Cubs Minor League News: Sanders stays hot, Pelicans explode, Smokies stumble

Jerry Lai - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese · Senior Writer · 6 hours ago

Now that the all-star break is complete, Minor League baseball is back in action as it's time to begin the stretch run of the regular season. Saturday was another overall positive showing as the Cubs managed to finish with a 2-2 mark to start the unofficial second half.

IOWA CUBS 7 - COLUMBUS CLIPPERS 2

It may not always be pretty, but all Will Sanders has done since his promotion to AAA Iowa is win games as the right-hander is now 5-0 with a 3.89 ERA. That trend continued on Saturday as Sanders struck out eight across 5 2/3 dominant innings to help the Cubs post a 7-2 victory.

This was the Ben Cowles game in the early going as the shortstop connected for not one, but two 2-run homers in the second and fourth innings as the Cubs took an early 4-0 lead and never looked back. Those would be the only runs of the game until the later innings as the Christian Cairo sacrifice fly off Tommy Romero in the seventh put an end to the shutout and made this a 4-1 game.

Just as quickly as Columbus started to battle back, the Cubs put the game away as Christian Franklin delivered the Cubs' third homer of the game as his three-run shot made this a 7-1 game after seven. CJ Kayfus would add a ninth-inning homer for the Clippers, but it wasn't enough in the Cubs' 7-2 win.

Cowles and Franklin did most of the heavy lifting as they connected for six of the team's seven hits and drove in all five. Greg Allen had the other hit for Iowa.

BIRMINGHAM BARONS 4 - KNOXVILLE SMOKIES 2

What looked to be a promising start early on went south quickly as the Barons used a three-run sixth inning to take the lead before doubling up the Smokies 4-2. After taking some time off to monitor his innings, Jaxon Wiggins was back on the mound, and although it was a short outing, he continued to dominate.

Wiggins only lasted two innings, but struck out five in those two frames as he continues to impress. He gave way to Grant Kipp, who gave the Smokies three-plus innings before taking the loss. Not only was Wiggins dominating, but the Smokies offense came out firing early on as an Andy Garriola double not only gave the Smokies the lead, but put them on top 2-0.

Little did they know, those would be the only runs the Smokies would have in the game, as the Barons' pitching staff buckled down early. Still trailing 2-0 in the sixth, it was the Barons' turn for the offense to battle back as the William Bergolla single put an end to the shutout and made this a 2-1 game.

Birmingham managed to keep the line moving and took the lead for good later in the inning as Wilfred Veras tacked on a two-run single to make this a 3-2 game. Birmingham continued to single the Cubs to death as Sam Antonacci closed out the scoring with another RBI single in the eighth to lift the Barons to the 4-2 win. Felix Stevens paced the Smokies with two hits as they had six hits as a team.

BELOIT SKY CARP 3 - SOUTH BEND CUBS 1

If you are a fan of great pitching, then this was the game for you as the Sky Carp took care of the Cubs 3-1. This was a game in which all the runs were scored from the seventh inning on, as both starters made life difficult for the opposition.

One of the biggest surprises of the season has been the emergence of Evan Aschenbeck as a reliable starter for the Cubs' system. The left-hander did struggle with his command, walking three and striking out one, but with five shutout innings, his ERA is now down to 2.97 before yielding to Kenten Egbert and company.

As good as Aschenbeck was, Will Schomberg was even better as the Sky Carp right-hander matched Aschenbeck with five shutout frames, but managed to walk two and strike out 10. All it took for the Sky Carp to not only break a scoreless tie, but to win this game was one swing from Echedry Vargas, whose two-run shot was the game-winning hit and put Beloit up 2-0 in the seventh.

The Cubs managed to keep things close in the bottom of the seventh with Carter Trice pulling South Bend to within 2-1 with a solo shot, but that was as close as they would get as Garret Forrester added an RBI single in the eighth to close out the 3-1 Sky Carp win.

MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 12 - AUGUSTA GREENJACKETS 1

You'd like to discuss sending a message after the All-Star break. Look no further than Myrtle Beach, as they have been impressive. Not only did they toss a no-hitter on Friday, but they came out swinging on Saturday to deliver a dominating 12-1 over Augusta.

Ethan Flanagan continues to go about his business with the Pelicans, as his ERA is now down to 1.04. With three strikeouts across five innings, he is now 3-0 with Myrtle Beach as the Pelicans' pitching continues to impress. It didn't take the birds long to grab the lead as they backed Flanagan with plenty of support and never looked back.

Angel Cepeda opened the scoring with a two-run homer in the second, which happened to be the game-winning hit when you look at the final score. Leonel Espinoza would tack on another two-run shot in the third as part of a four-run inning, as it was all Myrtle Beach, 6-0. Alexey Lumpuy added an RBI double as part of that inning with Cepeda tacking on a single as the Pelicans' offense was off and running.

Cepeda continued to deliver in the fourth, adding his third RBI hit in as many at-bats as part of another three-run inning as the Birds opened up a 9-0 lead. Jose Escobar tacked on a sacrifice as part of that inning with a wild pitch aiding in the first of those runs as the Greenjackets were searching for answers.

It took five innings for Augusta to come through as the Eric Hartman sacrifice fly put an end to the shutout and made this a 9-1 game. That was it for the Greenjackets as the Pelicans responded with three more runs in the sixth to close out the scoring in what was a 12-1 win. Alexis Hernandez had the first of those runs with a walk, while the two-run single off the bat of Christian Olivo brought home the game's final runs.

Myrtle Beach pounded out 13 hits with Cepdea leading the way with three hits and four RBIs. Escobar, Espinoza, and Ty Southisene all had multi-hit efforts.