Cubs Minor League News: Kilian pitches gem, Cantrelle raking, Santos with 10 Ks, more |
This is it, folks, the final stretch run of the Minor League season, as both Iowa and Tennessee are down to their last handful of games. Iowa's season will be over once their series concludes, but the Smokies are currently in the postseason and can continue on should they win this best-of-three series this week.
Anyway, you slice it, Tuesday was a great day for the Cubs organization as they went 2-0 to kick off their week. What stood out the most about these games was the pitching, as the Cubs allowed just one run across those two games, which hasn't always been the case this season.
It was a near-flawless game for the Iowa Cubs as they allowed just two hits in their victory over Rochester. The offensive-oriented nature of this league is huge, as the Cubs will need some of their AAA pitching to emerge in the bigs next season. Although this was considered a bullpen game, the Cubs used two starters, with Hayden Wesneski getting the start. Wesneski is currently rehabbing from a forearm injury, and he looked as good as ever with four punchouts across two innings. He then turned things over to a trio of pitchers, including Caleb Kilian, who gave the Cubs five shutout innings out of the pen with four strikeouts. Opposing the Cubs was Andrew Alvarez, who managed to keep his team in the game by going six innings and allowing three runs with six strikeouts. Given how well the Cubs pitched, they didn't need much offense, as the Reivaj Garcia double gave Iowa a 1-0 lead in the third, which would be the only run they would need. That was the game's only run until the sixth when a Moises Ballesteros single doubled the Cubs lead to put them in front 2-0. Iowa managed to scratch across another run later in the inning off a Chase Strumpf double play as the pitching took care of the rest in a 3-0 win. Owen Caissie's leaping catch in the ninth is your @GreatClips Clip of the Game! pic.twitter.com/I7dc99umEW Iowa had five hits in the game as Hayden Cantrelle delivered three hits to go with the two RBI hits. Along with Kilian and Wesneski continuing their rehab stints, the Cubs also saw Julian Merryweather and Colten Brewer continue their rehab as they tossed two scoreless frames of relief. Shutout W! pic.twitter.com/ASCYqnnHGv
The quest to defend their Southern League title began on Tuesday as the Tennessee Smokies battled the Birmingham Barons. After seeing what happened during their season-ending series last week, this series is expected to go down to the wire. What better way to kick off their title defense than by winning game one of this best of three as the Smokies used some early offense and strong pitching to deliver a 3-1 victory. As expected, the Smokies turned to Antonio Santos on the mound, as he has been one of their best pitchers this season. Known for being a big strikeout guy, Santos brought a whole new meaning to the table as he struck out 10 Barons across his outing while scattering just five hits. The only negative was that he could not record the win, as his high pitch count forced him out after 4 2/3, but he left with the lead. Antonio Santos strikes out the side to kick off Game 1! #LastYearBestYear #NextStopWrigley #Back2BackInKodak #YouHaveToSeeIt pic.twitter.com/YKYokXzbS1 Some instant offense backed Santos as the Smokies offense got off to a great start against Juan Cerela. All it took for the Smokies offense to deliver a win was a pair of RBI singles, with Fabian Pertuz cashing in with the first of those singles in the second while Felix Stevens made this a 2-0 lead in the third. THE SMOKIES STRIKE FIRST! #LastYearBestYear #Back2BackInKodak #NextStopWrigley pic.twitter.com/loZv2UDQOT Felix Stevens ropes an RBI single to score Cam Smith! It's 2-0 Smokies in the bottom of the 3rd. #Back2BackInKodak #LastYearBestYear #NextStopWrigley pic.twitter.com/z52W8aPCWh Tennessee kept the pressure on in the fourth as an error helped set up the Smokies final run with Brett Bateman picking up an RBI forceout to extend the Smokies lead to 3-0. It was a lead they would never give up as the Barons only run came on the Nick Podkul homer in the sixth as the Smokies take game one 3-1 and are one win away from the Southern League Championship series. There have been few games where the Smokies were outhit, but this was one of them, as they were outhit by the Barons 8-7. Seven players had a hit for the Smokies, while the pitching struck out 18 combined hitters to seal the win. Antonio Santos shuts down the Barons, and the Smokies take Game 1! #Back2BackInKodak #LastYearBestYear #NextStopWrigley | @zips3mincarwashIOWA CUBS 3 - ROCHESTER RED WINGS 0
TENNESSEE SMOKIES 3 - BIRMINGHAM BARONS 1
Box Score: https://t.co/2Uw9VvGIVM pic.twitter.com/hOg2gF8hUz
