Cubs Minor League News: Gushue impressive in I-Cubs loss, Pertuz with homer, ACL Cubs win, |
Tuesday was a night to forget down on the farm as the Cubs system struggled to get much done. There were plenty of games to follow with all seven teams in action as the all-start break continues to press on for Major League baseball.
Unfortunately, the system went just 1-6 on the evening, with the lone win coming from the ACL Cubs as they continue to play great baseball now two weeks into the season. The rest of the night saw less than appealing results even though several of the games were close, with the Cubs ending up on the wrong side of things.
Most of the night featured high-powered offenses, but not in AAA as just three total runs were scored. Mike Hauschild got another start only to be on the losing end of a tough-luck loss. He went six innings and allowed just two runs on two hits. He turned things over to the newest member of the Iowa Cubs, Tony Cingrani, who pitched a scoreless frame with two strikeouts before Trevor Megill struck out a pair in his inning of work. There wasn't much action going on offensively, with Isaac Paredes pushing across the game's first run in the bottom of the first with an RBI groundout. In the fifth inning, the Cubs got on the board, as Taylor Gushue returned to Iowa and went deep for his sixth homer of the season. Toledo answered in the bottom of the fifth with Christian Stewart connecting for his seventh homer of the season as that run proved to be the difference in the 2-1 win. Despite just one run, the Cubs outhit the Mud Hens 6-2, with Gushue leading the way with two. Michael Hermosillo, Alfonso Rivas, Andrew Romine, and Abiatal Avelino all had hits in the loss.
The Smokies returned home on Tuesday and were greeted rather rudely by the Braves 11-4. Dakota Chalmers wasn't at his best lasting just three innings and surrendering seven of the 11 runs in the game. Five of those runs came in the second inning when CJ Alexander homered for the sixth time before a Justin Dean single made things 3-0, and a wild pitch pushed it to 4-0. Trey Harris capped off that big inning with an RBI ground out, but the damage was done at that point. Mississippi continued to build on their lead in the fourth, using another wild pitch and an RBI groundout to chase Chalmers as the Smokies were in a massive 7-0 hole. The Smokies are used to playing from behind and immediately started to battle back in the bottom of the fourth. Darius Hill got the Smokies on the board with a sacrifice fly before the Edwin Figuera double in the fifth pulled the Smokies within 7-3. Greyson Jenista homered to start a three-run sixth as Harris connected for another RBI single and solo homer later in the game to push the lead to 11-3. An eighth-inning Nelson Maldonado single capped off the scoring as the Smokies could not battle back, falling 11-4. Maldonado continues to swing a hot bat, collecting three more hits with his RBI, and has raised his average to 299 on the season. Figuera made his AA debut going 2-4 with those two RBIs while Christopher Morel, Hill, Jared Young, and Tim Susnara had hits. Brennen Davis returned from the Futures Game to go hitless. Tough one tonight... We are right back at it tomorrow night for another 7:00pm ballgame! #SmokiesBaseball #GoSmokies pic.twitter.com/bou2FqKjoP
The Kernels didn't score in a ton of innings, but the ones they did they made count as they scored eight runs in the first and fourth innings to pick up the win. Max Bain may have gotten the start, but after allowing three runs in less than an inning of work, he didn't even make it to the second. He was one of eight pitchers used by Michael Ryan on the night as the Cubs searched for answers. Command issues were a big reason why Bain struggled so much in the first, and Seth Gray made him pay by crushing his seventh homer of the season to put the Cubs in a 3-0 hole. After a DJ Artis single in the third put the Cubs on the board, Cedar Rapids used another big frame to put the game away in the fourth. With DaShawn Keirsey picking up a sacrifice fly, the Kernels pushed across five runs without the strength of a homer to take an 8-1 lead. Gabriel Maciel delivered the game-winning hit as his single made things 6-1 before Edouard Julien piled on with another RBI single. Looking to climb back into the game, the Cubs benefitted from a Tyler Durna sacrifice fly and a Grayson Byrd RBI groundout to pull within 8-3 in the fifth. Durna added another RBI in the seventh to pull the Cubs within 8-4 as their comeback attempt was in full swing. With the bases loaded in the eighth, the Cubs had a great chance to make things interesting, but they only managed to plate one run on a Harrison Wenson walk before falling 8-5. Delvin Zinn has been heating up of late, collecting three hits from the leadoff role. Artis, Durna, Jake Slaughter, Ryan Reynolds, and Edmond Americaan picked up the remaining five hits, with Nelson Velazquez going 0-4 with three punchouts. Have a great day everyone! pic.twitter.com/l7HpVWKt9k
The Pelicans kicked off what will be a 12-game homestand in a tough fashion falling 4-3 to the Fireflies. Richard Gallardo got back to his old self, tossing five strong innings and allowing three runs on four hits to go with five punchouts. He gave way to Alberto Sojo and Blake Whitney as the duo allowed one run on three hits to go with six strikeouts in four innings out of the pen. The Pelicans wasted little time getting their offense going, grabbing an early lead in the second. Matt Warkentin reached on what was an infield single, but a throwing error by the Columbia shortstop brought home an extra run to give the Pelicans the 2-0 lead. That score would hold up until the fifth, when Gallardo began to struggle. After holding the Columbia offense in check through four, Gallardo started to unravel in the fifth. Not only did he allow a Burle Dixon single, but a Rubendy Jaquez double, and just like that, the game was tied. Gallardo would later uncork a wild pitch that allowed another Columbia run to score, and the Fireflies didn't trail again. Two innings later saw Darryl Collins come through with an RBI single as he provided the game-winning hit. A Fabian Pertuz homer in the bottom of the seventh pulled Myrtle Beach within 4-3, but they couldn't get any closer, falling by that score. Of the eight hits, Jordan Nwogu and Jacob Wetzel were responsible for half of them as both players are heating up. Pablo Aliendo, Warkentin, Pertuz, and Jonathan Sierra picked up the other four hits as the Pelicans offense did what they could do with the hits they had. Ed Howard was back in the leadoff spot, going hitless, as was Kevin Made out of the two spot.
