Cubs Minor League News: Bote and Young homer, Miley has rehab start, Santana impressive |
Just one day after posting a perfect 7-0 night on the diamond, wins were tough to come by for the Minor League system. Sure, you had more of the same with Myrtle Beach picking up a win, but other teams let golden opportunities slip through their fingers. In return, the Cubs posted a 1-3 record.
Just when it looked like the Cubs were going to come away with a 5-2 victory; it was the Louisville offense that rose to the occasion late as they picked up five runs over the final two innings. In another rehab start for lefty Wade Miley, the lefty had his moments as he allowed two runs in 4 2/3 to go with five strikeouts. Across the first four innings, Miley was dialed in as he kept the game scoreless. In the fifth, Louisville broke through using an RBI groundout from Chris Okey to take the lead ahead of the Lorenzo Cedrola RBI single to make things 2-0. That was all for Miley as the Cubs bullpen was set to take over. With Bryan Hudson on the mound first, the Cubs wanted to back him on offense, with David Bote picking up a homer in the sixth. Bote blast! David Bote cuts us our deficit in half with this solo shot. pic.twitter.com/lrCORToZBL That opened what was an offensive barrage as John Hicks tied things up with an RBI single before the Jared Young homer gave the Cubs a 5-2 lead. Jared Young for the lead! pic.twitter.com/oYh0C6HKRD That lead didn't last long as the Louisville offense started to awaken off the Cubs pen. Isiah Gillham pulled the bats within 5-4 in the seventh with a two-run shot. That was followed by a TJ Friedl RBI single to bring things back to even. The Bats continued their comeback bid into the ninth, with Cedrola picking up the game-winning RBI double off of Cam Sanders. Friedl added a sacrifice fly later in that inning as Iowa dropped a tough one 7-5.
If you are going to lose, it is better to lose right away, as the Smokies dug a massive hole they couldn't climb out of. DJ Herz has had a rough go of things since his promotion, and that continued with six earned runs in four innings of work. It was the Braves striking first as Justyn Malloy took Herz deep for the two-run shot in the first to make things 2-0. Tennessee did a great job battling back, with Bryce Ball grabbing an RBI double to make things 2-1. After both teams exchanged homers in the third as Landon Stephens and Cole Roederer each had their first homers of the year, the massive fifth saw the Braves put the game away. Leading 3-2 in that inning, Mississippi pushed across five runs to take an 8-2 lead. Jordan Cowan had the big blow in that inning with an RBI double. On the strength of the Javier Valdes homer in the seventh, Mississippi opened a 10-2 lead before Andy Weber capped off the scoring with a homer. Oof. pic.twitter.com/XkErAav8RK
After nearly letting one get away on Tuesday, the Cubs were not as lucky Wednesday, falling to Wisconsin 6-2. Porter Hodge made the start, and after four innings, he was charged with four runs, three of them earned. He walked two and struck out seven before the trio of Yovanny Cruz, Riley Martin, and Gabriel Jaramillo finished things off. Hodge couldn't have asked for a worse start to his outing, allowing a two-run homer to Jackson Chourio in the bottom of the first to put the Cubs in a 2-0 hole. Over the next two innings, South Bend battled back as an error led to their first run in the second before Pete Crow-Armstrong tied things up with a sacrifice fly in the third. Unfortunately, that would be all the offense for the Cubs as the Rattlers scored four unanswered runs to win the game. The first two came in the third as a wild pitch led to the winning run ahead of the Zavier Warren single. Wisconsin added to their lead with two more runs in the sixth to help gain a game on the Cubs in the standings. The Cubs had just four hits, with Yohendrick Pinango, Luis Verdugo, Yeison Santana, and Casey Opitz all having one. Not our night.
On the strength of two three-run innings, the Pelicans managed to pick up the lone win in the system. That is great to see, especially when you look at how last week ended, as Columbia may have been the team to get their mojo back. Tyler Santana didn't have his typical dominating outing, but the right-hander gave the Pelicans six innings of three-run ball. He only struck out one, but improved to 10-1 with a 2.43 ERA. After allowing an RBI single in the second, Santana was backed by a Pelicans offense that was more than ready to play. A bases-loaded double from Jacob Wetzel not only put them in front for good, but gave Myrtle Beach a 3-1 lead. Santana would then allow a Carter Jensen homer in the fourth to tie things up as Columbia seemed to have his number early. Thank you, Liam Spence, as the talented shortstop added his first homer in the bottom of the fourth to provide Myrtle Beach with the go-ahead run. Spence was not quite finished as his RBI single in the three-run seventh inning proved to be the game-winner with the Pelicans leading 5-3. There was an error mixed with a Josue Huma RBI single later in that inning to push the lead to 7-3 before the Pelicans won 7-4. Pelicans up on Wednesday!LOUISVILLE BATS 7 - IOWA CUBS 5
MISSISSIPPI BRAVES 10 - TENNESSEE SMOKIES 3
WISCONSIN TIMBER RATTLERS 6 - SOUTH BEND CUBS 2
Back to it tomorrow in Appleton! pic.twitter.com/GEakigFp2aMYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 7 - COLUMBIA FIREFLIES 4
Birds take the first two games of the week.#MBPelicans pic.twitter.com/t1RDOh6hUr
