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Cubs Minor League News: Ben Brown pitches gem, Bellinger on rehab, PCA clutch, more

Cubs Minor League News: Ben Brown pitches gem, Bellinger on rehab, PCA clutch, more
by - Senior Writer - Thu Jun 15 11:00:24 GMT-04:00 2023

After a brutal performance on Tuesday that saw the Cubs system win one game, wins were far more plentiful on Wednesday as the Cubs had a bounce-back night. With only four teams in action, as the Rookie leagues enjoyed their day off, the Cubs posted a 3-1 record with a pair of games coming down to the wire.

IOWA CUBS 8 - INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS 1

Wednesday marked another what is becoming known as Ben Brown day, and boy did the right-hander deliver. With two double-digit strikeout games in the past month, Brown was on another level and in complete control again. Despite scattering six hits across six scoreless innings, Brown didn't allow a run while striking out a career-high 11.

Keegan Thompson and Manny Rodriguez took over from there, but it was the offense that got rolling in a hurry and made things a whole lot easier. Tied 0-0 in the third, the Iowa offense came to life and pushed across six runs to back Brown with plenty of support while also taking control of the game.

Nelson Velazquez opened the scoring with an RBI single, while Cody Bellinger came through with a sacrifice fly to make things 2-0. For Bellinger, he is in the middle of a rehab stint and is hopeful to be back with the Cubs by this weekend.

Still in the third, Jake Slaughter pushed the lead to 4-0 with an RBI single, while Chase Strumpf and Sergio Alcantara made things 6-0 with two more RBI knocks.

Had the Cubs not scored the rest of the way, this inning would've provided enough offense, but they were not going to settle and had a little bit more left in them. Holding that 6-0 lead in the sixth, Edwin Rios, also on a rehab tour, pushed across the next run as his RBI single made things 7-0. Iowa capped off their scoring in the seventh when Darius Hill flared one into the left field corner for an RBI double to put the Cubs in front 8-0.

The lone run of the day for the Indians came off of Thompson in the eighth, where the red-hot Miguel Andujar came through with a sacrifice fly. That would be it, as the Cubs finished them off for a nice bounce-back win.

Velazquez was one of four players to notch multiple hits joining Rios, Strumpf, and Bryce Windham. Everyone in the lineup had at least one hit for the Cubs.

TENNESSEE SMOKIES 5 - BIRMINGHAM BARONS 4

With less than 10 games to go in the first half, the Tennessee Smokies find themselves in a battle for the top spot, and every win is crucial. Coming off their late-game letdown, things were not looking good on Wednesday, but it was the Smokie's turn to use some late-game magic as a three-run ninth inning propelled them to the win.

Porter Hodge got the start for the Smokies and continues improving each time out. Across his five innings, Hodge allowed three runs on just two hits while striking out seven. He gave way to a trio of bullpen arms in Luke Little, Zac Leigh, and Ben Hecht as they allowed one run the rest of the way.

Despite the good performance from Hodge, Cristian Mena was slightly better as he struck out seven in six innings while only allowing two runs. Both runs came in two innings, with Nelson Maldonado opening the scoring with a solo shot in the second, with BJ Murray Jr adding an RBI single in the third. Those would be the last of the Smokie's runs for quite some time, as their offense was held in check most of the game.

Leading 2-0 in the fourth, Alexander Womack put the Barons on the board with an RBI single, but the Moises Castillo homer off of Hodge in the fifth gave the Barons a 3-2 lead. Birmingham maintained that lead until the eighth inning when Tyler Neslony added a solo shot for a huge insurance run and put the Barons up 4-2.

Down to their final outs, the Smokies made things interesting as they loaded the bases against the Barons, but were down to their last out. Leave it to Pete Crow-Armstrong to play the hero, as his RBI double not only tied things up, but it cleared the bases as the Smokies battled back to take a 5-4 lead.

That would be all they needed as Hecht slammed the door in the ninth for the save. For Armstrong, he led the Smokies with two hits while coming away with those three RBIs.

CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 7 - SOUTH BEND CUBS 2

Coming into the week, the Cubs knew that they needed to beat the Kernels to win the first-half division title. After dropping the series opener in walk-off fashion, South Bend was in a tough spot as they had to win out the rest of this series to put themselves in a good position.

Despite a very good start from Luis Devers, the Cubs offense struggled as the Kernels used the long ball to get rolling and pulled away 7-2. Making just his second start since returning from the IL, Devers showed significant improvement as he held the high-powered Kernels hitless through four with two punchouts.

The problem was Cory Lewis was just as good as he allowed one run through five innings with nine strikeouts.

With the game tied 0-0 in the fifth, South Bend finally managed to come through as they grabbed the lead on Cedar Rapids. A two-out walk from Kevin Made started the brief rally as he advanced to second on a wild pitch. Casey Opitz took care of the rest from there as his RBI single put the Cubs up 1-0, which was their only lead of the game.

Entering the game for the Cubs in the fifth, Tyler Santana looked to build off what Devers started. Instead, it was a nightmare inning for the Cubs right-hander as he surrendered four runs, capped off by the Ben Ross three-run shot as the Kernels jumped in front 4-1. Santana continued to struggle in the sixth, allowing another homer to Andrew Cossetti, with the Cubs now finding themselves in a 5-1 hole.

Cedar Rapids continued to do work against the struggling Cubs pen, with Misael Urbina and Cossetti picking up a pair of RBIs in the eighth to push the lead to 7-1. South Bend managed to push across a run in the ninth via an error, but apart from that, their struggles continued as they fell to the Kernels 7-2.

MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 1 - FREDERICKSBURG NATIONALS 0

Locked in a battle for first place themselves and less than 10 games to go, the Pelicans know every win is crucial. After a less-than-stellar performance on Tuesday, the Pelicans rode a strong pitching performance from Michael Arias and company to knock off the Nationals 1-0 as their magic number to clinch the first half fell to six.

Arias has been on a roll for a while, but Wednesday saw him as good as anyone has seen this season. Across five scoreless innings, Arias allowed two hits and struck out a career-high 10 to go with one walk. His ERA fell to 2.63 as he had to settle for a no-decision.

Bryan Caceres is the reason for that, as he matched Arias pitch for pitch and also twirled five scoreless frames.

The game's lone run came in the sixth inning when Pedro Ramirez reached on an RBI fielder's choice. Credit Cristian Hernandez as the catalyst for that, as his aggressive baserunning led to the only run, the Birds would need.

Myrtle Beach had four hits in the game, with Jefferson Rojas leading the way with two.

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