Cubs Minor League News: Kilian impressive, Young raking, Aliendo homers, more
Jayne Kamin Oncea - USA Today Sports

Cubs Minor League News: Kilian impressive, Young raking, Aliendo homers, more
by - Senior Writer - Thu Jun 22 10:41:58 GMT-05:00 2023

Wednesday saw much better results on the diamond, but when you go 0-5 the day before, it isn't hard to improve. Typically, Wednesday has been about the full-season leagues as that is one of the two days off for Rookie League Ball, but last night was a bit different as the ACL Cubs were also in action.

That meant there were five games for the Cubs to keep tabs on, and all five came stateside. Once again, the results could have been a little better, but with a 2-3 record, there were several performances worth noting as the first half comes to a close in the next few days.

IOWA CUBS 8 - MEMPHIS REDBIRDS 0

What better way to bounce back from a loss than by shutting out one of your bitter rivals? That is exactly what the Cubs did as their offense got rolling and put up another big day. The real story of this one has to be the job Caleb Kilian did on the mound, and it is starting to look like he has rediscovered his old form.

Kilan may not be striking out the batters he was a season ago, but you are doing something right anytime you can give your team six shutout innings with four strikeouts. He allowed three hits before Bailey Horn and Daniel Palencia closed things out. Like Kilian, Tommy Parsons got off to a great start himself, but once the third inning rolled around, the Cubs played long ball to put the game away.

Sergio Alcantara opened the scoring with a solo shot in the bottom of the third, with Jared Young leaving the yard in the fourth to double the advantage.

The Cubs continued their home run parade in the fifth with Chase Strumpf making things 3-0 before a rare Bryce Windham RBI triple had the Cubs in front 4-0.

Iowa continued to use the home run ball to their advantage in the sixth, with Jake Slaughter pushing the lead to 6-0 as that was the final homer of the day for Iowa.

Already with a massive lead, Windham added an RBI double in the seventh, along with a fielder's choice, as the Cubs bounced back for an 8-0 win.

Alcantara led the way with three hits, while Windham and Slaughter picked up two hits and two RBIs.

PENSACOLA BLUE WAHOOS 3 - TENNESSEE SMOKIES 1

For the Smokies to clinch the first-half division title, they are going to have to do it against the team that defeated them in the championship series a season ago in Pensacola. Winning their division again, the Blue Wahoos came into Tennessee and took a low-scoring affair in game one.

Left-hander Jordan Wicks was on the mound for Tennessee, and it is only a matter of time until he gets the bump to Iowa. Wicks had a shaky outing as he walked five and struck out five before exiting after four innings. However, he allowed just one hit and left without allowing a run. He gave way to a bunch of relievers, including Porter Hodge, who struck out five in his two innings, but some late-game offense from Pensacola proved to be enough.

Not only was Wicks good, but so was Evan Fitterer, who got through five innings, allowing one run on one hit with eight strikeouts. That run came in the second when Pablo Aliendo delivered the lone hit off him with a homer to make things 1-0.

Not only was that the lone run of the day for Tennessee, but they only had one other hit as they couldn't solve the Blue Wahoo pitching staff.

Fortunately for them, their pitching matched them and kept Pensacola off the board until the eighth, when Will Banfield left the yard to tie things up 1-1. That momentum swing continued into the ninth as the Troy Johnston RBI triple pushed across the winning runs in the 3-1 Pensacola win. Haydn McGeary added the other hit with Aliendo while also taking two walks.

FORT WAYNE TIN CAPS 7 - SOUTH BEND CUBS 1

Talk about the bottom falling off of a team the past few weeks. The Cubs have gone from first place to a team desperate for the first half to end as they have been struggling. While most of their struggles have been offensive, you are starting to see some pitching struggles, and that is not a good situation.

Manuel Espinoza was back on the mound to make the start and pitched much better despite taking the loss. Espinoza gave the Cubs five innings, where he allowed three runs. However, the one walk and five strikeouts stand out as his command was vastly improved. His problem was having a bullpen that struggled and running into Adam Mazur from Fort Wayne, who allowed just one run in his five innings.

