Down on Cubs Farm: Addison Russell homers again, Colin Rea pitches gem, SB silenced, more
Jake Roth - USA Today Sports

Down on Cubs Farm: Addison Russell homers again, Colin Rea pitches gem, SB silenced, more


by - Senior Writer -

With two teams off on Monday, it was a quiet night on the farm with the Cubs going 1-2 on the night. Despite that record, we continued to see specific names produce great performances as tough roster decisions will be looming in the upcoming weeks.

IOWA CUBS 6 – Salt Lake City Bees 0: The Cubs continue to see good fortunes at least once a week as their ace Colin Rea was back on the bump Monday. Ranked in the top 10 in nearly every pitching category, Rea was on top of his game once again, tossing seven shutout innings to improve to 12-3 on the season as the Cubs cruised 6-0 and moved to 65-55.

The Cubs got all the offense they would need in the first inning when Mark Zagunis doubled home a pair for the early 2-0 Cubs lead. It was his 25th double of the season. A passed ball in the third made things 3-0 before the offense went back to work in the bottom of the fifth.

A recent hot stretch from Addison Russell has fans wondering if a September call up is going to be in the cards and that hot streak continued with his sixth homer of the season and 5-0 Iowa lead.

Dixon Machado picked up the final run of the ball game in the sixth earning a bases-loaded walk to put the Cubs up 6-0. That was more than enough runs for the win as Dakota Mekkes and James Norwood each tossed a scoreless frame following Rea’s departure in the win.

What can you say about the Iowa attack other than balanced as four players tallied two-hit nights. Among them were Jim Adduci, Machado, Zagunis, and Russell as they were responsible for all the Cubs RBI’s. P.J. Higgins picked up the team's final hit in the win. Trent Giambrone was the lone player to not reach base in the game as everyone in the lineup managed to at least do that.

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SOUTH BEND CUBS 1 – Fort Wayne Tin Caps 3: In a battle featuring two in-state rivals, it was the Tin Caps getting the best of the Cubs handing them a 3-1 loss on Monday and dropping them to 64-54. Getting the start was Carlos Vega who despite lasting just four innings and earning a no-decision. Vega allowed only one hit in his outing, and zero runs as his ERA fell to 2.21 for the season. It was Fauris Guerrero and Sean Barry that allowed the three runs in relief which proved to be too much for South Bend.

It took four innings for the games first run to come across as South Bend drew first blood. The suddenly hot Yonathan Perlaza was responsible for that RBI as his single put the Cubs in front 1-0. Unfortunately, that would be the only run of the day for the Cubs as their pitching had to keep Fort Wayne off the board if they expected to win.

The Cubs lead was short-lived as the Tin Caps capitalized off the bullpen in the fifth. Juan Fernandez got Fort Wayne on the board with his second homer of the season to tie things up 1-1. Later that inning saw Kevin Alarcon ground into a double play but the winning run crossed home on that grounder for the 2-1 Fort Wayne lead. A Michael Curry single in the eighth gave the Tin Caps a big insurance run with a 3-1 lead as it proved to be enough in the win.

Jake Slaughter continues to impress at the plate, as he led the Cubs offense with three hits on the day. Another recent Eugene callup in Luis Vazquez tallied two hits of his own as those two were responsible for both multi-hit efforts. Perlaza, Nelson Maldonado and Nelson Velazquez added the teams final three hits. Brian Glowicki returned to South Bend to toss a scoreless ninth inning as his ERA with the Cubs stands at 1.96 for the year.

EUGENE EMERALDS 2 – Vancouver Canadians 3: In another tightly contest Northwest battle, it was the Canadians emerging on top this time around as they downed the Emeralds by the same score as Sunday 3-2. Eugene fell to 26-30 with the loss but continues to play much better during the second half.

Getting the start was third-rounder Michael McAvene who delivered a two-inning gem. Not only did McAvene strikeout 3 of the six batters he faced but threw 18 of his 22 pitches for strikes as he continues to pound the strike zone for Eugene. Didier Vargas followed him up with 3 2/3 innings of relief allowing two runs before the Canadians rallied late for the win.

Not to take anything away from Vancouver but it was the Emeralds who got things started in the second when Edmond Americaan tripled to deep center to give Eugene the 1-0 lead. Two innings later saw Americaan add to that lead as his 10th double of the season doubled the Eugene lead at 2-0 heading into the fifth.

It was in the top of the fifth when Vancouver finally broke through as they began to hit Vargas. Dominic Abbadessa got the Canadians on the board in the fifth with an RBI single cutting the deficit in half 2-1. One inning later saw Vancouver draw even as Ronny Brito came through with a flare to right to make things 2-2. Vancouver kept their feet on the gas in the seventh as a fielding error on the Jesus Lopez pop up allowed for the third run to score in as many innings with Vancouver now in front 3-2.

Looking for some late-game magic, Americaan continued his excellent night with a one-out double in the seventh but was left stranded on the bases. That was the last great scoring chance Eugene had in the ball game as they failed to land anyone in scoring position falling 3-2 for the loss.

Americaan carried the offense in this one, as he was responsible for both RBI’s and three of the teams seven hits in the loss. Fernando Kelli, Chase Strumpf, Caleb Knight, and Jacob Olson added the teams final four hits. Along with McAvene’s two scoreless frames, Riley McCauley tossed a pair of scoreless frames of his own with 3K as his ERA is now 2.96 for the year.

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