Cubs Minor League News: Bote raking, Smokies with HR party, Pinango smacks 4 hits, more |
If only the Cubs major league team could win like their minor league system. Granted, last night was a bit of a rough showing with the organization going 3-4, but the full-season leagues put on a show as they went 3-1 on the night.
Although the Cubs only scored in three innings, two of those innings saw three runs come home, which was more than enough. Brandon Leibrandt is starting to find his groove as a starter as he gave Iowa six strong innings of two-run ball to earn the win. Both runs off of him came in the first two innings, with a first-inning error leading to the game's first run and then the TJ Freidl double making things 2-0 in the second. That would be it in terms of the Louisville offense as the Cubs began to go to work in the third. Jared Young put the Cubs on the board with a sacrifice fly in the third before the Cubs took the lead for good in the fourth. David Bote started that inning with an RBI triple and came home on the Clint Frazier single. John Hicks added an RBI double later in the inning as Iowa was in front 4-2. The Cubs offense put the game away in the seventh inning as Bote's bases-clearing double put the Cubs in front 7-2, and they would win by that score. Bote continues to smoke the ball at AAA, picking up three hits and four RBIs. David Bote is your @EMCInsurance Player of the Game! He went 3-for-5 with a triple and this bases loaded double! pic.twitter.com/XgSjXwTzHZ Frazier added two hits as he returned to Iowa following his release. Not a bad way to start a series! pic.twitter.com/RqBSj8xTN7
Chatanooga has always given the Smokies fits, but on this night, it was Tennessee coming out on top. In desperate need of a good start, Peyton Remy delivered in a big way as he allowed one run in five innings with seven strikeouts. A pair of third-inning homers backed Remy as Bradlee Beesley and Yonathan Perlaza gave the Smokies the 2-0 lead. Beesley puts up the first run of the night with a solo shot in the bottom of the 3rd! Smokies now lead 1-0. pic.twitter.com/TcSVjbJMor Perlaza follows suit with a solo bomb of his own! The Smokies extend their lead over the Lookouts, 2-0. pic.twitter.com/sjgPGGQyA5 Chattanooga responded with a TJ Hopkins homer in the fourth, but that was the only run they could muster off of Remy, who delivered his best outing in over a month. Leading 3-1 in the sixth after Perlaza added another RBI in the fifth, Matt Mervis got in on the long ball fun and belted his ninth homer to make things 4-1. Mervis hits a solo homer in the bottom of the 6th! The Smokies jump ahead 4-1. pic.twitter.com/1KlUsCgOAB Andy Weber would add the fourth Smokies homer later that inning as it was his first homer of 2022. Weber joins the fun with his first homerun of the season! The Smokies boost their lead 5-1. pic.twitter.com/NpCvlc9jEz The Lookouts did manage to push across two runs late, but it wasn't enough in the end. Jake Slaughter and Beesley led the way with two hits, while Perlaza drove in two. Beesley, Perlaza, Mervis and Weber all homer as the Smokies win the series opener 5-3! pic.twitter.com/qABnbOrrXt
The lone full season to lose on Tuesday was South Bend dropping a 7-4 contest. Despite what the scoreline said, the bullpen let the team down as they allowed six runs in the final two frames. That wasted a great start from Manuel Espinoza, who allowed just one run across five innings. Jonathan Sierra gave the Cubs the early 1-0 lead using an RBI double in the second. The lone run off Espinoza came in his final inning of work, with Ramon Mendoza tying things up with a solo homer. Looking to get back on the attack, Yeison Santana picked up an RBI triple to put the Cubs in front 3-1 and came home to score on the Yohendrick Pinango single. Despite the terrible showing from the bullpen, Michael McAvene was not one of them as he tossed a scoreless relief outing. It was in the eighth inning when things began to unravel as Hunter Bigge was charged with three earned runs, with Osvaldo Tovalin and L.J. Jones picking up RBI doubles mixed with a Todd Lott sacrifice fly. The next inning saw Peoria surge in front for good, with Mike Antico picking up the game-winning hit in a 7-4 Chiefs win. Pinango had a perfect 4-4 day at the plate to lead the offense, with Santana adding two hits and two RBIs. What a play! We're now 6-1 vs the high-A affiliate of the Cardinals. pic.twitter.com/F7I8mO7NBZ
Sparked by their five-run sixth inning, the Pelicans dropped their magic number to clinch the first half from three games down to just two. Richard Gallardo gave the Pelicans 4 2/3 innings, but after allowing four runs, his outing was not as crisp as he wanted. Thankfully the bullpen led by Frank Scalzo Jr did their job as they kept the Cannonballers offense in check while the offense did the rest. The Pelicans wasted little time getting things started with Josue Huma putting them on top 1-0 with a homer in the first before the Matt Warkentin single made things 2-0. Malcolm Quintero connected for his first homer in the second to make things 3-0 before the Wilfred Veras homer in the bottom of the second closed the deficit to 3-1. Kannapolis continued to battle back, with Wes Kath bringing things even with a two-run shot in the third. With the game still tied in the fifth, DJ Gladney gave the Cannonballers their first lead as his triple made things 4-3. Fortunately, that would be the only lead they would have as the Pelicans offense exploded for five runs in the sixth to take control. Kevin Made put Myrtle Beach in front for good with a two-run double, but the James Triantos three-run bomb was the dagger as the Pelicans won 8-5. Birds back in front! Made led the way with three hits and two RBIs, with Triantos, Huma, and Warkentin adding two hits and the rest of the RBIs. Another Pels W!
