Chicago Cubs Minor League News

Jerry Lai - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese - Senior Writer - 14 hours ago

It was an extremely busy night on the diamond as the Cubs saw all seven of their affiliates in action, playing in a total of eight games. While the overall 3-5 record wasn't what the Cubs were hoping for, several strong performances have the fans excited for what is to come.

IOWA CUBS 8 - OMAHA STORM CHASERS 5

Don't look now, but the Cubs are on a streak as they have won the first three games of this series. After picking up a pair of shutouts to open the series, things were trending in that direction again, only to have Omaha score five runs from the fifth inning on.

Will Sanders continues to do his thing on the mound as he improved to 2-0 since his AAA promotion. The right-hander was far from perfect, allowing four runs (3ER) through six innings, but with eight runs of support, he was able to do what he needed to grab the win. All eight of the Cubs' runs came in the first four innings as they jumped out to an 8-0 lead and never looked back.

Two came in the second off a Moises Ballesteros sacrifice fly and a Jonathon Long single, but it was the six-run fourth inning that broke the game wide open. Ballesteros and Long played a role in that with an RBI single and a bases-loaded walk, but it was Carlos Perez's grand slam that was the difference, as it was the game-winning hit.

Leading 8-0 in the fifth, Omaha began to battle back and scored all four of their runs off Sanders in the fifth. Diego Castillo put an end to the shutout with an RBI double, but it was the Tyler Tolbert three-run shot that made this an 8-4 game. Omaha added an RBI later in the game off the Cavan Biggio grounder, but it wasn't enough in another 8-5 Cubs win.

With three more hits, Long led the way for the Cubs and pushed his average to .357. Dixon Machado added a pair of hits from the nine hole as the Cubs had eight hits in the win.

CHATTANOOGA LOOKOUTS 3 - KNOXVILLE SMOKIES 0

There wasn't to cheer about in Knoxville on Thursday as the Smokies were held to two hits. The result was a 3-0 loss to the Lookouts, as pitching set the tone in this one. Despite the loss, Chris Kachmar went out and delivered his best outing of the season after struggling the past few times out.

Sure, Kachmar took the loss after being charged with two runs in five innings, but with no walks and 10 punchouts, you can see how dominant he was on the mound. Both runs charged to Kachmar came in the second as a pair of RBI singles from Cade Hunter and Austin Callahan would be all the offense the Lookouts would need as Jose Franco went six strong innings with three punchouts.

The Lookouts closed out the scoring by adding another run in the ninth off the Austin Hendrick single, as that would be all the scoring in a 3-0 win. Jaylen Palmer and Pablo Aliendo had the two hits for the Smokies.

SOUTH BEND CUBS 6 - GREAT LAKES LOONS 5 (Game 1)

Although the Cubs haven't played well throughout the first half, things have started to trend in the right direction lately, which could lead to better results in the second half. Their improved play continued on Thursday as the Cubs took game one from the Loons 6-5.

Tyler Schlaffer was back on the mound and delivered one of his best starts of the season. The right-hander gave the Cubs five innings of one-run baseball, walking two and striking out five for a tough-luck no-decision. Schlaffer was backed by some immediate first-inning offense as the Carter Trice homer put the Cubs in front 1-0 while an Edgar Alvarez single extended the lead to 2-0.

Following a Mike Sirota homer that made things 2-1 in the fifth, it was the Cubs' offense getting back to work in the bottom of the fifth to break the game open 5-1. Jefferson Rojas got that started with a sacrifice fly, while Cristian Hernandez's single brought home two for the big hit in the inning.

Despite a comfortable lead, things went south in a hurry for the Cubs, as their bullpen was unable to hold the lead that Schlaffer had established. Vince Reilly was the victim of a bad outing as he loaded the bases before a Logan Wagner Grand Slam tied things up 5-5 and made this a brand-new ball game.

The Cubs weren't about to let that phase them as Rojas came through with his second sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh to deliver the 6-5 walk-off win.

GREAT LAKES LOONS 3 - SOUTH BEND CUBS 0 (Game 2)

Not only did the Loons exact their revenge from game one by shutting the Cubs out in game two, but they did so in dominating fashion as the Loons did not hit the Cubs in the victory. Eriq Swan played a role in that by striking out seven across six no-hit innings before Roque Gutierrez closed things down.

What made this loss especially painful was watching Cubs starter Evan Aschenbeck take the loss after going all seven innings. The left-hander walked one and struck out five while allowing three runs as he is starting to settle in at High-A. Coming off a massive Grand Slam in game one, Wagner was at it again in game two as his two-run homer in the second proved to be all the offense the Loons would need.

Carlos Rojas would add an RBI single in the seventh to close out the scoring as the Cubs fell to the Loons 3-0. With his effort, Aschenbeck has lowered his ERA to 3.82 since his promotion and is starting to stabilize the middle of the Cubs' rotation.

KANNAPOLIS CANNONBALLERS 12 - MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 1

For the most part, all eight of the Cubs' affiliated games were competitive, but this wasn't one of them as the Cannonballers crushed the Pelicans. Kevin Valdez took the loss as he was charged with seven earned runs in just 2 2/3. That was more than enough offense for Kannapolis as Grant Umberger improved to 4-0 on the season and lowered his ERA to 2.13 after five shutout innings of nine strikeout baseball.

It didn't take the Cannonballers long to grab the lead as George Wolkow connected for a two-run shot in the second that gave the Cannonballers the lead for good, 2-0. They followed that up with a massive third inning, scoring five times to break the game open, 7-0. A sacrifice fly and a steal of home led to two of those runs, but it was a pair of RBI singles from Lyle Miller-Green and Nathan Archer that did the most damage.

It took seven innings for the Pelicans to break through on the scoreboard as Angel Cepeda's RBI grounder was the lone run of the afternoon for the Birds. Kannapolis responded by scoring five runs over their final two innings to close out a 12-1 victory. Myrtle Beach had nine hits in the loss, with Leonel Espinoza and Eriandys Ramon picking up two.

ACL GIANTS 17 - ACL CUBS 4

It was another rough day on the diamond for the Cubs, who were drubbed by the Giants 17-4. Felix Stevens had a great day at the plate as he was responsible for three of the team's four RBIs and connected for his third homer in as many games.