Cubs Minor League News: Stevens homers, Horton dominant, Perlaza with 30-game streak, more |
The best part about having the Chicago Cubs get some extended time off due to their flight to London is that it allows the fans to focus more on the farm system. After all, these are the players that will be the future of this organization, and with their success, things are looking up.
With eight games scheduled on Thursday, mother nature got in the way to postpone one of them, but there were still seven games going on with every team in the Cubs system in action. The results could have been better, with the organization posting a 2-5 record, but the play of some of these prospects stands out.
Sparked by a massive first inning, the Cubs have gotten back on track at the perfect time as they have moved back into first place with just three games remaining in the first half. Riley Thompson is back in the rotation, and despite walking six in 4 2/3, he limited the damage. Thompson struck out four and allowed two runs but didn't last long enough to qualify for the win. That went to Rowan Wick, who allowed two runs in 1 1/3, with Brendon Little, Riley Martin, and Jeremiah Estrada all seeing action on the mound. Both runs charged to Thompson came in the first inning, as his lack of command got him in trouble. That helped set the stage for Luken Baker, whose RBI double put Memphis in front 2-0. Their lead was short-lived, with the Cub's offense going to work in the bottom of the first. RBI singles from David Bote and Jared Young tied things up 2-2, with Darius Hill coming through with a two-run single to put the Cubs in front 4-2, and they never looked back. Bote would add a second RBI single in the second to extend the lead to 5-2, with Yonathan Perlaza adding a single in the third to push the lead to 7-2. The Cubs continued to build on their lead, with Dom Nunez picking up an RBI double in the fifth to make things 8-2. Matt Koperniak ended the Cubs scoring binge with a two-run shot in the sixth, with Chase Strumpf answering with a solo shot in the bottom of the sixth to make things 9-4. Memphis added another run late but would fall 9-5. Perlaza led the offense with three hits and two RBIs. Bote, Strumpf, and Hill added two hits. ✌️ in a row pic.twitter.com/f2oYQnCx7s
In what is the most crucial series of the first half, the Smokies know they are going to have their work cut out for them as they are .5 games out of first. Had it not been for their loss on Thursday, they would be in first, but the Blue Wahoos were getting the best of them again. Walker Powell gave the Smokies a promising start, getting through 5 1/3 and allowing three earned runs. Luke Little took over from there to finish off the remaining 1 2/3. Despite the good showing from Powell, it wasn't good enough as Patrick Monteverde was very good. In his 5 1/3. Monteverde was tagged with two runs (1ER) while striking out four. Tennessee opened the scoring with an error in the first before the Blue Wahoos took a 2-1 lead in the second. Norel Gonzalez was responsible for that as he took Powell deep in the second. Tennessee continued to battle in the early stages, with Nelson Maldonado leaving the yard in the bottom half of the second to bring things back to even, but that would be it for the Tennessee offense. That 2-2 score remained tied until the sixth when Pensacola took the lead for good on the Will Banfield double to give the Blue Wahoos taking game two 4-2.
Tonight's second game against the Pensacola Blue Wahoos has been postponed due to rain. The game will be made up on Saturday, June 24 as part of a scheduled double-header beginning at 5:30pm. pic.twitter.com/05EiUZ6nGT
Despite not ending the first half the way they would have liked, this Cubs team has brighter days ahead, as their second half could be special. All it took for them to right the ship for one game was turning to Cade Horton on the mound, who was brilliant again. Take away his first South Bend start, and Horton has been one of the best pitchers in the Midwest League. He continued that Thursday allowing one run on five hits in five innings with six punchouts. Another strong start for second-ranked @Cubs prospect Cade Horton for the @SBCubs: He was followed by Didier Vargas and Frank Scalzo Jr, who combined for five strikeouts in four innings, with Scalzo picking up four. Scoring first has been rare for the Cubs recently, but with Yohendrick Pinango picking up a sacrifice fly in the first, it was the Cubs grabbing the 1-0 lead. That score would hold until the third inning when the Tin Caps pushed across their lone run on a throwing error from Moises Ballesteros to tie things up 1-1. With Horton doing his thing on the mound, the Cubs offense wanted to reward him for his hard work, and it was Felix Stevens coming through in the fourth as his first High-A homer gave the Cubs the lead for good, 3-1. BIG FELIX! South Bend added to their lead in the eighth, scoring off an error and a Fabian Pertuz single to pick up the 5-1 win. Ballesteros picked up his first two hits to lead the team and was joined by Ezequiel Pagan. Ballesteros also took a pair of walks. The best thing about locking up the first half so early is that the Pelicans have some room to play with. Despite falling to Kannapolis in a rain-shortened game, the Pelicans are still 23-7 in their last 30 games, as they have proven to be the best team in the system during the first half. Marino Santy made the start and had an interesting outing. Across three innings, Santy allowed one hit and two runs as his command was a problem. He walked four and struck out six but limited the damage, which is all that matters. Both runs against Santy came in the first, and it came on the only hit he allowed, with Tim Elko taking him deep to make things 2-0. Once the third inning rolled around, it was time for the Pelicans and their offense to get going as Andy Guardiola put them on the board with an RBI single. Later in the inning, it was Parker Chavers cashing in as his three-run homer capped off the four-run frame and had the Pelicans in front 4-2. Holding that lead into the fifth, the long ball hurt the Pelicans again, with Jacob Burke tying things up 4-4 on his two-run blast. Kannapolis added an additional run in the fifth on an error to take the 5-4 lead, as the rain came shortly after to give them the shortened victory. Chavers led the offense with two hits and three RBIs, as Gariola, Cristian Hernandez, Juan Mora, and Reivaj Garcia all had hits. Tonight’s game has been called after five innings.
