Cubs Minor League News: Big innings doom Iowa, DSL heartbreak continues |
Dustin Riese
· · 6 hours ago
Tuesday was an overall rough day for the Cubs and their Minor League System. Sure, they managed to come away with two wins, but there were several games that got away early, while other games resulted in walk-off losses that put a damper on what could've been a better night.
Tuesday was all about the big inning for the Saints as they had not one, but two four-run innings to do most of their damage. When all was said and done, that was enough for them to grab the win as they took care of Iowa 10-5. It's been a while since Chris Kachmar has had a bad outing, but his was his worst outing to date for Iowa. The right-hander battled with his command all night, walking five and striking out two in just 3 2/3, allowing six runs in those innings. Two of those came on the Jhonny Pareda homer in the second as the Saints opened up a 2-0 lead and never looked back. They would go on to add four more runs in the fourth as a bases-loaded walk paired with a sacrifice fly led to two runs, while RBI hits from Payton Eeles and Gabriel Gonzalez gave the Saints a commanding 6-0 lead. That score would hold until the seventh inning when a pair of RBI singles from Hayden Cantrelle and Miguel Amaya brought home four runs and suddenly this was a 6-4 game. That comeback attempt was short-lived for the Cubs as the Saints would tack on four runs in the bottom of the seventh off a trio of singles from Pereda, Kyler Fedko, and Eeles to open up a 10-4 lead. Mosies Ballesteros closed out the scoring with a late sacrifice fly, but it wasn't enough as the Saints double up the Cubs 10-5. Jonathon Long and Amaya led the Cubs with two hits, with Amaya also driving in two.
Anytime you can beat the Milwaukee Brewers, the win always feels better, no matter what level it happens at. That was the case in AA as the Smokies went back and forth with the Brewers AA club, the Shuckers, before coming away with a 5-4 win. This was one of those games where Tyler Schlaffer had to grind things out as he had his worst outing since joining the Smokies. Still, with three runs allowed in four innings, things could've gone way worse, but the command wasn't as sharp for Schlaffer, who finished with three walks and four strikeouts. It didn't take the Smokies long to get the offense rolling as the Jaylen Palmer triple pushed across two second-inning runs to put Knoxville on top 2-0. That lead didn't last long as the Cooper Pratt single put Biloxi on the board in the second, only to have a Michael Wood sacrifice fly bring things back to even. One inning later, it was Luis Lara coming through as his RBI single put the Shuckers in front 3-2. Trailing for the first time in this one, Pedro Ramirez connected for an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth, and just like that, this was a 3-3 game. With things still tied in the seventh, Mike Boeve took it upon himself to put the Shuckers back in front as his long solo shot gave them a 4-3 lead and had them thinking victory. Leave it to the Smokies offense to change all that as they not only tied things up in the bottom of the seventh, but managed to take the lead as a costly Shuckers error pushed across the first run and kept things in motion for Knoxville. That set the stage for Reivaj Garcia, who came through with the game-winning RBI hit as the Smokies held on for the 5-4 win.
Backed by a four-run third inning that saw the Cubs take the lead, South Bend managed to hold on for the win as they added two huge runs late and remain in the second-half playoff hunt. Once again, it was Connor Schultz putting together a strong start as the right-hander seems to be coming into his own. Schultz walked one and struck out six across five innings, allowing three runs as he was in line for the win when he departed. After allowing a Lamar King Jr single in the first to give the Tin Caps the lead, it was the long ball that did Schultz in with Rosman Verdugo and Braedon Karpathios taking him deep in the third to open up a 3-0 Tin Caps lead. It didn't take long for the Cubs to respond as Ian Koenig ran into some serious trouble in the bottom of the third as the Cubs had the bases loaded with no outs. Singles from Cameron Sisneros and Ariel Armas brought things back to even 3-3, only to have Reggie Preciado tack on another single to cap off the four-run inning with the Cubs now in front 4-3. To show the importance of the Preciado single, the Cubs wouldn't trail again as Armas capped off a four-RBI night with a massive two-run shot in the sixth as the Cubs opened up a 6-3 lead at that point. His homer would also go down as the game-winning hit as the Tin Caps added runs in both the seventh and eighth innings to pull within one, only to fall by that 6-5 score. Armas was the engine that made the offense tick in this one, leading the Cubs with three hits and driving in four in the win. Sisneros added two hits as they were the only Cubs with multiple hits.
