Cubs Minor League News |
Dustin Riese
· · Monday, June 02 2025
Sunday was not the day the Cubs and their Minor League system were hoping for, as all the momentum they started to gain went out the window. Anytime you end another week of competition going 0-4, it leaves a sour taste in your mouth, as you have to wait 48 hours to respond with a brand new set of teams.
This is one of those games where the Cubs will look back on it and say it got away from them. A back-and-forth affair most of the night, the Cubs held a 4-3 lead entering the eighth. It was at that point when the Mets rallied, scoring two runs over the final two innings to secure the 5-4 win. Over the past month, the Cubs have been trying to piece together their pitching rotation, and Peter Solomon was one of those pieces they brought in. The right-hander has struggled to find his footing with Iowa, and after allowing three runs in three innings, those struggles continued. Solomon was backed by some instant offense as a Jonathon Long first-inning grounder led to the game's first run, with Carlos Perez adding an RBI single to make this a 2-0 game. Iowa made that lead hold until the third when all three runs against Solomon crossed home. Drew Gilbert opened the scoring for the Mets with a two-run single that tied things up, while an additional single from Ronny Mauricio made this a 3-2 Mets lead. The Long and Perez connection continued to do the damage the rest of the way, with Long adding his third homer of the week in the third to tie the game and Perez going deep in the seventh to put the Cubs on top 4-3 late. The long ball continued to play a role late in the game as Donovan Walton took Nate Pearson deep in the eighth to bring this back to even 4-4. Syracuse continued their comeback bid in the ninth as Jack Neely walked home the winning run in what wound up being a 5-4 Mets win. Perez paced the Cubs with three hits and two RBIs, with Owen Caissie adding two hits.
Late-game bullpen struggles were a theme for the Cubs system on Sunday, which continued in Knoxville. After battling back from an early four-run deficit, the Smokies managed to tie things up late as this game was looking to go to extras. That was until the Barons erupted for four runs in the ninth to break the game open, and led to an 8-4 Barons win. Sam Armstrong got the start for Knoxville, and after a shaky start to the game that saw him allow four runs (3ER) in the first inning, it turned out to be a solid start as he gave the Smokies five innings. All of the runs he allowed came in that first inning as an error led to the game's first run before the Wilfred Veras homer broke the game open 4-0. Knoxville did their best to battle back with Ethan Hearn taking Riley Gowens deep in the second, but with that being the only run Gowens allowed, it was looking as if the Smokies' offense would have a quiet day at the plate. Leave it to the Smokies to change that as they rallied for three runs in the seventh, with a Jordan Nwogu single making it 4-2 ahead of the game-tying Pedro Ramirez single, which tied the game at 4-4. With things still tied 4-4 in the ninth, it was the Zac Leigh and Cayne Ueckert combo that let the Smokies down as they loaded the bases ahead of the Ryan Galanie Grand Slam, which proved to be the difference in the 8-4 Barons win. Hearn and Ramirez paced the offense with two hits as Ramirez has raised his average to .296.
Although the Cubs saw their weekend with a loss, they do deserve a ton of credit for how they battled this week. The fight they showed against a far superior River Bandits team has been lacking this season, but if that fight continues, there is no reason not to believe that more wins are on the way. This was a game where all four runs were scored in a span of two innings as the pitching set the tone for most of the night. Kenton Egbert took another loss, but for the second time in as many starts, he seems to be finding his form on the mound. The right-hander gave the Cubs 6 2/3 innings of three-run baseball, striking out three in the process. The problem was that the River Bandits staff was even better, as they allowed just one run the entire game, with that run coming off a fourth-inning bases-loaded walk to Jefferson Rojas. Immediately after serving up the lead, the River Bandits took it right back as all three of their runs came in the fifth inning. Erick Torres provided the game-winning hit with a two-run triple before he came in to score on the Sam Kulasingam single that closed out the scoring in a 3-1 River Bandits win. South Bend was held to four hits in the loss, with Ariel Armas leading the way with two.
This was another game where pitching set the tone, as all of the runs came in three innings. That included an early three-run inning for Augusta, which proved to be the difference in this one. Hayden Frank was the losing pitcher in this one, as he surrendered three runs in two innings of work. Apart from that, the Pelicans' pitching was lights out, including Cole Reynolds, who struck out five across three innings of one-run baseball. Anytime you can give your pitcher the lead in the first inning, you have to love your chances, as Jose Escobar opened the scoring with a first-inning RBI groundout to put the Birds on top 1-0. The only issue was that it was the only run Jeremy Reyes and the Greenjackets staff would allow, as Augusta responded with three runs in the second to take the lead for good, 3-1. Mason Guerra started that three-run second with the game-tying RBI single before Luis Sanchez delivered the game-winning two-RBI single that made this a 3-1 game. Augusta closed out the scoring in the fifth with a John Gil double as the Greenjackets picked up a 4-1 win. Four different Pelicans had a hit on the night, as the offense was tough to come by.
It was an overall successful weekend for the Dogs as they took care of the Railcats. That included their dominating 12-3 win on Sunday, as they scored eight runs over the final two frames to blow things open. Connor Curlis set the tone on the mound as he allowed two runs in six innings with six strikeouts. TJ Hopkins was one of three hitters to post multiple hits, as he also led the offense with three RBIs in the win.
After dropping the first of their three-game weekend set, the Thunderbolts responded with two straight wins, including a 4-2 win on Sunday to claim the series. All four of the Bolts' runs came in the first four innings, which opened the door for a strong pitching performance across the board. Aaron Evers benefited from a quick offensive attack as he lowered his season ERA to 2.42 following seven innings of two-run baseball. He walked one and struck out four. Jalen Greer led the offense with two hits and an RBI as Cam Phelts and Michael Sandle added the other two RBIs in the win.SYRACUSE METS 5 - IOWA CUBS 4
BIRMINGHAM BARONS 8 - KNOXVILLE SMOKIES 4
QUAD CITIES RIVER BANDITS 3 - SOUTH BEND CUBS 1
AUGUSTA GREENJACKETS 4 - MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 1
CHICAGO DOGS 12 - GARY SOUTHSHORE RAILCATS 3
WINDY CITY THUNDERBOLTS 4 - LAKE ERIE CRUSHERS 2
