Cubs Minor League News |
Dustin Riese
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- 17 hours ago
My oh My, what a difference a week makes. After having a tough time winning games last week, the Cubs have come out with vengeance to start this week and have won more games than it feels like it has in two weeks.
Thursday was an extra special night for the Cubs as all five full-season teams went out and got the job done, while the Rookie League teams went 2-1. That is a combined 7-1 record for the night, with one of those wins coming as a no-hitter from the ACL Cubs.
If you want to talk about a game for the ages, well, try an inning for the ages as the Cubs put up an eight-spot in the seventh to take home the victory. Will Sanders continues to be one of the more overlooked pitching prospects in the Cubs system, and all the right-hander does is go out and deliver quality starts. Sanders gave the Cubs 5 2/3 strong innings of two-run baseball, walking two and striking out seven as he continues to leave his mark on AAA. Sanders was backed by a first-inning RBI single from Jonathon Long mixed with an Owen Caissie groundout as Iowa took an early 2-0 lead. After watching PJ Higgins pull the Bats within 2-1 with a second-inning single, it was the Davis Wendzel double in the fourth that tied things up, as this was looking to be a back-and-forth game. Those were the game's only runs until the seventh, when the Cubs erupted for eight runs to break the game open. Two bases loaded walks and a wild pitch aided three of those runs, with Long and Chase Strumpf driving in three more on RBI singles. You also had a two-run bomb from Caissie mixed in there as the Cubs took game one from the Bats 10-2.
Winning double headers doesn't come easy for the Cubs, but they managed to get it done on Thursday as they swept away the Bats 5-4. Like in their first game, where the Cubs offense up an eight-spot in the seventh, Iowa found some late-game offense to walk off the Bats 5-4 in nine innings. In what was going to be a bullpen game, several pitchers stood out, including right-hander Brooks Kirske, who struck out five across two innings. You also had Luke Little post another scoreless outing to lower his ERA to 1.42, and you have to think a call-up could be in the near future should the Cubs need bullpen help. While most of the Cubs relievers were solid, Frank Scalzo Jr was roughed up as he surrendered three runs in two innings to open the game. After allowing a Will Banfield single to open the scoring in the second, Louisville went on to tack on two more runs off Scalzo in the third, with Edwin Rios delivering a sacrifice fly ahead of the Jack Rogers single. Still trailing by that 3-0 score in the fifth, the Cubs benefitted from some sloppy defense to pull even as Hayden Cantrelle reached on an error that also allowed two runs to score. Christian Franklin added an RBI groundout later in the inning to make this a 3-3 game, with extra innings set to decide this game. Franklin continued to have a great day, adding another game-tying RBI groundout in the eighth after Banfield put the Bats on top with a sacrifice fly as things continued to be tied. Looking to deliver in the clutch, Carlos Perez and the Cubs got the last laugh as his sacrifice fly would be all the Cubs would need to walk off the Bats 5-4.
Anytime you get solid pitching, your chances of winning games increase, and the Smokies had plenty of pitching on Thursday. Behind a strong Antonio Santos start, it was the Smokies' pitching staff overall that took care of business as they held the Clingstones to four hits in a 3-0 win. It has taken Santos a little while to settle in, but with a 1.14 ERA so far this season, the Smokies are very happy with his performance. He continued to give them quality outings by going five shutout innings and striking out five as he turned things over to Nick Hull and the rest of the pen. Santos was backed by some early offense, which does make things easy when you're a pitcher, as Ethan Hearn worked a bases-loaded walk in the first to put the Smokies in front for good, 1-0. They would tack on a Pedro Ramirez grounder in the second and a Parker Chavers RBI single in the third, as that was it for their offense in this one.
