Cubs Minor League News: Thompson impressive, Ballesteros with 18-game hit streak, more |
Dustin Riese
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- 13 hours ago
You couldn't have asked for a better night on the diamond for the Cubs. Sure, Knoxville saw their game with Rocket City postponed, but with the Chicago Cubs dismantling the Milwaukee Brewers and then watching the Minor League system go a perfect 3-0, wins were plenty on Friday as this was the Cubs' first unbeaten night of the season.
With Chris Flexen now in the majors, the Cubs will have to play with their starting rotation a bit to replace him. This is why the Cubs invest so much effort into adding depth; they have plenty of depth. Behind another strong pitching performance from Keegan Thompson and a timely offense, the Cubs came out on top 4-2. Since moving back into the rotation, Thompson has looked like a different pitcher, as this is as close to his 2021-22 version as he has been in a long time. Thompson gave the Cubs innings of one-run baseball, striking out five and lowering his ERA to 2.41 for the season. The only run he would allow came on a fourth-inning RBI force-out in what was otherwise a great outing. With Buffalo adding a run in the fifth off the Jonatan Clase single, the Cubs found themselves down 2-0 and searching for offensive answers as Trenton Wallace silenced the Cubs through four innings. Then came the fifth, where the Cubs got on the board and managed to tie things up as Chase Strumpf came through with a clutch triple to make this a 2-2 game. Strumpf ties the game with his first triple of the season! The Cubs' bullpen took care of the rest as they held Buffalo scoreless the rest of the way, giving the offense a chance to do something. They did as Moises Ballesteros extended his hitting streak to 18 games while delivering a game-winning single in the seventh to put the Cubs on top 3-2. 18 STRAIGHT GAMES FOR BALLY Jonathon Long would add a double later in that inning to make this a 4-2 game before Ethan Roberts came in to slam the door for the save. Long extends the lead 4-2 with this RBI! pic.twitter.com/67tcrunHF4 Back on track pic.twitter.com/1CPpLcM8Aa
Tonight's game has been postponed due to weather conditions. pic.twitter.com/AX73tB2wqZ
Behind some instant offense that saw the Cubs score four times in the first two innings, it was South Bend finally picking up a road win as they doubled up the Kernels 8-4. While Nick Dean may not have gotten the win, seeing him go four innings and allow just two runs is promising, although his command wasn't excellent. Dean benefited from an offense that came to play as a pair of RBI singles from Jefferson Rojas and Reivaj Garcia gave the Cubs a 2-0 lead in the first. Not only would the Cubs never look back, but they added to that lead in the second with Rojas picking up his second RBI single in as many at-bats ahead of the Ariel Armas walk to push the Cubs' lead to 4-0. Both of the runs Dean allowed came on one swing, and it came in the third with Kyle DeBarge taking him deep for the two-run shot that cut the Cubs' lead in half, 4-2. That was as close as the Kernals would get as the South Bend offense added two more runs in the fifth off a Reggie Preciado grounder and an Ivan Brethowr double before Preciado tacked on an additional RBI single in the seventh to make this a 7-2 game. Cedar Rapids did their best to keep things close and scored two runs off an error in the eighth to get within 7-4. That would be it for their offense as Brian Kalmer closed out the scoring with an RBI double in the ninth to lift the Cubs to the 8-4 win. Rojas, Armas, and Garcia led the way with two hits, with Rojas and Preciado picking up two RBIs. CUBS WIN in Cedar Rapids!! pic.twitter.com/8WE6qU7vpr
Despite an ugly ninth inning that saw the Mudcats score four times, it was too little too late as the Pelicans scored three runs in the top of the ninth to hold on for the 7-6 win. Talk about a strange game, as this was the second time this week where neither offense did much, most of the game until teeing off late. Behind a strong Kevin Valdez start that saw him win after allowing just one run in five innings, the Pelicans' offense gave him plenty of support as they scored three times in the third to open up a 3-0 lead. A costly error provided the game's first run, while the two-run double off the bat of Leonel Espinoza gave the Pelicans an early 3-0 lead. Three in the Third! 3⃣ The lone run Valdez would allow came in the bottom of that inning off a sacrifice fly, but with Angel Cepeda adding an RBI single in the sixth, Valdez left with a 4-1 lead and was well on his way to winning. Angel Cepeda makes it four straight games with an RBI! pic.twitter.com/TOWnispsdD Leading 4-2 entering the ninth, it was the Pelicans' offense showing up in a big way once again as they were looking to put the game away for good. Matt Halbach did his best to do that with an RBI single, but it was the Owen Ayers double that pushed the lead to 7-2. Little did anyone know that Ayers' double would go down as the game-winning hit as the Mudcats responded with a furious ninth-inning rally that saw them score three times to cut the lead to 7-6. A two-run double from Owen Ayers highlights a three-run ninth for the Birds! pic.twitter.com/I81TOC5kIG Braylon Payne started the scoring with a two-run single before the Josh Adamczewski double made this a 7-5 game. Carolina pulled within 7-6 after the Luis Martinez-Gomez wild pitch, but that was as close as things would get as the Pelicans held on for the 7-6 win. Ayers led the way for the Pelicans, picking up three hits and two RBIs. Cepeda, Espinoza, and Cole Mathis also had good games, picking up two hits. Pelicans even the series in Zebulon! 👏#MBPelicans | @CampersInnRV pic.twitter.com/e1WKFwIEvUIOWA CUBS 4 - BUFFALO BISON 2
2-2 game! pic.twitter.com/x2nrAdifwq
3-2 I-CUBS pic.twitter.com/gEB9RfuRbO
KNOXVILLE SMOKIES vs ROCKET CITY TRASH PANDAS (Postponed)
SOUTH BEND CUBS 8 - CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 4
MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 7 - CAROLINA MUDCATS 6
Leonel Espinoza plates a pair with an RBI double. pic.twitter.com/AShgmUiYJX
