Cubs Minor League News: Canario homers, Caissie leadoff bomb, Alcantara raking, SB walkoff
Photo courtesy: Iowa Cubs

Cubs Minor League News: Canario homers, Caissie leadoff bomb, Alcantara raking, SB walkoff
by - Senior Writer - Wed Jul 24 10:30:02 GMT-05:00 2024

It was a solid night overall for the Cubs and their system, as they posted a 4-3 record on the diamond. It's not a bad start to the week, all things considered. What has been standing out the most is the number of promotions that have been happening throughout the system and the overall success a lot of these players are having at their new levels.

INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS 13 - IOWA CUBS 6

With the MLB trade deadline rapidly approaching and the Cubs expected to make some moves, get ready to see more kids from Iowa on the move to Chicago. This shouldn't surprise anyone when you look at how the season has gone so far, as the Cubs opened up a new week of competition with a blowout loss.

Kyle McGowin got the start and wasn't at his best, as he was touched up for seven runs in just four innings. The bullpen wasn't much better, especially not Caleb Kilian, who had his first bad outing of the season by allowing six runs. Giving Domingo German 13 runs of support isn't what the doctor ordered as he gave the Indians five strong innings of four-run ball.

This was a highly competitive game early on as the Indians grabbed an early 2-0 lead in the first, only to have Owen Caissie club a leadoff homer in the bottom of the first to make things 2-1.

Homers played a role early in the game as Seth Beer added a solo shot in the second to make things 3-1 before adding a second one in the fourth.

That came after a pair of RBI doubles from Jake Hager and Chase Strumpf tied things up at three as the Indians held a 4-3 lead through four.

Then came the fifth inning when the Indians not only broke the game open, but did so by scoring three times in three consecutive innings. Jake Lamb started that with a three-run blast in the fifth to make things 7-3, while an RBI forceout and the Henry Davis single extended that lead to 10-4 in the sixth.

Beer put an exclamation point on his night with a three-run blast in the seventh for his third homer of the day as the Indians led 13-4 through seven. Iowa did pick up two runs in that ninth inning off another Alexander Canario homer, but it wasn't enough in the Cubs 13-6 loss. Canario led the Cubs with two hits and three RBIs as he continues to destroy AAA pitching.

TENNESSEE SMOKIES 5 - BIRMINGHAM BARONS 1

Backed by a three-run first inning, it was the Smokies taking care of business as they ripped off another 5-1 win. Antonio Santos got the start and was about as dominant as he has been, as he allowed one run in six innings, striking out seven, and his ERA sits at 2.83.

Facing off against Tyler Schweitzer, the Smokies found themselves trailing early as a Wilfred Veras first-inning double put the Barons on top 1-0. Not only was that their only run of the game, but it was also a lead that didn't last long, with Matt Shaw tying things up at the bottom of the first with a sacrifice fly. That was followed by a pair of sole homers from Kevin Alcantara and Jonathon Long, and just like that, this was a 3-1 Smokies lead.

Long was just getting started as he added a second solo blast in the bottom of the eighth to close out the scoring for Tennessee, who also picked up a run on a wild pitch in the fifth to win 5-1. Long had his best day in AA so far, going a perfect 3-3 at the plate with two homers, and is hitting .571 thus far. Four other players, including James Triantos and Shaw, had one hit.

SOUTH BEND CUBS 3 - PEORIA CHIEFS 2 (F/10)

Any time you can beat your rivals, there is a special feel to it, but to walk them off makes that feeling even better. After spotting the Chiefs two early first-inning runs, the Cubs had to play catchup the rest of the way and pulled even in the sixth.

Credit Nick Dean for that, as he allowed just two runs in five innings with eight strikeouts before handing things off to Marino Santy and the pen as the Cubs battled back for a 3-2 extra-inning win.

Both runs off Dean came in the first, with Tre Richardson opening the scoring with an RBI double before coming home on the Chris Rotondo single.

Given how sharp Pete Hansen was early, two runs was looking to be enough as he struck out five in six innings and allowed two runs. Both came in his final inning of work as Brian Kalmer took him deep for his seventh homer of the season as this was a 2-2 game.

Things would stay that way through the ninth before heading to extras, where Brett Bateman cashed in with a walk-off sacrifice fly to give the Cubs a 3-2 win.

