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Cubs Minor League News: Brown strikes out ten, Caissie still raking, Nwogu homers, more

Cubs Minor League News: Brown strikes out ten, Caissie still raking, Nwogu homers, more
by - Senior Writer - Thu May 11 11:32:06 GMT-04:00 2023

Although it would be nice to be perfect on the diamond, this week has gotten off to an excellent start for the Cubs and their Minor League System. After posting an impressive 3-1 record Tuesday, the Cubs system was back at it again on Wednesday, where they continued to dominate on both sides of the ball.

That led to another 3-1 mark as the wins kept coming. Additionally, you continue to see an influx of promotions throughout the system, which is to be expected. The Cubs have an abundance of minor-league talent, and that talent will be on the move several times this season.

IOWA CUBS 3 - TOLEDO MUD HENS 2

For all the talk about Jordan Wicks and Cade Horton being the top pitching prospect in the system, Ben Brown is making a strong case to make that claim. Acquired last year from the Philadelphia Phillies as part of the David Robertson deal, Brown dominated during his time with AA and thus earned the recent promotion to AAA Iowa.

After putting together an excellent first start, Brown was back on the mound Wednesday and looked like a future ace. The right-hander didn't need much run support as he gave the Cubs five scoreless innings of three-hit ball. He walked three and struck out 10 as his ERA sits at 0.84 for the season. If he can keep that up for another month, you could see him on the Northside before too long.

Iowa also received scoreless relief outings from Brendon Little and Riley Thompson, as the Cub's pitching has overshadowed their offense thus far. With Brown dominating on the bump, it made things easier for the offense, with Sergio Alcantara picking up the first run of the game with a sacrifice fly in the second.

Brennen Davis added an RBI single in the fourth inning to double the lead, and it was looking like that would be all the Cubs would need offensively, as the Toledo pitching staff was equally as good as Brown and company. Still holding the 2-0 lead in the eighth, Jared Young came through with a clutch RBI single to extend the lead to 3-0, giving the Cubs a huge insurance run.

That run proved critical as it ended up being the winning run. Looking to lock things down in the ninth, Manny Rodriguez was on the mound and trying to work around a two-on-two-out jam. Parker Meadows would get the better of him with an RBI single up the middle to make things 3-2, but Rodriguez buckled down to keep things there and picked up his team-leading fifth save of the season. With only five hits, the Cubs made those hits count as Young led the way with two. Davis, Dom Nunez, and Darius Hill had the rest.

TENNESSEE SMOKIES 5 - MONTGOMERY BISCUITS 2

The Smokies couldn't have asked for a better start to the week, and it got better as Hard-throwing Right-hander Kohl Franklin will be joining AA following promotion for South Bend. The Smokies have seen it all through two games, from a dramatic finish to fantastic pitching to help them take a 2-0 series lead.

Wednesday saw the combination of Porter Hodge and Ryan Jensen dominate as they combined to strike out eight in six shutout innings.

Hodge got the start and went four innings, with Jensen coming in for two. Their efforts alone set the tone, as the Smokies only needed to score in two innings to provide the damage.

The first of those innings came in the third after Cole Wilcox was off to a great start. Jordan Nwogu delivered the game's first runs as he connected for his fifth homer of 2023 to put the Smokies up 2-0.

Two innings later, the long ball rewarded Tennessee again, with Owen Caissie connecting for the three-run shot to push that lead out to 5-0. The ball left Caissie's bat at 117 MPH as he absolutely destroyed it.

Despite those being the only runs of the night for the Smokies, they didn't need anymore as their pitching took care of the rest. Montgomery did a pair of runs late in the game, but it wouldn't be enough to top the Smokies. Caissie and Nwogu led the way with two hits while driving in all five runners in the game.

SOUTH BEND CUBS 10 - WISCONSIN TIMBER RATTLERS 6

After a rough series against Cedar Rapids to close out their homestand, all the Cubs needed to get right was a trip to Wisconsin to take on the struggling Timber Rattlers. Entering Wednesday on a seven-game losing streak and having Cade Horton make his High-A debut, things were buzzing up in Grand Chute.

Things didn't go as planned for Horton, as the hard-throwing righty was tagged for six earned runs in less than three innings of work. However, all six of those runs came on three hits as the Rattlers used a trio of long balls to bounce him from the game. From there, the combination of Brad Deppermann, Frank Scalzo Jr, and Joe Nahas out of the pen kept the Ratter's offense quiet while the Cubs offense used a pair of four-run innings to rally back late.

After pushing across seven runs in the first inning on Tuesday, you had to think the Timber Rattlers would come out with a different mindset. Instead, it was the Cubs striking first again, with Yohendrick Pinango connecting for an RBI single before scoring on a wild pitch later in the inning. The Cubs tried to extend their lead in the second, but some aggressive baserunner cost them as they had one guy thrown out at home and two others trying to steal to come away empty.

That was the momentum swing the Rattlers needed, and with one swing from Je'Von Ward in the bottom of the second, it was the Rattlers who were now in front 3-2. One inning later, the long ball continued to haunt Horton as Eric Brown Jr added a solo shot followed by a two-run blast from Ben Metzinger to put the Rattlers in front 6-2.

From there, it was all South Bend, as they ended the game with eight unanswered runs. Four runs came in the top of the fourth as the Cubs wasted no time battling back. A Christian Franklin double pulled South Bend to within 6-3, while an error made things 6-4. Ezequiel Pagan delivered the big blow in that inning as his two-run single capped off the massive frame with the score tied 6-6.

With a brand new ballgame, this was a matter of who wanted it more, and clearly, that was the Cubs who took the lead for good in the seventh. Led by singles from Pinango and Casey Opitz and mixed with a two-run double from Franklin, South Bend pushed across four more runs to cap off the comeback bid and secured the 10-6 win.

Pagan, Fabian Pertuz, and Pinango led the way with three hits, while Franklin added two. You also had two RBI games from Franklin, Pinango, and Pertuz, as this was a balanced offensive attack.

LYNCHBURG HILLCATS 5 - MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 1

While the rest of the system has gotten off to a great start this week, you have the Pelicans struggling to win games dropping their first two and falling back to .500. Inconsistent pitching has been a big reason for their recent struggles, but you can't blame Micahel Arias for that on Wednesday.

Despite an ERA north of 6.00 when the game started, Arias was outstanding as he scattered three hits across four innings, allowing one run and striking out five. The problem was watching a trio of bullpen arms give up at least one run in their outings while Parker Messick dominated the Pelicans on the mound. The left-hander was nearly perfect as he struck out seven in seven shutout innings, allowing just one hit.

Despite the score, things were close early, with a fourth-inning steal of the home, providing the games only run with the Hillcats up 1-0. That was until the fifth, when Jose Devers doubled the lead with an RBI groundout while the Angel Zarate single made things 3-0. Devers added another RBI late in the game as Lynchburg took a 5-0 lead into the bottom of the eighth.

In that inning, the Pelicans finally broke through to end the shutout as Pedro Ramirez drove in the lone run for Myrtle Beach with a groundout in the Pelicans 5-1 loss. The Pelicans had three hits, two coming from Reivaj Garcia and one from Andy Guardiola.

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