Cubs Minor League News

Patrick Gorski - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese - Senior Writer - 1 day ago

It was another busy night on the diamond on Wednesday, as all four full-season squads were in action and set to participate in five games. With Mother Nature canceling one game due to wet grounds, the Cubs saw their system post a second consecutive .500 showing, going 2-2 on the evening.

IOWA CUBS 1 - OMAHA STORM CHASERS 0 (Game 1)

For the second time in as many starts, Connor Noland pitched the front game of a doubleheader and was once again dominant from the start. The right-hander gave the Cubs six impressive innings, walking three and striking out three while allowing just one hit. He turned things over to Michael Fulmer in the seventh, who converted his first save of the season.

Opposing Noland was fellow right-hander John Gant, who managed to keep the Cubs scoreless through five innings, striking out five. Iowa only needed one run to win this game, with the lone run coming in the sixth inning on an Owen Caissie double that gave the Cubs a 1-0 lead before winning by that score.

IOWA CUBS 4 - OMAHA STORM CHASERS 0 (Game 2)

It's hard enough to win both ends of a doubleheader, let alone shut your opponent out on both ends. That is exactly what the Cubs accomplished on Wednesday as they took care of the Storm Chasers in game two, 4-0. All four runs came in the fifth inning, which was all the offense would need.

It took a little while for him to settle in on the mound, but Kenta Maeda finally gave the Cubs the start they were looking for. Across five scoreless innings, Maeda allowed two hits while striking out three, and he was impressive on the mound. He gave way to Ethan Roberts and Phil Bickford, who took care of the rest.

As was the case in game one, things were deadlocked early as Kyle Wright struck out five Cubs across his 3 2/3 innings of work. It wasn't until the fifth inning that the Cubs' offense came to life, and with two big swings of the bat, the Cubs pushed across four runs to win the game 4-0. Caleb Knight delivered the first of those big swings with a solo shot, while Moises Ballesteros unloaded for a three-run shot as part of the win.

CHATTANOOGA LOOKOUTS 3 - KNOXVILLE SMOKIES 1 (F/10)

Whether it be in AAA Iowa or anywhere else in the Cubs system, the pitching dominated the night as every game saw the Cubs opponents score three runs or less. That included the AA matchup between Chattanooga and Knoxville, as the Lookouts managed to pick up a 3-1 extra-inning win.

Grant Kipp delivered his best performance of the season as he gave the Smokies six innings of two-hit baseball, walking one and striking out 10 to lower his ERA to 2.47. Kipp went toe to toe with Kevin Abel, who struck out six across six strong innings himself, but did find himself down 1-0 when he left the game.

That run came in the second inning when Casey Opitz connected for an RBI single that put the Smokies in front 1-0. They managed to hold that lead until the later innings when the Ruben Ibarra double tied things up in the seventh and helped send the game into extras. It was in the extra frame when the Lookouts put the game away as Ibarra came through again with an RBI single off Sam Thoresen to put the Lookouts in front 2-1.

They would go on to add another run later in the inning off an RBI forceout as Chattanooga delivered a 3-1 extra-inning win. Six different players recorded a hit for the Smokies, including Opitz, Jordan Nwogu, and Jaylen Palmer.

SOUTH BEND CUBS vs GREAT LAKES LOONS (Postponed)

KANNAPOLIS CANNONBALLERS 3 - MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 2

Like the rest of the system, this game was all about the pitching, as a total of five runs were scored. Unfortunately for the Birds, they were on the losing end of a tough decision as the Cannonballers rallied for three late runs, including two in the ninth, to pick up the walk-off win.

Although he failed to get out of the fifth, Will Frisch had one of his better starts of the season as he held the Cannonballers scoreless through 4 1/3. Frisch battled through some command issues, issuing five walks and striking out three, but with only two hits allowed, he managed to limit the damage.

He gave way to Braden Spears and Ethan Bell, who combined to strike out eight hitters the rest of the way. With Seth Keener on the mound, the Pelicans knew runs would be challenging to come by as he struck out nine across seven impressive innings. Despite that, Keener was on the wrong end of a decision as he allowed a pair of runs in the fourth that put the Birds on top 2-0.

Matt Halbach opened the scoring for the Pelicans with a fourth inning RBI single to put them in front 1-0, while a Yahil Melendez RBI forceout doubled the lead and made this a 2-0 game. Typically, two runs wouldn't be enough, but with things sitting at 2-0 entering the seventh, it was starting to look as if two runs would be enough.

It was in that inning when Kannapolis started to battle back as a Caleb Bonemer homer put the Cannonballers on the board and pulled them within 2-1. Two innings later, it was the long ball that played a factor again with Ryan Burrowes going deep for the second solo shot of the game to tie things up 2-2.

That was only the start for the Cannonballers as Miguel Santos added an RBI single later in the inning to deliver a 3-2 walk-off win. Myrtle Beach was held to five hits in the loss, with Leonel Espinoza leading the way with two.