Cubs Minor League News: Perlaza raking, Aliendo homers, PCA clutch, Rojas with grand slam

Cubs Minor League News: Perlaza raking, Aliendo homers, PCA clutch, Rojas with grand slam
by - Senior Writer - Wed Jul 19 11:42:04 GMT-05:00 2023

With every affiliate back in action on Tuesday, it was a busy night on the diamond for the Cubs and their fans. Overall, it was a solid night for the Cubs and their system, as the full-season teams went 3-1, and the Rookie League teams went 1-2. That led to an overall showing of 4-3, as a winning night is always a good night.

IOWA CUBS 7 - INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS 3

Led by a three-run second inning to get the offense going, the Iowa Cubs opened up another series with a win topping the Indians 7-3. Jordan Wicks was on the mound as he continued to make strides in AAA. Although he didn't get the win, Wicks gave the Cubs four innings and allowed three runs on five hits. He didn't walk a batter and struck out four.

Wicks was backed by plenty of early support as the suddenly hot Edwin Rios left the yard in the second to make things 1-0. Yonathan Perlaza added an RBI double later in the inning to extend the Cubs lead to 3-0 as they were in control early. The Indians responded in their half of the third, with Vinny Capra putting them on the board with a solo shot, while Perlaza answered in the fourth with a two-run shot to extend the lead to 5-1.

Capra continued to have a great game, adding an RBI double in the fifth to make things 5-2, with the Rodolfo Castro sacrifice fly making things 5-3. That was as close as the Indians would get as Luis Vazquez and Bryce Windham added RBIs later in the game to cap off the 7-3 win. Vazquez led the offense with three hits, but the four-RBI day from Perlaza set the tone.

TENNESSEE SMOKIES 7 - MISSISSIPPI BRAVES 5

It didn't come easy, but the Smokies opened up a new week with another win. Despite their offense being held in check most of the night, the Smokies rallied for five late runs to take the lead and held on 7-5. After a strong run of starts, DJ Herz was roughed up in this one as he allowed five runs on eight hits in 4 2/3. He walked two and struck out six, but the four scoreless innings from the pen saved this one, including two from winner Porter Hodge.

While Herz may have struggled, Domingo Robles certainly didn't, as he pitched into the sixth inning and allowed just two runs. Those runs came on a Pablo Aliendo homer in the second that saw the Smokies grab an early 2-0 lead.

It was all Mississippi after that, as the Braves responded with five unanswered runs to take the lead. Luke Waddell tied things up with an RBI double in the third before the Braves took the 3-2 lead on the Javier Valdes single. Two innings later saw Mississippi extend that lead to 5-2 as Tyler Tolve and Landon Stephens took Herz deep for the final runs off of him.

Trailing by three in the eighth, the Smokies used the long ball to tie things up, with Nelson Maldonado making things 5-3 and Pete Crow-Armstrong belting a two-run shot to tie the game.

The next inning saw Aliendo drive home the winning run with an RBI groundout, while Jordan Nwogu picked up a sacrifice fly as the Smokies battled back for a 7-5 win. BJ Murray Jr, Maldonado, and Nwogu led the way with two hits, while Aliendo drove in three.

WEST MICHIGAN WHITECAPS 4 - SOUTH BEND CUBS 0

The overall results for the full-season leagues were good, but South Bend was the one team that didn't win. Not only were they shut out again, but all four of the runs came in the first two innings, which makes this loss sting even more. Luis Devers was the victim of that, as his rough start did him in.

Devers got through three innings but allowed four runs on seven hits as he was hit hard. To make things worse, the right-hander walked five and struck out two as he had to endure plenty of early traffic. Apart from that, the Cubs had a quarter of arms allow just three hits the rest of the way, including another scoreless outing from Max Bain.

While Devers may have struggled, Carlos Pena certainly didn't, as the West Michigan left-hander tossed five perfect innings with eight strikeouts. Pena was backed by plenty of early support, with Roberto Campos opening the scoring with an RBI double to make things 1-0 in the first. Lazaro Benitez would drive him in with a single, while a bases-loaded walk put the White Caps in front 3-0 in the first.

West Michigan added to their lead in the second on the Izaac Pacheco single to make things 4-0, as that was the game's final run for either side. South Bend was held to three hits in the loss, with James Triantos, Kevin Alcantara, and Moises Ballesteros grabbing those hits.

MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 13 COLUMBIA FIREFLIES 2

What is there to say about this game? The Pelicans had it all as they received great pitching and a relentless offense to dominate the Fireflies. Nick Hull was on the mound as he improved to 5-2 on the season following 5 2/3 shutout frames. His ERA is now 3.55 as he continues to pitch well.

