Cubs Minor League News: Bats boom again in Mesa, but Desert Dogs take slugfest 15-9 |
Dustin Riese
· · 2 hours ago
Mesa - Another afternoon at Sloan Park, and another offensive outburst as the Mesa Solar Sox and Glendale Desert Dogs put on another offensive explosion for the fans. Although not nearly as high as Tuesday's game, where 35 runs were scored, this one saw more than 20 runs cross the plate as the offense is starting to take shape after a sluggish first two weeks of the season.
Despite another excellent output by the Solar Sox and their offense, they were on the wrong end of another high-scoring affair as the Desert Dogs put an end to the Solar Sox's winning streak 15-9. This was one of those games where things were over almost as quickly as they began, with the Desert Dogs scoring 13 runs in the first four innings, including back-to-back six-run frames in the second and third. Trailing 14-2 in the fifth, Mesa did a great job starting to battle back as they pushed across four runs in their half of the fifth to make this a 14-6 game before their late-game rally came up short 15-9. For the first time this season, all four of the Cubs' hitting prospects were in the lineup at the same time, and you wonder if that will be a sign of things to come with the season just over two weeks from being finished. Owen Ayers got the start at catcher once again, and despite going 0-1 at the dish, he worked a pair of walks as he continues to be an on-base machine. He gave way to Logan Poteet later in the game, who wound up going 0-2 at the dish as his average has plummeted to .188. Poteet hasn't been getting much action over the past week, so just getting him in the lineup today was a plus for the Solar Sox. Speaking of someone who hasn't been in the lineup for a while, Cole Mathis returned to the Mesa lineup after being out of action since last Friday. Stuck in a mini-slump, the Solar Sox were hoping that his recent time away from the field would clear his head with the hopes of him rediscovering his early-season stroke. It has been just one game, but you could tell that Mathis was seeing the ball much better, going hitless at the plate, but finding a way to draw two walks, which was something he had a hard time doing before getting some time off. The lone Cubs prospect to get a hit was Ed Howard, who got back on track after a 0-6 day on Wednesday. In what was a theme most of the night for a lot of guys, Howard showed great patience at the dish, picking up two walks and one hit in the ball game, with his hit driving in a run with an RBI double. Of all the prospects down in the desert, Howard is the one who needed the reps more than anyone, as this could be a good sign for what is to come in 2026 should he still be on this roster. With this being the first time all season that all four of the Cubs' hitting prospects were on the field together in the same game, you have to wonder if all of their pitching prospects will be next, as it has been a while since multiple Cubs arms saw the mound the same day. The Solar Sox will close out their homestand Thursday evening when they take on the Scottsdale Scorpions.
