Cubs Minor League News: Hendricks rehab start, Pagan with two homers, Pinango raking, more |
Tuesday was an overall struggle for the Cubs on the diamond, as they posted a 1-4 record. The lone win came from the ACL Cubs, who have gotten off to a fast start, while the full-season teams struggled to get the job done. Most of those games were close battles that came down to the final out, but close only counts in horseshoes.
For a team as loaded as Iowa, it's hard to fathom them being two games under .500. A big reason for that was having so many players get called up to the majors to help the Cubs as they have been injured a ton this season. Over the next few days, Iowa will be the team to watch as Seiya Suzuki is expected to make a rehab appearance on Wednesday and Thursday. You also had Kyle Hendricks taking the ball on Tuesday as he continued to work his way back to the majors. Hendricks struggled with his command at times, but with one run allowed in 4 1/3 innings with six strikeouts, he continues to pitch well. Kyle Hendricks strikes out the side in the first🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/xJQOtpxzYq Kyle with another K‼️#iowacubs #milb #onlyindesmoines pic.twitter.com/Uztdvqv4NB Hendricks allowed the first run of the game on an RBI forceout, with Matt Mervis tying things up in the third on a sacrifice fly. Mervis had a massive game for Iowa as he came away with two hits and drove in three. With the score tied 1-1 in the fifth, Jhonkensy Noel connected for homer number six on the season as he put the Clippers in front 4-1. Columbus maintained that lead until the seventh when Luis Vazquez doubled home a run to make this a 4-2 game. Luis Vazquez finds the gap💪 pic.twitter.com/rmQFz9xIwh It was time for Mervis to deliver a few batters later as his two-run single brought things back to even and helped send the game into extras 4-4. Mervis ties up the game🙌 pic.twitter.com/kqvvx43675 In that extra frame, the Clippers put the game away as a pair of RBI doubles from Daniel Schneemann and Noel made things 6-4 as the Cubs were down to their final three outs. Owen Caissie got one of those runs back with an RBI single, but with the bases loaded, BJ Murray Jr. took a call for strike three to end the game. Vazquez led the Cubs with three hits with Mervis adding two and three RBIs. Warning! Your heart will melt!#iowacubs #milb #onlyindesmoines pic.twitter.com/5KPOci6c9M Just clipped us at the finish line. pic.twitter.com/c3YDdCPOSZ
Extra inning games are always fun for the fans, but not so much for the team on the losing end. Despite both Iowa and Tennessee being involved in extras, neither team managed to grab the win as the Lookouts walked off the Smokies in 10. Brandon Birdsell will most likely take over the Ace role with Cade Horton in AAA, and if this was any indication of what that looks like, he will be just fine. Birdsell pitched into the sixth, going 5 1/3 innings, striking out six and allowing one run on four hits. That run came on a Tyler Callihan fourth-inning homer, as he was dialed in from the start. The same could be said about Chattanooga starter Julian Aguiar, who lasted six innings with four strikeouts while also giving up one run. That run came in the second inning, with Ezequiel Pagan taking him deep for the early 1-0 lead. Pagan was the entire offense for the Smokies in this one, as he would connect for his second homer later in the game to put Tennessee in front 2-1 in the seventh. Home runs were the theme for both sides as Allan Cerda connected for a rare solo blast off Michael Arias in the eighth, and once again, things were tied 2-2 and heading to extras. After failing to score in their half of the 10th, the Smokies found the worst possible way to lose as the Eduarniel Nunez wild pitch was followed by a Pablo Aliendo throwing error, which pushed across the winning run. Pagan was responsible for two of the four hits and both runs with Kevin Alcantara and James Triantos grabbing the remaining hits. Ezequiel Pagan homered twice tonight. | @zips3mincarwash
Crooked numbers were a big thing in this game, as both offenses had no trouble scoring runs. For Cedar Rapids, they had two separate innings of four runs, in addition to a six-run ninth, as 14 of their 16 runs came in three innings. Sam Armstrong has been the Cubs best pitcher this season, but this wasn't a great outing as he was charged with seven earned runs in 3 1/3 as his ERA rose to 3.00 Armstrong was given an early lead in the second inning with Brian Kalmer connecting for an RBI single to make things 1-0, while Brett Bateman followed suit with one of his own to extend the lead to 3-0. From there, it was all Cedar Rapids as they scored 10 times over the next three innings to break things open 10-3. Four of those runs came