Cubs Minor League News: Alcantara crushes two homers, Hertz impressive, Nwogu raking, more
Alcantara smashed two homers on Friday

Cubs Minor League News: Alcantara crushes two homers, Hertz impressive, Nwogu raking, more
by - Senior Writer - Sat Jul 08 11:02:21 GMT-04:00 2023

Friday marked a much lighter night on the diamond as six games occurred. However, all seven teams were in action, which means it was another installment of the DSL BLUE vs DSL RED matchup.

From a results side, the Cubs organization posted an overall showing of (2-3-1). Consider the DSL matchup a tie, as no one wins or loses against the actual organization.

SAINT PAUL SAINTS 4 - IOWA CUBS 1

The Cubs and Saints have been locked into several closely contested games this season, and Friday was no different. With both teams being held scoreless through six, a four-run seventh from the Saints was the difference as they topped the Cubs 4-1.

Hayden Wesneski was back with Iowa and made the start, giving the Cubs three shutout innings with six strikeouts. Riley Martin and Chris Clarke followed him, as Clarke was the victim of that massive inning. Opposing Wesneski was MLB veteran Dallas Keuchel as he continues to work towards an MLB return. The former Cy Young winner was brilliant as he tossed 5 2/3 scoreless frames with four strikeouts.

With the game tied 0-0 in the seventh, Saint Paul broke out in a big way as they opened up a 4-0 lead. A bases-loaded walk aided the game's first run, with Kyle Garlick following that up with a single to make things 2-0. Saint Paul would two more runs on a pair of sacrifice flies as they took a 4-0 lead.

Not only would they make that lead stand up, but the Cubs managed just one run in the game as an eighth-inning passed ball put them on the board. Iowa had a chance to make things interesting in the ninth with a pair of runners on, but it was Edwin Rios popping out to third to end the game.

Luis Vazquez and Yonathan Perlaza led the way with two hits.

TENNESSEE SMOKIES 5 - BIRMINGHAM BARONS 4

Winning one-run games is crucial to a team's success; for the Smokies, that has been the case this week. Through three games with the Barons, most of their games have been decided by one run. That includes Friday's win, as the Smokies scored all five of their runs in one inning to pick up their third straight win.

DJ Herz was at the center of attention on Friday, and for good reason, as the left-hander turned in a great start. Herz gave the Smokies five impressive innings, allowing one run on five hits while striking out six. He was followed by a trio of bullpen arms, including Porter Hodge and his two scoreless frames.

The only run-off of Herz came in the third when Bryan Ramos took him deep for the solo shot. Herz had an issue with the home-run ball last season but has turned it around this year. Trailing 1-0 in the fourth, the Smokies offense erupted as they scored all five runs in that inning.

Haydn McGeary put the Smokies in front for good with his two-run blast, while Jordan Nwogu delivered the game-winning three-run shot to extend the lead to 5-1.

Tennessee held that lead until the sixth when the Barons started to rally. Xavier Fernandez started that rally with an RBI double, with Taylor Snyder picking up an RBI single shortly after. Throw in a sacrifice fly, and the Barons were within 5-4 before Hodge, and Danis Correa shut things down from there. Tennessee had six hits in the game, with Cole Roederer leading the way with two.

PEORIA CHIEFS 12 - SOUTH BEND CUBS 5

South Bend has had a rough go of things for the past month, and things only got worse on Friday. Coming off a combined no-hitter on Thursday, the Cubs found themselves locked into a tight game late, only to have the Chiefs rally for seven late runs for the win.

Connor Noland made the start for the Cubs, and despite giving South Bend six strong innings, he was hit hard. Noland allowed five earned runs for just the second time this season as his ERA rose to 3.57. Noland put his team in an early hole allowing an Osvaldo Tovalin single in the first to make things 2-0.

One inning later, the Chiefs offense kept the pressure on as the Nathan Church double extended the lead to 3-0. RJ Yeager and Ramon Mendoza picked up RBI singles later in the frame as the Chiefs built an early 5-0 lead. Noland would settle in from there, as it would be up to their offense to climb back.

Kevin Alcantara did his part with a solo homer in the second, but the night was just getting started for the Cubs No. 2 prospect. Trailing by that 5-1 score in the fifth, Alcantara took it upon himself to provide all the offense as he delivered the grand slam to tie things up 5-5.

