Cubs Minor League News: Pelicans eliminated, Smokies' streak ends, Iowa wins

Jerry Lai - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese · Senior Writer · 10 hours ago

Thursday was an especially rough night for the Cubs' Minor League system in more ways than one. Not only did the Pelicans drop their series to Columbia, eliminating them from the playoffs, but the Knoxville Smokies also saw their seven-game winning streak come to an end. All that together led to the organization posting a 1-2 record as Iowa grabbed the lone win for the club.

IOWA CUBS 6 - INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS 2

When one streak comes to an end, a new one begins as the Cubs got back to their winning ways on Thursday by taking down the Indians 6-2. This was a very important game for the Cubs for several reasons, with the main reason surrounding Michael Soroka, who was back on the mound for the first time since his injury.

Soroka may not have started the game, but after entering in the fifth and then throwing 2 1/3 innings of one-run, three-strikeout baseball, the Cubs had to like what they saw. You could say the same thing about Jordan Wicks, who took the ball for the start and proceeded to throw three innings of one-run, four-strikeout baseball.

Had it not been for the Nick Solak double in the bottom of the third, Wicks would've gotten through his outing without allowing a run, but that wasn't the case as the Cubs found themselves in an early 1-0 hole. That lead would hold until the fifth when Owen Caissie and Jonathon Long connected for back-to-back RBI doubles, leading to two runs coming home to score to give the Cubs a 2-1 lead.

With Soroka now on the mound for the Cubs, it was the Indians pulling even again in the sixth as Jack Suwinski touched them all for a solo shot to make this a 2-2 game. From that moment on it was all Iowa as they ended the game with four unanswered runs as the Carlos Perez single put the Cubs on top for good in the seventh 3-2.

Hayden Cantrelle would add to that lead with his two-run blast in the eighth, which was followed by a Caleb Knight single in the ninth to close out the scoring in a 6-2 Cubs win. Perez continued this torrid stretch he is on as he led the Cubs with three hits to push his average to .294. Cantrelle added three hits with Caissie, Long, Knight, and Dixon Machado all having two hits in the win.

MONTGOMERY BISCUITS 3 - KNOXVILLE SMOKIES 0

One day after watching the Iowa Cubs have their season-long winning streak come to an end, it was the Smokies' turn to have their seven-game winning streak end as the Biscuits blanked the Smokies 3-0. Connor Schultz got the start and did all he could to get the win as he struck out eight across 5 1/3 innings.

He did allow three runs, which isn't bad, but when your offense is held to one hit, it doesn't matter how good you pitch. The only run the Biscuits would need was the third inning homer from Noah Myers as Montgomery took an early 1-0 lead. That would be all TJ Nichols would need as the right-hander allowed just one hit in five shutout innings.

Still holding their 1-0 lead in the sixth, the Biscuits pushed across two big runs to create some separation as the Homer Bush Jr triple doubled their lead before Bush came home on the Jadher Areinamo single as he brought home the final run in the 3-0 Biscuits win. Carter Trice had the lone hit for the Smokies in what was a horrific offensive night.

COLUMBIA FIREFLIES 2 - MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 1

No one will argue that the second half of the season was one to remember as the Pelicans went on an impressive run to make the postseason. However, as is the case more often than not, anything can happen in a best-of-three series, and when your offense scores a total of two runs in two games, your chances of coming out on top are slim to none.

Facing a win-or-go-home situation, it was the Pelicans striking first, only to have the Fireflies push across two runs in the fifth to take a 2-1 lead, as they would go on to win that score, and ended the Pelicans' season. Pierce Coppola got the ball for the Pelicans, and despite lasting just two innings, he did what he had to do as he kept the Fireflies offense off the board before handing things over to Kevin Camacho and the pen.

Facing off against Kendry Chourio, who was lights out through five innings, it was the Pelicans striking first for the second time in this series as the Ty Southisene single put the Pelicans in front 1-0 in the third. Considering they still led by this score in the fifth, things were looking good in terms of forcing another game, only to have Luke Nowak come through with a massive single off Camacho, pushing across two runs to give Columbia a 2-1 lead.

That was the difference in the game as the Pelicans' offense managed just two hits over the final four innings, resulting in a season-ending 2-1 loss. Myrtle Beach had six hits in the loss, with Kane Kepley and Angel Cepeda leading the way with two.