Had it not been for the five-run first inning that gave the Nationals a commanding lead, the Pelicans may have won this game as they held the Nationals in check the rest of the way, falling 7-3. This wasn't the debut Ronny Lopez was hoping for as the right-hander got roughed up in his Low-A debut. Lopez lasted just four innings, walking four and striking out two, but was also saddled with six runs as the Nationals jumped on him early and often. As mentioned, it was the first inning that did the Pelicans in as the Nationals came out swinging. Already with one run across on the Kevin Bazzell single, the Nationals kept the pressure on as the bases were loaded against Lopez. Hoping to minimize the damage, the Nationals had other plans as Angel Feliz uncorked a Grand Slam off Lopez to give the Nationals a 5-0 lead. From that moment on, the Pelicans were in catch-up mode as the Ty Southisene single in the third made this a 5-1 game, only to have the Nationals add another run in the fourth on a sacrifice fly. Moving to the bottom of the fourth with the Birds down 6-1, Angel Cepeda did his best to keep things close as his two-run shot pulled Myrtle Beach to within 6-3 and brought a new sense of energy to the park. Unfortunately for Myrtle Beach, that was it for their offense as the Nationals closed out the scoring on a ninth-inning Cristian Vaquero single to pick up the 7-3 win.
What started off looking like another Cubs win turned sour in a hurry as the Reds rallied for two runs in the ninth to secure the 3-2 walk-off win. The loss bumped the Cubs further out of the playoff race and was a tough pill to swallow after Jider Corpas delivered three shutout innings with three strikeouts to get things started. Both of the Cubs' runs came in the first inning as Luis Santos unloaded for his first homer of the season to make this a 2-0 game. Santos has been on a tear this week and has seven RBIs in two games this week as he is well on his way to earning player of the week honors. With the Cubs still holding their 2-0 lead in the fifth, it was the Reds beginning to chip away at that lead as Angel Barboza picked up an RBI groundout to make this a 2-1 game. Still trailing by that score in the ninth, the Reds were down to their final outs, and wouldn't you know it, they wouldn't go away quietly as an Emdys Rosillo single made this a 2-2 game. The Reds capped off their comeback with a bases-loaded hit by pitch to Wanderly De La Cruz as they walked off the Cubs 3-2.
The Cubs simply can't beat the Brewers at any level, and that is starting to get infuriating for Cubs fans. Tuesday was a prime example of that in the DSL as several big innings paved the way for what was a 9-5 Brewers win. All it took for the Brewers to get a win was a Matthew Moses two-run single in the first that put them on top for good, 2-0. They would add another run on a wild pitch to go up 3-0 before the Cubs got on the board with an error in the third to pull within 3-1. That score would hold until the fifth as the Kenny Fanelan sacrifice fly pushed the lead to 4-1, only to have the Cubs' offense continue to chip away. Juan Cabada kept things close for the Cubs as his two-run double made this a 4-3 game through five. Cabada was just getting started as he added a second RBI single in the seventh to pull the Cubs within 6-5. That was as close as things would get as the Brewers put the game away in the eighth by scoring three runs to open up a 9-5 lead. Francis Sosa provided the big blow of that inning with a two-run homer, while Juan Martinez's single capped off the scoring in a 9-5 win. Cabada paced the Cubs with two hits and three RBIs.SAINT PAUL SAINTS 10 - IOWA CUBS 5
KNOXVILLE SMOKIES 5 - BILOXI SHUCKERS 4
SOUTH BEND CUBS 6 - FORT WAYNE TIN CAPS 5
FREDERICKSBURG NATIONALS 7 - MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 3
DSL REDS 3 - DSL CUBS BLUE 2
DSL BREWERS 9 - DSL CUBS RED 5
