Cubs Minor League News: Bote bomb, Alcantara raking with 6 RBIs, Howard homers, more |
Saturday was a jam-packed night on the diamond for the Cubs Minor League System, as eight games were being played. The results differed depending on the playing level, with the full-season leagues dominating and the Rookie Leagues struggling. Either way, the Cubs posted a 5-3 record which is hard enough to do as they had several great showings across the board.
Backed by some early offense that helped Iowa open up a nice lead and mixed with good pitching once again, the Cubs made quick work of the Indians to put themselves in position for a series win. Chris Clarke may not give the Cubs much length, but he performs when on the mound. Following four innings of one-run ball, Clarke lowered his ERA to 2.84 as he continued to feel more comfortable in Iowa. Following Clarke, you had a much better showing from Keegan Thompson, who allowed one run with three strikeouts in two innings, Codi Heuer with a scoreless frame, and Daniel Palencia striking out the side to notch the save. The lone run off of Clarke came in the top of the second when Cal Mitchell delivered an RBI single to make things 1-0. The Cubs didn't waste much time grabbing the lead right back, with Yonathan Perlaza using an RBI double in the bottom of the second to put Iowa on top for good, 2-1. With his 18th double of the year, Yonathan Perlaza extends his on-base streak to 26 games and gives us a 2-1 lead! pic.twitter.com/gydwPEMEft One inning later, the red-hot David Bote delivered the decisive blow as his three-run shot put Iowa up 5-1 in the third. 449 feet later, David Bote extends our lead to 5-1. pic.twitter.com/vB0BbrD2x2 Indianapolis tried to battle back in the fifth with a sacrifice fly, only to have Dom Nunez add an RBI double in the bottom half of the fifth to put the Cubs back in front 6-2 before winning 6-3. Daniel Palencia with the 5 out save with 3 Ks. The last two strikeouts featuring 100 twice sandwiched around a slider and a change. pic.twitter.com/xCdzyi8xdY Iowa had 10 hits, with Matt Mervis, Nelson Velazquez, and Edwin Rios delivering two.
The busiest team on the day was Tennessee, who had to face Birmingham in a doubleheader. Game one was about the pitching as the two teams combined for three runs, with the Smokies coming out on top 2-1. Walker Powell may not have been overpowering with only two punchouts, but after allowing one run in six innings, he did what he had to in order to win the game. Powell was backed by some first-inning support, with Haydn McGeary giving the Smokies an early 1-0 lead with an RBI double. Tennessee would maintain that lead until the fourth when Tyler Neslony brought things back to even with a sacrifice fly. However, the Smokies got the last laugh as Owen Caissie left the yard for his 12th homer of the season in the fifth to give the Smokies a 2-1 win. Owen Caissie’s big day: pic.twitter.com/6143PARSeR
Game one of the day may have been about the pitching, but game two was an offensive barrage that the Barons were able to hold onto for the win. Kohl Franklin endured one of his worst starts with AA and didn't make it to the third inning while the bullpen struggled across the board. Jose Rodriguez gave the Barons an early 1-0 lead in the first with a solo shot before they doubled that lead with an RBI forceout. The second inning is where the Barons put the Smokies away, as their offense was alive and well early. With one swing, Rodriguez made it a 5-0 game, delivering his second homer in as many at-bats. Xavier Fernandez added a solo shot later in the inning as the Smokies were down 6-0. With the help of the young studs Pete Crow-Armstrong and Caissie, the Smokies cut that deficit in half in the third with PCA lacing an RBI single to make things 6-1 while Caissie followed with a two-run knock. Despite the efforts by the Smokies to come back, Birmingham was all over their pitching, with Yoelqui Cesdepes taking Michael McAvene deep in the third as part of another three-run inning to push the lead back to 9-3. Credit Tennessee for refusing to give up as they used a four-run fourth to make this a game again. Scott McKeon opened the scoring in that frame with an RBI single, while PCA was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. The inning's big hit was the Luis Vazquez two-run single to pull the Smokies within 9-7. 2-run double by Luis Vazquez gets the Smokies within 2 after being down 9. PCA got a little over aggressive here. pic.twitter.com/vjEm4D0gP0 Still trailing by that score in the sixth, the Smokies offense continued to rally, with PCA pulling them within one via an RBI groundout. That set the stage for Vazquez again, whose RBI double put the Smokies in front 10-9 as they climbed back. In danger of dropping a doubleheader sweep and a tough game-two loss, the Barons had one last hurray in their offense, with Moises Castillo coming through with a two-run single in the bottom of the sixth to bring home the winning runs in the 11-10 win. PCA, Vazquez, and Caissie combined for five hits and nine RBIs in the loss, with Vazquez leading the way with four. Smokies put up a strong fight but come up short. | @zips3mincarwash pic.twitter.com/Kya21x9anl
It only took five games for the Cubs to break through against Cedar Rapids, and they did so in a massive way Saturday. Behind a relentless offense that pounded out 15 hits and a pitching staff that was tough to hit, South Bend picked up an enormous win as they looked to get back on track to close out the first half. Richard Gallardo was on the mound for South Bend and continued his strong season with another great start. He gave South Bend five strong innings of two-run ball, with Adam Laskey and Joe Nahas striking out eight in their four scoreless relief frames. Gallardo was backed with instant offensive support when Kevin Alcantara smoked a two-run shot in the first for the quick 2-0 lead. Cedar Rapids didn't waste much time pushing their runs across as Jefferson Morales and Willie Joe Gray Jr took Gallardo deep in the second to even things up, but that was it for their offense, with the Cubs closing out the game with eight unanswered runs. Alcantara used an RBI single in the third to put the Cubs in front for good, 3-2, with the Luis Verdugo double making things 4-2. The next inning same story as the Cubs scored three more times to open up a 7-2 lead. Ed Howard delivered his first homer of the season in that frame, with Alcantara adding his second two-run shot shortly after. Welcome back, Ed Howard! The Alcantara day continued in the sixth with another RBI hit, while Casey Optiz and Fabian Pertuz added a pair of runs in the ninth to close out the 10-2 win. This was the Alcantara game the Cubs had been waiting for, as he went a perfect 5-5 at the plate with six RBIs. Third-ranked @Cubs prospect Kevin Alcántara's two home runs weren't enough.
