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Cubs Minor League News: Bote and Slaughter homer, Franklin impressive, Pels explode, more
Photo courtesy: Iowa Cubs

Cubs Minor League News: Bote and Slaughter homer, Franklin impressive, Pels explode, more
by - Senior Writer - Mon Jul 17 10:00:31 GMT-04:00 2023

Although it was a bit shorter week than usual, Sunday marked the close to another week of Minor League Baseball for the Cubs and their system. Although the results were not as good as they could have been, there were still performances worth noting.

IOWA CUBS 4 - COLUMBUS CLIPPERS 3

This was two games in one for the Iowa Cubs as they started slowly before finishing strong. That was primarily due to their three-run eighth that saw the Cubs come from behind and take the series. Hayden Wesneski was on the mound and made his first start since returning to Iowa for a second time this season. Granted, he only lasted three innings and allowed three runs; only two were earned, as he also struck out five.

Not only did he struggle, but Hunter Gaddis was impressive as he allowed just one run in five innings of work. Gaddis allowed the first run of the game off a David Bote solo shot in the second, but he was lights out after that. Following that homer, the Columbus offense started to get rolling in the bottom half of the second, with Bryan Lavastida taking Wesneski deep for a 2-1 lead.

Columbus would add an additional run in the bottom half of the third, but that was it for them offensively, as six different relievers combined to hold Columbus scoreless the rest of the way. Still trailing by two in the eighth, the Cubs played a long ball to take the lead, with Yonathan Perlaza pulling Iowa to within 3-2.

A few batters later, it was time for Jake Slaughter to leave the building as his two-run shot lifted the Cubs a 4-3 win.

Matt Mervis led the Cubs with three hits, ending a brief skid at the plate.

TENNESSEE SMOKIES 11 - MONTGOMERY BISCUITS 1

After falling to Montgomery on Saturday, the Smokies came out swinging and sent a message to the Biscuits on Sunday with a dominating performance. There haven't been a lot of times when Kohl Franklin was given run support, but with Tennessee giving him 11 runs of support in four innings, it did make life easier for him.

Franklin went on to pick up the win, giving the Smokies five innings and allowing two runs. Franklin also struck out a season-high nine and didn't walk a batter, as this was as good as he has been all season.

This game was over almost as quickly as it started, with Owen Caissie and Bradlee Beesley picking up RBI singles in the first to make things 2-0.

Once the second inning rolled around, the Smokies put the game away, scoring five times to push the lead to 7-0. Cole Roederer started things off with another homer.

Haydn McGeary added an RBI single. You also had two bases-loaded walks and an RBI force out, adding the other three runs as the Smokies were in complete command.

Tennessee kept the pressure on in the third as they benefitted from an error and a wild pitch to extend the lead to 9-0. The Smokies capped off their scoring in the top half of the fourth with Beesley delivering his first homer since returning from the IL as Tennessee led 11-0.

That would be more than enough for them as Montgomery added a late-game run to end the shutout, but they still fell 11-1.

Pete Crow-Armstrong and Beesley led the way with two hits, with Beesley also adding four RBIs in the win. Casey Opitz was the lone starter to not have a hit in the winning effort.

QUAD CITIES RIVER BANDITS 5 - SOUTH BEND CUBS 4 (F/10)

Just when you thought the Cubs series-opening win would be enough to turn things around, they can go and drop a tough one like this as they fell to Quad Cities in extras 5-4. Connor Noland was back on the bump for South Bend, allowing three runs in four innings. Noland gave way to a bevy of relief options who held their own, including another scoreless frame from Brailyn Marquez.

Unlike the Cubs, who went through six pitchers, Quad Cities chose to go with two, including starter William Fleming. Across his six innings, Fleming allowed just two runs and struck out seven as South Bend struggled to square him up. Fleming was replaced by Cruz Noriega, who finished up the next four innings to pick up the win.

Noland was far from perfect, but most of his damage came early, including the two-run blast from Juan Carlos-Negret in the first that gave Quad Cities a 2-0 lead. Two innings later, it was Javier Vaz extending the lead as his RBI ground out made things 3-0. Once the fourth inning rolled around, the Cubs finally got on the board, with Kevin Made ripping an RBI double to make things 3-2.

That score held until the eighth inning, with Moises Ballesteros tying things up with a sacrifice fly and helping force extra innings. In the extra frame, the Cubs struck first, with James Triantos picking up an RBI fielder's choice to make things 4-3.

However, the River Bandits got the last laugh as Cayden Wallace and Kale Emshoff picked up RBI singles to walk off the Cubs 5-4.

The South Bend offense was alive and well on Sunday as they came away with 14 hits in the loss. Yohendrick Pinango led the way with three hits, while Ezequiel Pagan, Triantos, Kevin Alcantara, and Made came away with multi-hit games in the loss.

MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 8 - CAROLINA MUDCATS 0

Sparked by a massive six-run inning and a strong pitching performance, the Pelicans made quick work of the Mudcats to claim the series. Pitching was the big story in this one, as the Pelicans held the Mudcats hitless through seven innings and allowed just one hit in the game.

Marino Santy started things off and struck out six in four innings. Scarlyn Lebron followed him up with a pair of hitless innings, with Starlyn Pichardo finishing things off. Pichardo did allow the lone hit, but it was still a great day for the Pelicans and their arms.

Any time you get the pitching the Pelicans had, you don't need a ton of offense, and the Pelicans did what they had to do in the second. Pedro Ramirez opened things with an RBI double to make things 1-0 with an RBI groundout pushing the lead to 2-0. Myrtle Beach only needed one more inning to push across all their runs, with the other six coming in a massive six-run frame.

That inning came in the fourth inning with a balk, wild pitch, and bases loaded hit by a pitch leading to three runs. The big blow of the game and inning came from Andy Garriola as his three-run blast capped off the scoring in what was a massive 8-0 Win for the Birds.

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