South Bend had seven hits in the ball game, with Rafael Morel leading the way with two. Five others were responsible for the remaining hits, including Bateman, Ed Howard, and Pedro Ramirez.

MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 7 - AUGUSTA GREEN JACKETS 1

There were a lot of solid pitching performances throughout the night in the Cubs system, and Myrtle Beach had one of those. With Kenten Egbert battling through command issues to post 3 2/3 shutout innings, the performance of Angel Hernandez was the difference as he struck six in 2 1/3 innings of relief to lower his ERA to 1.53.

Believe it or not, this was a scoreless game through three innings, as Garrett Baumann was equally as good as Egbert early. In fact, Augusta opened the scoring in the fourth off the John Gil single as they held a 1-0 lead at that point. Little did they know that would be the only run they would score as Myrtle Beach went on a seven-run binge the next four innings, including three straight two-run frames.

Cristian Hernandez played a role in that, picking up four RBIs in the win. The first came on a two-run single in the fifth to give the Pelicans the lead before tacking on a double in the sixth to extend the lead to 4-1.

You then had Miguel Pabon add to that lead with a double in the seventh before coming home on an Anderson Suriel single for his first Low-A RBI since his promotion.

Jacob Wetzel closed out the scoring in the eighth with another RBI single, and the Pelicans closed out the game with seven unanswered runs to roll 7-1.

Hernandez had one of his best games of the season, with three hits and four RBIs. He also made history by stealing his 60th base as a Pelican, which is a franchise record.

ACL ROCKIES 5 - ACL CUBS 4

Two more hits for Derniche Valzdez is the story in this one as he raised his average to .263 and drove in another run. The Cubs also saw Richard Gallardo make his first rehab appearance and toss 1 2/3 scoreless innings, while Adbert Alzolay was back on the bump and served up three runs in one inning, with only one run being earned.

DSL CUBS BLUE 3 - DSL GIANTS 2

After seeing their Monday contest get suspended due to rain, the Cubs were back in action Tuesday, looking for their first win of the week. That win came at the hands of the Giants as the Cubs used some strong pitching to pick up the 3-2 win.

Geovanny Vasquez got the start, and despite walking five in 2 2/3, he managed to limit the damage, allowing just two runs. He also struck out five as the Cubs bullpen took over from there to finish things off. Ronny Lopez was one of those guys, as he allowed just one hit in three innings with five strikeouts to bring his ERA to 2.53.

It took three innings for either team to get on the board, with a wild pitch aiding the first run to give the Giants a 1-0 lead. Jesus Alexander tacked on an RBI single later in the inning to extend that lead to 2-0, but those would be the only runs the Giants would score. DSL Blue managed to get one of those runs back in the bottom of the third off a Cesar Lugo single before tying things up in the fifth on the Diego Gonzalez groundout.

Then came the bottom of the ninth, where the Cubs had the winning run on third with one out. Leave it to Carlos Altuve to come through as his sacrifice fly brought home the winning run and gave the Cubs a 3-2 walk-off win. Lugo paced the offense with two hits and an RBI, with Brailin Pascual adding two additional hits.

DSL PIRATES 9 - DSL CUBS RED 5

The DSL Pirates have been a thorn in the Cubs' side all summer, and that continued on Tuesday. Despite a three-run inning by the Cubs to open the scoring, the Pirates needed only two innings to do all their damage, scoring nine times in two innings to pick up the 9-5 win.

With no score entering the third, the Cubs offense struck first by using a Daniel Campos fielder's choice to grab the lead before tacking on another run with a walk. Then came the Jesus Rodriguez single single as the Cubs pushed across three runs to open up a 3-0 lead. Following a great start from Frailin Alejo, who didn't allow a run in three innings, the bullpen got lit up as they allowed nine runs the rest of the way.

Five came in the fourth as a pair of wild pitches and a steal of home saw the Pirates tie things up 3-3. They followed that up with a Kendrick Herrera single as Pittsburgh was now in front 5-3. With the Cubs pulling within 5-4 in the fifth, the Pirates offense put the game away in the sixth as they scored four more times in that inning.

A Michell Ojeda single was the only RBI hit in that inning, as that was mixed with a bases-loaded walk and two RBI forceout plays. Vicent Nunez capped off the scoring with a sacrifice fly in the seventh, but the Cubs still fell 9-5. Campos and Rodriguez led the way with two hits, with Nunez adding two RBIs.

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