Cubs Minor League News: Mervis smacks 18th homer, Shaw raking, PCA with two hits, more

Cubs Minor League News: Mervis smacks 18th homer, Shaw raking, PCA with two hits, more
by - Senior Writer - Fri Oct 27 10:30:07 GMT-04:00 2023

For the most part, this week has been a struggle for the Cub's minor league system, as wins have been hard to come by. Not only that, but the pitching has struggled across the board as several blowout losses have occurred across the system, which doesn't bode well.

Saturday was more of the same as the Cubs saw one game get suspended in the second set to be completed on Sunday while three other games went on. The overall results could have been better, with the organization going 1-2 with both losses coming in blowout fashion.

IOWA CUBS 4 - INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS 3

After a rough few games that saw the Cubs blow a few games late, Iowa got back on the winning side with a hard-fought win against the Indians. With so many pitchers moving to the MLB level or on the injured list, the Iowa rotation has taken a hit, but Nick Niedert remains one of the few constants. Niedert continues to pitch well, going five innings and allowing two runs in a no-decision.

He was replaced by a quarter of relievers, including Bailey Horn, who got the win, Stephen Gonsalves, Chris Clarke, and Michael Rucker, who picked up the save and lowered his AAA ERA to 0.96. Opposing Niedert was Roansy Contreras, who has been very good in AAA. Sporting a 2.81 ERA, Contreras battled Niedert pitch for pitch and also allowed just two runs in five innings.

Once again, it was the Cubs offense getting things started as Bryce Windham opened the scoring with a single in the second ahead of the Matt Mervis homer in the third to put the Cubs in front 2-0.

Immediately after the Mervis homer, Nick Gonzalez left the building to make things 2-1, with Aaron Shackelford tying things up with an RBI triple in the bottom of the fifth.

The Indians offense kept the pressure on in the sixth as Ryan Vilade cashed in what was a go-ahead RBI single and had them in front 3-2. Their lead didn't last long as Chase Strumpf picked a great time to deliver his first RBI triple of the season and brought things back to even in the top half of the seventh. Shortly after, Pete Crow-Armstrong came through with the game-winning single as the Cubs took a 4-3 lead and won by that score.

Crow-Armstrong was one of three players with multiple hits, joining Alexander Canario and Luis Vazquez. With the September call-up portion of the roster nearing, all eyes will be on PCA and whether or not the Cubs give him a chance this season.

CHATTANOOGA LOOKOUTS 6 - TENNESSEE SMOKIES 0

The only team that has been able to contain the Smokies during the second half happens to be their instate rival and first-half champion, Chattanooga. The Lookouts continued to have their way with the Tennessee and blanked them 6-0 on Saturday. Kohl Franklin was the losing pitcher despite tossing five solid innings.

He allowed three runs on just four hits while also striking out five. He wasn't the issue. The issue was trying to solve Teddy Stankiewicz, who entered the game with an ERA close to 8.00. He then tossed seven shutout innings with eight strikeouts in his best start of the season.

Franklin kept pace with Stankiewicz through three innings until the Lookouts took the lead for good in the fourth. While an RBI forceout led to the game's first run, Quincy McAfee used an RBI single to make things 2-0. The next inning saw Blake Dunn take Franklin deep as his night ended trailing 3-0.

Tasked with keeping things close, the Smokies bullpen got off to a rough start as Angel Guzman proceeded to allow an RBI triple to Alex McGarry in the sixth before he came around to score on a double play to extend the Lookouts lead to 5-0. Chattanooga would get one more run off the struggling Brailyn Marquez in the seventh as Dunn picked up an RBI double to close out the game.

The Smokies had five hits in the loss, with Nelson Maldonado leading the way with two. Levi Jordan, Owen Caissie, and Scott McKeon had the remaining hits as the Smokies have seen their second-half lead shrink a bit this week.

CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 14 - SOUTH BEND CUBS 5

One day after erupting for a season-high 18 runs, the Cubs had the tables flipped as they allowed 12 runs in the first three innings as part of another lopsided loss. After a string of good starts, Luis Devers had a rough day, failing to make it out of the first inning and allowing four runs. He was replaced by Yovanny Cabrera, who allowed eight runs in the next two innings as the Cubs were never in this game.

Any time you are backed with 14 runs of support, it does make life easier for a pitcher, as Zebby Matthews got through six innings, allowing just three runs. That was all he would need as Devers allowed a trio of RBI singles to Ben Ross, Jorel Ortega, and Misael Urbina in the first, which led to three runs while a wild pitch made things 4-0 early.

South Bend does deserve a ton of credit in the early going, as they managed to keep things close early on. A two-run triple from Matt Shaw pulled the Cubs within 4-2 while Moises Ballesteros used an RBI groundout to make things 4-3. Those were the only runs Matthews would allow as the Kernels offense was just warming up.

As if four runs in the first weren't good enough, why not add eight more in the next two frames, with five coming in the second? Kala'i Rosario started that massive inning with an RBI single, while a Ross double and an Ortega walk stretched the lead to 7-3. Throw in a wild pitch and another RBI hit from Jeferson Morales, and the Cubs were down 9-3 early.

The Kernels continued to do damage in the third as Andrew Cossetti left the building for a three-run blast and put the Kernels up 12-3. That was the brunt of their offense, but they wouldn't need anything else. Ross added a homer for Cedar Rapids in the fifth to make things 13-3 before another Morales double in the ninth gave the Kernels a 14-3 lead.

After not scoring for seven innings, the Cubs got back on the board in the ninth as Ezequiel Pagan and Shaw added RBI singles to make things 14-5 before falling by that score.

With three more hits and three RBIs, Shaw continues to crush High-A pitching and is hitting .393 for the season.

Yohendrick Pinango and Pagan added multi-hit games for the Cubs.

MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 3 - KANNAPOLIS CANNON BALLERS 1 (Susp. in 2nd)

In what will be a completed game on Sunday, the Pelicans got off to a fast start against the Cannonballers and raced out to a 3-1 lead before the weather suspension. Drew Gray got the start and was lights out early, allowing one run in two innings with five strikeouts.

His lone run allowed came on a wild pitch in the top half of the first that saw the Cannonballers grab an early 1-0 lead. Their lead didn't last long as the rookie sensation Brian Kalmer continues to have his way in Low-A by belting another homer for the Pelicans as his seventh of the season gave the Birds a 3-1 lead upon the suspension.

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