While the full-season leagues were a success, things did not go as planned in rookie league action. What started as a promising start for the ACL Cubs went south in a hurry as the Giants used a six-run seventh to pick up the win. With the game tied 1-1 in the sixth, Cristian Hernandez came through with the go-ahead RBI single before Pedro Ramirez extended the lead to 3-1. It was at that moment when the Giants offense started to break through, with Tyler Forner and Rajean Anza picking up hits to give the Giants a 4-3 lead. However, the three-run Donovan McIntyre homer was the game-winning shot as the Giants led 7-3. The Cubs did their best to keep things interesting late, with Ismael Mena and Carlos Morfa adding RBI singles, but it wasn't enough. Hernandez, Ramirez, Mena and Brayan Altuve all had two-hit games.
Despite a fine pitching performance from everyone, the Cubs offense came up short in a 3-2 loss. Kevin Valdez was impressive despite taking the loss, allowing just one earned run in four innings with eight strikeouts. Although one earned run allowed, Valdez was charged with two runs as a second-inning passed ball put the Mets in front before the Gerald Mejia ground out doubled the lead 2-0. With Jeffry Rosa bringing home the eventual winning run in the fifth, the Cubs needed a late-game rally only to come up short. Adan Sanchez and Josias Ramirez picked up the RBIs in the tough-luck loss.
Despite a late-game rally that saw the Cubs score three times in the ninth, the Yankees built a large enough early lead to hold on. Two of the Yankees six runs came in the first inning before the four-run sixth saw them extend the lead to 6-1. Enmanuel Tejada and Juan Rosa had RBI doubles in that inning, while Luis Suarez added a sacrifice fly. Trailing by that 6-1 score in the ninth, the Cubs started to rally late as they made a game out of things. Jefferson Rojas picked up an RBI triple to make things 6-2 and then came home on the Geuri Lubo single. Jairo Diaz added another RBI hit later in the inning, but the Cubs rally came up short in the end.
The Fighting Irish saw their dream of winning a National Title end on Tuesday with a 5-1 loss to the Aggies. Nathan Dettmer picked the perfect time to deliver his best outing since April as he went seven shutout innings and allowed just three hits. That proved problematic for the Fighting Irish as a pair of big innings did them in. Locked in a 0-0 tie in the third, the Aggies took the lead on a two-run throwing error before Ryan Targac added a sacrifice fly to make things 3-0. The Aggies continued their offensive barrage in the fifth, with Trevor Werner going deep in the fifth and having Dylan Rock add an RBI single to make things 5-0. The lone run for the Irish came in the eighth inning, with Brooks Coetzee leaving the yard for a solo shot. Notre Dame was mounting an eighth-inning rally until an inning-ending double play killed the momentum and ended the season for Notre Dame.IOWA CUBS 7 - LOUISVILLE BATS 2
TENNESSEE SMOKIES 5 - CHATANOOGA LOOKOUTS 3
PEORIA CHIEFS 7 - SOUTH BEND CUBS 4
Yeison Santana was a brick wall at 2nd base tonight, and he earned the @LavenInsurance Defensive Play of the Game ???? pic.twitter.com/RMLsurBlyE
MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 8 - KANNAPOLIS CANNON BALLERS 5
After a two-run double by Kevin Made, James Triantos hits his second home run of the season on a three-run blast.
Pelicans 8, Cannon Ballers 4 in the top of the sixth. pic.twitter.com/Uzes5EDoaT
The magic number drops to two with the win tonight. Chance to clinch the first half title tomorrow with a Charleston loss.#MBPelicans pic.twitter.com/GdldnQgGBWACL GIANTS 7 - ACL CUBS 5
DSL METS 3 - DSL CUBS RED 2
DSL YANKEES 6 - DSL CUBS BLUE 4
BONUS CBB -- TEXAS A&M AGGIES 5 - NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH 1
