Cubs Minor League News: Thompson impressive, Triantos raking, Rojas with two homers, more
Photo courtesy: Iowa Cubs

Cubs Minor League News: Thompson impressive, Triantos raking, Rojas with two homers, more
Dustin Riese Dustin Riese - Senior Writer - 1 day ago

It has taken longer than anyone expected, but the Cubs Minor League System is showing remarkable resilience. After a challenging start to the week, the Cubs rallied over the weekend, posting back-to-back winning records to close out their week. This display of determination is something all Cubs fans can be proud of.

The Cubs' dominating 4-1 showing on Sunday resulted in victories and showcased their potential for future success. This performance sets a promising tone for the upcoming week, suggesting that the Cubs are on the path to even greater achievements. Despite some injuries on the MLB front, the future looks bright for AAA Iowa.

IOWA CUBS 3 - TOLEDO MUD HENS 1

Everyone knows the Iowa Cubs have arguably the most lethal offense in the game when everything is clicking. However, their pitching, at least from a starting side of things, has been equally good in recent weeks, and that continued with a 3-1 win on Sunday.

Although he didn't get the win, Peter Solomon continued to pitch well, giving Iowa four innings of two-hit baseball, allowing just one unearned run and striking out four. His ERA is now 3.12 since coming to Iowa, as he turned things over to Keegan Thompson, who struck out four in three shutout innings before Riley Martin recorded the two-inning save.

The lone run the Cubs allowed came in the second inning as Andrew Navigato's single put Toledo in front 1-0. It was a lead they would hold most of the game as Wilkel Hernandez silenced the Cubs through four innings, allowing no runs and striking out four. It took seven innings for the Iowa offense to break through, but with Reese McGuire going deep to put the Cubs in front 2-1, Iowa would never look back as that homer would go down as the game winner.

Chase Stumpf would add a sacrifice fly in the ninth for good measure as the Cubs picked up another win, 3-1.

Moises Ballesteros came away with two hits in the win and is still hitting .368 this season. However, James Triantos and Christian Franklin led the way as they both had three hits.

KNOXVILLE SMOKIES 9 - CHATTANOOGA LOOKOUTS 2 (Game 1)

Ernie Banks once said, Let's Play Two. That is exactly what was going down in Chattanooga as the Smokies and Lookouts were squaring off for some doubleheader baseball. In this game, the Smokies used a seven-run second inning to break the game open, as that was the difference in their 9-2 win.

Grant Kipp was the beneficiary of the offensive outburst, but still didn't earn the decision. The right-hander lasted just four innings, allowing one run and striking out six, but with four walks, his pitch count was far more elevated than he would've liked. However, this was one of those days where pitch counts didn't matter as the Brett Bateman double put the Smokies in front for good, 2-0 ahead of the BJ Murray Jr single, making things 4-0 in the second.

The big blow in that inning came from Corey Joyce, who connected for his first homer of the season to cap off a seven-run inning with the Smokies in front 7-0. Sal Stewart would get Chattanooga on the board with an RBI single in the third, but with Knoxville adding two more runs in the fifth off a wild pitch and a Bateman single, it was nowhere near enough as the Smokies took game one 9-2.

KNOXVILLE SMOKIES 5 - CHATTANOOGA LOOKOUTS 1 (Game 2)

You couldn't have asked for a much better day for the Smokies as they not only swept their doubleheader, but did it in dominating fashion. This time, Will Sanders' pitching set the tone as the right-hander scattered two hits and struck out seven across five shutout innings.

With Jose Franco matching him pitch for pitch through four innings, the Smokies' bats came to life in the fifth, scoring five times over the final three innings to take the win. Hayden Cantrelle opened the scoring for Knoxville with a fifth inning single to give the Smokies a 1-0 lead before the game winning Pedro Ramirez sacrifice fly made things 2-0.

Ethan Hearn added a second sacrifice fly in the sixth to push the lead to 3-0, with Darius Hill going deep for his first homer in the seventh to open up a 5-0 lead. The Lookouts' lone run came in the bottom of the seventh as an Austin Hendrick sacrifice fly ended the shutout, but the Smokies still won 5-1.

Murray Jr, Parker Chavers, and Ramirez led the Smokies with two hits.

