Cubs Minor League News: Ballesteros and Franklin homer, Davis working back, more
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Cubs Minor League News: Ballesteros and Franklin homer, Davis working back, more
by - Senior Writer - Sun Aug 20 10:14:45 GMT-04:00 2023

Saturday was a rough night for the Cubs minor league system as they limped to a 2-5 record. Even with one of the games being canceled due to rain, things could have been worse.

While the losing record is one thing, the more significant concern is how some of those losses came about as two of, the better teams not only lost, but they didn't good across the board. That will happen from time to time, but it has happened a lot this week, which is a concern this late in the season.

IOWA CUBS 7 - LOUISVILLE BATS 5

The Cubs certainly didn't make it easy on themselves on Saturday as they nearly blew a 7-2 lead. That was primarily due to the Bats scoring three times in the ninth inning to make things close, but the Cubs managed to hold them off. Caleb Kilian made his first start since returning to the Iowa rotation and pitched very well.

Kilian didn't make it through five, but he still gave Iowa 4 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on five hits with only one run earned. He walked one and struck out three to lower his ERA to 3.87. Apart from him, you had a trio of relievers in Samuel Reyes, Anthony Kay, and Tyler Duffy, who were solid, but Cam Sanders had a rough go of things in the ninth.

Iowa not only scored first but scored in a big way in the second as they pushed across four runs to take a 4-0 lead. Luis Vazquez opened the scoring with an RBI single, while a wild pitch made things 2-0. Pete Crow-Armstrong added to the lead with an RBI groundout, with Matt Mervis capping off the big inning with an RBI single to make things 4-0.

After Matt Reynolds pulled them within 4-1 in the third on an RBI single, Louisville cut the deficit in half in the fifth as an RBI groundout made things 4-2. The Cubs responded to those two runs with two runs of their own as Crow-Armstrong and Yonathan Perlaza added RBI doubles in the sixth to extend the lead to 6-2. Perlaza wasn't quite done as he added an RBI single to make things 7-2 entering the ninth.

In that ninth inning, it was time for Louisville to begin their comeback attempt, and they did. Michael Siani came through with a clutch two-run blast to make things 7-4, with Jason Volser adding an RBI walk to pull Louisville within 7-5 before falling by that score. Crow-Armstrong and Perlaza set the tone from the top of the lineup as they picked up two hits and two RBIs to lead the way.

ROCKET CITY TRASH PANDAS 9 - TENNESSEE SMOKIES 0

The Smokies had plans to virtually eliminate Rocket City from playoff contention this week but instead let them back in the race. Saturday may have been the worst of all the losses this week, as a massive seven-run inning is all Rocket City would need to win 9-0. Joe Nahas did his part on the mound, giving Tennessee 3 2/3 innings of one-run ball with six punchouts before the rest of the pen struggled.

He needed to be on top of his game, as Brett Kerry was downright dominant on the mound. Across five innings, Kerry allowed no runs on two hits while striking out eight. The lone run off of Nahas came in the third inning off the Mariano Riccardi single to give Rocket City a 1-0 lead. They held that lead until the fifth inning before the Rocket City offense erupted to take a massive lead.

Gabe Matthews opened up with a massive three-run shot to extend the lead to 4-0. Bryce Teodosio tripled later in the inning to push two more runs across, while Anthony Mulrine connected for another homer to cap off a seven-run inning with Rocket City in front 8-0. Matthews capped off the scoring one inning later with an RBI groundout as Tennessee suffered a rough 9-0 defeat.

With just three hits, there wasn't much going on for the Tennessee offense as Bradlee Beesley, Jordan Nwogu, and Andy Weber grabbed those hits.

WEST MICHIGAN WHITECAPS 4 - SOUTH BEND CUBS 3 (F/10)

It is almost becoming a comedy affair with the Cubs right now, as no matter what they do, the wins don't translate. Today was all about the pitching as they pitched well enough to win this game but couldn't find a way to finish it late.

Luis Devers is starting to get on a roll on the mound, as he allowed just one run in four innings while striking out seven. Johzan Oquendo followed that up with three scoreless frames and four strikeouts, as those two set the tone for the rest of the rotation. The lone run off of Devers came in the first inning when Andrew Jenkins used an RBI single to put them in front 1-0.

South Bend immediately responded on a Christian Franklin homer in the second as they tied things up 1-1. Franklin recently landed in the Cub's top 30, as bright things are ahead for him.

The long ball continued to do the heavy lifting for the Cubs early, with Moises Ballesteros going deep in the fourth to put the Cubs in front 2-1.

Those were the only runs of the game until the ninth when Luke Gold picked up an RBI single off Sheldon Reed to tie things up and helped force extra innings. In the extra frame, Luis Verdugo came through first as his RBI single gave the Cubs a 3-2 lead. Hoping to hold off the Whitecaps one last time, West Michigan had the last laugh, with Izaac Pacheco delivering the game-tying sacrifice fly and Austin Murr delivering the game-winning walk-off single to give the Whitecaps a 4-3 win.

Verdugo led the way for the Cubs with two hits and one RBI as he continued this great run he has been on. Ezequiel Pagan, James Triantos, Franklin, and Ballesteros grabbed the rest of the hits for South Bend in another tough loss.

COLUMBIA FIREFLIES 7 - MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 1

Much like the Smokies, things didn't go as planned for the Pelicans on Saturday as they struggled to get anything going. Drew Gray may have given the Pelicans two innings, but they were two good innings allowing just two hits and striking out five. Oscar Rayo, on the hand, was much better as he got through six innings and allowed just one run in the process.

With the score tied 0-0 in the fourth, Carson Roccaforte singled home the game's first run as Columbia took a 1-0 lead and never looked back. They extended that lead to 4-0 with a three-run fifth as Jared Dickey singled home a pair of runs ahead of the balk, bringing home an additional run.

The lone run of the game for the Pelicans came in the sixth as Brett Bateman continued his outstanding series with another RBI knock to make things 4-1. That was as close as things would get, with Dickey adding an additional RBI single in the seventh ahead of two additional runs in the eighth to cap off the 7-1 win.

ACL GIANTS 4 - ACL CUBS 2

DSL CUBS RED 9 - DSL PIRATES 4

DSL GIANTS 4 - DSL CUBS BLUE 3

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