Cubs Minor League News: Mervis raking, Canario perfect, South Bend with five homers, more |
In their first weekend back from the all-star break, the Cubs system put on quite a show over the weekend. One day after going 6-1 overall, the Cubs were at it again, posting a 3-1 record with Myrtle Beach taking the lone loss.
One night after shutting out the Storm Chasers 10-0, the Iowa pitching staff was at it again, posting their second straight shutout to end the weekend. Matt Dermody got the start, and his five innings were very good, striking out six and allowing four hits. He gave way to Anderson Espinoza, who in his four innings allowed just two hits while striking out two in his AAA debut. Granted, the pitching played a massive role in the Cubs success; the offense did help make things easier, with Matt Mervis delivering the game-winning homer in the second. Mervis continues to turn heads as he may end up in Wrigley Field this season. Zach Davis would add a two-run double in the second inning as the Cubs led 3-0. Following the Nelson Maldonado single in the third that put the Cubs up 4-0, the Iowa offense went quiet until the eighth, when they pushed across three more runs. Two of those came off a Mervis RBI triple, with Jackson Frazier capping off the scoring with an RBI single. Mervis led the way with two hits and three RBIs as Nick Madrigal joined him with two hits. Still smiling! ?? pic.twitter.com/m0yTHyaRaf
Led by another strong pitching performance and an offense that came to life late, the Smokies capped off the weekend sweep of the Lookouts 7-1. Riley Thompson continues to improve with every start, and after going three scoreless innings with five strikeouts, this may have been his best of the season. He was followed by a bullpen that pitched exceptionally well, including Walker Powell, who earned the win after four scoreless frames and four strikeouts. For the second day in a row, the Smokies struck first, with Alexander Canario picking up an RBI double in the first for the 1-0 lead. That score would hold until the fourth, when Chattanooga picked up their lone run on the Alex McGarry homer to tie things up 1-1. Not to be outdone, Canario put the Smokies in front for good as he connected for his 17th homer in the sixth and 24th combined, going back to High-A South Bend. Alexander Canario enjoyed a perfect day at the ballpark. Clinging to that 2-1 lead in the eighth, the Smokies busted things wide open with Jake Slaughter and Harrison Wenson picking up RBI doubles, sandwiched around a Bradlee Beesley single to make things 6-1. Beesley added another RBI single in the ninth to give the Smokies a 7-1 win. Canario went a perfect 4-4 with two RBIs to lead the way, with Ball adding three hits. 3 games in Chattanooga. 3 wins in Chattanooga. See you at home on Tuesday. pic.twitter.com/eePMAsLcRW
If you are a fan of pitching, then this wasn't the game for you as the two sides combined to score 25 runs. 13 came from the Cubs as they held on to take the weekend series 13-12. After showing progress in his past few outings, Kohl Franklin took a step back as he surrendered seven runs in just three innings. Had it not been for Eduarniel Nunez and his two scoreless frames, the Cubs would have been on the wrong side of this one. Trailing 1-0 in the second, Jake Washer continued his excellent series as his two-run shot put the Cubs in front 2-1. Moving to third, you had Quad City bouncing back as Herard Gonzalez picked up an RBI single before the Juan Carlos Negret double gave the River Bandits a 4-2 lead. The South Bend offense continued to set the tone in the early innings as they retook the lead with a four-run third. Pete Crow-Armstrong started things off with an RBI double before the Yohendrick Pinango single brought things back to even. That set the stage for Washer again as he homered for the second time in as many at-bats to put South Bend in front 6-4. In the fourth inning, things began to go south for the Cubs as Quad City pushed across six runs on just one RBI hit to retake the lead 10-6. Across the next three innings, the Cubs played long ball to pull even again, with Yeison Santana going deep in the fourth, Casey Opitz in the fifth, and Jordan Nwogu with the two-run shot in the sixth. Homers by Cam Williams and Diego Hernandez in the seventh put the River Bandits back in front 12-10, but it was the Cubs who would last laugh. With Kevin Made pulling South Bend to within 12-11 in the seventh, Luis Verdugo tied things up with a sacrifice fly. One inning later, it was Made again as his RBI triple proved to be the difference in the 13-12 win. Washer has been a tear the last two games picking up four hits and four RBIs in the win. NEVER. A. DOUBT.
While most of the Cubs system lived off their offense, Myrtle Beach wasn't one of them. Ironically, they also came away with the lone loss falling to Charleston 2-0. Tyler Santana has been the best pitcher in Myrtle Beach all season, as it took three months for him to lose his first game. Despite lowering his ERA to 2.31 after six innings of two-run ball, he took the loss as both of those runs came in the fourth off the Nick Schnell double and a wild pitch which proved to be the only runs Charleston would need. The Pelicans had just three hits, with Juan Mora, Felix Stevens, and Jacob Wetzel grabbing the hits. Charleston takes the series 2-1.IOWA CUBS 7 - OMAHA STORM CHASERS 0
TENNESSEE SMOKIES 7 - CHATTANOOGA LOOKOUTS 1
The No. 18 @Cubs prospect belted his system-best 24th homer on a 4-for-4 afternoon for @smokiesbaseball: https://t.co/oU6ivefQd2 pic.twitter.com/9rncFSVbns
SOUTH BEND CUBS 13 - QUAD CITY RIVER BANDITS 12
Another series-clinching victory as our first place lead grows!#ItsDifferentHere pic.twitter.com/udB2ZdFAezCHARLESTON RIVERDOGS 2 - MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 0
We’ll take on the GreenJackets in Augusta next week.#MBPelicans pic.twitter.com/jHrWE0zkEs
