Down on the Cubs Farm: 4-2 record, walk-off win highlight, more
Patrick Gorski - USA Today Sports

Down on the Cubs Farm: 4-2 record, walk-off win highlight, more
by - Senior Writer - Thu May 02 13:02:36 GMT-04:00 2019

Mother nature has not been too kind this spring as many of the farm hands have seen a plethora of their games postponed. That was the case Tuesday once again, as Wednesday night was a busy slate for baseball with six games scheduled to take place. Overall, the farmhands saw great results on the day finishing the night off with a 4-2 record.

IOWA CUBS 6 – San Antonio Mission 1: In game one of a doubleheader, the Cubs turned to Collin Rea as he looked to slow down the first place Missions. Rea did just that tossing five innings of shutout ball allowing one hit before turning things over to Tony Barnette and Rowen Wick to finish things off for the 6-1 win.

The Cubs took command in the second inning as singles from Francisco Arcia, and Jim Adduci gave the Cubs a 3-0 lead. Rea helped his cause in the fourth with a solo home run before a Phillip Evans single in the fifth put the Cubs up 5-0. Iowa added another run in the sixth off a wild pitch to grab a 6-0 lead before the Missions ended the shutout bid in the seventh on a Lucas Erceg single for the 6-1 defeat.

IOWA CUBS 3 – San Antonio Missions 2: It was Trevor Clifton getting the ball in game two as he looked to once again handcuff the Missions offense. Although not as effective as Rea in game one, Clifton was still strong on the hill tossing five innings of two-run ball with 0BB and 8K’s to pick up the 3-2 win and doubleheader sweep.

Facing an early 1-0 deficit after the Keston Hiura home run, the Cubs tied it in the bottom of the first off, a Cristhian Adames double. The Cubs offense continued to produce in the second as Clifton and Dewees were on base setting the tone for Johnny Field. He didn’t disappoint as his double not only gave the Cubs the lead but provided the winning run with Iowa in front 3-1 after two. A fourth-inning wild pitch allowed Cory Spangenberg to make it 3-2, but Iowa held on as Randy Rosario struck out the side in the seventh for the save and doubleheader sweep.

Iowa continues to lead the way in their division improving to 16-10 on the season and surpassing the Missions for the best record. Addison Russell was given the night off, while Ian Happ went 0-4 with a walk in the two games.

TENNESSEE SMOKIES 3 – Jackson Generals 2: It was all about the pitching on Wednesday as both Riley Smith and Tyson Miller were on point. Miller continued to impress with 6 1/3 innings of shutout ball allowing 2H, 1BB, and 9K. His Era now sits at 1.07 for the season. Despite that great effort, Miller did not come away with the win as late runs off the Smokies bullpen put Tennessee behind before they walked it off in the 10th.

Connor Myers got the scoring started in the second as his double made it a 1-0 Smokies lead. That was all the offense Tennessee had for the rest of regulation as the pitching was incredible in this one. Down to their final three outs in the ninth, the Generals were hoping that lone run wasn’t going to be enough as they looked to even the score late.

They did just that as a solo home run from Daulton Varsho tied things up 1-1 sending the game to extras. It was in the tenth when Jackson struck again as Dominic Miroglio singled home the go-ahead run to put the Generals in front 2-1. It was the Smokies who got the last laugh as they battled back in the bottom of the 10th.

With the new extra inning rules in place, a baserunner automatically starts at second with Luis Vazquez in scoring position. Myers moved him over to third with a bunt single before stealing second himself putting two runners in scoring position. Down to their final out, Roberto Caro came through lofting a single to left field to plate a pair as the Smokies walk off the Generals 3-2.

With that tough stretch of games behind them, the Smokies have crawled back to .500 with a 12-12 record. Tennessee was held to seven hits in the game with Myers and Jhonny Pereda each grabbing two apiece. The Smokies also showed patience at the plate recording 8 BB’s in the win.

