Cubs Minor League News: I-Cubs game suspended, Nwogu with eighth homer in loss, more |
With so much action happening during the trade deadline, most of the baseball world focused on who was being traded and where they were going. However, lost in all the roster shuffling taking place was the minor league system who not only continued to go about their seasons, but were equally as affected by deadline.
As the pieces continued to get moved from the Cubs to other organizations, the Cubs had to sort through the minor leagues to figure who would get called up and where these new prospects land. Once that was figured out, six teams hit the diamond on Friday and posted a 1-4 record, with one game being suspended.
Tonight's game has been suspended due to inclement weather. This game will resume tomorrow at 4:38pm. Gates will open at 3:38pm.
After a fabulous pitching performance on Thursday, the Smokies were blitzed by the Lookouts as they were dominated 10-3. Dakota Chalmers continues to take his bumps and bruises, going four innings and surrendering seven of the 10 runs allowed. Things were not bad early on, as Brennen Davis gave the Smokies the lead with an RBI single in the first before doubling in the third to extend the lead to 2-0. Davis would later come around to score on a Levi Jordan single as the Smokies led 3-0 after three innings of play. Unfortunately for them, not only was that all the offense they would have, but the Lookouts starter to hammer Chalmers as they ended the game with 10 unanswered runs to claim the victory. Six of those runs came in the fifth inning as extra-base hits were the name of the game. Not only did Brian Rey and Jose Tello pick up RBI doubles, but Lorenzo Cedrola added an RBI triple as those three were responsible for five of the six runs driven in. Drew Mount added an RBI single in the middle of all that as Chattanooga stormed in front 7-3. That score held up until the ninth inning when the Lookouts pushed across three more runs, with Rey, Cedrola, and Wilson Garcia picking up RBI singles to hand the Smokies a 10-3 defeat. The Smokies collected nine hits, but eight came from four players, with Davis, Nelson Maldonado, Darius Hill, and Jordan picking up two. Jared Young added the final hit with Chase Strumpf suffering another hitless day and dropped his average to just .162. FINAL: Lookouts 10, Smokies 3 pic.twitter.com/m2hZD0dc4Y
Despite the Cubs using a five-run inning late in the game to draw even, it was the River Bandits picking up the last laugh as they walked off South Bend 7-6. To everyone's surprise, this was a pitcher's duel in the early going as Joe Nahas, and Anthony Veneziano were brilliant early on. Not only was the game tied 0-0 through four, but after six, it was 2-0 Quad cities as both pitchers came to play. Veneziano was much stronger as he struck out 10 in his six innings compared to four by Nahas. Down 2-0 in the seventh, the Cubs final got on the board as Harrison Wenson laid down a perfect bunt for a bunt single. The Cubs would then see the River Bandits stretch their lead out a bit as Logan Porter picked up an RBI double ahead of two bases-loaded walks to put the Cubs in a 5-1 hole. One inning later saw the Cubs bats come to life as they wouldn't go down without a fight. Jake Slaughter came through with a clutch hit with the bases loaded as his RBI double made things 5-4. Edmond Americaan followed that up with an RBI triple of his own, and just like that, the Cubs led 6-5. Hoping to finish things off in the ninth, Quad Cities had other plans with Seuly Matias singling home the tying run to force extras. It was in the extra frame where the Cubs had their hearts broken as Jake Means picked up an RBI double to walk off the Cubs 7-6. Josue Huma led the Cubs offense with two hits, while six others recorded one hit in the loss. Nelson Velazquez and Tyler Durna were the players without a hit as Americaan struggled to make contact, fanning three times in the loss. Quad Cities walks it off on a double despite a five-run eighth that kept the game in reach for South Bend. Back at it tomorrow night. pic.twitter.com/EDHcPCLVwq
Not only did the Cubs lose on Friday, but most of their losses in the system were lopsided games which doesn't bode well. Tyler Schlaffer and Adam Laskey had a rough go of things as the two combined to allow eight of the 10 runs in less than five innings. After Vaugh Grissom gave the Greenjackets a 1-0 lead in the first off, a homer, Jordan Nwogu, answered in the second by connecting for his eighth homer. Nwogu is starting to heat up and has been the team's best hitter of later. An Ezequiel Pagan sacrifice fly in the third gave the Pelicans a 2-1 lead only to see Landon Stephens homer in the bottom half to tie things back up 2-2. The back-and-forth affair continued in the top half of the fourth when Matt Warkentin went deep for his third homer of the season, putting Myrtle Beach in front 3-2. That would be all they would get on offense as the Greenjackets closed out the game with eight unanswered runs, with two of those coming off the Cade Bunnell homer in the bottom of the fourth to put them in front for good 4-3. One inning later saw the Augusta offense take full command as they broke the game wide open with a four-run fifth. Victor De Hoyos got the party started with the fourth homer of the game for Augusta before a pair of bases-loaded walks made things 8-3. The Greenjackets added on in the seventh-off singles from Bryson Horne and Stephens as they picked up the 10-3 win. Despite hitting just, a .218 on the season, Nwogu has been on a tear of later and led the offense with two hits to go with his homer. He was joined by Pagan, Warkentin, Luis Verdugo, and Fabian Pertuz, who all had hits, while Yohendrick Pinango and Ed Howard went hitless. Whoops. We never tweeted out the final from last night.
