Cubs Minor League News: Hermosillo impressive in I-Cubs win, South Bend back to .500, more |
Once again, the Cubs had mixed results on the farm going 2-2 across the board. However, it was nice to see one of the teams get back on track after having a rough go of things the past few weeks while other teams continue to search for answers.
There haven't been too many places where the Cubs have had a ton of success, but Saint Paul is one of those places. After splitting the first series with the Saints on the road, the Cubs took game one from them last night as they are 4-3 at Saint Paul this season. Joe Biagini returned to the mound tossing one before yielding to a plethora of relievers in the win. Scott Effross earned the win as he tossed three scoreless innings with five strikeouts while Kyle Ryan picked up the save. The hottest hitter for Iowa right now is Michael Hermosillo, and he wasted no time giving Iowa the early lead using a first-inning double to do just that. Iowa never trailed in the game as the Abiatal Avelino groundout later that inning proved to be the winning RBI as Iowa jumped in front 2-0. Hermosillo wasn't done either as he connected for his third homer of the season in the fifth, giving Iowa the 3-0 lead. Michael Hermosillo's homer that gave us a 3-0 lead over St. Paul last night is your @GreatClips Clip of the Game! pic.twitter.com/DHB8uCxRYF Saint Paul was able to push across a run on a bases-loaded walk in the eighth, but outside of that, Iowa had the game well in hand and followed a strong pitching performance for the win. The Cubs only had three hits in the win, with Hermosillo and Tony Wolters collecting all three. Nick Martini moved up in the lineup, going 0-2 with a pair of walks, with Ian Miller also working a pair of walks. Back in the win column! We'll play game two in St. Paul tomorrow night at 7:05. pic.twitter.com/IUna57VeD2
In what was an overall strong showing by Tennessee, Chattanooga used a big third inning and some early offense to hold off the Smokies 5-3. Alex Katz made his first start of the season but only lasted three innings after being charged with five runs on eight hits. The trio of Luis Lugo, Manuel Rodriguez, and Wyatt Short allowed just three hits following the first few innings as they were able to keep the Smokies in it. Not only did Lorenzo Cedrola put the Lookouts on top with a solo shot in the second inning, but Chattanooga made the Smokies pay in the second inning as they busted things wide open. Braxton Lee took that 1-0 lead and extended it to 3-0 as his double pushed across a pair of runs. Lee would later come on an RBI groundout from Yoel Yanqui before Cedrola singled home his second RBI of the day to make things 5-0 Lookouts. Not to be outdone, the Smokies began their comeback bid in the bottom of the third when Christopher Morel went deep for his fifth homer of the season to make things 5-2. Morel is one of two opening day players left on the Smokies roster on a team hampered with injuries. If one homer wasn't enough, why not make it two as Nelson Maldonado went deep in the fifth for his first of the season, cutting the Lookouts lead to 5-3. That would be as close as Tennessee would get, unfortunately, as they managed just two baserunners the rest of the way with both coming on walks. Carlos Sepulveda collected two of the team's five hits, but it is hard to win games with just five hits. Morel, Maldonado, and Darius Hill tallied the final three hits, and the question becomes when will Hill head to Iowa? Chase Strumpf and Brennan Davis were held hitless as they have fallen below 200 on the season.
South Bend continues to post the best record on the farm, climbing back to .500 with a convincing 9-4 win. With Brad Deppermann and the pitching staff doing their thing on the mound, the Cubs offense took care of the rest, erupting for eight runs in the third to get the job done. Sometimes all it takes is one big inning, and for South Bend, that was the case as they certainly loved that third inning. RBI singles from Bradlee Beesley, Delvin Zinn, and Tyler Durna got the party started with the Cubs out in front 3-0. Nelson Velazquez followed suit with an RBI double before a bases-loaded walk to Jake Washer made things 5-0. South Bend capped off their massive inning with a two-run Jake Slaughter single, and a Josue Huma RBI ground out as they led comfortably 8-0 heading into the bottom of the third. After Seth Gray put an end to the shutout bid with an RBI single in the bottom of the third, Durna went deep for the fourth time in the fourth as he capped off the South Bend, scoring extending the lead to 9-1. Even with Gray picking up another RBI in the fifth, the game never felt like it was in jeopardy as Cedar Rapids added two more runs later in the game before falling 9-4. Slaughter had one of his better games of the season to go with his two-run single, leading the offense with three hits. He was joined by Durna's two-hit, two-RBI Day, and Beesley picking up a pair of hits from the ninth spot. Didn't catch the game last night? We've got you covered! Relive the highlights from last night's 9-4 win! (Courtesy: @CRKernels)#SBCubs #CubTogether pic.twitter.com/OjFG3Frp6p
Facing off against one of the better teams in the league, the Pelicans knew this would be a tough series as they continue to hover around .500. On Tuesday, what made things worse was their pitching staff allowing nine runs and then having mother nature force the game to end early, preventing any shot at a Pelicans comeback. Manuel Espinoza had a start he would like to forget, allowing seven runs on seven hits in just 3 2/3 innings of work. His ERA rose to 4.86 in the process, showing how good he was before this start. Five of the seven runs he allowed came in the first when Curtis Mead opened the scoring with a two-run shot putting Charleston in front for good 2-0. Add in a fielder's choice, sacrifice fly, and a wild pitch, and Espinoza and company were put in a 5-0 hole before even coming to bat. That 5-0 lead grew to 6-0 in the second with a double steal. That run proved to be the game-winner. Brett Wisely added a fourth-inning sacrifice fly to make things 7-0, but the Pelicans were not going to go away without some fight. With one swing in the bottom of the fourth, Ryan Reynolds put the Pelicans right back in the game as his homer made things 7-3. Another Sacrifice fly made things 8-3, but a Pablo Aliendo fifth inning double closed the gap to 8-5, with Myrtle Beach starting to feel the momentum. Even after the Abiezel Ramierez RBI in the seventh to make things 9-5, you felt as if the game was going to come down to the wire, especially with the way the Pelicans responded. Unfortunately, mother nature had other plans and halted the comeback attempt in the seventh, handing the Pelicans a 9-5 loss. Reynolds provided the big hit in the game, but a trio of Pelicans picked up two hits in the game. Yohendrick Pinango, Matt Mervis, and Aliendo were those players, as all three of them remain hot. Ezequiel Pagan continues to thrive in the leadoff role, collecting another hit to bring his average to .333. Jordan Nwogu and Ethan Hearn went hitless as they are both hitting below .150.IOWA CUBS 3 – SAINT PAUL SAINTS 1
CHATTANOOGA LOOKOUTS 5 – TENNESSEE SMOKIES 3
SOUTH BEND CUBS 9 – CEDAR RAPIDS KERNALS 4
CHARLESTON RIVER DOGS 9 – MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 5 (7 innings)