That would be it for the Cubs offense, but things remained tied until the game's late stages.

Once the eighth inning rolled around, it was all Peoria, with Darlin Moquete using a solo shot to put the Chiefs in front for good, 6-5. Peoria would then tack on significant insurance runs in the ninth as they would push across six additional runs to bust the game wide open and picked up the 12-5 win.

Yohendrick Pinango paced the offense with three hits, but Alcantara drove in all the runs as he finished with five RBIs and two homers.

MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 5 - AUGUSTA GREENJACKETS 4

Sometimes it isn't about how many innings you score in, but instead the number of runs you score in those innings. Backed by a four-run fifth that saw the Pelicans take the lead, Myrtle Beach would only need one more run to pick up another win.

Nick Hull was decent but not great on the mound, as he continues to give his team quality starts. Hull got through 4 1/3 innings, allowing three runs while striking out five. After came a trio of relievers, including Brailin Marquez, who allowed an unearned run in his 1 1/3 with two strikeouts. Scott Kobos finished things off and racked up four strikeouts out of a possible five outs to earn the save.

Hull and the Birds fell behind 1-0 on the Jair Casanova second-inning homer, and the offense remained quiet until the fifth. It was in that inning when they came to life and gave Hull the support he was waiting for. All it took was one massive swing for the Pelicans to grab the lead as Pedro Ramirez connected for his first career Grand Slam to put Myrtle Beach in front 4-1.

Their lead didn't last long as Augusta had an answer in the bottom half of the fifth, with Justin Janas picking up an RBI double paired with a wild pitch to make things 4-3. Myrtle Beach continued to rely on the long ball in the sixth as the Parker Chavers solo shot put the Pelicans in front 5-3 and proved to be the winning run. Augusta would add a run later in the game, but that was as close as they would get before Kobos shut the door. Rafael Morel and Chavers led the way with two hits, while Ramirez and Andy Garriola added the other two.

ACL ATHLETICS 3 - ACL CUBS 2

It isn't too often when pitching dominates on the ACL circuit, but that is what you had between the A's and Cubs, as a total of five runs were scored. Unfortunately, it was the Cubs on the short end of the stick, falling 3-2. Yenrri Rojas took the ball for the Cubs and gave them five strong innings. He allowed two runs and struck out one before handing it over to Kevin Valdez and the pen.

Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the first, the Cubs answered and scored both of their runs to take the lead. In what is becoming a common theme, Christian Franklin was in the middle of those runs as his two-run shot gave the Cubs a 2-1 lead. For Franklin, it is only a matter of time until he is back with South Bend, as he is crushing the ball in Mesa right now.

The Cub's lead didn't last long as Moises Gallardo took Rojas deep in the second to tie things up, and that was the last of the runs for quite some time. With the game still tied 2-2 in the eighth, the A's broke through as a costly wild pitch pushed across the game-winning run and gave them the 3-2 victory.

DSL RED CUBS 10 - DSL BLUE CUBS 2

Sparked by a pair of four-run innings, the DSL Red Squad picked up a nice win against their friends and rolled past DSL Blue. Emannoel Madeira was on the mound for DSL Red, allowing two runs in three innings while striking out five. He helped set the tone in the game, but the DSL Red offense picked him up and scored twice in the second on an Andrws Cruz single to make things 1-0 ahead of a wild pitch.

The lone runs of the game for DSL Blue came in the bottom half of the third as they erased an early deficit to tie things up. Derik Alcantara did his part by picking up an RBI single, but it was the steal of home by Darlyn De Leon that brought things back to even 2-2. From that point on, it was all DSL Red as they ended the game with eight unanswered runs.

Not only that, but all eight runs came in two innings, with four coming in the fourth. Joan Delgado delivered the massive blow in that inning as his RBI double pushed across three runs to put DSL Red in front 5-2. There was also another error mixed in to lead to the fourth run with the DSL Red in front 6-2.

They would add to that lead in the seventh when they pushed across four runs for the second time in the game. This time, another error led to the first run with a bases-loaded walk and hit by pitch bringing home two more. Throw in the Cruz RBI groundout, and all four of those runs scored without a hit as DSL Red cruised for a 10-2 win. Delgado led the way for DSL Red, picking up three of the team's six hits with three RBIs. Alcantara, Derniche Valdez and Brailin Pascual all hit mulit-hit games for DSL Blue with Alcantara picking up the lone RBI.

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