Cubs Minor League News

Patrick Gorski - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese - Senior Writer - 1 day ago

One night after posting an ugly 1-6 record, the Chicago Cubs Minor League system had a chance to reset with the hopes of a better performance on Wednesday. For the most part, they did that as they not only picked up more wins, but posted their first winning record of the week by going 4-1.

IOWA CUBS 7 - LOUISVILLE BATS 4

Of all the teams in desperate need of a win, the Iowa Cubs may be at the top of that list. Once again, the Cubs found themselves in a tightly contested game for most of the night, only to have their offense come to life late, scoring four runs, which was enough to win 7-4.

After struggling to find his footing in his first six starts with Iowa, Kenta Maeda is starting to settle in, which could be a good sign for the Cubs as the season goes on. The right-hander did deal with some massive command issues but managed to hold his own for 4 1/3 innings, allowing three runs.

That performance was good enough to match Randy Wynne, who also allowed three runs but managed to finish five innings. All of the runs charged to Wynne came in the first two innings as the Cubs' offense came out strong. Moises Ballesteros opened the scoring with a first-inning sacrifice fly while a pair of solo homers from Dixon Machado and Darius Hill pushed the Cubs lead to 3-0 through two.

It was the next two innings where the Bats got to Maeda, and that all started with a third-inning RBI groundout from Rece Hinds to put the Bats on the board. One inning later, this was a tie ball game with PJ Higgins bringing home another run off an RBI grounder ahead of the Jacob Hurtubise double.

Hoping for some late-game magic, it was the Ben Cowles single that put the Cubs on top for good, 4-3 after six. That set the stage for Christian Franklin,, who not only delivered the big blow of the game, but also the game-winningg hit as his three-run shot broke things open 7-3 in the seventh. Francisco Urbaez added an eighth-inning RBI for the Bats, but it wasn't enough as the Cubs took care of business 7-4.

COLUMBUS CLINGSTONES 6 - KNOXVILLE SMOKIES 4

The lone loss by the Cubs system came in AA, where the Smokies took it on the chin 6-4. This was largely due to a late-game rally that saw Columbus score three runs from the seventh inning, including two in the eighth to put the game away.

Once again it was Chris Kachmar taking the ball and although his numbers may not look great he did more than enough to win this game. Kachmar allowed three runs in five innings, with eight punchouts. Had it not been for Ethan Workinger, who had a first-inning homer off Kachmar and then added an RBI double in the third, his outing would look much better, as Workinger was already off to a great start this series.

With the game tied 1-1 after one, the Smokies decided to play some longball to jump back in front as Parker Chavers gave the Smokies a 3-1 lead with a two-run shot in the third. Brett Bateman added a solo shot later in the inning to push the lead to 4-1, but that was it for them offensively as their pitching was going to have to come through.

Even with Workinger adding an RBI double in the third ahead of a David McCabe single, the Smokies still managed to hold a 4-3 lead late as they were doing what they had to do to win this game. Then came the seventh inning when Cody Milligan touched them all for the second time this season to bring things back to even 4-4.

One inning later, it was the Clingstones grabbing the lead for good as EJ Exposito delivered the game-winning hit ahead of a sacrifice fly to give the Clingstones a 6-4 win. Bateman led the way with three hits as the Smokies had nine hits in the win.

SOUTH BEND CUBS 5 - FORT WAYNE TIN CAPS 0

It took long enough for the Cubs to settle in, but this team is starting to become a team that no one wants to play. That is what happens when some of your key pieces start to return from injuries, as the Cubs continued their strong play with a 5-0 win.

Tyler Schlaffer earned the win for the Cubs as he continues to give the Cubs some much-needed length in their rotation. The right-hander did have to battle through some command issues, but with three walks and seven strikeouts across seven shutout innings, he did more than enough to grab the win.

What made life easier for him was a Cubs offense not only striking fast, but striking often, as all five of their runs came in the first three innings. That included a pair of sacrifice flies from Felix Stevens and Edgar Alvarez in the first as the Cubs took a 2-0 lead and never looked back. Two innings later, it was the offense getting rolling again, and this time they pushed across three runs to open up a five-run lead.

Ariel Armas started that with an RBI groundout, while a pair of singles by Ivan Brethowr and Carter Brian Kalmer closed out the scoring in what was another impressive win by this team. Brethowr was one of three Cubs to record multiple hits, joining Alvarez and Cristian Hernandez.

MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 4 - HICKORY CRAWDADS 3

Despite a three-run third inning from the Crawdads, it was the Pelicans finding a way to get things done as they evened up the series with a 4-3 win. Continuing to rehab his way back was right-hander Chris Clarke, and although this wasn't the best outing, it's nice to see him rounding back into form.

Clarke pitched into the fourth before being pulled after 3 2/3, allowing three runs and punching out four. All those runs came in one inning, and they came after the Pelicans took a 2-0 lead in the first courtesy of an Owen Ayers sacrifice fly and a Jose Escobar single.

As mentioned, all three of the runs charged to Clarke came in the third inning, with two of them coming off a fielder's choice play and an RBI groundout. The lone hit that produced a run came off the bat of Rafe Perich, whose single gave the Crawdads a 3-2 lead. That lead would hold until the fifth inning when Eli Lovich delivered his first career RBI hit, using a two-run double to give the Birds the lead for good, 4-3.

ACL CUBS 3 - ACL REDS 2 (F/8)

It may not have come easily, but the ACL Cubs found a way to get it done, picking up another victory in walkoff fashion. Edwardo Melendrez made the start for the Cubs despite walking five over five innings; he found a way to limit the damage and was charged for two earned runs. The first of those runs came on a Jack Moss first-inning single, while a third-inning sacrifice fly put the Reds back in front 2-1 and was the final run of the day.

Sandwiched between those two RBIs was an RBI single from Christopher Paciolla in the single to tie things up 1-1. Two innings later, it was Jairo Diaz's turn to come through as his RBI single tied things up at 2-2 and proved to be the final run in regulation as extra innings were needed to decide the winner.

It didn't take long for the Cubs to come out victorious in this one as Cesar Lubo came through with a game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the eighth to lift the Cubs to the 3-2 walk-off win.