Cubs Minor League News: Noland and Kachmar impressive, Espinoza homers, Preciado raking |
Dustin Riese
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- Sunday, April 13 2025
Although it is still extremely early in the season, this could go down as one of the busiest, if not the busiest, days for the Cubs all season. Not only were all four teams in action, but two had double headers to make up for early-week rainouts.
In their first of two games on the day, pitching dominated as the Cubs and Mud Hens combined for four runs. Three of those went to the Cubs as another outstanding performance from Connor Noland paved the way for the 3-1 win. Although not a hard thrower, Noland is starting to make a name for himself in the Cubs system, especially this season. After allowing one run in six innings, Noland his ERA to 1.69 on the season as he struck out four in those six innings. His lone run allowed came in the third off the Hao-Yu-Lee triple to put the Mud Hens in front 1-0. That would be the only run of the day for Toledo, but given the way Dietrich Enns was pitching early, it was looking to be enough. That was until the Cubs responded with three runs in the top of the fourth, with Kevin Alcantara tying things up with a single before the Carlos Perez single gave the Cubs the lead for good, 3-1. Carlos Perez gives us the lead! pic.twitter.com/cL561ixvWp They would win by that score as Jack Neely came in to close things out in the seventh. Game one✔️ pic.twitter.com/amSHr0GZjx
Although runs were at a premium most of the day in Toledo, it was the Cubs finding a way to get it done as they completed the doubleheader sweep with a 4-2 win. This one needed extras to be decided, but it was the type of game you would expect from both sides. After watching Connor Noland dominate in game one, the Cubs elected to go with a bullpen game for game two, one in which Keegan Thompson started. Thompson did his job by tossing a pair of scoreless innings and was backed by a pair of Iowa runs, with Jonathon Long opening the scoring with a third-inning RBI single before the Ben Cowles double play extended the lead to 2-0. Jonathon Long gives us the lead💪 pic.twitter.com/MyabOratzS Those would be the only runs of regulation for the Cubs, but with the pitching being as good as it was, it looked like two runs would be enough for the Cubs. Bligh Madris managed to get one of those runs back with a fourth-inning sacrifice fly, but with the Cubs still in front 2-1 in the seventh, Toledo was down to their final at-bats. Leave it to Austin Murr to cash in as he connected for an RBI single off Gavin Hollowell to tie things up and helped send the game into extras. With both teams going scoreless in the eighth, Reese McGuire came through with the game's biggest hit as his RBI double put the Cubs in front for good 3-2. We take the lead in the 9th! pic.twitter.com/d8bJJZMXSV McGuire would come in to score on a wild pitch, the final run in the Cubs 4-2 win. Game🙌 pic.twitter.com/0GkfjRL3nu Doubleheader sweep! pic.twitter.com/GlUgJ3ggvI
For the second time in a week, the Knoxville Smokies took a no-hitter into the seventh, only to lose it in that inning. Still, it was all Knoxville in this one as they picked up another big win against Rocket City 5-1. Chris Kachmar benefitted from this start as he bounced back from a rough first start by no hitting Rocket City through six. He did enter the game in the seventh before allowing that hit, but still gave the Smokies six-plus strong innings of one-run baseball. Some instant offense backed Kachmar as Walbert Urena saw a first-inning passed ball bring home Brett Bateman to put the Smokies in front 1-0. Knoxville would never trail as they led this one from start to finish, adding another run on a fourth-inning Parker Chavers single to make this a 2-0 lead. Little did anyone know that the Chavers single proved to be the game-winning hit, but the Smokies' offense wouldn't stop there. Bateman added to the lead with another RBI single in the fifth. Knoxville continued to keep the pressure on in the sixth, with Bateman coming home on an error ahead of a Pedro Ramirez single, as the Smokies were in complete control 5-0. Despite being no-hit through six, the Trash Pandas wouldn't go away quietly as Mac McCorskey ended the no-hit bid with a leadoff single to put a runner on base. A Travis Blakenhorn single followed his single, and suddenly, Rocket City had something going. Denzer Guzman made it three singles in the inning for Rocket City with his single leading to the Trash Pandas lone run in a 5-1 Smokies win. Go us 👏 | @zips3mincarwash
Talk about some home cooking, as the Cubs have taken the first four of the weekend series. In game one of a doubleheader, the Cubs posted a pair of two-run innings, which was all they needed to improve to 4-3 and send the Chiefs to 0-7. Ryan Gallagher got the start for the Cubs, allowing two runs in four innings and striking out three. That run came off an error in the third, as his run was unearned. Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the third, Ivan Brethowr tied things up with an RBI single before a balk brought home the go-ahead run to make things 2-1. The Cubs continued to benefit from sloppy play as a wild pitch brought home another run in the fourth ahead of the Cristian Hernandez double as the Cubs opened up a 4-1 lead. It was all the offense they would need as the combination of Angel Hernandez and Vince Reilly took care of the rest from there, holding the Chiefs to a fifth-inning RBI single from Ian Pertuz to win the game 4-2. The #SBCubs took their first series of the season in game one of their double header. Check out the highlights from Saturday's win ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/ifujhV4w7v Cubs [W][W][W][W]in again!!!
