Cubs Minor League News: Bote bomb, Nwogu and Alcantara raking, Rojas homers, more |
In what was overall a rough week on the diamond for the Cubs Minor League system, they still had a chance to end the week on a positive note as the last full week of August came to a close. For the most part, all five games were competitive and tightly contested, but you did have an occasional blowout mixed in.
Regarding the wins and losses, the organization showed much more fight on Sunday than in games past, as they closed out the week with a 3-2 mark to gain momentum heading into next week. Now comes the fun part: A-Ball will see their season in two weeks, with AA to follow the week after. Looking at the current standings, that is where post-season ball will most likely come from, with the possibility of AAA if they can turn it on in the next few weeks.
Talk about a rough week for Iowa. Not only did they lose this series, but they fell from first place to third place in their division as their playoff hopes took a huge hit. Sunday was another example of that as Shane Greene got the start and tossed four strong innings of two-run balls while striking out six. The toughest part was having both runs come as unearned runs, as that would be all the offense the Indians would need. Despite entering the game with an ERA close to 6.00, Jared Jones pitched one of his best, if not his best, outing of the season as he held the Cubs to one run in six innings with a season-high 10 punchouts. Both unearned runs came in the second inning as an error extended the inning for the Indians after what should have been the end of it. The result was a two-run and game-winning single from Grant Koch as Indianapolis grabbed a 2-0 lead and never looked back. They managed to hold that lead until the fifth when David Bote ended a near three-week-long homerless drought with his 12th to pull the Cubs within 2-1 before falling by that score. David Bote gets us on the board and cuts our deficit in half with this solo home run! pic.twitter.com/CST3JRzP0j That was one of just two hits for the Cubs in this one, as Matt Mervis grabbed the other hit. On a side note, you did have Brad Boxberger appear in this game as he continues his rehab assignment. Boxberger went 2/3 of an inning and didn't allow a run, but did walk a batter. PCA saves three runs but hits the wall hard. Got up alright so hopefully he’s ok. pic.twitter.com/dCu4HWcUwx Fell short in the finale today. pic.twitter.com/rG1m3rOEIm
This was a challenging week overall for the Smokies, but one that ended in style as they took the series finale in 10 innings. With the win, the Smokies continue their stranglehold on the division as they have an 8.5-game lead with 18 games left, making their magic number to clinch just nine. Like Iowa, this was more of a bullpen day for the Smokies as Chris Kachmar got the start and performed well by allowing just two runs in four innings. Had it not been for the rough outing from Cayne Ueckert, who was charged with three runs in 1/3 of an inning, the Smokies bullpen would have been lights out, including four scoreless frames from Porter Hodge and Blake Whitney. Opposing Kachmar was Carson Spiers, who was very good in his five innings. Sure, he did allow two runs, but with eight strikeouts, he was dominant at times as the Smokies offense had to work for everything. Not only did the Lookouts take a 1-0 lead in the second on a sacrifice fly, but they added on in the third with Blake Dunn going deep to make things 2-0. Searching for their first runs of the game in the fifth, Jordan Nwogu delivered as he connected for another homer to make things 2-2. That momentum didn't last long, with Dunn picking up his second homer in as many at-bats to give Chattanooga the lead right back, 4-2, with an RBI groundout pushing it to 5-2. Still trailing by that 5-2 score in the seventh, it was a pair of unlikely heroes sparking a rally that helped bring Tennessee back. First, the Scott McKeon double brought home a run and continued to keep the pressure on. That was followed by the team's new leadoff hitter, Andy Weber, whose RBI single brought home two runs and tied things up 5-5. That would remain the score through regulation, as this one would take extra innings to decide. In the 10th, the Smokies didn't waste any time grabbing the lead as Haydn McGeary showed terrific patience to take a bases-loaded walk and made things 6-5. That would be all they would need as Whitney locked things down to secure the win. Nwogu led the way with two hits and two RBIs; his average finally cracked the .200 mark. Weber, McKeon, and Casey Opitz had the remaining three hits for the Smokies. Blake Whitney gets the win as the Smokies take it in extras! | @zips3mincarwash pic.twitter.com/A0acMfRQh8
At this point, South Bend is looking forward to the offseason as this season has been a struggle. Given what this roster looks like, this is the biggest surprise in the Cubs system, as this team was actually in a position to make the playoffs in the final week of the first half, only to have things go south ever since. Michael Arias continues taking his high-A bumps and is still looking for his first win. After allowing four runs in three innings on Sunday, Arias fell to 0-5 with South Bend, as his ERA sits at 6.61. Considering how Kyle Jones stuck out seven in six innings while allowing just one run, you knew it would be a long day for the Cubs and their offense. The big inning for Cedar Rapids came in the first when they pushed across three runs to take a 3-0 lead. Jorel Ortega came through first with a two-run single before racing around the bases on an Andrew Cossetti triple. A Noah Miller single in the second brought home an additional run as the Cubs found themselves in an early 4-0 hole. Luis Verdugo delivered the game's lone run for the Cubs as he connected for a solo shot in the third to make things 4-1. From there, it was all Kernels as they scored a run on a wild pitch in the fourth before Kyler Fedko went deep in the sixth to push the lead to 6-1. They would also add a sacrifice fly later in the game for their final run. Verdugo had one of the team's four hits, with Ed Howard picking up another. Kevin Alcantara led the way with two hits and has picked up where he left off when he got hurt to raise his average to .274 after sitting in the .230s most of the season.