FORT WAYNE TIN CAPS 10 - SOUTH BEND CUBS 3

The lone team that didn't win on Sunday was the South Bend Cubs, who fell to their instate rivals 10-3. This was one of those games that was over almost as quickly as it started, as the Tin Caps scored five times in the first inning and scored nine of their 10 runs in two innings.

Kenten Egbert was the victim of that big inning as his season struggles continue. Egbert would allow eight runs in four innings despite striking out six, as his ERA is now sitting at 7.83 for the season. Five of the eight runs he allowed came in the first inning as the Nerwilian Cedeno single gave the Tin Caps the lead for good, 1-0, before the Braedon Karpathios Grand Slam broke the game open, 5-0.

That was all the offense Eric Yost would need as the right-hander picked up his first win of the season, allowing one run in 5 2/3 to lower his ERA to 1.86. Already with a massive lead, Sean Barnett added to it with a third-inning RBI single before the Tin Caps pushed across four more runs in the fifth to open up a 10-0 lead.

Cedeno and Barnett were once again a part of that with Cedeno picking up an RBI double ahead of a sacrifice fly, but it was the long ball once again that made an appearance with Karpathios going deep for the second time to make this a 10-0 game. The long ball came into play for the Cubs later in the game as Jefferson Rojas connected for home runs in both the sixth and eighth innings, leading to all three Cubs runs.

MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 11 - DELMARVA SHOREBIRDS 0

It has been a long time since the Pelicans dominated a team like they did on Sunday, but anytime you score nine runs in the first four innings, you are in a great place. Although it was more of a bullpen day on the mound with Alfredo Romero lasting just 2 1/3 innings, the Birds' offense was as alive and well as they took care of business 11-0.

Nine of those 11 runs came in a two-inning span, with the first four coming in the second. Ty Southisene and Jose Escobar started the scoring with a pair of RBI singles, only to have Cameron Sisneros double the lead with an RBI single of his own.

Then came the third inning, where the Pelicans' offense continued to do damage, adding five more runs to what they had already done.

Eriandys Ramon and Cole Mathis accounted for three runs with a pair of RBI doubles, with Escobar adding a second RBI single in as many at-bats. Siseneros also got in on the fun again by delivering a sacrifice fly as it was all Myrtle Beach from start to finish, 9-0. The Pelicans closed out the scoring in the fifth by pushing across their 10th run on a double play ahead of an Owen Ayers single to take care of business 11-0.

Escobar, Mathis, Sisneros, and Ramon all had two hits in the win and combined for eight RBIs.

INDEPENDENT BALL

CHICAGO DOGS 6 - LAKE COUNTRY DOCKHOUNDS 3

It took three games for the Dogs to secure their first win, which they achieved on Sunday, doubling up Lake Country 6-3. The Dogs overcame a slow start to score five of their six runs from the fifth inning to grab the win.

That included a three-run fifth inning that put Chicago on top for good as Clint Coulter tied things up with a two-run double before Chicago took the lead for good on a passed ball. They would add two more runs in the sixth off a pair of RBI singles from Coulter and Jacob Teter as they ended the game with five unanswered runs.

Alex McGarry opened the scoring for the Dogs with an RBI single in the first, which was followed by three unanswered runs for the Dockhounds, who took the lead 2-1 in the second and extended their lead to 3-1 in the fourth. None of their runs came off hits, as two of the three runs came on an RBI fielder's choice with a double play leading to the other.

WASHINGTON WILD THINGS 10 - WINDY CITY THUNDERBOLTS 2

Hoping to complete the weekend sweep of Washington, it was the Thunderbolts dropping the finale 10-2. This was an extremely competitive game early on, where the Wild Things led 3-2 through six before scoring seven runs late, including a four-run ninth inning to break the game open.

Jeff Liquori opened the scoring for Washington with a first-inning RBI single, only to have Windy City answer in the second with a Winder Diaz single. With each team adding a run in the third to keep things tied 2-2, the Wild Things grabbed the lead for good in the fifth as a wild pitch put them in front 3-2.

They would then go on to add seven runs over the final three innings, with two coming in the seventh on an Ethan Wilder RBI single mixed with a bases-loaded walk, before adding another run in the eighth. Then came the ninth, where the Wild Things put the game away by scoring four times to close out the 10-2 win. All four runs came on bases loaded walks or hit by pitches as the Thunderbolts did themselves little to no favors.

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