MYTRLE BEACH PELICANS 3 – Down East Wood Ducks 8: The Pelicans can’t seem to solve the Wood Ducks as they dropped their sixth consecutive game to Down East 8-3 on Wednesday. After a promising start to the game that saw the Pelicans lead by one through two innings, Erling Moreno was roughed up for five runs in the third to finish his line with 4 1/3 innings pitched, 9H 7 ER in the 8-3 defeat.

Moreno found himself in an early hole as the Wood ducks got to him early. Anderson Tejada opened the scoring with a single to the right followed by another Diosbel Arias RBI giving Down East the 2-0 lead heading into the bottom of the first. Thankfully for Moreno, the Pelicans offense came to play early as they struck back in the bottom half of the first.

A leadoff Carlos Sepulveda walk and Grant Fennell double had the Pelicans in business with runners on second and third no outs. Now with two outs, Jimmy Herron tied things up 2-2 as his single to center got Myrtle Beach on the board. The Pelicans managed to briefly take the lead in the second on a Sepulveda double play that brought home a run for the 3-2 lead, but it was all downhill from there.

Not only did the Wood Ducks draw even in the third after the Ryan Dorow single, but they took the lead for good off of Arias’ second single of the game for a 4-3 lead. Julio Pablo Martinez delivered the knockout blow as his bases-clearing triple capped off a five-run frame with Down East leading 7-3. Yonny Hernandez added an RBI single in the eight to cap off the scoring as Myrtle Beach falls to Down East 8-3.

The Pelicans are now 7-20 on the season as it appears to be a long season this year. Herron was the man of the night collecting two of the teams four hits to go with his two RBI’s. Fannell and D.J. Wilson each picked up the remaining two hits while the Pelicans managed to work nine walks in the game. Miguel Amaya went hitless again at 0-3 but managed to pick up a walk in the loss.

SOUTH BEND CUBS 1 – Burlington Bees 2: Game one of the South Bend doubleheader was dominated by pitching with the Bees scratching out a seventh-inning run to walk off 2-1. Cam Sanders did his part on the mound for the Cubs tossing five innings of one run, four-hit ball to with 1BB and 5K. Unfortunately, John Swanda and Tyler Smith were able to match him no the hill limiting the Cubs offense to just one run.

It took a while for both offenses to get going, but it was the Bees striking first in the fourth. With a pair of runners on base, Nonie Williams picked up his third double of the season giving Burlington the1-0 lead. The Cubs responded with a run in the top half of the fifth inning when Cole Roederer picked up his fifth double to plate D.J. Artis and even things up 1-1.

With the score tied 1-1 and heading to the bottom of the seventh, Ryan Lawlor was entering his second inning of relief in hopes of sending the game to extras. With one out in the seventh, Lawlor issued back to back walks before a strikeout had the Bees down to their final out in regulation. Unfortunately for South Bend, D.C. Arendas lifted Burlington to the walk-off 2-1 win as his single capped off game one.

SOUTH BEND CUBS 2 – Burlington Bees 0: For the second time on the day, pitching set the tone as only two runs on nine total hits were put up in game two. This time it was the South Bend combo of Derek Casey and Jack Patterson on the mound outdueling a trio of Bees pitchers for the 2-0 shutout win.

With the score tied 0-0 through four innings of play, the Cubs were finally able to break through in the fifth scoring the eventual game-winning run. Rafelin Lorenzo led things off with a single before an Artis single two batters later moved him into scoring position. Still, with one out, Roederer worked a walk to load the bases setting the stage for Andy Weber. Weber was able to come through, just not as much as he would have liked as his sacrifice fly made it 1-0 Cubs.

Looking to add on in the sixth, it was a two-out rally that gave the Cubs a huge insurance run. Christopher Morel earned the two-out walk. That proved to be very impactful as Lorenzo picked up his second hit in as many innings with a double to stretch the lead to 2-0. Patterson took care of the rest from there allowing just one baserunner over the final two frames to preserve the 2-0 win.

With the split, South Bend improves to 14-11 and sits just .5 game back of first place Lake County. Roederer managed to reach base four times in the two games bringing his average up to .240 on the season. Lorenzo was the hero in game two with his two hits and game-winning RBI while the pitchers allowed just two runs in 14 innings of work.

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