The only team to officially be in the playoffs right now is the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. Now, it comes time to plan for the postseason as they look to have everything in the position they would like. Winning 7-1 on Sunday was a start as their offense erupted for five first-inning runs to back the pitching. Jonathon Long with the 3-run home run! It's not like the pitching needed much help as Marino Santy tossed four shutout innings of one-hit ball despite some command issues, while Sam Armstrong struck out three in two innings to earn his second High-A win. Anytime you have an offense give you five runs of support in the first, it makes life easier, and with Brett Bateman opening the scoring with an RBI single, the Pelicans were off and running. The big blow in that inning came from one of the hottest hitters, Jake Long, whose three-run blast gave the Birds a 4-0 lead before adding a fifth run on a wild pitch later. They managed to hold that lead until the fifth when Calvin Harris delivered the lone run for Kannapolis with an RBI single off of Armstrong. Myrtle Beach responded with RBI singles from Brian Kalmer and Ismael Mena in the next two innings as they cruised to another easy win. That’s how you end a series!
Despite jumping out to a 3-1 lead on Saturday and leading 5-1 at one point, it was the Cannonballers that had the last laugh, scoring 13 times in the sixth and seventh innings to complete the comeback. Picking things up in the fifth with the score still sitting at 3-1, a balk brought home another run, with Kalmer adding to the lead with a sacrifice fly to make things 5-1. That lead looked good until the sixth, when Kannapolis busted out with eight runs to take the lead. RBI singles from Rikuu Nishida, Jhoneiker Bethancourt, and Wilber Sanchez led to five of those eight runs, while the Jordan Sprinkle double brought home two more. You also had a bases-loaded hit by pitch mixed in as the Pelicans now trailed 9-5. The next inning saw the Cannonballers continue their reckless assault as they scratched across five more runs to take a commanding 14-5 lead. Ryan McCarthy got things started with an RBI triple to bring home two runs, with Sprinkle driving in two more with his double. Another hit by pitch was mixed in to push home the final run as things went south quickly for this team. To the Pelican's credit, they refused to go down without a fight, as their offense began to lead the charge late. After Michael Carico connected for his first homer in the eighth to make things 14-7, the Pelicans started to mount another rally in the ninth to make things interesting. Michael Carico hits a two-run home run for his first professional home run! #MBPelicans | #NextStartsHere pic.twitter.com/CBehwf5QvO It took only one swing from Jefferson Rojas to pull the Pelicans within 14-10 as he connected for his seventh homer of the season. Here is the Rojas HR: pic.twitter.com/XupA7drlbq Unfortunately, that was as close as things would get as the Pelicans settled for a Sunday split, but still had a good week overall. Bateman led the offense with three hits and pushed his average to .356. Rojas and Kalmer added two hits while driving home a combined seven runs. INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS 2 - IOWA CUBS 1
TENNESSEE SMOKIES 6 - CHATTANOOGA LOOKOUTS 5 (F/10)
CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 7 - SOUTH BEND CUBS 1
MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 7 - KANNAPOLIS CANNONBALLERS 1
The Birds are up 5-0 in the bottom of the first.#MBPelicans | #NextStartsHere pic.twitter.com/BOOWkTOHVT
Pelicanos take their fourth game of the week and clinch the series over the Cannon Ballers.
Onwards to Charleston.#MBPelicans | #NextStartsHere pic.twitter.com/qlWoUukneEKANNAPOLIS CANNONBALLERS 14 - MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 10 (Completion from Sat)
