Cubs Minor League News |
Dustin Riese
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- 10 hours ago
The Cubs couldn't have asked for a much better start to another week of Minor League action. Not only was their offense clicking in several games, but the pitching was also strong, which tends to lead to good things. Overall, the Cubs posted a 5-2 showing for the night, which is one of their best starts to a week in quite some time.
Of all the games on Tuesday, the Iowa game was the least eventful for the Cubs, as they were drubbed by the Clippers 12-0. This was one of those games where there wasn't much to cheer about as the Cubs were held to just five hits, with Christian Franklin coming away with two of those hits. When it comes to pitching, several pitchers performed well, including Jordan Wicks and Brooks Kirske, who combined to strike out nine batters over five innings. They also allowed just one run between the two of them, as Wicks was charged with that run and gave the Cubs three innings of one-run, six-strikeout baseball.
After limping to the finish line to close out the first half, the Smokies are off to a strong start to begin the second half. That continued on Tuesday as the Smokies' pitching staff held the Barons to just two hits as part of a 2-0 win. Sam Armstrong may have taken his bumps this season, but the right-hander has responded lately and has now won two decisions over his last three starts. This was by far one of his best outings this season as Armstrong scattered one hit across six shutout innings, striking out three and walking three. He turned things over to Chris Clarke, who worked a pair of scoreless innings while Mitchell Tyranski picked up his sixth save and lowered his ERA to 0.90. Pedro Ramirez has been the man for the Smokies lately, and that continued on Tuesday as he picked up both RBIs. The first came in the fourth off a solo shot, with the second one coming on an eighth-inning RBI single. Those were the only runs Tanner McDougle and the Barons would allow, but it didn't matter as the Smokies' pitching was even better. Ramirez paced the Smokies with three hits to go with those RBIs, as he is now hitting .304 for the season.
Had the Cubs not gotten off to their horrid start to the season, there is a high likelihood they would've been in the playoff mix to end the first half. Well, there are two halves for a reason, and South Bend is off to a 3-1 start to begin the second half following an impressive 10-6 win. This was one of those games where the offense needed to shoulder the load, as Brooks Caple didn't have his best stuff on the mound. Sure, Caple managed to pitch six innings, but with four earned runs charged to his line, he is sitting at 7.99 since his promotion to High-A. Both teams exchanged runs in the second and third innings, with Andy Garriola picking up an RBI double to open the scoring in the second ahead of a Poncho Ruiz single that tied things up. South Bend added a run in the third to retake the lead, only to have Billy Amick respond with another RBI single to keep things 2-2. Once the fourth inning rolled around, it was all South Bend as Brian Kalmer's go-ahead two-run shot put the Cubs back on top for good and was the beginning of seven unanswered runs for the offense. The rest of those runs came during a five-run fifth inning that saw South Bend break the game open 9-2. Reggie Preciado and Jefferson Rojas were responsible for four of those runs on a pair of two-run singles, with Cristian Hernandez picking up an RBI fielder's choice. Despite the large deficit, Cedar Rapids did their best to battle back as they chipped away by scoring two runs in the sixth on an Andy Lugo double mixed with a sacrifice fly. They also added two more runs in the seventh off a pair of RBI doubles from Kyle DeBarge and Kyle Hess, but it wasn't enough as the Cubs took care of business 10-6. Ivan Brethowr closed out the scoring for the Cubs with a solo shot in the sixth as their offense continues to hum. Rojas, Garriola, and Kalmer all had two hits in the win.
You want to talk about starting fast; this was the definition of that as the Pelicans scored 10 times in the first two innings, including nine runs in the first to take care of their rivals. Will Frisch was on the mound for the Birds, and although he earned a no-decision, it was still a great start. Frisch allowed one run in 4 1/3, scattering just two hits before turning things over to the pen. Anytime you're given nine runs of support from the jump, pitching is a whole lot easier, as the Pelicans' offense wasted no time breaking things open. Five of the first-inning runs came from a pair of bases-loaded walks, an error, and a wild pitch, as the Fireflies weren't doing themselves any favors. Angel Cepeda kept the line moving with an RBI double to make things 6-0, while a bases-loaded triple from Leonel Espinoza put the Pelicans on top 9-0. Espinoza was just getting started as he added a two-RBI single in the seventh to close out the scoring as they led 12-1 at that point. Jose Escobar added an RBI single in the second for the Pelicans, while a fifth-inning bases-loaded walk was the lone run for the Fireflies. Espinoza has been turning the corner offensively for the past two weeks, and with three hits and five RBIs, that trend continued. Matt Halbach and Cepeda added two hits in what was a great offensive day.
