham an 8-6 win. Ramirez continued to lead the way for the Smokies with two hits and two RBIs, with Reivaj Garcia picking up two hits also.

SOUTH BEND CUBS 4 - CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 1

There is no arguing that the South Bend Cubs are hot right now as they continue to play well to begin the second half. Speaking of hot, Tyler Schlaffer was on the mound, having been one of the hottest pitchers in the Midwest League as of late.

Not only has Schlaffer gone at least seven innings in four of his last five starts, including Wednesday, but Schlaffer was as locked in as ever as he no-hit the Kernels through six innings before allowing his lone hit. Still, Schlaffer was impressive, allowing no runs on one hit in seven innings to improve to 3-1. He walked three and struck out a season-high 10 as he has been on a heater lately.

The Cubs needed that type of outing from Schlaffer. Chase Chaney was equally as good, keeping the Cubs scoreless through six innings. Then came the sixth, where an Ivan Brethowr single opened the scoring for the Cubs with a Brian Kalmer sacrifice going down as the game-winning RBI and putting the Cubs on top 2-0. Chaney was charged with those runs as his strong day came to an end.

One inning after opening the scoring, the Cubs' offense got back to work, continuing to deliver late. Cameron Sisneros played a role in that by tacking on another sacrifice fly, only to have Cristian Hernandez reach home off an errant throw to third. The lone run of the game for the Kernels came off Vince Reilly in the ninth as Billy Amick added a sacrifice fly of his own in a 4-1 Cubs win.

While Cedar Rapids only had two hits, the Cubs' offense was held in check as well, finishing with four hits. Brethowr was one of the guys picking up a hit, as was Andy Garriola, Rafael Morel, and Drew Bowser.

MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 3 - COLUMBIA FIREFLIES 0 (F/5)

Like most of the Cubs' Minor League system, the Pelicans have gotten off to a great start to open up the second half, and that trend continued on Wednesday. Backed by a pitching staff that allowed three hits and an offense that did just enough, it was the Pelicans taking care of business and topping the Fireflies 3-0.

This was one of those days when rain got in the way, as the Pelicans only needed five innings to get the job done. That benefited Ethan Flannigan, who is credited with the complete shutout win, allowing three hits and striking out four in five innings. He was backed by an offense that only needed a fourth-inning Matt Halbach homer to get the win as the Pelicans opened up a 1-0 lead.

They would add to their lead in the second as a routine Yahil Melendez grounder turned into a two-run as the Pelicans were in front 3-0 before winning by that score.