Cubs Minor League News: I-Cubs postponed, Kachar and Wiggins impressive, Mules shines |
Dustin Riese
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- 3 hours ago
For the first time all season, baseball wasn't the center of the sports world as the NFL Draft was taking place. Despite that, the Cubs Minor League system pressed along as three of the four Cubs affiliates were in action on Thursday. Given that Iowa got postponed and Myrtle Beach had a doubleheader, there were still four games going on, as if a full slate was taking place.
From a results perspective, the Cubs posted an overall tough showing, posting a 1-3 record for the day. In those three losses, one run was scored, with two of those losses resulting in an offense held to three hits or less. That won't cut it in today's game, and the Cubs know they need to pick it up.
It's tough to win a game when you are held to three hits unless those hits are homers. That was what the Smokies had to endure on Thursday as they wasted a strong pitching performance from Chris Kachmar in a 3-0 loss. The right-hander pitched into the sixth inning before being pulled after 5 2/3 and allowed two runs. He walked two and struck out three, and his ERA is a respectable 3.48. Typically, an outing like that would be good enough to win, but when Evan Fitterer goes six shutout innings with six strikeouts and three hits allowed, it doesn't matter how good you pitch on the other side. BJ Murray Jr. was responsible for two of those hits, with Jaylen Palmer picking up the other. The game-winning run came in the second inning when Spencer Bramwell unloaded for a solo shot to give the Blue Wahoos a 1-0 lead. That lead would hold until the sixth when Josh Zamora added an RBI single with a sacrifice fly, closing out the scoring in the seventh. There's 138 regular season games. | @zips3mincarwash
Like the Smokies, the Cubs wasted a great starting pitching performance from Jaxon Wiggins as their offense was held to one hit in the loss. The hard-throwing right-hander only lasted four innings, but with two walks, seven strikeouts, and one unearned run allowed, he deserved better as he fell to 0-2 with a 1.10 ERA. Jaxon Wiggins was dealing tonight! Credit the Beloit staff for that, as they held the hot South Bend offense to just one hit in the game, striking out seven. Once again, an early run made the difference, as a first-inning error would be all the offense Beloit would need. Ryan Ignoffo provided the rest of the offense with a fifth-inning RBI triple and a ninth-inning RBI double. Cristian Hernandez had the lone hit for South Bend and also reached on a walk. Cubs fall just short in game 3
Three games into the night, and not only did the Cubs Minor League system struggle to score with one total run, but they also had just seven hits across those games. That includes another three-hit effort in game one of the doubleheader as the Pelicans fell to Kannapolis 6-1. This was one of those games where no matter how poorly you pitched, you would have to take it on the chin, as Yovanny Cuevas elected to go with two pitchers for most of the night. That all started with the starter Will Frisch, who was touched up for four runs in three innings, walking two and striking out five. He gave way to Alfredo Romero, who went the next three innings, allowing the final two runs and striking out four. With the score knotted at 0-0 through two, both offenses started to show signs of life in the third with Kannapolis striking first. An RBI triple from Caleb Bonemer got the scoring started while a Frisch wild pitch made this a 2-0 game. Myrtle Beach did their best to keep things close with Christian Olivo tacking on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the inning to pull the Pelicans within 2-1. That was their only run of the game as Christian Oppor was locked in on the mound, going five innings and striking out eight. Following a bases-loaded balk in the fourth to bring home another run, another Bonemer hit broke the game open as his two-RBI single pushed the lead to 5-1. Kannapolis added a sacrifice fly later in that inning to close out the scoring in game one, 6-1. Cole Mathis was responsible for two of the three hits in the loss, with Alexey Lumpuy adding the other.
It took long enough for someone's offense to come to life, but better late than never. Backed by a strong pitching performance from Nazier Mule, the Pelicans took care of business as they scored all 10 of their runs in the fifth to win this one 10-2. Mule has been impressive to open the season, and after striking out seven more in 5 1/3, he continues to prove his worth. Sure, his command was iffy at times with four walks, but with two runs allowed, his ERA is now 2.40 as he has been the staff's Ace thus far. As good as Mule was, the Pelicans still found themselves down most of the game, with the Braden Montgomery single putting the Cannonballers in front 1-0 in the third. They would add another run in the fourth on the Ryan Burrowes double to extend their lead to 2-0, as this was looking to be another quiet offensive game for the Birds. After watching Justin Sinbaldi silence the Pelicans through four innings, things began to unravel quickly as the Pelicans chased him with two outs into the fifth and three runs across. Eriandys Ramon opened the scoring for the Birds with a one-out single, while a balk and a bases-loaded walk to Angel Cepeda gave the Pelicans their first lead of the night, 3-2, and they never looked back. Myrtle Beach would add seven more runs in their half of the fifth as they took a 2-0 deficit and flipped it into a 10-2 lead. Bases loaded, Ayers answered 🔥 pic.twitter.com/n8dSDmOgFU Leonel Espinoza and Mathis had a pair of RBI singles, leading to three runs. Owen Ayers cleared the bases with an RBI triple to push the lead to 9-2. The Pelicans scored their final run of the game off a fielding error, coming away with a split. Back in the win column! 😎IOWA CUBS vs LOUISVILLE BATS (Postponed)
PENSACOLA BLUE WAHOOS 3 - KNOXVILLE SMOKIES 0
Box Score: https://t.co/c5ZzH9eJgo pic.twitter.com/MPzCMGRls6BELOIT SKY CARP 3 - SOUTH BEND CUBS 0
The Chicago Cubs #10 prospect matched a season high of 7 K's in four strong innings 💪🔥 pic.twitter.com/flaaLck2BN
Back in action tomorrow ➡️ First Pitch 7:05 pic.twitter.com/Jxwj1Bx2hkKANNAPOLIS CANNONBALLERS 6 - MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 1 (Game 1)
MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 10 - KANNAPOLIS CANNONBALLERS 2 (Game 2)
The Birds take game 2 of the doubleheader.#MBPelicans | @CampersInnRV pic.twitter.com/eVRK8GOXIF