Large offensive outputs were the theme of the night for the Cubs as the ACL Cubs downed the Padres 12-2. This was all about Drew Gray as the left-hander continues to make his way back from a season-opening injury. The left-hander was about as locked in as possible as he tossed four scoreless innings for the Cubs, walking one and striking out eight. Gray was backed by some instant offense as the Cubs opened the game with five runs in the first three innings. That included three RBIs from Alexis Hernandez, who opened the scoring with a solo shot in the first before tacking on a two-run single in the second. Joan Delgado added an RBI single in the second with Fernando Cruz tacking on a double in the second to make this a 5-0 game. That score would hold until the sixth when the Cubs' offense erupted again for seven more runs, starting with a Darlyn De Leon two-run shot in the sixth. The long ball continued to play a role in the seventh with Cruz connecting for a three-run shot for his first homer of the season, only to have Edgardo De Leon add a solo shot shortly after. Hernandez closed out his four-RBI game later in the inning with a sacrifice fly as the Cubs were holding a commanding 12-0 lead. It wasn't until the ninth inning that the Padres finally cashed in as Isamael Javier delivered an RBI single to make this a 12-1 game. The Padres added a sacrifice fly later in the inning, but that was it as part of a 12-2 loss.
Things haven't always gone as planned for the DSL Rookie League teams, as wins have been scarce over the past few years. Tuesday saw some progress, at least on the pitching from DSL Blue, as they took care of the Reds 3-1. Luis Mata got the start and gave the Cubs three strong innings of one-run baseball before handing things off to the pen. That included Julio Valdez, who secured the two-inning save and has now gone 8 2/3 innings without allowing a run this season. With neither team doing anything through two innings, both teams picked up a run in the third, with Luis Sanchez grabbing an RBI groundout for the Cubs ahead of the Hansel Jimenez double for the Reds. That double was the only run of the day for the Reds as they couldn't crack the Cubs' pitching. The Cubs put the game away in the fourth on a pair of costly miscues as a wild pitch and a bases-loaded walk led to the two runs in the 3-1 win.
Losing in the DSL is one thing, but losing the way the Cubs have been lately is another, as the losses continue to pile up for this team. Tuesday was one of those days when big innings did the Cubs in, as they allowed both a four-run and a five-run inning as part of a 12-3 loss. Darlin Ventura did his part on the mound, allowing two runs in three innings, with those runs coming off a Frank Mieses third-inning single paired with an error that gave the White Sox a 2-0 lead. After that inning, it was all White Sox as they broke the game open with a four-run fourth anchored by a two-run Hendry Alcala triple and an Alejandro Cruz homer. Alan Escobar added an RBI single in the fifth to make this a 7-0 game, only to have the Cubs get on the board with a bases-loaded walk by Jahni McPhee, making it 7-1. A double play then made it 7-2. That was as close as the Cubs would get as the White Sox had another big inning in store, scoring five times in the seventh inning and pushing their lead to 12-2. The Cubs did manage to get one of those runs back in the bottom of the seventh, Freiker Betencourt single, but that was it as the White Sox cruised to the 12-3 win. DSL Red had six hits in the game, with McPhee and Luis Maldonado leading the way with two.COLUMBUS CLIPPERS 12 - IOWA CUBS 0
KNOXVILLE SMOKIES 2 - BIRMINGHAM BARONS 0
SOUTH BEND CUBS 10 - CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 6
MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 12 - COLUMBIA FIREFLIES 1
ACL CUBS 12 - ACL PADRES 2
DSL BLUE CUBS 3 - DSL REDS 1
DSL WHITE SOX 12 - DSL CUBS RED 3