Despite being locked in on the mound, he didn't need to be, as the Pelicans offense had a massive day. Jefferson Rojas and Parker Chavers picked up RBI doubles in a three-run first, with singles from Andy Garriola and Chavers in the second, making things 5-0.

That was it for the Pelicans offense until late in the game when Rojas smoked a grand slam in the sixth to bust the game open 9-0.

One inning later, it was an 11-0 game as a wild pitch and a bases-loaded walk to Cristian Hernandez led to two more runs. Myrtle Beach could have been content with that lead, but they continued to pour it on in the eighth as the Fireflies had no answers for their offense. Once again, it was another wild pitch aiding one of those runs, with Reivaj Garcia also picking up an RBI single as the Birds were up 13-0.

It took nine innings for the Fireflies to break through as Erik Pena left the yard to end the shutout bid. Omar Hernandez would add an RBI groundout later in the inning, but the Pelicans continued to play well and picked up the 13-2 win. Chavers had a massive day at the plate, coming away with four hits and two RBIs.

He has nothing left to prove in Low-A and should soon be making the leap to High-A. Along with Chavers, Garcia, and Rojas, David Avitia had multi-hit games, with Rojas leading the way with five RBIs.

ACL BREWERS 13 - ACL CUBS 4

Things were ugly in Mesa on Tuesday night as the Cubs were dominated by the Brewers 13-4. Kevin Valdez and Yovanny Cruz were good early as the Cubs held the Brewers scoreless through three innings.

Once the fourth inning rolled around, it was all Brewers as they scored 11 times the next three frames, with five coming in the fourth. Juan Baez opened the scoring with a two-run shot, while Miguel Briceno and Dylan O'Rae picked up RBI singles. There was also a wild pitch mixed in there to put the Brewers in front 5-0.

That lead grew to 7-0 in the fifth before an error got the Cubs on the board in the bottom half of the fifth. The Brewers would then respond with a massive sixth inning pushing across four more runs, including two on the Duncan Garcia triple to make things 11-1. Hoping to make some late-game noise, Jose Escobar left the yard in the bottom of the sixth to make things 11-2 while Leonel Espinoza singled home a pair.

The Brewers added two more runs late in the game as they took care of business 13-4. Espinoza led the offense with two hits and two RBIs.

DSL RED CUBS 7 - DSL ASTROS 1

In arguably their most complete performance of the Summer, the DSL Red Squad made quick work of the Astros and held them to just three hits in the win. Zhiorman Imbriano started things off and gave the Cubs three scoreless frames while the offense took care of the rest.

Imbriano was gifted an early 1-0 lead as Albert Gutierrez left the yard in the second. The Astros tied things up in the fourth off a wild pitch, but that would be it for them offensively, as the Cubs ended the game with six-unanswered runs. Four came in the bottom of the fourth, with Yidel Diaz starting things off with a two-run blast to give the Cubs the lead for good.

A bases-loaded hit by pitch and walk followed that later in the inning as the Cubs opened up a 5-1 lead after four. DSL Red continued to hammer the Astros pitching in the fifth and pushed across two more runs on the Andres Bonolis homer as they took care of the Astros 7-1.

DSL PIRATES 6 - DSL BLUE CUBS 5 (F/8)

Despite the Cub's best effort to hold a late-game lead, the Pirates had other answers as they rallied for three runs in the bottom of the eighth to pick up the walk-off win. That took away an impressive start from Diego Dugarte, who continues to perform well.

Duarte gave the Cubs a rare five-inning outing, allowing just one run on four hits. He walked none and struck out eight, as he was as good as he had been all season. Duarte fell behind early on the Carlos Caro single in the first as the Pirates grabbed an early 1-0 lead. That lead didn't last long, with the Cubs tying things up in the third on the Grenyerbert Velasquez single before a Vincent Nunez single gave the Cubs a 2-1 lead in the fourth. That would be all of their offense until late in the game, as the Pirates started to make some noise against the Cubs pen.

After Angel Perez tied things up with his sixth-inning RBI single, the Pirates managed to retake the lead 3-2 as a bases-loaded walk in that same inning led to another run. Like in the first when the Pirates initially socred, the Cubs wasted little time answering as a wild pitch in the seventh brought things back to even before the Cubs were on the prowl again in the eighth.

Eriandys Ramon gave the Cubs a 4-3 lead with his RBI single in the top half of the eighth before coming around to score on an Edward Vargas double that put them in front 5-3. With just three outs standing between them and a victory, the Pirates began to rally as the Cristian Jauregui double made things 5-4.

With a sacrifice fly making things 5-5, Antonio Pimentel capped off the three-run eighth as his RBI single lifted the Pirates to a walk-off 6-5 win.

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