Cubs Minor League News: Shaw and Cowles raking, Santos impressive, Garriola homers, more |
Dustin Riese
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- 7 hours ago
In what is starting to become the norm for the Cubs and their Minor League system as of late, wins were again tough to come by as they managed to grab just one win across five total games. Pair that with the Cubs losing their third straight game, and this is the low point for what has otherwise been a very successful start to the season.
One day after blasting the Mud Hens 12-0, the Cubs struggled in every facet of their game. That led to a rough pitching performance and an offense putting together some early game success before going quiet late. Had it not been for the Cade Horton promotion, Connor Noland was a name to watch as he has been one of the Cubs' more consistent starters this season. Noland pitched into the sixth, giving Iowa 5 1/3 innings, allowing three runs and striking out three as his ERA is now 3.86 for the season. Two of those three runs came in the third with a sacrifice fly opening the scoring ahead of the Manuel Margot double that made things 2-0. Given how Nick Margevicius was pitching early on, you had to think two runs would be enough as the right-hander struck out eight across five innings. It took the Cubs five innings to break through as Matt Shaw's triple put the Cubs on the board and pulled them within 2-1. Run scoring triple from Matt Shaw! pic.twitter.com/CBzxrQEbUn Shaw would come in to score on the James Triantos double, and just like that, things were back to even. Those runs seemed to awaken the Cubs' offense as Ben Cowles cashed in with another RBI double in the sixth to put the Cubs in front 3-2. Ben Cowles gives us the lead! pic.twitter.com/cNtleM5fOO That was the final run of the day for Iowa as Toledo ended the game with five unanswered runs, four of them coming in the eighth inning to break a 3-3 tie and picked up a 7-3 win. Shaw and Cowles led the Cubs with two hits, and were joined by Greg Allen. Tonight's final pic.twitter.com/fFxYF4511y
The lone team to pick up a win on Friday was Knoxville, and they did it behind a dominating pitching performance. For the third time in as many starts, Antonio Santos was locked in as the right-hander has given up just one earned run all season. Santos allowed two hits in a season-long four innings and did that by striking out five before handing things off to Tyler Santana and the Smokies pen. Backed by a third-inning Haydn McGeary single that put the Smokies on top 1-0, they would never look back as the Smokies' pitching staff took care of business. Knoxville doubled their lead on a Corey Joyce RBI single in the sixth before closing out the scoring on a seventh-inning error to pick up a 3-0 win. Darius Hill continued his hot start to the season and led the Smokies with two hits. BJ Murray Jr. also had two hits in the game, as all but one player had a hit for the Smokies. Friday night shutout! | @ZipsCarWash
One night after watching Jaxon Wiggins carve up the Tin Caps, the Cubs were looking to even up their series and turned to Nick Dean to get it done. Despite the right-hander's best efforts, striking out seven across five innings, Dean was on the losing end of an 8-4 decision as the Cubs' offense was held in check until the middle innings. Not only did Rosman Verdugo deliver an RBI single in the first to put the Tin Caps on top 1-0, but he added an RBI double in the third as the Tin Caps were off and running 2-0. Another RBI double from Oswaldo Linares brought home another run in the fifth as the Cubs were down big early. With Miguel Mendez striking out seven across five shutout innings, the Cubs had a lot of work to do, especially after watching Fort Wayne push across five runs in the sixth to open an 8-0 lead. Three of those runs came off a pair of RBI doubles from Linares and Jacob Campbell, while a series of miscues led to the other two runs. It took the Cubs six innings to break through as an Andy Garriola solo shot put the Cubs on the board to make things 8-1. They call it Home Run Porch for a reason! One inning later, Rafael Morel cleared the bases for an RBI double as the Cubs pulled within 8-4 before falling by that score. Rafael Morel is heating up! Final. The Cubs are back in action tomorrow for Spin-To-Win Saturday. First pitch ➡️ 4:05 pic.twitter.com/c4a2t79NgA
This is one of those games that the Pelicans would love back, especially when you look at how things started. Looking to deliver another strong pitching performance, Nazier Mule was not only roughed up but was also charged for eight runs (7ER) in only three innings of work. Take his start out of the equation, and the Pelicans played well, but when you dig yourself a massive hole like that, it's hard to climb out of. As if uncorking a wild pitch wasn't bad enough to push across the game's first run, why not have an error lead to two more as the Pelicans weren't doing themselves any favors early. Already in front 3-0 in the third, the Shorebirds put the game away as they broke out for five more runs to open up a massive 8-0 lead. Maikol Hernandez opened the scoring with an RBI single, while a sacrifice fly made things 5-0. Then came the big blow from Cole Urman, whose three-run shot capped off a five-run third inning that put the Shorebirds on top 8-0. That score would hold until the fourth when Leonel Espinoza put the Pelicans on the board with a solo shot, while Yahil Melendez's single made this an 8-2 game. COWABUNGA! pic.twitter.com/0qXHjeyKQF FIRST CAREER HIT for Yahil Melendez 👏 pic.twitter.com/sGrR5SbFl3 One inning later, the Pelicans' offense continued to battle back with Espinoza and Cameron Sisneros adding a pair of RBI singles to pull the Pelicans within 8-4. Myrtle Beach was far from done in their half of the fifth as it was time for Delmarva to self-destruct as a costly error and a wild pitch led to two more runs and saw the Pelicans pull within 8-6. That was as close as Myrtle Beach would get as the Shorebirds added a seventh inning sacrifice fly in the seventh inning to close out the 9-6 victory. Wrong bat, dawg! 😆 pic.twitter.com/bevFnqKQGO
Things have been a struggle for the ACL Cubs early on as they have now gone five games without a win to begin the season. This time, it was a loss to the White Sox that added to their total as a pair of two-run frames in the early innings, which paved the way for their 5-2 win. Eli Lovich continued to deliver for the Cubs as he picked up his third RBI hit of the season in the first to put the Cubs in front 1-0. It was a lead that didn't last long as D'Angelo Tejada put the White Sox on top for good in the bottom of the second with a two-run single. They continued to build on their lead in the fourth as the Stiven Flores homer pushed their lead to 4-1 before adding a fifth and final run in the fifth on a balk. The Cubs did manage to get one of those runs back on a sixth inning Adan Sanchez grounder, but that was it as they fell to the White Sox 5-2.TOLEDO MUD HENS 7 - IOWA CUBS 3
KNOXVILLE SMOKIES 3 - CHATTANOOGA LOOKOUTS 0
Box Score: https://t.co/L7H9PU91VI pic.twitter.com/6w9mWmQLLHFORT WAYNE TIN CAPS 8 - SOUTH BEND CUBS 4
Andy Garriola blasts his first Four Winds Field @hoosierlottery home run and his 5th home run of the season 🔥 #SBCubs pic.twitter.com/2oWThwThhV
Morel with a double and a Tincaps error helps adds 3 runs. Cubs not done yet. pic.twitter.com/1DNSsGGqMq
DELMARVA SHOREBIRDS 9 - MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 6
ACL WHITE SOX 5 - ACL CUBS 2
