Cubs Minor League News: Amaya hitless in rehab start, Pichardo impressive, Olivo raking

Amaya was 0-3 for the evening (Matt Kartozian - USA Today Sports)

by Dustin Riese - Senior Writer - Tue Jul 05 10:47:14 GMT-05:00 2022

Rookie League Monday continued with all three Cubs Rookie League teams underway. Unlike last season when the Rookie League teams set the standard for the Cubs Minor League system, wins have been a struggle all season long.

That continued on Monday as the Cubs system posted an 0-3 record on the farm, which is not what anyone wants to see. You still have plenty of rehabbing players in the ACL worth keeping an eye so that is all anyone can ask for right now.

ACL WHITE SOX 8 - ACL CUBS 2

Say what you want about the scoreline, but this game was much closer than the score indicates. In fact, it was a 0-0 game until the seventh inning until both team's offenses started to awaken.

Starlyn Pichardo gave the Cubs three shutout innings to start the game before Anthony Mendez added a pair of scoreless frames of his own. Take them out of the equation, and the back of the bullpen was not good as they served up eight runs.

Despite getting some hits here and there against the White Sox pitching, neither team could cash in until the sixth, when the White Sox busted things open with a huge seventh. Alvaro Aguero opened the scoring with a two-run shot before a wild pitch, and a balk gave the White Sox a 4-0 lead.

Moving to the bottom of the seventh, the Cubs offense finally got going, with Christian Olivo picking up an RBI double ahead of the Liam Spence single to make things 4-2. Unfortunately, that was as close as the Cubs would get as the White Sox added two runs in the eighth and two in the ninth to cap off the 8-2 win. Pedro Ramirez led the way offensively for the Cubs with two hits, while Moises Ballesteros, Rafael Morel, Olivo, and Spence had the remaining four hits. Miguel Amaya continued his rehab by going 0-3 and is now hitting just .111 during his assignment.

DSL MARLINS 5 - DSL CUBS BLUE 0

Offense continues to be an issue for the DSL Cubs Blue as they were held to just two hits in the 5-0 loss. That brings their record to 7-16 on the summer. Raul Guzman and Jose Escobar had the lone hits for the Cubs as they couldn't get much of anything going.

Alfredo Romero got the start for the Cubs, allowing four runs in three innings of work before Diego Duarte finished things off over the final two-plus innings. Jose Monserrate delivered the game-winning hit in the first with an RBI single to make things 1-0, and then a wild pitch made things 2-0. Monserrate added a sacrifice fly in the third inning pair with a Carlos Sanchez homer which gave the Marlins a 4-0 lead before they would add another run late.

DSL PIRATES 5 - DSL CUBS RED 3

Once again, wins are hard to come by as DSL Red fell to 7-15 with their 5-3 loss. After leading most of the game, the Pirates offense came alive late, scoring four runs over the final two innings to close out the win.

Juan Bello got the start for the Cubs, and delivered a fantastic outing where he allowed just one run on one hit over four innings. Irving Vasquez was next in line as he was charged with a pair of unearned runs, while Scarlyn Lebron took the loss by allowing two more runs in the seventh.

For the Pirates, it was all about Andres Silvera, who struck out six in four innings of work and saw his ERA rise slightly to 0.87. With the Pirates taking a 1-0 lead in the first on the Yordany De Los Santos single, the Cubs answered with a fielding error allowing the tying run to score.

Two innings later, the Cubs grabbed the lead when Andrews Cruz ripped an RBI double, making things 2-1. Another Pirates error in the fifth led to the third Cubs run as they took a 3-1 lead into the sixth. In that inning, the game changed as the Pirates offense started to come to life.

First, it was the Cubs turn to return the favor, as their error in the sixth inning allowed for two runs to score, which tied the game up 3-3. One inning later saw RBI singles off the bat of Eddy Rodriguez, and Rubem Vizcaya put the Pirates in front for good as they completed the 5-3 comeback win. The Cubs had just four hits in the game, with Alexis Hernandez, Cruz, Erbin Jaque, and Josias Ramirez grabbing the hits.