Something has gotten into South Bend as they continue to string together plenty of wins. Whether it's the pitching, which has vastly improved, or an offense that has finally found some consistency, the Cubs are hot right now, as another complete game performance led to a dominating 10-1 victory. After struggling to find his footing after his promotion, Evan Aschenbeck has turned it around and is now 2-3 with a 3.22 ERA in High-A. That includes wins in back-to-back starts as the left-hander was dominant on Thursday, going seven innings and striking out five. Anytime your offense can score 10 runs, your chances of winning significantly increase, but it did take a while for the offense to get rolling, as James Triantos' sacrifice fly was the only run of the game through four. It was in the fifth when the game changed as a bases-loaded double from Drew Bowser broke the game open with a Brian Kalmer single, capping off a four-run inning that had the Cubs in front 5-0. That score would hold until the eighth when Miguel Pabon unloaded for a three-run shot, followed by a two-run shot from Carter Trice in the ninth to close out the Cubs' scoring. The lone run for Fort Wayne came in the bottom of the eighth off a Jake Snider single. Seeing Triantos in High-A was a surprise, but this is solely a rehab stint to get him back healthy.
The Cubs were no strangers to walk-off wins on Thursday, and the Pelicans added another one as they walked off the Crawdads 3-2. Kevin Valdez got the win for the Pelicans, as he turned in one of his best starts of the season. The right-hander walked one and struck out four across seven innings, allowing one run on two hits. That run came on a Maxton Martin first-inning homer that gave the Crawdads their lone lead of the game, 1-0. The Pelicans instantly responded in the bottom of the first as it was their turn to play long ball, with Cameron Sisneros leaving the yard to put the Pelicans on top 2-1. That score would hold until the late innings, with Hickory finding a way to tie things up in the eighth off a sacrifice fly and putting the pressure back on the Pelicans' offense. That pressure was too much for the Crawdads pitching staff as Myrtle Beach walked off the Crawdads on a balk in the ninth to secure the 3-2 victory.
Of all the games on Thursday, this was by far the most exciting as the Cubs not only blanked the Athletics, but did so by no-hitting them. That is a near-impossible feat in Arizona, as the ball tends to fly out of the yard down in the desert. Ethan Flanagan got things started for the Cubs, striking out four across four no-hit innings before handing things off to Geovanny Vasquez and Matthew Peters, who finished it off. Offensively, the Cubs had plenty of production, including Ronny Cruz, who delivered three hits and two RBIs from the leadoff spot. Alexis Hernandez, Derik Alcantara, and Henniel Alcala also had two-hit performances, with Alcantara adding two RBIs.
Backed by a four-run fourth, the Cubs managed to grab the lead in the middle innings before holding on for the 7-6 win. DSL Red was trailing 4-0 through three innings before a Wilfri De La Cruz triple put the Cubs on the board in the bottom of the third. One inning later, it was the Cubs' offense coming to life as they scored four times to take the lead, with Leonel Vivas and Luis Abreu responsible for three of those runs on RBI singles. There was also a bases-loaded walk from De La Cruz in that inning, as the Cubs would never trail again. Abreu would add a second RBI single in the fifth, along with a Diego Gonzalez single, as the Cubs held on for the 7-6 win.
The lone team to come away with a loss on Thursday was the DSL Blue squad as they fell to the Pirates 6-2. A pair of three-run innings victimized DSL Blue while their offense struggled to get much going throughout. Daniel Campos scored the first run of the day for the Cubs off an error, with Julio Acosta adding a solo shot in the sixth to pull within 3-2 before falling 6-2.IOWA CUBS 10 - LOUISVILLE BATS 2 (Game 1)
IOWA CUBS 5 - LOUISVILLE BATS 4 (F/9)
KNOXVILLE SMOKIES 3 - COLUMBUS CLINGSTONES 0
SOUTH BEND CUBS 10 - FORT WAYNE TIN CAPS 1
MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 3 - HICKORY CRAWDADS 2
ACL CUBS 9 - ACL ATHLETICS 0
DSL CUBS RED 7 - DSL PIRATES 6
DSL PIRATES 6 - DSL CUBS BLUE 2
