Cubs Minor League News: DSL Blue wins slugfest, others fall short |
Dustin Riese
· · 5 hours ago
After coming away with a winless showing on Monday, the Cubs' Rookie League teams were back in the fold on Tuesday as their showcase week continued. Although the overall results still weren't what the Cubs were hoping for (1-2), it was still a better showing than on Monday, which is all you can ask for.
Once again, the Cubs' offense did its part to win a game, but it was the pitching that let them down in a 7-5 loss to the Giants. Edwardo Melendez delivered one of his best, if not his best, starts of the season by giving the Cubs six innings of two walks and six strikeouts. He did allow three runs, but it was the bullpen that struggled to get the job done. Trailing 1-0 after a second inning, Oliver Tejeda's RBI single, Ronny Cruz helped tie things up in the third on an RBI double as he is starting to get on a roll. The Giants responded in the top of the fourth on another Tejeda single to retake the lead 2-1, only to have the Cubs tie it back up with Jairo Diaz sacrifice fly. The back-and-forth affair continued into the sixth with Jose Astudillo picking up another RBI single to give the Giants their third lead of the game, 3-2. Still leading by that score in the seventh, the Cubs' offense put together a massive inning that not only saw them take the lead, but it also looked like they delivered the knockout blow. Ludwing Espinoza played a role in that with a game-tying RBI single, but it was the Darlyn De Leon single that gave the Cubs their first and only lead, 5-3. As was the case the last two times the Cubs scored, it was the Giants that had the answers, and with one swing from Tejada, this was a 5-5 game as he capped off his four-RBI night with a homer in the eighth. Jhonny Level capped off the Giants three-run eighth inning with an RBI double that pushed across the winning run to put the Giants back on top for good 6-5. They would add an additional run in the ninth to push the lead to 7-5, which is how things would finish.
Backed by a pair of four-run innings, it was the Cubs' offense that led the way as they took down the Tigers 10-9. The Cubs couldn't have asked for a better start to this one as they opened things up with a four-run first to grab a 4-0 lead. Josias Ramirez started things off with an RBI double before a wild pitch pushed the Cubs' lead to 2-0. The Cubs continued to add to their lead with Jose Carillo working a bases-loaded walk ahead of the Ezequiel Pena single, and just like that, this was a 4-0 game. It didn't take long for the Tigers to respond as they added a run in the bottom of the first on the Santiago Pinto homer to pull within 4-1. Still leading by that score in the fourth, it was the Cubs' offense once again coming to play as they added their second four-run frame of the game to open up a massive 8-1 lead. This time, it was a pair of homers that got the job done, with Ramirez once again starting things off with a two-run shot, followed by the Breyner Figuero homer that made this an 8-1 game. The Cubs continued to rely on the long ball in the fifth, with Juan Tomas going deep to extend the Cubs' lead to 9-2, as they were in complete control up to this point. That was when things started to change as the Tigers began to battle back in the bottom of the fifth to try and make this a game. Christian Perez started what was a four-run inning with an RBI groundout, only to have Willian Berti and Samuell Sanchez single home three runs to make this a 9-6 game. Already with one run driven in, Tomas added to his game as his RBI single in the sixth not only pushed the Cubs' lead to 10-6 but also proved to be the game-winning hit. That was because the Tigers' offense had one last run in them as another Berti hit sparked a late-game three-run rally that saw the Tigers pull within 10-9 before falling by that score.
On a day where big innings proved to be the difference, this game was no different as a trio of big innings led to 13 runs. Unfortunately for the Cubs, two of those big innings came from the White Sox, as that proved to be too much in the 9-6 loss. The first of those massive innings came in the second as the White Sox pushed across four runs to open a 4-0 lead. This was what you would call a nightmare scenario for the Cubs, who not only allowed a run on an error but would uncork three wild pitches that led to the other three runs to put themselves in a massive hole. A Luis Leon homer in the third put DSL Red on the board, only to have the Erasmi Rodriguez double in the fifth pushed the White Sox lead back to 5-1. It was in the fifth inning that the Cubs' offense not only came to life but also managed to capitalize on several White Sox miscues, pushing across five runs as they took their first lead of the day, 6-5. A bases-loaded walk to Juan Cabada started all that, while an RBI forceout and two fielding errors led to three more runs. You also had a Jeury Ramirez single mixed in with all of that to help the Cubs grab the lead. It was a lead that didn't last long, as the White Sox not only answered the Cubs' five-run fifth, but also used another massive sixth inning to grab the lead for good, 9-6. Once again, it was a series of miscues that did most of the damage for the Cubs, two wild pitches and a fielding error led to three of those four runs, with the Jefrank Silva forceout responsible for the other run as part of that big inning. That meant that seven of the nine White Sox runs came from wild pitches or errors as the Cubs did themselves no favors in their 9-6 loss.ACL GIANTS 7 - ACL CUBS 5
DSL CUBS BLUE 10 - DSL TIGERS 9
DSL WHITE SOX 9 - DSL CUBS RED 6
