Cubs Minor League News |
Dustin Riese
· · Wednesday, July 02 2025
Now that the calendar has flipped to July, we are getting into the stretch run of Minor League Baseball. With that comes the second half, as all of the Cubs' affiliations have embarked on their second-half journey. For the most part, the second half has gone well up to this point, but Tuesday wasn't one of those days, as the Cubs went just 2-5 on the night.
The offense was alive and well in Des Moines on Tuesday as both teams came to play. Unfortunately for the Cubs, they were on the losing side of a slugfest, falling to Omaha 10-7. In what was an inverted bullpen day, Riley Martin got the start, allowing three runs in two innings, with all those runs coming in the first on a Cam Devanney double and a Carter Jensen homer. He gave way to Tommy Romero, who went four innings, allowing two runs with four strikeouts before watching Gavin Hollowell get lit up. Trailing by that 3-0 score in the third, the Cubs began to battle as they manufactured a pair of runs on a Moises Ballesteros sacrifice fly and a wild pitch before watching James Triantos pick up a single to tie things up 3-3. Kevin Alcantara kept the line moving in the fifth with his RBI single as the Cubs were now in front 4-3. Not only was that lead short-lived, but over the next two innings, Omaha broke the game open as they scored seven times to take a 10-3 lead with Jansen delivering his second homer of the game in the sixth to put Omaha on top for good, 5-4. They then went to work in the seventh off an MJ Melendez single and a wild pitch, but once again, it was the long ball that made the difference as Devanney unloaded for a three-run shot to make this a 10-4 game. The Cubs did their best to battle back late, with Hayden Cantrelle picking up an RBI double in the eighth ahead of homers by Christian Franklin and Jonathon Long in the ninth, but it wasn't enough as the Cubs fell 10-7.
It's always nice to knock off your rivals anytime you can, which is what the Smokies did on Tuesday in Rocket City. Backed by some strong pitching and an offense that did just enough, it was the Smokies coming out on top 3-1. Although he isn't striking out the number of batters we have become accustomed to, Antonio Santos was solid once again, going five innings and allowing one run, as his ERA is 1.91 for the season. He walked one and struck out one as the Smokies' offense did just enough for him to get the win. Neither team was able to get much going throughout the game, with Jordan Nwogu opening the scoring with an RBI single in the third, only to have Ben Gobbel tie things up with a double in the fifth. That was the only run Santos or the Smokies allowed in the game, as Mitch Farris was equally as good before coming unraveled in the sixth. It was in that inning when the Smokies put things away as Jaylen Palmer connected for the go-ahead double before coming home on the Corey Joyce single to pick up the 3-1 win. Joyce, Nwogu, and BJ Murray Jr paced the Smokies offense with two hits in the win.
Despite hanging around most of the game, the Cubs' offense was nowhere to be found as they dropped their series opener with the Chiefs 5-1. It was a painful loss for Brooks Caple, who had one of his better starts by going five innings and allowing three runs. Usually, that type of outing would get you a win at this level, but when Cade Winquist strikes out five across six one-hit innings, wins are going to be tough to come by. The lone run of the game for the Cubs came in the first, with Cameron Sisneros delivering a sacrifice fly that had the Cubs on top 1-0. That was it for the offense, and it was a lead that evaporated in an instant with the Chiefs picking up two runs in the bottom of the first on an Ian Pertuz single as they took the lead for good, 2-1. That score held until the Jon Jon Gazdar single in the fourth pushed the lead to 3-1 as the Cubs' offense remained quiet. Peoria closed out the scoring in the sixth on the Travis Honeyman two-run single as they took care of the Cubs 5-1.
A big reason for the Pelicans' strong start to the second half has been their pitching, as they rank near the top of the Carolina League in the second half. That trend continued on Tuesday as the Pelicans used a two-run eighth inning to pick up a 2-1 win. Although he took a no-decision, Will Frisch did his part on the mound, allowing just a first-inning run on a Theo Gillen single that had the Riverdogs on top 1-0. Apart from that, Frisch and the Pelicans staff was locked in as he went five innings with three strikeouts while the rest of the staff didn't allow another run. The problem was watching Trevor Harrison carve up the Pelicans through seven shutout innings as he scattered five hits and struck out five. Once he was lifted from the game, it was the Pelicans capitalizing as Leonel Espinoza uncorked his fifth homer of the season in the eighth to deliver a 2-1 win. Myrtle Beach had seven hits in the win, two coming from Matt Halbach.
It was a rough day overall for the Cubs' Rookie League teams, as all three of them suffered defeats. Down in the desert, it was the Guardians standing tall as they used a trio of two-run innings to back a strong pitching performance in their 6-2 win. Ronny Lopez wasn't great on the mound, allowing four runs (3 ER), but he did give the Cubs some much-needed length by going five innings. With Joey Oakie striking out six across 4 2/3 innings of two-run ball, the Cubs' offense struggled most of the night, which is hard to do this time of year in Arizona. It took three innings for either team to score, with Ronny Arias opening the scoring with a double that put the Guardians in front for good, 2-0. The Cubs managed to get one of those runs back in the top of the fourth on a Ronny Cruz single, only to have the Guardians respond in the bottom of the fourth as the Reiner Herrera homer proved to be the game-winning hit to put the Guardians on top 3-1. They would tack on an additional run later in the inning on the Pedro Delmargo single, as it was all Guardians 4-1. One inning later, the Cubs pushed home their final run off an error to make this a 4-2 game, but that was it for their offense as Yerlin Luis added a two-run single in the eighth to close out the 6-2 win.
Despite a three-run inning to tie things up in the fifth, the Cubs' offense was quiet the rest of the way, falling to the Marlins 6-4. Although Pedro Montero lasted just three innings, they were three near-perfect innings as he walked one and struck out six. Montero was backed by three runs of support as the Marlins pushed across two first-inning runs to grab a 2-0 lead, while a second-inning sacrifice fly from Juan Alva had the Marlins in front by 3-0. That score would hold until the fifth when the Cubs' offense came to life to do most of their damage and pushed across three runs, tying things up. Ezequiel Pena started the big inning with an RBI single, while a bases-loaded walk and a Juan Tomas forceout brought things back to even. The Cubs did manage to pick up another run later in the game, but it wasn't enough, as the Luis Arana two-run single in the sixth was the game-winning hit. Samuel Estevez added an RBI double later in the game for the Marlins' final run.
In a game where the offense was tough to come by, it was the Blue Jays finding a way to get it done as they walked off the Cubs 3-2. Wilfri De La Cruz opened the scoring for the Cubs with a first-inning RBI single, only to have Franklin Rojas put the Blue Jays on top as his two-run shot made this a 2-1 game after three. With the score still sitting at 2-1 in the sixth, Abraham Sanchez came up huge as his RBI single brought things back to even and helped send the game into extras. Unfortunately for the Cubs, that is where the fun would stop as Juarlin Soto delivered the knockout punch with a game-winning single as the Blue Jays walked off the Cubs 3-2.OMAHA STORM CHASERS 10 - IOWA CUBS 7
KNOXVILLE SMOKIES 3 - ROCKET CITY TRASH PANDAS 1
PEORIA CHIEFS 5 - SOUTH BEND CUBS 1
MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 2 - CHARLESTON RIVERDOGS 1
ACL GUARDIANS 6 - ACL CUBS 2
DSL MARLINS 6 - DSL CUBS BLUE 4
DSL BLUE JAYS 3 - DSL CUBS RED 2 (F/8)
