Cubs Minor League News: Smokies shine, Iowa finishes strong, South Bend stumbles

Patrick Gorski - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese · Senior Writer · 3 hours ago

And just like that, the Minor League field is about to be cut in half as half of the Cubs' affiliations will be wrapping up their regular season this week. One of those teams will get a few extra games in the postseason, but things are starting to wind down, much like the Chicago Cubs.

Looking to close out another week of competition in style, you had some good news from the Cubs system on Sunday, but also some bad, which has been the theme all week long. The result was a 2-2 showing, which is about what you can expect the rest of the way.

IOWA CUBS 9 - LAS VEGAS AVIATORS 6

What started as a rocky series turned into a strong ending as the Cubs' offense took care of business in a 9-6 win. Antonio Santos continues to impress during his short time in AAA, with an ERA of 6.39 (vastly inflated after his first outing). The right-hander only lasted four innings, but gave up two runs and struck out eight as he was dominant at times.

Facing off against Kade Morris, who lasted 5 1/3 innings, it was the Cubs' offense that took care of business as they came out swinging early. Look no further than the second inning, where a Forrest Wall opened up a four-run inning to put the Cubs up 4-0. There was a James Triantos sacrifice fly mixed in along with a two-run Hayden Cantrelle single as the Cubs are off and rolling.

After getting on the board with a balk in the bottom of the second, the Aviators continued to battle back in the third as a Bryan Lavastida homer paired with a fielder's choice made this a 4-3 game. If Moises Ballesteros were in any other organization, he would be playing in the majors right now, as he connected for his 13th homer in the fifth to push the Cubs' lead to 5-3.

The long ball continued to play a role for the Aviators, as Daniel Susac unloaded for a two-run blast in the bottom of the fifth, and suddenly, things were tied 5-5. It was in the sixth when the Cubs' offense began to take the game over as a Wall double put the Cubs on top for good, followed by a Triantos triple that pushed the lead to 7-5.

Wall was just getting warmed up as he added a homer in the eighth to make this an 8-5 game with Ballesteros tacking on a late sacrifice fly to close out the offense for Iowa. Las Vegas did manage to get a late run on a Susac single, but it wasn't enough as the Cubs took care of business 9-6.

KNOXVILLE SMOKIES 11 - BIRMINGHAM BARONS 1

Backed by a strong pitching performance and two big offensive innings, it was the Smokies ending the week in style as they dominated the Barons 11-1. Erian Rodriguez wasn't as sharp as he would like to be with his command, walking three and striking out two, but he still managed to get the job done.

The right-hander has impressed with a 2.53 ERA since moving to AA, as he allowed one run in 5 2/3 innings to secure the win. A pair of first-inning backed Rodriguez runs off a Brett Bateman single as the Smokies took an early 2-0 lead and never looked back. Birmingham managed to pull within a run on the Wilfred Veras sacrifice fly, but that was all for the Barons' offense as it was all Knoxville the rest of the way.

That score would hold until the fifth as the Smokies' offense started to flex its muscles in a big way. Corey Joyce started what was a five-run inning with an RBI single, while the BJ Murray Jr double brought home two more. Then came the Jordan Nwogu big fly as his two-run blast pushed the Smokies' lead to 7-1.

Two innings later, same story as a pair of RBI doubles from Reivaj Garcia and Jaylen Palmer led to three more runs as the Smokies pushed their lead to 10-1. Doubles were the theme of the Smokies offense late as Pablo Aliendo tacked on another RBI double late in the game to close out the scoring in an 11-1 win.

PEORIA CHIEFS 6 - SOUTH BEND CUBS 3

South Bend picked the worst time to have their worst showing of the season, and now their playoff hopes are in serious doubt. Entering their series with Peoria in first place in the second half, the Cubs wound up getting swept by the Chiefs and have fallen to third place, three games out of first.

That puts a ton of pressure on this team to bounce back next week, but they will need some serious help to overcome this sweep. This was one of those games where it looked as if the Cubs were finally going to get a win as Yennri Rojas was dialed in through five innings, while the offense gave him the early support he needed.

After opening the scoring with a first-inning walk, Alexis Hernandez added an RBI single as the Cubs were on top 2-0 through one. Those were the only runs of the game until the sixth as the Chiefs not only got to Rojas in a big way, but scored all six of their runs in that inning. What started with a pair of RBI singles from Christian Martin and Won-Bin Cho to tie things up was followed by the massive home run from Daniel Ortiz, and just like that, the Chiefs had a 5-2 lead.

Peoria wasn't quite done making Rojas and the Cubs pay in that inning as Sammy Hernandez added a second homer later in the inning to close out the massive frame as the Chiefs opened up a 6-2 lead. That would be all the offense they would need as South Bend managed just one more run on a ninth-inning error as part of their 6-3 loss.

FAYETTEVILLE WOODPECKERS 12 - MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 3

Backed by a nine-run inning that saw the Woodpeckers break things open, it was Fayetteville taking care of business 12-3. Ronny Lopez was a victim of that massive inning as he got the start and allowed seven earned runs in less than four innings of work.

The toughest pill to swallow for the Pelicans in this one is that all three of their runs came in one inning as they opened up an early 3-0 lead. Eli Lovich got things started with a two-run double that opened up a 2-0 lead, while Justin Stransky's sacrifice fly made this a 3-0 Pelicans lead. Fayetteville pulled within 3-1 after scoring on a second-inning balk, but it was the fourth inning when their offense took care of the rest as they scored nine times to open up a 10-3 lead.

Three of those nine runs came on bases-loaded walks as Lopez couldn't find the strike zone early on. Then came the Justin Thomas RBI double and singles from Zach Daudet and Caden Powell, and just like that, the game was 10-3.

That was all Parker Smith would need as he settled down from that shaky first inning to strike out five across five innings, allowing just those three runs. Fayetteville closed out the scoring on Chase Call's sixth-inning homer as they knocked off the Birds once again, 12-3.