Cubs Minor League News: Morel with 7 RBI game, Bote blast, Slaughter grand slam, more

Cubs Minor League News: Morel with 7 RBI game, Bote blast, Slaughter grand slam, more
by - Senior Writer - Sun Apr 30 10:15:46 GMT-05:00 2023

Although Saturday was a slightly better night on the Diamond for the Cubs system, the results were not as good as they could have been. With three of the four teams allowing two runs or less and all four teams allowing four runs or less, you had to like the Cub's chances of winning three, if not four, of those games.

Unfortunately, two of the better-pitched games also saw the worst offensive outputs as the Cubs system posted a 2-2 record on Saturday. It would have been nice to win at least one more game, but they continue to play well, which is all that matters.

IOWA CUBS 18 - LOUISVILLE BATS 2

No one in AAA wants to see this Iowa offense heat up, as they are a difficult team to stop. If they can get the pitching to match their offense, wins will come fast and furious, as Iowa is one of the more talented clubs in the minors.

With Caleb Kilian getting the start for the Chicago Cubs and struggling mightily, you have to wonder if there would have been better options in Iowa. Nick Niedert could have been one of those options as the right-hander struck out six in 5 2/3 to earn the win. He was charged with two runs allowed on seven hits, but he was backed by an offensive onslaught that proved tough to contain.

That offensive onslaught came from the get-go with 11 runs in the first two innings. Eight came in the first, with Jake Slaughter opening the scoring with a grand slam.

David Bote tacked on a solo shot for back-to-back jacks.

Iowa would load the bases again in their half of the first, and this time, it was Christopher Morel cashing in with an RBI double to push the lead to 8-0 after one.

The Bote/Morel connection continued to make things happen in the second as both players added RBI singles to their games and stretched the lead to 11-0. Two innings later, and the same story as Morel left the yard for the 11th time this season to make things 13-0, with Matt Mervis adding an RBI single to put the Cubs in front 14-0.

It wasn't until the sixth inning when the Bats were finally able to solve Niedert as Elly De La Cruz ended the shutout bid with a solo shot ahead of the TJ Hopkins double as the Bats had things 14-2. That was as close as they would get as Iowa capped off the scoring with four more runs in the bottom of the sixth. The first came on a Sergio Alcantara homer, with Yonathan Perlaza adding a three-run shot to close things out.

At some point, you have to wonder what Morel needs to prove to earn a call-up. With three hits and seven RBIs, Morel leads the team in homers with 11, RBIs with 28, and is near the top of AAA with a .363 average. He was joined by Miles Mastrobuoni and his three hits, with Slaughter (4) and Perlaza (3) adding massive RBI nights.

BIRMINGHAM BARONS 3 - TENNESSEE SMOKIES 2

Despite grabbing an early lead and letting their pitching do the work, the Smokies let one get away as Hunter Bigge surrendered a pair of sixth-inning runs for the loss. That took away another strong start from Ryan Jensen, who lasted four innings with four strikeouts while allowing one run.

In the third, Jensen was backed by some early offense as a double steal put the Smokies in front 1-0. That lead didn't last long for Tennessee as Birmingham struck back in the bottom of the third on a Ben Norman sacrifice fly to bring things back to even 1-1. Tennessee retook the lead on a sacrifice fly the next inning as Owen Caissie put them back in front 2-1.

The Smokies held that lead until the sixth when the Barons were cashing in for the final time. Despite his rough outing on Saturday, Bigge has been phenomenal this season and has a 1.93 ERA. However, he was not at his best in this one and allowed the game-winning homer to Taylor Snyder in a 3-2 Birmingham win.

Pete Crow-Armstrong and BJ Murray Jr. led the offense for Tennessee as they had a combined four of the seven Tennessee hits. PCA continues to hold his own in AA and is hitting .316 against AA pitching.

SOUTH BEND CUBS 7 - PEORIA CHIEFS 4

Despite stumbling out of the gate to start the season, the South Bend Cubs are the hottest team in the system right now and continue to play well. Kohl Franklin rebounded from a rough start last time and gave South Bend 3 2/3 innings of one-run (0ER) ball to set the tone. He turned things over to Joe Nahas, who struck out five in three innings for work to earn the win.

Although the Cubs didn't score in many innings, two of those innings saw six runs come home as they made sure to do plenty of damage when they did score. Fabian Pertuz put the Cubs on top for good, 1-0, with his homer in the second until the offense broke through in the third.

An Ezequiel Pagan triple set the tone there and extended the Cubs lead to 3-0 before he came home on the Scott McKeon single to extend the lead to 4-0. Holding a 4-1 lead in the sixth, the South Bend offense wasn't finished, and they wanted to ensure they put enough distance between them and the Chiefs.

That came in the form of a trio of RBI singles, with Liam Spence, Kevin Alcantara, and Christian Franklin delivering those knocks as the Cubs led 7-1.

Those three runs proved especially crucial in the end as Victor Scott took Sheldon Reed deep in the ninth for a three-run shot. Had it not been for those runs in the sixth, this game would have gone to extras, but the Cubs did what they needed to.

Pagan paced the offense with three hits, with Alcantara, McKeon, and Ethan Hearn adding two. Franklin picked up his first High-A hit and RBI and will be an excellent addition to this team.

CHARLESTON RIVERDOGS 2 - MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 1 (F/5)

If I were the Riverdogs, I would thank mother nature for getting in the way and slowing Myrtle Beach down. With the Pelicans offense exploding on Friday and coming up huge the past few days, Myrtle Beach was held to one run over five innings before rain forced the game to end early.

Unfortunately, they trailed and came out on the losing end of a rain-shortened game. Koen Moreno got the start and had all kinds of command issues during his start. The right-hander didn't even get through three innings and walked six. He did manage to limit the damage, but the Pelicans offense was held in check throughout.

Moreno battled his way through the first two frames before allowing an RBi single to Kamren James in the third to give the Riverdogs the lead for good, 1-0. Charleston continued to build on that lead in the fourth, using a bases-loaded walk to double the advantage to 2-0.

Granted, that may have been the last of the runs for Charleston, but with rain heading in their direction, it was only a matter of time until things ended. Unfortunately, that time came in the fifth inning as the Moises Ballesteros homer was all Myrtle Beach would have offensively.

Ballesteros led the way with two hits, raising his average to .268.

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