Cubs Minor League News
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Cubs Minor League News


Dustin Riese Dustin Riese  ·  Senior Writer ·  

There was some good, and there was some downright ugly in the Cubs Minor League system, as Wednesday night was a strange night, to say the least. Three of the four games that took place ended in blowout fashion, with only one of those results going the Cubs' way. Still, the Cubs pulled a .500 record for the second straight day, matching the full-season teams' theme that has been a constant since the start of the second half.

IOWA CUBS 10 - OMAHA STORM CHASERS 6

One day after watching the Storm Chasers deliver the knock-out blow with a five-run inning, the Cubs were once again watching the Storm Chasers put together a massive inning as they scored five times in the ninth. This time, it didn't matter, as the Cubs built up an enormous lead before securing a 10-6 victory.

Will Sanders has been quite the story for the Cubs this season as the right-hander continues to make his case as one of the better starters in the organization. Despite a 4.39 ERA in AAA, Sanders is now sitting at 4-0 as he struck out five across five innings of one-run baseball. Considering that Rich Hill got roughed up for seven runs in four innings, Sanders did his part to grab the win while the offense took care of the rest.

Kevin Alcantara has had a rough season, and there's no denying that, but over the past few weeks, he's starting to heat up and is on a roll right now. His strong run of play continued in the second as he connected for a two-run homer that put the Cubs on top for good, 2-0. That was only the start for the Cubs' offense as they scored nine times over the next several innings with Moises Ballesteros keeping the line moving with an RBI double in the third.

Ballesteros would add an RBI single in the fourth following a Chase Strumpf groundout as it was all Iowa through four, 5-0. The lone run off Sanders came in his final inning of work, and it came off the bat of Carter Jensen, who continued his massive series with an RBI double that made things 5-1.

Iowa responded with three more runs in the bottom of the fifth as James Triantos started things off with an RBI grounder, only to have Christian Franklin follow suit with a single. There was also a Wild Pitch that led to another run as the Cubs led 8-1. Iowa would go on to add two more runs on a sixth-inning wild pitch and an eighth-inning Carlos Perez homer as they held a 10-1 lead entering the ninth.

It was in that inning that the Omaha offense started to show signs of life and, from all accounts, made this a ballgame. Sure, there was an error that led to two runs, but Omaha scored five times in the ninth to pull within 10-6. Diego Castillo and Joey Wiemer singled home two runs as part of that inning, with Jensen adding his third homer of the series, but it wasn't enough as the Cubs held on 10-6.

ROCKET CITY TRASH PANDAS 9 - KNOXVILLE SMOKIES 1

Of the three blowouts, this was the bad one, and it wasn't in the Smokies' favor as they fell to Rocket City 9-1. Nick Dean wasn't at his best as he allowed six runs in 3 1/3 innings despite striking out six. Compare that to Sam Aldegheri, who allowed just one run in six innings, and this game was over almost as quickly as it started.

As rough as things were for Dean, it didn't start that way, as neither team scored a run in the first two innings. Then came the third, when Rocket City struck for four runs as part of six runs over their next two frames. Travis Blakenhorn opened the scoring with an RBI single, but it was the big fly from Denzer Guzman that broke the game open and had the Trash Pandas on top 4-0.

They would continue to build on that lead in the fourth, with Myles Emmerson connecting for another RBI single as it was all Trash Pandas early, 6-0. The lone run of the day for the Smokies came in the sixth off the Jordan Nwogu single to make things 6-1. That was as close as they would get as the Trash Pandas added three more runs in the seventh off a wild pitch and a two-run Ben Gobbel single to close out the 9-1 win.

PEORIA CHIEFS 21 - SOUTH BEND CUBS 2

There have been a lot of ugly games across Minor League baseball this season, but this one may take the cake. Despite the Cubs holding a 2-1 lead early in the game, it was all Chiefs as they closed out the game with 20 unanswered runs to rack up the 21-2 win.

Drew Gray was back in South Bend for the first time this season, and despite a good start to his outing, he would finish with five earned runs in three innings. That was the theme for most of the night, as Johzan Oquendo was the only pitcher not to allow a run, lowering his season ERA to 2.03.

Both teams got off to a fast start with Cristian Hernandez putting the Cubs on top 1-0 in the first off a sacrifice fly, only to have Won-Bin Cho tie things up with a double in the second. Hernandez continued to do his part in the third, connecting for a solo shot to put the Cubs back on top, 2-1, but that was about the only positive, as it was a nightmare the rest of the way.

All it took for the Chiefs to put this one away was one big swing from Josh Kross, whose third-inning Grand Slam gave the Chiefs the lead for good, 5-2, and was the start of something more. In total, Peoria had four innings of at least four runs, including three five-run frames to do most of their damage.

Two of those five-run innings came in back-to-back frames as they scored 10 runs across the fourth and fifth innings to open up a 15-2 lead. Ryan Campos and Tre Richardson had RBI doubles in the fourth, paired with RBI singles from Kross and Miguel Villarroel. The fifth inning was more of the same, with Kross adding another RBI single along with Travis Honeyman as the Chiefs' offense was rolling. Throw in another Campos double and an RBI fielder's choice, and this game was officially out of hand as the Chiefs rolled to the 21-2 win.

Kross had a massive day at the plate, connecting for three hits and driving in six as he was the engine that made the Chiefs go. Hernandez and Carter Trice led the Cubs with two hits, with Hernandez driving in both runs.

MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 10 - CHARLESTON RIVERDOGS 0

Of all the blowouts, this was the one that went in the Cubs' favor as the Pelicans' pitching showed up in a big way, allowing just four hits in the win. Ethan Flanagan has been a significant boost to the Pelicans' rotation, and his early-season dominance has continued.

Flanagan was dialed in from the start, walking two and striking out nine across six innings as his ERA fell to 0.56. Speaking of Cristian Hernandez, his little brother, Alexis Hernandez, was promoted to Low-A and immediately produced with an RBI double that put the Pelicans ahead for good, 1-0, in the second. They would go on to tack on a third inning run with a Leonel Espinoza double and a fourth inning Dilan Granadillo sacrifice fly as the Pelicans opened up a 3-0 lead through four.

Myrtle Beach continued to keep the pressure on in the fifth with Matt Halbach extending their lead with a two-run single, only to respond with an even bigger inning in the sixth. Already with five runs across, the Pelicans doubled their lead in the sixth and scored five times to blow the game open 10-0. Halbach added an RBI groundout as part of that inning, with a passed ball leading to another run.

You also had Alexey Lumpuy pick up a bases-loaded walk as part of that inning with Eli Lovich closing out the scoring with an RBI single in the 10-0 win. Alexis Hernandez led the Pelicans with three hits, while Halbach drove in three to lead the way.

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