The lone win of the day came from the high-powered ACL Cubs as they pounded the Diamondbacks 10-2. Luis Rodriguez got the ball for the Cubs, and although he only went four innings, it was four hitless innings to set the tone. Thankfully for him, the offense backed him in a big way pushing across seven runs through the first three innings. The first three runs came in the first when Ismael Mena got into one for his first homer of the season to make things 2-0 before an error extended the lead to 3-0. Two innings later saw the Cubs offense in full swing again as four more runs came across to make things 7-0. Flemin Bautista brought home the first of those four runs with an RBI single before Rafael Morel homered with a pair of runners on base to make things 7-0. Morel wasn't finished at the plate as he would add an RBI double in the fourth to give the Cubs an 8-0 lead. Following a two-run fifth that saw the Diamondbacks get their runs on a wild pitch and a Jefferson Espinal single, the Cubs responded by coming home on a wild pitch in the bottom of the fifth before the Jose Lopez single in the sixth capped off the scoring in a 10-2 win. With just seven hits, the Cubs made sure to capitalize on those hits as Morel and Mena contributed to four of those hits and six RBIs. Yeison Santana, Bautista, and Malcolm Quintero recorded the final hits, with Felix Stevens, Reggie Preciado, and Owen Caissie going hitless. Caissie did draw three walks and continues to show excellent plate discipline.
Things continue to be a rough go for DSL Blue as they fell to 2-11 on the season following another tough loss. The worst part about Friday's game was that all three of the Pirates runs came in the second inning off one swing, with Heiron Montalban going deep for his first of the season and giving the Pirates a 3-0 lead. Typically, I would like to think that lead wouldn't be enough, but on this day, it was just enough as the Cubs managed to score just two runs. Their runs came in the fourth inning when Cristian Hernandez singled home the first run before a Leonel Espinoza grounder made it 3-2. That was as close as things would get as DSL Blue wasn't able to come through with the clutch hit they needed late. With just three hits, runs would be hard to come by, but Cristian Hernandez did his best collecting two of those hits to go with his RBI. Joanfran Rojas added the remaining hit in the loss. DSL CUBS RED vs. DSL GIANTS (Cancelled)LOUISVILLE BATS 3 – IOWA CUBS 2 (suspended will resume July 31)
Tomorrow night's scheduled game will now be a 7-inning contest.
Full details and Ticketing Information: https://t.co/CCJ5ROQY4s pic.twitter.com/0DLY2llP6aCHATTANOOGA LOOKOUTS 10 – TENNESSEE SMOKIES 3
QUAD CITIES RIVER BANDITS 7 – SOUTH BEND CUBS 6 (10 innings)
AUGUSTA GREENJACKETS 10 – MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 3
10-3 the other team OKAY moving on
Have a good Saturday.ACL CUBS 10 – ACL Diamondbacks 2
DSL PIRATES 3 – DSL CUBS BLUE 2