It took eight games for the Chiefs to get their first win, and it came against South Bend in game two of their doubleheader 4-2. Despite a solid start from Connor Schultz, who struck out five in 4 1/3 innings, he also allowed four runs and was on the short end of the decision. The first of those runs came on the Pertuz first-inning single, while a Trey Paige single doubled the Chief's lead in the fourth to 2-0. South Bend managed to battle back in the bottom of the fourth on an Ariel Armas RBI fielder's choice to pull within 2-1, only to have the Chiefs put the game away in the fifth. In that inning, Peoria kept the pressure on Schultz, eventually getting him out of the game in favor of the pen. Zach Levenson delivered the big blow in that inning with an RBI single as the Chiefs were now in front 4-1. Given that Jose Davila only allowed one run through five innings despite walking four, the four runs put up by the Chiefs would be enough as the Cubs didn't score another run until the seventh, which came on the Reggie Preciado single to fall to the Chiefs 4-3. Preciado was responsible for two of the Cubs' four hits in the loss, as hits and runs were scarce. Armas and Brethowr added the other two hits for the Cubs. Final | Peoria Chiefs 4 | Cubs 3
This series has been a wake-up call for the Pelicans, as the Mudcats continue to be the class of the Carolina League. After finding a way to pick up a win yesterday, the Pelicans did their best to make it two in a row, but they fell to Carolina 4-3 on Saturday. This was one of those games where things looked a lot worse than they were, especially when you look at the pitching stats from Myrtle Beach. JP Wheat got the start for the Birds, going 4 1/3 and allowing three runs. His big issue was the command as he walked five and struck out four before Yenrri Rojas took over to close things out. With both teams scoring a run off a wild pitch in the first two innings, the Pelicans took their first lead in the fourth as Cole Mathis picked up the RBI fielder's choice. That run was charged to Sam Garcia after he replaced Travis Smith, but it was Garcia who gave the Mudcats a great outing as he went five innings out of the pen and struck out five. It was a short-lived lead for the Pelicans, with Marco Dinges connecting for an RBI single in the top of the fifth to put the Mudcats in front 3-2. One inning later, the Pelicans came through again as Leonel Espinoza cashed in for a solo shot to make things 3-3. Saturday Night Tied! pic.twitter.com/vTEdkCZcgA That would be the final run of the game for the Pelicans as Braylon Payne collected a game-winning sacrifice fly in the top of the eighth to hand the Mudcats a 4-3 win. Espinoza paced the Pelicans offense with two of the teams five hits and drove in a run. Dilan Granadillo, Jose Escobar, and Eriandys Ramon added the remaining three hits for the Pelicans. Reppin’ the Palmetto State 🌴 pic.twitter.com/X5hOai71rKIOWA CUBS 3 - TOLEDO MUD HENS 1
IOWA CUBS 4 - TOLEDO MUD HENS 2 (F/9)
KNOXVILLE SMOKIES 5 - ROCKET CITY TRASH PANDAS 1
Box Score: https://t.co/JsHeWjAAQ6 pic.twitter.com/flj7lIgL4ZSOUTH BEND CUBS 4 - PEORIA CHIEFS 2
Game 1 Final | Cubs 4 | Peoria Chiefs 2#SBCubs #OpeningWeek pic.twitter.com/PppwSIiZEKPEORIA CHIEFS 4 - SOUTH BEND CUBS 3
The series will conclude tomorrow ➡️ First pitch 2:05 PM#SBCubs #OpeningWeekend pic.twitter.com/kcCpktAvdiCAROLINA MUDCATS 4 - MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 3
