Cubs Minor League News: Perlaza homers, Heuer injured, Verdugo raking, Canario progressing

Cubs Minor League News: Perlaza homers, Heuer injured, Verdugo raking, Canario progressing
by - Senior Writer - Wed Jun 21 11:09:06 GMT-04:00 2023

Tuesday was an extremely rough night on the diamond for the Cubs minor League system in more ways than one. Not only did you have two games rained out, but the other five games struggled to find their footing as the organization limped to an 0-5 record. That is not what you want at any point in the season, so hopefully, this was just a blip on the radar.

MEMPHIS RED BIRDS 8 - IOWA CUBS 5

For as good as the Cubs have been recently, and for the most part, series-opening games have caused them some problems all season. That was the case again here, as Memphis took care of the Cubs in game one. We have discussed Ben Brown and his possibility of reaching the majors this season.

He must put together a long string of successful starts for that to happen. You saw him doing that over his last two outings, but after allowing three runs in 4 2/3, it was another one of those minor setbacks. The bigger concern was watching Ryan Jensen get lit up in relief and watching Codi Heuer throw four pitches before leaving with what looks to be another arm injury.

Having a pair of pitchers struggling is never a good thing, but when facing off against Dakota Hudson, who is looking to make it back to the Majors, you know you have to be at your best. Hudson allowed two runs in five innings with seven punchouts. Ironically, both runs against Hudson came in the first two innings, with Yonathan Perlaza going deep in the first and Dom Nunez singling in the second.

That gave the Cubs a 2-0 lead, but it didn't last long.

Brown was dealing through three innings, but after a Moises Gomez single and the Taylor Motter double to tie things up in the fourth, you could see his night was ending. Memphis kept the pressure on in the fifth, with Masyn Wynn tying things up with an RBI triple before he scored on the Matt Koperniak single to put the Redbirds in front for good.

Throw in four more runs off of Jensen in the sixth, and the Redbirds busted the game open and took the 8-2 lead. Credit the Iowa offense for doing a great job battling back in the bottom of the sixth. Nunez used his second RBI knock to make things 8-3 ahead of the David Bote single to pull Iowa within 8-5. Unfortunately, they didn't get any closer and would fall by that score. Nunez led the way with two hits and two RBIs, with Edwin Rios adding two hits.

TENNESSEE SMOKIES vs. PENSACOLA BLUE WAHOOS (Postponed makeup 06/22)

This is a crucial next few days as the Smokies are tied with Chatanooga atop of the standings with only three games left to go until the end of the first half.

FORT WAYNE TIN CAPS 8 - SOUTH BEND CUBS 4

Things have gone south in a hurry for the Cubs, and that is disappointing when you think about it. However, with Moises Ballesteros and Felix Stevens recently promoted, help is on the way, as the Cubs could use all the help they can get right now.

Luis Devers was back on the bump for the Cubs as he continues to build up his arm strength.

Devers got off to a strong start, tossing two scoreless frames before the bottom fell out in the third as he allowed five runs in that inning which is all the Tin Caps would need. While Devers may have struggled, Jared Kollar didn't, as he allowed one run in six innings while getting plenty of run support.

Tied 0-0 in the third, Devers didn't help himself as he walked in a pair of runs to put the Tin Caps up 2-0. Things only got worse from there as Brandon Valenzuela and Lucas Dunn added RBI singles ahead of a sacrifice fly to make things 5-0. That score would hold until the sixth when Kevin Alcantara put the Cubs on the board with an RBI single to make things 5-1.

That would be as close as they would get as Fort Wayne got their offense going again in the seventh, with Dunn cranking a three-run shot to make things 8-1. Unlike some of their recent games, the Cubs did show plenty of fight until the end and started to rally in the bottom of the ninth. Luis Verdugo and Bryce Ball picked up RBI doubles in the ninth, with Stevens closing out the scoring with an RBI ground out to end the game 8-4. Verdugo and Ezequiel Pagan led the way with two hits. Ballesteros and Stevens went hitless in their debut, but Stevens did drive in a run.

MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS vs. KANNAPOLIS CANNON BALLERS (canceled due to rain)

ACL ATHLETICS 15 - ACL CUBS 12

This week hasn't started the way ACL wanted, as they have dropped their first two games. With so much offense in this one, it will be tough to recap everything, so let's focus on players of note. Drew Gray was on the mound for the Cubs and allowed four runs (3ER) in less than an inning. He was just one of a plethora of arms to hit the bump, including Stephen Gonsalves and Dominic Hambley.

However, the big story of the night for the entire Cubs system was the return of Brailyn Marquez to the mound and making his first appearance since 2020. The former top prospect in the Cubs system allowed one hit and struck out one in his return, and it will be interesting to see where he goes from here.

Regarding the offense, Alexander Canario stays hot, picking up another hit and another RBI, with Anderson Suriel adding two RBIs to give him eight on the season. You also had Wally Soto and Cristian More give the Cubs two RBIs, as there was so much going on Tuesday night.

DSL RED SOX 10 - DSL CUBS BLUE 6

Like the ACL game, this game was all about the offense, where plenty of players stepped up. The big swing of the day came from Erbin Jaque in the first inning, whose three-run shot put the Cubs in front 3-0 early. The Red Sox managed to pull within 3-2 in the second before Omar Ferrera doubled to push the lead back to 4-2 in the third.

The Red Sox continued their comeback bid in the bottom half of the third to tie things up before pulling away in the fourth inning. Four was the magic number in the fourth as the Moises Semerite double opened the scoring in a four-run inning that put the Red Sox in front for good before they ended the inning up 8-4.

DSL Blue did their best to battle back with a Moises Febrillet double in the sixth to make things 8-5, but the Red Sox plated two more shortly after to push that lead back to 10-5. DSL Blue scored an additional run late in the game on the Edward Vargas double, but it still wasn't enough. Vargas led the offense with three hits.

DSL PIRATES 6 - DSL CUBS RED 3

Things may not always be pretty, but both DSL teams are playing .500 ball at the moment. This was extremely interesting as seven of the runs scored came in the final inning after it was dominated by pitching early. David Bracho got the start and allowed two runs in three innings before Ronny Lopez came in to toss three scoreless frames to keep things close.

Both runs charged to Bracho came in the second inning as a wild pitch made things 1-0 ahead of the Miguel Rodriguez single to make things 2-0. Apart from that, the Cub's pitching was excellent, but it wasn't good enough. Carlos Castillo made the start and tossed four scoreless frames as the Cubs hitters were lost at the plate for six innings.

With the score 2-0 entering the seventh, it was time for both offenses to come to life. The problem with that was having the Pirates offense score more after they already had the lead. Carlos Caro opened the four-run ninth for the Pirates with a two-run double before Antonio Pimentel singled to make things 6-0.

Down to their last three outs, the Cubs wouldn't go away quietly and started to mount a late-game rally to keep things close. Sandy Sanchez ended the shutout with a double ahead of an error that made things 6-2. Joan Delgado continued his strong start to the season and capped off the scoring with an RBI single as the Cubs fell to the Pirates 6-3.

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