Cubs Minor League News: Iowa Cubs close season with loss, finish 74-75 |
Dustin Riese
· · 3 hours ago
DES MOINES - It was a very rough weekend for the Chicago Cubs and their organization as a whole. Not only did the Chicago Cubs get swept away in a four-game set, making things very interesting in the wild card race, but the Iowa Cubs turned around and lost five of six to the Toledo Mud Hens over the weekend.
That included their season finale loss on Sunday as the Mud Hens used a pair of three-run innings to grab a commanding 6-0 lead before finishing things off 7-2. Although the result wasn't great for the Cubs, who finished 74-75 overall, there were plenty of strong performances throughout the season that give this organization some hope for sustained success. Taking the ball for the final time this season was right-hander Will Sanders, who had an interesting season to say the least. While the ERA was a horrendous 6.38 for the season, Sanders was more often than not backed by plenty of run support, as he did finish the season with a 7-4 record. Sunday was another one of those starts for Sanders, who allowed six runs in 3 2/3 innings, but to his credit, only three of those runs were earned. He walked one and struck out three as he looks to build on what worked this season and use that to his advantage next season. With the Mud Hens electing to go with a bullpen game for their season finale, you had to like the Cubs' chances to get the win, but once again, it was the struggling offense that did them in as the Mud Hens scored three times in the third to take the lead and never looked back. Austin Murr opened the scoring for the Mud Hens with a single as they raced to a 1-0 lead at that point. His single was followed by the Justyn Henry-Malloy homer, which pushed the lead to 3-0, as that homer proved to be the game-winning hit. One inning after pushing across three runs to take the lead, it was the Mud Hens' offense getting after Sanders again in the fourth as they added three more runs to break things open 6-0. All three runs came on one hit as the Hao-Yu Lee single scored two runs, but it was a fielding error on Parker Chavers that allowed a third run to score, making things 6-0 at that point. From that point on, the game was all about pitching, as the Cubs' bullpen was able to come in and slow down the offense, with the hope that the offense would be able to make a late comeback. It may have taken seven innings for the Cubs to score, but with Ed Howard delivering a two-RBI double in the bottom of the seventh, Iowa was starting to show signs of life as they pulled within 6-2 at that point. Unfortunately for Iowa, those were the only runs they would score in the loss as Gage Workman would add an eighth-inning RBI double off of Joe Ross to cap off the scoring, with the Mud Hens picking up the 7-2 win. Iowa had five hits coming from five different players as the offense was tough to come by all weekend. Howard had the big hit with his two-run single, but James Triantos, Caleb Knight, Parker Chavers, and Hayden Cantrelle all got in on the hit parade. The Cubs also saw Eli Morgan make another scoreless relief appearance, as did Ben Brown, who struck out three in two scoreless innings.
