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IOWA CUBS 6 - INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS 5: Over the past week, the Iowa Cubs have been the team to watch in the Cubs system. A big reason for that has been having Pete Crow-Armstrong and Alexander Canario return after spending some time in the majors to lift this offense to new heights. You saw that again on Saturday as the Cubs scored early before having to rally late.
It took long enough, but Julio Teheran finally put together a great start for the Cubs. He pitched five innings, allowing two runs and striking out six. Compare that to Domingo German who allowed four runs in just over five innings and the Cubs were in a great spot to win despite the bullpen nearly letting it get away. Iowa opened the scoring in the first with an error, only to have Matt Gorski take Teheran deep to tie things up in the second. After sitting out a few games due to an injury, Brennen Davis returned to the lineup and ripped an RBI double in the second to put the Cubs on top 2-1. They would extend the lead to 3-1 in the third, while a Miles Mastrobuoni single gave the Cubs a 4-1 lead in the fourth before tacking on another run. A Jake Lamb sacrifice fly ended the Cubs' run in the fifth and started an Indians' run that saw them rip off four unanswered runs to tie the game. Three of those runs came in the seventh, with Canaan Smith-Njigba using an RBI double to make things 5-3 before coming home on the Lamb single. A Malcolm Nunez followed that Lamb single, and just like that, this was a tie game. Iowa would get the last laugh in this one as David Bote came through with a go-ahead single in the bottom of the seventh which went down as the game-winning hit. PCA was one of three hitters with multiple hits, joining Bote and Hayden Cantrelle. TENNESSEE SMOKIES 5 - PENSACOLA BLUE WAHOOS 4: Like the Iowa Cubs, Tennessee saw themselves leading late before having to rally in the ninth for the win. Brandon Birdsell took the ball for the Smokies and got through five innings, allowing three runs (2ER). He walked one and struck out five before the bullpen took over. Opposing him was MD Johnson, who, despite struggling with his command throughout the game, ill-managed to hold the Smokies to one run through six innings. That run came off a wild pitch in the second as the Smokies took the 1-0 lead. The Smokies held that lead until the fourth when a Nathan Martorella sacrifice fly tied things up. One inning later, another sacrifice fly put the Blue Wahoos in front 2-1 while an additional run scored on a double play. Trailing by one in the seventh, the suddenly red-hot Kevin Alcantara came through with arguably his biggest hit of the season as his three-run blast put the Smokies back in front 4-3. Their lead didn't last long as the Paul McIntosh homer brought things back to even with the ninth inning all that was left to play. In that inning, the Smokies kept the pressure on throughout, with a balk being the difference in the Smokies' 5-4 win. As he is now hitting, Alcantara led the way with three hits and three RBIs.260. Luis Verdugo also added two hits. SOUTH BEND CUBS 13 - WISCONSIN TIMBER RATTLERS 1: Who would've thought that all the Cubs would need to play up to their potential was facing off against a first-place team? That happened this weekend as the Cubs secured the series victory vs. the Timer Rattlers in dominating fashion. Backed by an offense that put up 13 runs, including an eight-run second inning, Will Sanders was able to go about his business as he earned his first career win. The right-hander went five innings, allowing just an unearned run and striking out four to lower his ERA to 4.61 after a rough start. Anytime eight runs of support back you, you tend to be in good hands, but for that to happen, just two innings in the Cubs never looked back. An RBI fielder's choice got the scoring going before a run of four singles from Parker Chavers, Reivaj Garcia, Pedro Ramirez, and Jonathon Long pushed the lead to 6-0. There was also an error mixed in with that later in the inning, which led to two more runs as the Cubs opened up an 8-0 lead. Garcia added his second RBI single one inning later to push the Cubs lead to 9-0 before the Timber Rattlers lone run came in the fourth off a wild pitch. South Bend closed out the scoring in the bottom of the fourth, with Chavers adding a bases-loaded walk ahead of a wild pitch. Ed Howard wrapped things up with an RBI double as the Cubs offense rolled start to finish. Everyone in the Cubs lineup had at least one hit, with Garcia leading the way with three. CAROLINA MUDCATS 4 - MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 3: Sometimes all it takes is one inning to get the job done which was the case here as the Mudcats four-run first inning would be all the offense they would need. Juan Bello was the victim of that massive first inning as he lasted four innings, allowing four runs and punching out five. He gave way to Erian Rodriguez, who pitched flawlessly in four innings of relief to keep things close. With Yorman Gallindez dominating through his four-plus innings and striking out seven, you had to think that an early lead would be enough only to have the Pelicans mount a late-game rally. Three of the four runs for the Mudcats came on a pair of RBI singles from Luis Castillo and Reece Walling, while the fourth run scored on a wild pitch. From there, it was all Pelicans as the comeback trail was on. It took five innings for Myrtle Beach to get the offense going, with Christian Olivo going deep to make things 4-1. Fast forward to the eighth, and the Pelicans continued to battle back as the Miguel Pabon double pulled the Birds within 4-2. Pabon would come around to score later in the eighth on the Fabian Pertuz sacrifice fly, but the Pelicans wouldn't get any closer, falling to the Mudcats 4-3. Olivo led the offense with two hits to go with his first homer as he was joined by Jacob Wetzel and Christopher Paciolla. ACL WHITE SOX 6 - ACL CUBS 2: After putting together a strong start to the week where they ripped off three straight wins, the Cubs saw their week more abruptly going 0-2 over the weekend. The second of those losses came to the White Sox who topped them 6-2 in ACL action. Nazier Mule looked good in his three innings, allowing no runs and striking out three before handing things off to Sam Thoreson and the rest of the Cubs bullpen. Both of the Cubs' runs came in the third inning, when a costly throwing error allowed two runners to score. That was about the only bad thing that happened during Sean Burke's start, as he scattered two hits in his four innings and struck out 11 out of a possible 12. Yet, he was down 2-0 entering the sixth, which is when the White Sox offense came to life. After Stiven Flores put the White Sox on the board with a single, it was a wild pitch that brought things back to even. Dario Borrero put the White Sox in front for good with an RBI double, while the Angelo Hernandez homer capped off the five-run inning with the Cubs now trailing 5-2. Hernandez wasn't done taking Cubs pitching deep as he added a second homer in the ninth to close out the scoring.
