Cubs Minor League News: Ballesteros and Murray homer, Wiggins impressive, Wetzel raking
Murray has had a solid season (Photo courtesy: I-Cubs)

Cubs Minor League News: Ballesteros and Murray homer, Wiggins impressive, Wetzel raking
by - Senior Writer - Fri Jul 12 15:04:18 GMT-05:00 2024

At some point, you would love to see the Cubs Minor League system rip off a nice stretch of wins to close out the week, but that has yet to happen. Going 3-4 on Thursday night is a step in the right direction, as wins can often be contagious for a team.

NASHVILLE SOUNDS 10 - IOWA CUBS 4

The Cubs have found themselves in a bit of a rout as they are struggling to make things happen. That continued on Thursday as a very good start to the game went South quickly as a four-run third inning put the Cubs in a hole for good and they were never able to recover.

Riley Thompson was the victim of that big inning as he pitched into the fifth, but was charged with six earned runs. He gave way to a quartet of relievers, but Frank Sclazo Jr was the only one who tossed a scoreless frame. The six runs off of Thompson was all the support Chad Patrick needed as he improved to 8-1 on the season.

With the score tied 0-0 entering the third, Nashville broke the game open with a four-run frame as a pair of singles from Brewer Hicklen and Owen Miller led to two runs while the Wes Clarke double brought home the other two. Iowa responded in the top half of the fourth on a BJ Murray Jr homer to make things 4-1, but with Chris Roller picking up a single in the fourth followed by a Clarke homer in the fifth, it was the Sounds opening up a 6-1 lead.

Home runs continued to be the source of the Cubs offense most of the game, with Moises Ballesteros unloading for his second AAA homer to make this a 6-3 game.

That was as close as things would get as a pair of RBI singles from Patrick Dorrian and Tyler Black made this a 9-3 game in the seventh, with a bases-loaded walk pushing the lead to 10-3 in the eighth. Christian Bethancourt drove in the game's final run for the Cubs in the ninth off an RBI single, but the Cubs still fell 10-4.

Bethancourt had a nice day at the plate, picking up two hits and driving in his first Iowa run. Murray Jr also added two hits for the Cubs in the losing effort.

TENNESSEE SMOKIES 4 - MONTGOMERY BISCUITS 0

There are a lot of good pitchers in the Cubs system, but Connor Noland is making a great case to be the pitcher of the year. Coming off one of the best starts in the Cubs organization over the past few years, Noland continued to deal on the mound as he tossed seven shutout innings to run his record to 7-3 and lowered his ERA to 2.50. He walked one and struck out five, and if he keeps pitching like this, a promotion to AAA is shortly.

Noland was backed by a big third inning where three of the Smokies four runs crossed the plate on a bases loaded RBI double from Kevin Alcantara as the Smokies opened up a 3-0 lead. Those were the only runs Ian Seymour would allow, but with Noland pitching the way he was, that was a deficit too large to overcome. Christian Franklin added to the Smokie's lead with an RBI single in the fourth to make things 4-0, as those were the game's only runs for either side.

DAYTON DRAGONS 6 - SOUTH BEND CUBS 1

It doesn't matter who the Cubs face on the mound. Their offense has been in a multi-week slump, and that continued with another lackluster loss to the Dragons on Thursday, 6-1. This time it was Sam Armstrong ending up on the short end of things as he gave up three runs in four innings.

Trailing 1-0 in the fourth after a third-inning sacrifice fly, the Dragons put the game away in the fourth as a bases-loaded walk to Jay Allen Jr brought home the winning run for the Dragons. Carter Graham added an RBI double later in the fourth to extend the lead to 3-0 as the Cubs offense searched for answers.

That score held until the sixth inning when Jonathon Long uncorked his team-leading 10th homer of the season to pull South Bend within 3-1. Unfortunately for them, that was the only run they would score as Dayton had three more in the bottom of the sixth, with one coming off a bases-loaded hit by a pitch and the other two coming off the Cade Hunter single in the Cub's 6-1 loss.

MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 6 - KANNAPOLIS CANNONBALLERS 1

Although the Pelicans have had a tough time lately, they have given the Cannonballers all they have been able to handle this week and have won two of three to start the week. That included their 6-1 win on Thursday when the Pelicans used a four-run third inning to break things open before cruising to the win.

This was a rain-shortened victory, as the Pelicans only needed seven innings, which helped their pitching. Jaxson Wiggins made the start and tossed four no-hit innings with six punchouts before handing things off to Tyler Schlaffer, who finished things off.

Backed by a pair of two-run homers from Jacob Wetzel and Andy Garriola in the third, the Pelicans opened up a 4-0 lead and never looked back.

Home runs continued to lead the way for the Birds in the fifth, with Wetzel going deep again to make this a 5-0 game, while Alfonsin Rosario added a solo blast of his own to extend the lead to 6-0.

Those would be the only runs they would need as Cannapolis picked up a seventh-inning Luis Pineda double, their only run in a 6-1 Pelicans win. Wetzel, Garriola, and Rosario paced the offense with two hits and were responsible for all six RBIs, with Wetzel coming away with three.

ACL DIAMONDBACKS 9 - ACL CUBS 7

DSL CUBS RED 7 - DSL WHITE SOX 2

At this point in the DSL season, we are reaching the halfway mark where teams sort of know what type of team they have. For the Cubs, it is all about improving from one game to the next, as both their DSL teams endured a rough season in 2023. DSL Red is a prime example of what a little improvement can do for a team, as they took down the White Sox 7-2 on Thursday.

Pitching was the theme of the game for the Cubs early on, with Frailin Alejo and Jostin Florentino combining for six innings of one-run, six-strikeout baseball. Florentino picked up the win after striking out four in three innings as his ERA fell to 1.71. After a bases-loaded hit by pitch put the White Sox on the board in the first, the Cub's offense took a while to get going, as it wasn't until the fourth inning that they broke through.

Once they broke through, the runs didn't stop as they scored seven times over the next three innings to put the game away. Three of them came on the Leroy Escalante homer in the fourth to give the Cubs the lead as his hit went down as the game-winner. The Cubs added two runs in the fifth off a pair of errors, while the Jesus Rodriguez homer in the sixth made things 7-1 before winning 7-2.

DSL RAYS 6 - DSL CUBS BLUE 4 (F/6)

Once again, mother nature got in the way of another Cubs DSL game as the DSL Blue to the Rays 6-4 in six. Most of the damage from the Rays came in the first inning as sloppy defense opened the floodgates for what was a four-run inning to put the Cubs in a 4-0 hole after one.

The Rays extended their lead to 5-0 on a third-inning double from Ismael De Rosario before a Derik Alcantara sacrifice fly put the Cubs on the board in the bottom of the third. In the bottom of the third, the Cubs' offense started rolling, scoring one run in each of the following four innings to keep things close.

That included an error in the fourth and a wild pitch in the fifth as the Cubs were within 6-3. The Cubs continued their comeback bid in the sixth as the Carlos Altuve bomb pulled them within 6-4, but that was it as the rain and lightning followed the Cubs, losing by that 6-4 score.

LAKE COUNTRY DOCKHOUNDS 6 - CHICAGO DOGS 4

WINDY CITY THUNDERBOLTS 2 - GATEWAY GRIZZLIES 1

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