The only team that kept the Cubs from a winless night was the ACL Cubs as they improved to 8-4 on the season. Pitching may not have been a strong point, but for Luis Devers, that was not the case. Not only did he get the start, but he turned in four strong innings allowing just one run to go with four strikeouts as his ERA is now a 2.00 for the season. Devers was backed by an offense that gave him a lead in the first off, a Miguel Fabrizio single before Owen Caissie doubled that lead with a solo shot in the third. With Wilmin Candelario pulling within 2-1 in the third off a sacrifice fly, the Cubs offense went to work in the fourth and seized control again. Aramis Ademan got things started with a double before coming home to score on a Dean Nevarez sacrifice fly. Yovanny Cuevas added his first homer later in the inning as the Cubs were up 5-1. One inning later saw Jose Lopez triple home another run before Ademan picked up his second RBI hit of the day. Add in a sixth-inning wild pitch, and the Cubs held a 9-1 lead before holding off a thunderous Royals rally to secure a 9-7 win. Caissie, Cuevas, and Ademan all had multi-hit games as they played huge roles in the offensive success. Reggie Preciado continues to swing the bat well with another hit, as did Fabrizio, Nevarez, and Jose Lopez.
The offense was undoubtedly alive and well in the Rookie Leagues as the Cubs fell to 0-2 in DSL play with a 12-8 loss. Looking at the pitching, only Anderson Feliz had success as he tossed 1 2/3 scoreless frames while the rest of the staff was toast. Down 2-0 in the second, the Cubs tied things up on a Fredy Montenegro double before the Mets retook the lead on a bases loaded triple by Jeffrey De Los Santos and a wild pitch to make things 6-2. A Wilmer Bolivar double and Cristian More single pulled the Cubs within 6-4, only to see the Mets surge in front 9-4 as a pair of bases-loaded walks with a sacrifice did the damage. More tried to will the Cubs back on his own, picking up another RBI double, but as always, the Mets had answers, eventually building their lead to 12-7. A Pedro Ramirez singled in the seventh capped off the scoring for the Cubs as they suffered another loss. More was the man of the game for the Cubs, grabbing three hits from the leadoff spot to go with his two RBIs. He was the lone player with multiple hits, but Montenegro added two RBIs of his own in the loss.
Again, the Cubs offense gave themselves a chance to win only to see pitching fail in the end. The sad part about the pitching, all the damage was done after the fourth inning as Adrian Martinez, and Anthony Mendez opened the game with four scoreless frames. That gave the Cubs offense a chance to get things started, and they did just that with a Frank Hernandez single putting them in front 1-0 in the first ahead of a Carlos Ramos second inning hit mixed with an error for a 3-0 lead early. Add in a Lizardo Ruiz RBI triple and an Ezequiel Alvarez sacrifice fly, and the Cubs had a 5-0 lead in the fourth. The sixth inning is when the game began to change as the Indians pulled themselves within 5-4 using a bases-loaded triple from Ronald Pena followed by a bases-loaded walk to Samuel Parra to get the job done. A Ramos RBI single in the eight had the Cubs up 6-4, only to have Junior Caminero put the Indians on top 7-6 following his three-run shot. Fortunately for the Cubs, Raul Guzman was able to tie things up in the ninth with a solo shot of his own, helping to send the game to extras. In the 11th inning, the Indians took the lead for good as a wild pitch not only home brought home the go-ahead run, but the winning run in a 9-7 lead. An Alvarez single in the bottom of the 11th pulled the Cubs within 9-8, but they couldn't finish it off. Ramos and Hernandez were the catalysts on offense, picking up a pair of hits and two RBIs from Ramos. Christian Hernandez continues to do his thing as he not only picked up his second hit of the season, but took two walks to reach base three times in the loss.TOLEDO MUD HENS 2 – IOWA CUBS 1
MISSISSIPPI BRAVES 11 – TENNESSEE SMOKIES 4
CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 8 – SOUTH BEND CUBS 5
COLUMBIA FIREFLIES 4 – MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 3
ACL CUBS 9 – ACL ROYALS 7
DSL METS 12 – DSL CUBS RED 8
DSL INDIANS RED 9 – DSL CUBS BLUE 8 (11 innings)
