Cubs Minor League News: Ayers, Howard power Mesa to win over Scorpions |
Dustin Riese
· · 9 hours ago
MESA - What was expected to be their second-to-last game of the season turned into the last regular-season game, as all non-playoff contests have been cancelled for Wednesday. That includes the Mesa Solar Sox (14-14) game against the top team in the league, the Scottsdale Scorpions (18-9).
With that said, there was still one more order of business for the Solar Sox to take care of as Mesa faced off against the Peoria Javelinas (12-15) at Sloan Park to close out the regular season. What started as another pitchers' duel with the score knotted up 2-2 through four innings, turned into a 5-3 Solar Sox victory as their three-run sixth inning proved to be the difference in the win. That three-run frame came immediately following the Javelinas scoring the go-ahead run in the top of the inning, as the Solar Sox will now head to the postseason riding a two-game winning streak. Owen Ayers was back in the lineup after getting Monday off, and as expected, the Catcher picked up where he left off prior to the All-Star game. Ayers was moved up to the No. 2 spot in the Solar Sox lineup, and he proceeded to reward Mesa for that decision by picking up a pair of hits and working another walk to push his average to .379. With those two hits came a pair of RBIs, including the final RBI of the game in the sixth off a single. He added his first RBI on a third-inning single that initially tied things up 2-2 as his strong AFL season continues to roll along. Hoping to at the very least end his season on a high note, Ed Howard was once again back in the lineup and was slated to start the game in left for the third time this season. Regardless of the numbers, which show Howard hitting just .222 for the season, the improvement was evident as he hit .271 across his final 14 games, compared to his previous average of around .176 for most of the season. Howard delivered another hit in the victory for Mesa, going 1-3 at the plate. His biggest hit of the game came in the sixth inning as his RBI single started the Cubs' three-run rally and brought things back to even at the time, 3-3. Those were the only two position players to see time in this one, but one additional prospect got some run to close out the season, with right-hander Matthew Peters taking the ball for what could be his final appearance of the season. Like many of the Cubs' relievers, Peters has struggled to get outs this fall, as evidenced by his 9.00 ERA for the season. If there were anything to take away from his final outing of the season, it would be that he didn't allow a run in an inning of work. However, with three walks, his command was shaky at best. Peters did manage to strike out three with the three walks as he had to work overtime to get through that inning. Next up for Mesa is their divisional game matchup with the Salt River Rafters, as a win keeps their season alive.
