Cubs Minor League News: Cubs go undefeated across all levels

Patrick Gorski - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese · Senior Writer · 4 hours ago

At long last, the Chicago Cubs had a perfect night on the diamond as the Minor Leaguers came to play on Saturday. Not only did the Cubs go 4-0 on the Minor League side, but the MLB team took down the White Sox in what was the organization's most successful night in quite some time.

IOWA CUBS 11 - LOUISVILLE BATS 9

While the day was decided by the pitching, it was the offense that stole the show in AAA as the Cubs outslugged the Bats 11-9. Although Will Sanders was roughed up for six runs in five innings, the offense did bail him out as he is now 6-0 on the season for AAA.

Sanders was given an early 2-0 lead on a second-inning Christian Franklin double, only to have the Bats tie things up in the bottom of the inning on a pair of homers from Rece Hinds and Christian Encarnacion-Strand. Once the third inning rolled around, the Cubs' offense began to kick into gear as a Carlos Perez double put the Cubs back in front 3-2 while a wild pitch pushed the lead to 4-2.

Then came the fifth, where singles from Dixon Machado and Perez led to two more runs, while a Moises Ballesteros double helped Iowa push across four runs to open up an 8-2 lead. The Bats continued to give the Cubs their best shot in the bottom of the fourth with Sal Stewart picking up an RBI double as part of a three-run inning that pulled Louisville back within 8-5.

That is when the long ball started to take over as Franklin and James Triantos connected for solo shots for the Cubs, while Stewart and Hector Rodriguez added two for the Bats to keep things close 10-8 in the sixth. Stewart would add a second team homer later in the game, which came after a Jonathon Long single as the Cubs took care of business 11-9.

KNOXVILLE SMOKIES 4 - PENSACOLA BLUE WAHOOS 2

After being held in check in the previous two games, the Smokies found themselves trailing the Blue Wahoos late as they were down 2-0 in the eighth. That is when the offense exploded for four runs, leading to a 4-2 win.

Ryan Gallagher continues to go about his business on the mound, as the right-hander has adjusted well to AA hitting. Gallagher dominated through 6 1/3, walking three and striking out eight in what was his AA coming-out party. They needed him to be on top of his game, as Thomas White was near perfect in his five innings. White scattered two hits, but also struck out 14 out of a possible 15 as the Smokies had no answers.

With the game tied 0-0 in the seventh, Johnny Olmsted put an end to that as he took Frank Scalzo JR deep to make this a 2-0 game. It didn't take the Smokies long to battle back as a Jefferson Rojas eighth-inning double cut the deficit in half, making this a 2-1 game. Then came the big blow as the Southern League RBI leader BJ Murray Jr came through again, connecting for a three-run shot to lift the Smokies to the 4-2 win.

SOUTH BEND CUBS 4 - DAYTON DRAGONS 1

It has been a long time since Kenten Egbert dominated on the mound, which was the case on Sunday. Backed by some timely hitting, Egbert took care of the rest as he allowed one run in six innings to pave the way for the Cubs' 4-1 win.

All it took for the Cubs to grab the win was a second-inning double by Ariel Armas that broke a scoreless tie and put the Cubs in front 2-0. Dayton did their best to battle back, picking up a Johnny Ascanio single in the bottom of the third to pull within 2-1. That was the lone run of the game for the Dragons as Egbert and the Cubs pitching took care of the rest while the offense delivered some quality hits late.

Edgar Alvarez added to the Cubs' lead with a bases-loaded walk in the fifth, with Carter Trice going deep again to cap off the scoring in the seventh, in what was a 4-1 win. South Bend had seven hits in the win, with Drew Bowser and Brian Kalmer leading the way with two.

MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 3 - COLUMBIA FIREFLIES 2

While the Pelicans did drop a game to Columbia on Friday, they responded with another strong pitching performance on Saturday to pick up a 3-2 win. Once again, it was Ethan Flanagan dominating on the mound, who allowed one run in six innings, walking three and striking out four.

Given that Emmanuel Reyes struck out five across five innings of one-run ball, the Pelicans needed Flanagan to deliver as he has done that all season. With things tied 0-0 in the fourth, Jose Escobar came through with the game's first run, using an RBI single to make this a 1-0 Pelicans lead.

That score would hold until the sixth when Colton Becker tacked on another RBI hit in what has been a series of RBI hits this week to bring things back to even 1-1. Immediately after watching their lead slip away, the Pelicans were right back on the gas again as the Owen Ayers sacrifice fly put the Pelicans on top for good while another Escobar single drove home the winning run.

Columbia added a late-game run to pull within 3-2, but that was it as the Pelicans would win by that score. Escobar paced the offense with two hits and two RBIs, with Leonel Espinoza adding two hits.