Cubs Minor League News: Iowa blanks bats, Preciado goes 4-for-4, and Pelicans rally late |
Dustin Riese
· · 1 day ago
Although Wednesday typically tends to be a lighter night when it comes to the Cubs Minor League action, it was busier than normal this week as five of their seven affiliates were in action. A significant reason for this is that the ACL season concludes on Thursday, as teams prepare for the summer break.
Even with an extra game that the Cubs lost, their strong showing from the full season games was all they needed to finish with a winning record, as the Cubs went 3-2 for the day. They are hoping that momentum can carry over to the trade deadline, as new faces may arrive shortly.
Talk about an interesting game. After being held scoreless through five innings, the Cubs' offense erupted as they pushed across nine runs in a three-inning stretch to grab the win. Ironically, the Cubs only had five hits, but it was their patience at the plate that allowed them to work walks, which made a huge difference. One of the many topics of conversation surrounding the Cubs right now is how to address Jameson Taillon's spot in the rotation until he comes back. Should Kenta Maeda pitch the way he did on Wednesday, consider giving him at least one of those starts as the right-hander gave the Cubs six innings of one-hit baseball. He did walk four, but also struck out five as he gave the Cubs all they needed. Tied 0-0 entering the sixth, the Cubs used a patient approach at the plate to open the scoring as three bases loaded walks from Jonathon Long, Dixon Machado, and Kevin Alcantara, paired with a hit by pitch to James Triantos, gave the Cubs a 4-0 lead. They would never look back, tacking on two more runs in the seventh off a Long homer before adding three more runs in the eighth. Once again, it was the walks that helped lead to that big inning as Moises Ballesteros worked a leadoff walk ahead of a Carlos Perez hit by pitch to push the lead to 8-0. Long capped off the scoring with a sacrifice fly to lift the Cubs to the 9-0 win. Long paced the Cubs with four RBIs while Keegan Thompson, Gavin Hollowell, and Riley Martin combined with Maeda to allow two hits.
These two teams have gotten very familiar with each other over the past few seasons, meeting several times in the postseason, including a Southern League Championship series. Those days are long gone for the time being, but that doesn't mean that these teams won't lay it on the line whenever they meet. Backed by a three-run fifth inning that saw the Blue Wahoos take the lead for good, Pensacola relied on its pitching to take care of the rest in a 5-2 victory. Despite taking his seventh loss of the season, you couldn't have asked for a much better start to the game from Sam Armstrong, who was dealing through four innings. Armstrong was backed by an Ethan Hearn RBI single in the second that put the Smokies on top 1-0 as they managed to hold that lead until the middle innings. Still leading by that score in the fifth, Armstrong began to run into some trouble as the Blue Wahoos had a pair of runners on and were threatening to take the lead. That they did as Jared Serna uncorked a three-run home run that put Pensacola on top, 3-1. That was it for Armstrong, who finished off the fifth without any more damage and was charged with three earned runs in his five innings. Playing from behind for the first time, the Smokies kept things close as Corey Joyce's RBI double in the bottom of the fifth made this a 3-2 game, as this was far from over. However, those were the only two runs the Smokies would score as Pensacola put the game away in the ninth on the Michael Snyder single to pick up the 5-2 win.
This was one of those games that looked like it would get out of hand early as the Dragons jumped on Erian Rodriguez immediately in the first to grab an early 2-0 lead. Carlos Jorge started things off with a triple while Carlos Sanchez's double pushed the lead to 2-0. Apart from that, those were the only runs Rodriguez and the Cubs staff would allow as he struck out five in five strong innings to help pave the way for the win. South Bend managed to get one of those runs back in the second off the Reggie Preciado double, but in the fourth, it was the Cubs' offense that went to work as they scored four times off Nestor Lorant to take a 5-2 lead. Once again, it was Preciado cashing in as he used a bases-loaded double to drive home three and put the Cubs on top for good, 4-2. Cristian Hernandez would add another RBI double later in the inning to push the Cubs' lead to 5-2 as the Dragons were searching for answers. South Bend closed out their scoring in the fifth on a Michael Useche grounder as they took care of business 6-2. Hernandez had two hits for the Cubs, but this was all about Preciado, who went a perfect 4-4 at the plate and drove in four runs.
Sometimes it's better late than never, and that was the case down on the beach Wednesday. After watching their offense held to one run through seven innings and trailing 5-1, Myrtle Beach took it upon themselves to battle back, scoring five times over the next two innings to pick up another victory, 6-4. This was an exceptionally nice victory as Nazier Mule didn't have it in this one, allowing five runs in 2 1/3 innings. Mule was backed by a first-inning steal of home that put the Pelicans on top 1-0, only to have the bottom fall out in the third when Columbia scored five times to take the lead. Colton Becker and Stone Russell were gifted the first two runs on a bases-loaded walk and a hit by pitch, while Angel Acosta's single made this a 3-1 game. After a wild pitch added another run for the Fireflies, Gabriel Silva drove home another run on an RBI groundout as the Pelicans found themselves in a massive 4-1 hole. Credit their pitching staff for refusing to give up, as those were the only runs they would allow, which helped the offense gain more confidence as the game went on. Even if the results didn't show until late, the Pelicans continued to battle back as a Matt Halbach single in the seventh pulled the Birds to within 5-3 and gave them a new sense of energy. Then came the eighth, where the Pelicans not only pulled within one on Ty Southisene's single but also managed to take the lead as a wild pitch led to two runners scoring, which was the difference in the 6-5 win.
And then there was one, as in one game left of the ACL season. Wednesday was an interesting game as the Cubs were nearly no-hit, as Jairo Diaz collected the lone hit for the Cubs. It's hard to win games when you have no offense, but with the score tied 0-0 through seven innings, the Athletics took care of business in the eighth and scored all three of their runs in that inning. It was a painful way for Dawnson Netz to see his season end, as he was lights out in his five innings, scattering one hit and striking out five. With things tied 0-0 entering the eighth, Shotaro Morii delivered the game-winning hit as his RBI single made this a 1-0 game. The Athletics would go on to add two more runs on a pair of wild pitches later in that inning, which is all they would need in the 3-0 win. Miguel Amaya was back in the lineup as he continues to go through his rehab, going 0-1 with a walk.IOWA CUBS 9 - LOUISVILLE BATS 0
PENSACOLA BLUE WAHOOS 5 - KNOXVILLE SMOKIES 2
SOUTH BEND CUBS 6 - DAYTON DRAGONS 2: While a .500 record in the second half may not seem significant, it is when you look at how bad the Cubs were in the first half and realize they can still find a way to make the postseason with a strong finish to the season. South Bend continued to play well on Wednesday, as a strong pitching performance, combined with timely hitting, led to another win over Dayton, 6-2.
MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 6 - COLUMBIA FIREFLIES 4
ACL ATHLETICS 3 - ACL CUBS 0