It doesn't matter how many innings you score in, but instead the number of runs you can score in those innings. When it comes to the Nationals and the Pelicans, all four runs came in one inning, as all the offense happened in the first. Thankfully, Jackson Ferris continued to dominate the Low-A hitters striking out four in three innings before handing it over to the pen. Ferris allowed a Brandon Boissiere RBI single in the first to fall behind 1-0, but that was the only run of the day for the Nationals. 4 Ks through 2 innings for Jackson Ferris. pic.twitter.com/B2AVRedgdG Once the bottom of the first rolled around, it was the Pelicans turn to get some runs as a balk aided their first run to tie things up 1-1. Felix Stevens came through with an RBI double later in the inning to make things 2-1, as that hit provided the game-winning run for the Birds. Myrtle Beach closed their day offensively with a Jefferson Rojas sacrifice fly as their pitching took care of the rest. Rafael Morel and Pedro Ramirez paced the offense with two hits.
Despite the full-season teams going 4-1, the Rookie League teams struggled as they went 1-2. The ACL Cubs came close to picking up a win, but their pitching was unable to stand tall, falling to the Brewers for the second time this week. Most of the Brewer's offense came in the second inning, where they opened up a 5-0 lead. A balk brought home the first run in that frame, with RBI singles from Jonatan Guzman and Reidy Mercado following suit. The Cubs would find themselves down 7-0 in the fifth when their offense came to life to make a game out of things. Alexander Canario opened the inning with a bases-loaded hit by a pitch to put the Cubs on the board, while a wild pitch scored another. Christopher Paciolla has been one of the hottest hitters for ACL all season, and it was his RBI single mixed with an error capped off the five-run frame with the Cubs trailing 7-5. Jefferson Encarnacion added an RBI single in the ninth to pull the Cubs within 7-6, but they would fall by that score.
The lone win for the Cubs Rookie League teams came from DSL Blue as their excellent start to the season continues. Juan Archibold lowered his ERA to 1.69 with four shutout frames, while a three-run sixth helped the Cubs close out another week of competition on a positive note. The Cubs opened the scoring in the fourth off the Brailin Pascual single before busting things open in the fifth. Daniel Ferreira and Omar Ferrera worked bases-loaded walks in that fifth, while Pascual used an RBI fielder's choice to push the lead to 4-0. Despite the deficit, the Red Sox wouldn't go away quietly, scoring three times in the next two innings to pull within one, as two of those runs came on wild pitches. That was as close as they would get as Erbin Jaque delivered an RBI single in the ninth to close out the scoring.
Despite a strong start to the game that saw the Cubs open a nice lead, their pitching couldn't hold up as they dropped a tough one to the Red Sox. Yoeilin Cespedes opened the scoring in the first for the Red Sox with a solo shot, but the Cubs offense came roaring back in the bottom of the first to take the lead. Carlos Altuve delivered the damage in the bottom half of the inning, as his three-run shot made things 3-1. Trailing 4-2 in the third, Frederik Jimenez connected on his first of two homers to pull the Red Sox within one, with Cristofher Panigua adding a home to put them in front 5-4. Jimenez added to that lead with another homer in the fourth, but the Cubs rallied back to take the lead entering the final inning. In that inning, the Cubs bullpen let one get away as Jhoan Solarate picked up a two-run go-ahead single, which proved to be the winning run in the 8-7 Red Sox win.IOWA CUBS 6 - INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS 3
TENNESSEE SMOKIES 2 - BIRMINGHAM BARONS 1: (Game 1)
BIRMINGHAM BARONS 11 - TENNESSEE SMOKIES 10 (Game 2)
SOUTH BEND CUBS 10 - CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 2
After returning from injury on June 6, the @Cubs' 2020 first-round pick slugs his first homer since last April for the @SBCubs: pic.twitter.com/BlixAgMjaP
He went for a career high in hits as well for the @SBCubs: https://t.co/aBCDsQCtXh pic.twitter.com/maxMG90gWnMYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 3 - FREDERICKSBURG NATIONALS 1
ACL BREWERS 7 - ACL CUBS 6
DSL CUBS BLUE 5 - DSL RED SOX 3
DSL RED SOX 8 - DSL CUBS RED 7
