Cubs Minor League News: Pelicans roll, Smokies rally late, rain cuts South Bend short

Jerry Lai - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese · Senior Writer · 1 day ago

Another week of Minor League action has come to a close for the Chicago Cubs as they were looking to end the week out with style. Unfortunately, one game was cancelled while the rest saw up-and-down results.

LOUISVILLE BATS 8 - IOWA CUBS 4

In what was a weird turn of events, the Iowa leader in wins, Connor Noland, was not starting, but instead coming out of the bullpen in favor of Spencer Turnbull, who made his first start since joining the Cubs. Things didn't go well for Turnbull, who lasted three innings and served up six runs as the Cubs fell to the Bats 8-4.

After the Cubs grabbed the lead in the first on a Ben Cowles RBI groundout gave the Cubs an early 1-0 lead. It was a lead that didn't last long as the Bats jumped all over Turnbull in the bottom of the first for four runs, which was only the beginning for what was to come. Francisco Urbaez tied things up with an RBI double, leading to an Edwin Rios single that put the Bats on top for good.

The big blow of the inning came from Christian Encarnacion-Strand, who connected for a two-run shot to open up a 4-1 Bats lead. The long ball was an issue for Turnball most of his start as PJ Higgins got him for a solo shot in the second, leading to a second Urbaez double to push the Bats' lead to 6-1.

Greg Allen did his best to lead the Cubs back with a solo shot in the third, but with Higgins adding two more runs with his single in the bottom of the fourth, it was the Bats comfortably in front, 8-2.

Greg Allen goes yard! pic.twitter.com/W21JFM52sN
— Iowa Cubs (@IowaCubs) July 27, 2025

That was it for the Bats and their offense as Noland took over in the fifth and went on to toss four scoreless frames to give the Cubs' offense a chance to battle back.

That score would hold until the ninth, when Moises Ballesteros and Christian Franklin added a pair of RBIs, which was it in the Cubs' 8-4 loss. Allen led the Cubs with two hits as they had eight hits in the game.

KNOXVILLE SMOKIES 6 - PENSACOLA BLUE WAHOOS

Talk about an interesting, yet exciting game, the Smokies found themselves in complete control early, only to let things get away late. The good news is that the Smokies still found a way to get the job done as they walked off the Blue Wahoos on a wild pitch to secure the win.

Taking the ball for the Smokies was right-hander Antonio Santos, and despite his command issues, he continued to do his job. He walked four and struck out three over four scoreless innings, as his ERA fell to 1.91 for the season. Santos was backed by an early game offensive onslaught that gave the Smokies a 5-0 lead through two innings of play.

Reivaj Garcia opened the scoring with an RBI single in the first, but it was the second inning when the Smokies created some distance, adding four runs to open a 5-0 lead. Jefferson Rojas was responsible for three of those runs with a double, while Pedro Ramirez's single capped off the big inning.

Knoxville would hold that lead until the sixth when Kemp Alderman delivered a solo homer to make this a 5-1 game. One inning later, and it was the Blue Wahoos' turn to come to life as a trio of bases-loaded walks led to three runs to make things 5-4 late. Their comeback bid would continue into the eighth, where a Spencer Bramwell single brought home a run, and just like that, we were back to even 5-5.

On the verge of this one going into extra innings, it was the Smokies who would get the last laugh as they walked off the Blue Wahoos in the ninth on a wild pitch to come away with a 6-5 win. Ramirez was one of three Smokies to deliver multiple hits, joining Garcia and Ethan Hearn.

SOUTH BEND CUBS vs DAYTON DRAGONS (Cancelled)

Weather was not on the Cubs side in Dayton on Sunday as inclement weather forced this game to be cancelled. Before the cancellation, Drew Bowser brought the excitement as he connected for a third-inning grand slam that had the Cubs in front 4-0 before the rains came.

GRAND SLAM!!

Drew Bowser brings everyone home with a @hoosierlottery grand slam! pic.twitter.com/64GwOdas0o
— South Bend Cubs (@SBCubs) July 27, 2025

MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 5 - COLUMBIA FIREFLIES 1

It was more of the same for the Pelicans on Sunday as dominating pitching paired with an ever-improving offense led to a 5-1 win. Alfredo Romero may not have gotten the win, but with four shutout innings, he did more than his share on the mound and helped set the tone from the start.

Had Romero gone one more inning, he would've gotten the win as the Pelicans' offense got the scoring started in the fourth on an Alexey Lumpuy triple. Owen Ayers added an RBI single in the fourth with Alexis Hernandez tacking on a sacrifice fly as it was all Pelicans early, 3-0. Lumpuy was just getting started as he closed out the scoring for the Pelicans in the seventh by adding a two-run shot to push the lead to 5-0.

It took eight innings for the Fireflies to get on the board as Jose Cerice delivered an RBI single to make this a 5-1 game. That was it for the Fireflies in this one as the Pelicans continue to dominate the Carolina League in the second half with a 5-1 win. Lumpuy had the hot hand at the plate, leading the Pelicans with three hits and three RBIs.