Cubs Minor League News: Iowa’s 10-game winning streak ends, Knoxville rallies late

Patrick Gorski - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese · Senior Writer · 3 hours ago

Things are really coming to an end quickly in the minors, as the Cubs' system is down to its final 10 games, four if you count AA. Despite only one team making the playoffs this season, the Cubs have a chance to have three teams finish with a winning record, which is worth noting for the future. The Cubs organization posted a 1-1 showing on Wednesday.

INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS 8 - IOWA CUBS 3

All good things must come to an end, and in this case, it was the Cubs' 10-game winning streak that ended on Wednesday as they fell to the Indians 8-3. That goes to show how well the Cubs have been playing over the past week plus, so it will be interesting to see how they bounce back from their first loss in over a week.

Antonio Santos took the loss for the Cubs, lasting just three innings and being charged with five runs, as he is still looking for his first AAA win since his promotion. Four of the five runs Santos allowed came in the first inning as the Indians wasted no time jumping on the Cubs after getting shut out the night before.

Nick Solak opened the scoring for the Indians with an RBI double, but it was the Rafael Flores blast that did the most damage as his three-run shot made this a 4-0 lead. The long ball continued to play a role for the Indians in the second, with Sammy Siani unloading for a solo shot in the second before an RBI groundout from Solak made this a 6-0 lead in the fourth.

That would be all the offense the Indians would need, as it took the Cubs five innings to cash in, as Jonathon Long got in on the fun with a solo blast to make this a 6-1 game. Two innings later, and it was the Cubs continuing to battle back as Long came through with an RBI single to make this a 6-2 game with Nicky Lopez tacking on a sacrifice fly to pull the Cubs within 6-3.

Iowa wouldn't get any closer as the Indians added a pair of late runs off a seventh-inning error and an eighth-inning Solak single as they put an end to the Cubs' winning streak 8-3. Long had a massive day at the plate, leading the Cubs with three hits and driving in two, as he now has 89 RBIs on the season. The Cubs also saw Eli Morgan work a pair of relief innings as he continues to rehab from an elbow injury.

KNOXVILLE SMOKIES 5 - MONTGOMERY BISCUITS 3

Although the season hasn't gone as well as the Smokies wanted it to, finishing out the season strong to end with a winning record should be their goal the rest of the way. They are off to a great start, having won five of their last seven games, including three straight after defeating Montgomery 5-3 on Wednesday.

This was a game where the Smokies' offense was held in check until the final innings, as the pitching set the tone for most of the night. Walker Powell picked the perfect time to deliver his best outing of the season, going five innings and allowing just an unearned run on one hit. He walked none and struck out two as he finished the season with a 3.33 ERA before handing things off to Dawson Netz.

The lone run off Powell came in the third as a Colton Ledbetter sacrifice fly put the Biscuits in front 1-0. With Brody Hopkins lighting it up through six innings, allowing one hit and striking out eight, one run was looking to be enough as the Smokies' offense couldn't get anything going against Hopkins and the Biscuits staff most of the night.

Still holding that 1-0 lead in the sixth, Jadher Areinamo connected for an RBI double off Netz as the Biscuits doubled their lead to 2-0. It wasn't until the eighth when the Smokies got on the board, but once they got things rolling, their offense completely took off. That all started with a BJ Murray Jr walk to put an end to the shutout while the Ethan Hearn single drove home a pair to give Knoxville a 3-2 lead.

It was a lead that didn't last long as the Biscuits managed to pull even in the bottom of the eighth, scoring a run off a Nick Hull wild pitch to make this a 3-3 game. With extra innings hinging on the result of the ninth, Knoxville continued to deliver late, as this was one of those games where the offense was better late than never.

This time, it was Jordan Nwogu coming through with the game's biggest hit as his RBI single brought home the winning run to put the Smokies on top for good, 4-3. Knoxville added a second run in the ninth off a wild pitch to push home their final run as Tyler Santana closed things out from there for the 5-3 win. Three players were responsible for six of the team's eight hits as Casey Opitz, Jaylen Palmer, and Nwogu all had two hits.