Cubs Minor League News: Mervis and Canario homer, Birdsell impressive, Ballesteros raking
Photo courtesy: Iowa Cubs

Cubs Minor League News: Mervis and Canario homer, Birdsell impressive, Ballesteros raking
by - Senior Writer - Fri Aug 04 10:30:20 GMT-04:00 2023

TOLEDO MUD HENS 9 - IOWA CUBS 8

After getting rained out on Wednesday, the Iowa Cubs treated the fans to a doubleheader on Thursday. However, things didn't go as planned, as the Cubs not only dropped game one but were swept. Where to start with this one?

Nick Niedert was on the mound and only lasted three innings after allowing five runs with four earned. He gave way to the newest Cub, Josh Roberson, who allowed one run, with Keegan Thompson continuing his season-long struggles by allowing three runs.

Toledo opened the scoring with an Andrew Knapp single in the second to take the 1-0 lead before pushing across four runs in the third. Ryan Kreidler and Wenceel Perez picked up RBI singles in that inning, with the Joe Rizzo double making things 4-0. Knapp capped off the scoring with his second single in as many at-bats as the Cubs were down 5-0.

In desperate need of some offense in a hurry, the Cubs responded with a massive third inning and pulled within 5-4. Chase Strumpf picked up the first run of the game for Iowa with a solo shot, but it was the Matt Mervis three-run blast that put them within one.

Following another Kriedler single in the fifth, that extended the lead to 6-4, Parker Meadows took Thompson deep in the fifth to push the lead back up to 8-4.

Toledo wasn't done playing long ball as Justyn Henry-Malloy added the second homer off of Thompson as the lead grew to 9-4. Like the MLB Cubs, Iowa continued to show a lot of fight, with Bryce Windham picking up an RBI double in the bottom of the fifth before scoring on a Luis Vazquez walk. Strumpf would earn a bases-loaded walk as the Cubs were within 9-7.

Iowa would grab an additional run in the bottom of the sixth, but that was it, as they dropped this game to Toledo 9-8. Edwin Rios and Windham led the way with two hits, but it was Mervis driving in three to pace the Iowa offense.

TOLEDO MUD HENS 11 - IOWA CUBS 4

As if the first game wasn't bad enough, the Cubs pitching continued to struggle as the Mud Hens jumped all over Chris Clarke and company. Clarke was the starter and allowed just one run, but only pitched 1 2/3. Riley Martin, Danis Correa, and Jeremiah Estrada struggled as they combined to allow 10 runs out of the pen. Mix that with a solid start from Zach Louge, who allowed three runs in five innings, and the Cubs had no chance.

Just like in game one earlier, it was the Mud Hens scoring first as Colt Keith picked up an RBI single in the first to take a 1-0 lead. However, that lead didn't last long, as Alexander Canario provided most of the offense and used a three-run homer in the second to put the Cubs in front 3-1.

Once the third inning rolled around, it was all Mud Hens as a pair of bases-loaded walks mixed with the Michael Papierski single had the Mud Hens back in front 4-3. The next inning was the same story as Toledo as Perez extended the lead to 5-3 with Papierski connecting for the two-run shot to extend the Mud Hens lead to 7-3.

Toledo continued to build on their lead in the fifth as another bases-loaded walk brought home a run, with Papierski capping off his massive game with a bases-loaded double to extend the lead to 11-3. Jared Young would add an RBI single in the sixth to cap off the scoring, but it was all Toledo in this one as the Cubs endured a rough night on the diamond.

TENNESSEE SMOKIES vs CHATTANOOGA LOOKOUTS (Postponed)

SOUTH BEND CUBS 13 - WISCONSIN TIMBER RATTLERS 4

Sparked by a six-run first inning, the Cubs opened up a massive lead and never looked back as they made quick work of Wisconsin. Brandon Birdsell was on the mound and continued to give the Cubs great starts as he tossed five scoreless innings. He allowed two hits and struck out five as his ERA fell to a team-best 2.36.

Even if Birdsell wasn't at his best, he didn't need to be, as the Cub's offense erupted for a massive first inning which would have been enough runs for them to win. Moises Ballesteros opened the scoring with a two-run single in that first inning, but it was Felix Stevens's three-run blast that made things 5-0.

South Bend added an additional run off of a wild pitch as they were off and running early.

Those six runs were all of the Cub's offense until the fifth when Ezequiel Pagan used a two-run single to push the lead to 8-0. That led to a massive bottom of the seventh, where three additional runs crossed home to make things 11-0. Ballesteros was in the middle of that once again as his single pushed the lead to 9-0, with the Stevens double making it a 10-0 ballgame. Yohendrick Pinango closed out that inning with a sacrifice fly as the Cubs were in front 11-0.

South Bend could have stopped the scoring right there, but Liam Spence had other ideas as his two-run double in the bottom of the eighth extended the Cubs lead to 13-0 as they were in complete control of this one. The Timber Rattlers did make some noise in the ninth as a bases-loaded triple from Ernesto Martinez brought home three runs before a sacrifice fly ended the scoring with the Cubs winning 13-4.

Stevens and Ballesteros continue to hold their own in High-A as they led the Cubs with two hits and a combined seven RBIs. Spence and Pagan

win.

MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 6 - DOWN EAST WOOD DUCKS 0

Coming off a double-head sweep on Wednesday, the Pelicans got right back on the winning track by shutting out the Wood Ducks on Thursday. Luis Rujiano was back on the bump as he continued to make strides as a pitcher. Rujiano gave the Pelicans 4 1/3 scoreless frames allowing five hits and striking out six.

He was backed by an offense that came out of the gates relentlessly as they pushed across four runs in the second to take a commanding lead. Two of those runs came home on the Miguel Pabon double, as that would have been enough to give the Birds the win. Cristian Hernandez added a sacrifice fly to make things 3-0 with a balk bringing home the fourth run in that inning.

Despite those being the bulk of their runs, Rujiano did his part on the mound, which kept the pressure off the offense. They rewarded him by adding on in the fifth on the Rafael Morel double before Brian Kalmer capped off the scoring with his first career homer in the seventh to give the Birds a 6-0 win.

ACL GIANTS 9 - ACL CUBS 3

DSL CUBS BLUE 6 - DSL TIGERS 2

DSL CUBS RED 8 - DSL RANGERS 6

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