With the game tied 0-0 entering the third, Fort Wayne grabbed the lead for good as Jackson Merrill took Espinoza deep to make things 2-0. A Justin Farmer RBI single in the fourth followed that up as the Cubs found themselves in another early multi-run hole. The game's lone run for the Cubs came in the fifth when Ethan Hearn went deep for his second homer of the season to end a long homerless drought.

Fort Wayne would put the game away with a three-run seventh as the Jakob Marsee double made things 4-1 before the Marcos Castanon single extended the lead to 5-1. An RBI groundout later in the inning brought home another run, with Castanon adding his second RBI in as many at-bats in the ninth to close out the scoring. The Cubs were held to three hits, with Jacob Wetzel and Kevin Made joining Hearn.

MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 9 - KANNAPOLIS CANNONBALLERS 3

The one consistent result in the Cubs minor league system is watching the Pelicans put together strong game after strong game. Not only is the offense starting to peak, but their pitching has come around, which is why this team is playoff bound again.

Following their rain out on Tuesday, Micahel Arias was on the mound for Myrtle Beach, looking to build on his recent run of strong starts. Despite only lasting 4 2/3 and being unable to earn the win, Arias was still impressive, allowing just one unearned on no hits while striking out six. You also had Grant Kipp pitch in this game, giving the Pelicans three innings of one-ball in relief with four strikeouts to earn the win as their offense did the rest.

A big part of the Pelican's recent success has been fast, which was the case again on Wednesday. Andy Gariola opened the scoring with an RBI double in the first before the Juan Mora single put the Pelicans up 2-0, and they never looked back. After getting a run back in the bottom of the first to pull within 2-1, the Cannonballers saw the Pelicans extend their lead to 4-1 in the third, with Mora and Rafael Morel picking up RBIs.

Once that inning was over, the Cannonballer's pitching staff started to settle in, which gave their offense a chance to come back. Mario Camilletti took that to heart and used an RBI double in the fifth to pull them within 4-2 before adding a single in the seventh to close the gap to 4-3. Once the eighth inning rolled around, it was the Pelicans that put things away, with Mora starting things off with an RBI single for his third of the game.

That single was followed by RBI doubles from Malcolm Quintero and Pedro Ramirez, while the Ismael Mena triple capped off a five-run inning that saw the Birds take a 9-3 lead before winning by that score.

Mora paced the offense with two hits and three RBIs, with Mena and Jefferson Rojas adding two hits.

ACL DIAMONDBACKS 6 - ACL CUBS 4

The lone Rookie League team to play Wednesday was the ACL Cubs, as they will have their off days Friday and Sunday this week. Despite the Cubs delivering a three-run inning early in the game, this team continues to struggle as the Diamondbacks built a massive early lead and carried that to the victory.

Carlos Garcia got the start and was roughed up as he surrendered five runs in just 1 2/3. After Garcia, the Cubs pitching was outstanding as Max Bain made a rehab appearance and delivered a scoreless inning with two strikeouts. The Diamondbacks opened up the scoring in the first with an RBI groundout leading the first run ahead of the Kenny Castillo single that put the Cubs in an early 1-0 hole.

Anderson Suriel pulled the Cubs within 2-1 in the bottom of the first with an RBI groundout, but once the second inning rolled around, the Diamondbacks offense kept the pressure on. Ruben Satana kept the line moving with an RBI single before a bases-loaded walk made things 4-1. Throw in a wild pitch which would prove to be the winning run, and the Cubs were down 5-1 and searching for answers.

Those answers came in the bottom of the third as the Cubs offense started to show signs of life. Alexis Hernandez stayed hot to start his summer and picked up an RBI single to pull the Cubs within 5-2. Cristian More and Suriel would add sacrifice flies later in the inning to pull the Cubs within 5-4, but that would be it for their offense as the Diamondbacks added a run later to cap off the 6-4 win.

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