in the third, with Rubel Cespedes connecting for a game-tying three-run blast ahead of the go-ahead Jay Harry double. Cespedes and Harry continued to build off their games with a pair of RBIs in the fourth to push the lead to 6-3 before the Kernels offense erupted for four more runs in the fifth. This time, it was the Danny De Andrade bases-clearing double that led to three runs, while an additional sacrifice fly made things 10-3. Facing a massive uphill battle, South Bend started to chip away at the lead in the sixth as Bateman and Jefferson Rojas drove in two to pull within 10-5. That would be as close as the Cubs would get as the Kernels offense broke out for six runs in the ninth and pushed their lead to 16-5. Three RBI singles led to five of those runs, with Willie Joe Garry Jr, Cespedes, and Augustin Ruiz grabbing those singles, while a wild pitch led to the other run. South Bend managed to push another run across in their half of the ninth off the Yohendrick Pinango homer, but it wasn't near enough to win this one. It's a Pinango Party!@Cubs prospect Yohendrick Pinango belts his fourth homer of the season for the @SBCubs on his 22nd birthday. pic.twitter.com/d9oc4rU4kx Bateman paced the offense with two hits and three RBIs, and he is now hitting .360 for the season. Felix Stevens and Pinango added multi-hit games for the Cubs, with Cespedes leading the way for Cedar Rapids with six RBIs. Game 2 starts in T-Minus 13 hours. ⏰ pic.twitter.com/0MCnTCCU7o
You want to talk about a tough-luck loss for the Birds; this falls into that category as all five runs for Augusta came in one inning. To make things worse, those runs came in the eighth, as this was a 0-0 game through seven. 4-3-5 = 3 outs!@Pelicanbaseball turns the second triple play of the MiLB season! pic.twitter.com/6SqYwhCRs3 Ty Johnson was about as dominant as you can be in his four innings, as he struck out nine and didn't allow a hit. Ty Johnson collects a career-high 9⃣ strikeouts in 4⃣ no-hit innings at Single-A. Riley Frey opposed him and nearly matched his line as he scattered two hits and struck out seven across seven frames as this was coming down to the bullpen. For Myrtle Beach, that all started with Vince Reilly and his scoreless frame, but Garrett Brown pitched into the eighth inning before allowing Augusta to score three of the five runs. Strangely enough, this was a 0-0 game entering the eighth, and that is when things began to unravel for Brown and the Pelicans. Augusta scored five times in the eighth inning, and two of those runs came off an error and a wild pitch. The rest came from a pair of RBI singles off the bats of Jace Grady and Will Verdung as the Greenjackets opened up a 5-0 lead. They held that lead until the bottom of the ninth when the Pelicans tried to rally. A wild pitch led to a run for Myrtle Beach, with Cristian Hernandez adding an RBI groundout, but that was it in the 5-2 loss. The Pelicans were held to just four hits in the loss. We turned a triple play. That’s all we remember.#MBPelicans | #YouHaveToSeeIt pic.twitter.com/89LS6UofM3
The lone team to pick up a win on Tuesday was the ACL Cubs, and what better way to do that than by walking off the Padres, much like the MLB team did. Freilyn Silverino labored through his 2 2/3 innings, allowing three runs to put his team in an early hole. From there, the bullpen, in particular, Wilme Mora, took over as he tossed three scoreless frames to pick up the win. It was all Padres in the early going as they took the lead on a second-inning sacrifice fly before making things 3-0 in the third. Addison Kopack played a role with his RBI single, while a second RBI single from Spence Coffman opened up a 4-0 lead after four. It took five innings for the Cubs to break through, with stud SS prospect Derniche Valdez going deep for his first stateside homer to make things 4-1. That homer was the jolt the Cubs offense needed as they added another run later in the inning to pull within 5-2 before delivering some seventh-inning magic. All it took was another homer, with this one coming from Carter Trice, to make things 4-3 as the Cubs could sense the momentum shifting. Throw in a Jefferson Encarnacion sacrifice fly to tie things up, and the Cubs were in business as Angel Cepada capped off the comeback with a walk-off fielder's choice. COLUMBUS CLIPPERS 6 - IOWA CUBS 5 (F/10)
CHATTANOOGA LOOKOUTS 3 - TENNESSEE SMOKIES 2 (F/10)
Box Score: https://t.co/tRHUwUhVCE pic.twitter.com/4hskA4aNpFCEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 16 - SOUTH BEND CUBS 6
AUGUSTA GREENJACKETS 5 - MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 2
The @Cubs prospect retires the last 11 batters he faces, striking out the side in his final frame. pic.twitter.com/wO1JGgWrdA
ACL CUBS 5 - ACL PADRES 4