It is one thing to struggle in Rookie ball, but when your pitching staff doesn't even give you a chance, those struggles are magnified. Pitching was an issue all night for the ACL Cubs, as they have gotten off to a horrible start this week. Brandon Noriega was the only Cubs pitcher to have success, as he allowed just one run in three relief innings. Sparked by a Willie Maclver triple and the Felix Tena single, it was the Rockies getting off to a fast start as they built an early 3-0 lead. They continued to push across in the second as a double from Francisco Ortiz was followed by a Cuba Base sacrifice fly as the Cubs faced a 5-0 deficit early. Trailing 6-0 in the fourth, the Cubs offense finally showed signs of life and made things a game. Alexander Canario was part of that, as his RBI double put the Cubs on the board. After an error made things 6-2, a Christopher Paciolla single made things 6-3 with an RBI groundout pulling the Cubs within 6-4. Unfortunately for them, those would be the last of the runs they would score as the Rockies ended the game with eight unanswered runs to claim the 14-4 win. Tena played a massive part with a pair of RBI singles, while Base and Maclver added additional RBIs to their days. Canario continues his impressive start from his injury to lead the way with two hits and an RBI. Paciolla, Jefferson Encarnacion, and Ludwing Espinoza had the remaining hits for the Cubs.
The best showing among the Rookie League teams came from DSL Blue as they fell below .500 for the first time this summer. Diego Dugarte deserves a ton of credit for that, as he gave DSL five innings on the mound. Dugarte allowed four hits and one earned run to lower his ERA to 3.94 this summer. The lone earned run against Dugarte came in the first, where Andrews Sosa took him deep for the solo shot to make things 1-0. The Astros would add a second run in the first off a Cubs error as DSL Blue was playing from behind 2-0. Edward Vargas got one of those runs back for the Cubs with an RBI groundout in the bottom of the first, but they still trailed 2-1. Still trailing by that score entering the final inning, the Astros came away with a massive insurance run as Wilton Lara delivered the game-winning hit to put the Astros up 3-1. Down to their final out in the bottom of the seventh, Abel De Leon kept the inning alive with a walk before racing home on the Darlyn De Leon triple to pull the Cubs within 3-2. That was as close as they would get as De Leon was left stranded at third.
Sparked by their three-run second inning, it was the Giants that doubled up the Cubs and picked up the 6-3 win. Alfredo Romero took the loss, but that doesn't tell the whole story. Yes, Romero allowed three runs in 3 2/3, but none of the runs charged against him were earned. He walked one and struck out five, as his ERA is a microscopic 0.77. Romero was the victim of one of the Cub's three errors as it opened the floodgates for a big second inning. Eduardo Montero doubled home the first runs for the Giants with a double before the Diego Gonzalez groundout made things 3-0. Romero was locked in the rest of his start, but the Cubs offense was quiet until the fifth. DSL Cubs Red catcher Carlos Altuve is having a nice start to the summer league. He's hitting .350 with an OPS of 1.03. Here he turns a hanging curve into a line drive. pic.twitter.com/6udNvlDRV3 Angel Cepeda put the Cubs on the board with a sacrifice fly in the top of the fifth, only to see another error in the bottom of the frame push the lead to 4-1. One inning later, it was the Cubs making a game of things and using the Josias Ramirez single to push across their second run and a Raul Guzman sacrifice fly, making things 4-3. DSL Cubs Red outfielder Josias Ramirez is an intriguing player. Coming into today's game, he has more hits (11) than games (10), with ~60% XHBs. With his 12th hit today, his OPS is 1.097. He turns 18 in 2 weeks. pic.twitter.com/viEsOqLz7g That was as close as things would get, with the Giants scoring twice in the bottom of the sixth to pick up the 6-3 win.IOWA CUBS 9 - MEMPHIS REDBIRDS 5
PENSACOLA BLUE WAHOOS 4 - TENNESSEE SMOKIES 2
PENSACOLA at TENNESSEE (Postponed): Game two of the night was postponed and will be made up on Saturday.
SOUTH BEND CUBS 5 - FORT WAYNE TIN CAPS 1
5 IP
5 H
1 R (0 ER)
1 BB
6 K pic.twitter.com/MruYA5MjOT
The first hit in the #SBCubs career of Felix Stevens was rightfully a long gone @hoosierlottery home run. 💪
🎙 @MaxThoma pic.twitter.com/NW2VvSqvXWKANNAPOLIS CANNON BALLERS 5 - MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 4 (F/6)
Second half starts tomorrow.#MBPelicans | #NextStartsHere pic.twitter.com/FpIi4WNYxrACL ROCKIES 14 - ACL CUBS 4
DSL ASTROS 3 - DSL CUBS BLUE 2
DSL GIANTS 6 - DSL CUBS RED 3
