Cubs Minor League News: Perlaza sizzing, PCA raking, Murray and Ramirez homers, more

Cubs Minor League News: Perlaza sizzing, PCA raking, Murray and Ramirez homers, more
by - Senior Writer - Wed Jul 26 11:05:00 GMT-04:00 2023

Tuesday marked another night on the diamond for the Cubs and a full slate of minor league action. They say wins are contagious, and you could see that on Tuesday as the Cubs had one of their best overall nights in a long time.

Not only did the Chicago Cubs come away with a win, but all four of the Cubs full-season teams managed to pick up a win on Tuesday. Throw in two more wins by the Rookie Squads, and the Cubs posted an impressive 6-1 showing on Tuesday.

IOWA CUBS 7 - MEMPHIS REDBIRDS 6

It wasn't always easy, but the Cubs benefitted from a four-run inning and managed to hold off the Redbirds in the end. Ben Brown was back on the mound and looking to match one of his more impressive starts last time out. Brown wasn't dominant by any means, but he still only allowed two runs in five innings which was good enough to grab the win.

The same can't be said about the Cubs pen apart from Chris Clarke, who was lights out in his outing. Opposing Brown was Michael McGreevy, who battled through five innings but was charged with five earned runs. The first of those runs came on the Matt Mervis single in the first as Iowa took a quick 1-0 lead.

That score held until the fourth, when the Cubs pushed across four runs to make things 5-0. Chase Strumpf delivered a two-run single to bring home the first two, with PJ Higgins cranking his first homer since returning to Iowa to make things 5-0.

Both of the earned runs Brown allowed came in the bottom of the fourth, with Masyn Wynn picking up an RBI triple. Wynn would then come home to score on the Luken Baker groundout as Iowa was up 5-2.

With Brown out of the game, the Cubs continued to do the dirty work, with Yonathan Perlaza leaving the building to make things 6-2 in the sixth.

The Wynn and Baker combination responded with two homers in the bottom of the sixth to keep things close, with Luis Vazquez picking up an RBI single in the seventh to put the Cubs in front 7-4.

That was the game-winning hit for the Cubs as they held that three-run lead until the bottom of the ninth when Memphis started to rally. Tres Barrera pulled the Redbirds within 7-5 with an RBI single, while a sacrifice fly made things 7-6. That was as close as things would get as Cam Sanders shut the door for his third save. Perlaza and Higgins led the way with three hits as Nick Madrigal was the only player without a hit.

TENNESSEE SMOKIES 8 - ROCKET CITY TRASH PANDAS 4

Despite their records, Rocket City has always given the Smokies fits, which was the case for most of the night Tuesday. Had it not been for a five-run sixth for the Tennessee offense, things could have been different as they doubled up the Coons 8-4.

Manuel Espinoza may not be going deep enough to get a lot of wins, but he is giving the Smokies consistent outings every time out. Espinoza pitched into the fifth but couldn't finish as he was charged with three earned runs. A lead-off homer from Pete Crow-Armstrong gave Espinoza the lead in the first until Kyren Paris tied things up in the bottom of the first with a double.

With the game still tied in the fourth, it was time for Rocket City to use the long ball as Jeremiah Jackson and Tucker Flint took Espinoza deep to open up a 3-1 lead for Rocket City. Through five innings, the Smokies did very little offensively, but once that inning rolled around, their offense started to heat up and do damage.

Haydn McGeary was in the middle of everything as his double made things 3-2. That was followed by a BJ Murray JR single, and just like that, things were tied. The big hit in the sixth came from Andy Weber, who picked up a bases-loaded single. An error on that play allowed an additional runner to score, but Weber was thrown out trying to make it an inside-the-park homer.

After Rocket City pulled within 6-4 in the bottom of the seventh, the Smokies put the game away late with Murray Jr going deep in the eighth and Owen Caissie picking up an RBI single in the ninth to cap off the 8-4 win.

PCA was one of four Smokies to have multiple hits joining McGeary, Murray Jr, and Weber.

SOUTH BEND CUBS 7 - PEORIA CHIEFS 6

Despite a late ninth-inning rally that saw the Chiefs score three times, the Cubs managed to hold on as they took a rare series opener. Luis Devers got the start and pitched well enough through five innings to earn his first win of 2023. Devers gave the Cubs five innings of three-run ball and struck out five. He wasn't at his best, but the Cubs backed him with the run support he needed to grab the win.

Yohendrick Pinango opened the scoring with an RBI single in the first that gave the Cubs a 1-0 lead, only to see Peoria take the lead from them in the bottom of the first on the RJ Yeager homer. The back-and-forth affair continued into the second, with Ezequiel Pagan tying things 2-2 with an RBI double and Kevin Made giving the Cubs the lead with a single. Francisco Hernandez picked up an RBI double in the second to bring things back to even as both teams were hitting the ball well early.

After the early scoring started to cool off and the score still sitting at 3-3 entering the sixth, the South Bend offense woke up and used a massive inning to seize control. The Luis Verdugo double gave the Cubs the lead for good with his RBI double, but the Christian Franklin three-run shot busted the game open and proved to be the winning hit.

Franklin has been on quite a tear this season and is starting to look like an impact player.

With only three outs standing between them and a win, the Cubs found themselves locked into an interesting situation as Peoria was starting to rally late. Granted, the Cubs defense aided some of that with a two-run error to make things 7-5, but you also had Alex Iadisernia come through with a single to make things 7-6 before the Cubs held on for the win.

South Bend had 15 hits in the win, with Made and Pinango coming away with three. Moises Ballesteros was the only player without a hit.

MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 11 - FREDERICKSBURG NATIONALS 6

What better way to erase a rough week of games than by starting a new week on fire? That is what the Pelicans did as they used three separate three-run innings to get the offense going before winning 11-6. Nick Hull was on the bump for the Cubs and, despite not being at his best, was more than good enough to earn the win.

Hull improved to 6-2 on the season by giving Myrtle Beach five innings of four-run ball with five strikeouts. His ERA is 3.82 for the season. The first of the Pelicans three-run innings came in the first when an Andy Garriola single gave the Pelicans the lead for good, 1-0. Parker Chavers would add a bases-loaded walk later in the first, with Cristian Hernandez adding a groundout to make things 3-0.

Myrtle Beach would extend that lead to 6-0 in the third, with Pedro Ramirez connecting for a three-run shot as the Pelicans were in complete control early. Despite facing an early deficit, the Nationals began to chip away in the bottom of the third as Sammy Infante and Johnathan Thomas picked up RBI singles to push across a pair. There was also a Leandro Emilani double thrown in there as the Nationals cut the lead to 6-3.

Chavers added an RBI single in the top half of the fourth, but a wild pitch in the bottom half of the fourth aided to another run for the Nationals to keep things close. Still holding that three-run lead in the sixth, the Pelicans used their third three-run inning to create some distance as an error led to the first run before the Hernandez RBI triple extended the lead to 10-6. There were three more runs added later in the game without hits, but the Pelicans stood tall in the end to win 11-6. Everyone on the Pelicans had at least one hit, with Rafael Morel leading the way with three.

ACL REDS 8 - ACL CUBS 1

DSL BLUE CUBS 7 - DSL PIRATES 5

DSL CUBS RED 4 - DSL TIGERS 2

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