Cubs Minor League News: Ballesteros and Shaw raking, Wicks impressive, Kipp rocked, more |
Dustin Riese
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- 1 day ago
For the first time in what feels like forever, all four of the Cubs' affiliates were able to take the field on Saturday as Mother Nature finally cooperated in Louisville. The end result was a five-game slate for the organization as the Cubs' Minor League system was extremely busy.
Once again, the wins were tough to come by, as has been the case the past few days, as the Cubs saw their system go 1-4 on the day. They would like that to change sooner rather than later, as the losses have been piling up this week.
In what was the first of what would be a Saturday doubleheader, it was the Iowa Cubs coming away with the victory as they scored three times in the final two innings to pick up the win. It all started with Jordan Wicks on the mound as the left-hander got the start and allowed one run in three innings. He walked two and struck out three as he is being stretched out. Facing off against Aaron Wilkerson, who allowed one run in five innings, it was the Cubs striking first as Moises Ballesteros connected for a first-inning RBI single to put the Cubs in front 1-0. BALLY EXTENDS HIS HIT STREAK TO 12 GAMES It was a lead that didn't last long as Will Banfield tied things up with an RBI single of his own in the second for the only run of the day off Wicks. Not only that, but those were the only runs until the later innings, with the Cubs grabbing the lead for good on a sixth inning Jonathon Long single to make it 2-1. LONG RBI GIVES I-CUBS THE 2-1 LEAD pic.twitter.com/fC0KXH5b22 They would then tack on two more runs in the seventh, with Chase Strumpf connecting for an RBI double ahead of another Ballesteros single as the Cubs opened up a 4-1 lead. STRUMPF ADDS ON TO THE LEAD 3-1! pic.twitter.com/cLnytAwDzt BALLY IS UNREAL Louisville did manage to tack on a run in the bottom of the seventh, but the Cubs still picked up the 4-2 win. Ballesteros continues to hit everything in sight, leading the Cubs with three hits and two RBIs to push his average to .395. Long added two hits to raise his average to .329. Iowa also saw Tyson Miller post another scoreless inning to keep his ERA at 0.00, with Michael Fulmer making his season debut and doing the same. A big strikeout to close out the first game of the doubleheader for a 4-2 win! pic.twitter.com/O8MRrbGzv6 Game One: W
In the second of the Iowa Cubs doubleheader, the Bats got the bats working for some early offense, as that was all they would need. All seven runs were scored in three innings with the Bats picking up three in the bottom of third to put the game away. Chris Flexen allowed more than one run in a start for the first time this season, as he was charged with two runs in one inning. Those runs came off a pair of RBI singles from Rece Hinds and Edwin Rios to put the Cubs in a 2-0 hole as his ERA sits at 1.16 for the season. With the Cubs still trailing in the third, it was that man again, Ballesteros, adding another RBI single to pull the Cubs within 2-1. BALLY EXTENDS HIS HIT STREAK TO 13 GAMES! pic.twitter.com/IGDi4ZU2OX Matt Shaw got in on the fun later that inning, adding an RBI single of his own to tie things up 2-2. Matt Shaw gets his first RBI of the season! pic.twitter.com/iE1SMbtcqt It was in the bottom of the third when Louisville put the game away as the Hinds single off of Phil Bickford put the Bats in front for good, 3-2 ahead of the Francisco Urbaez triple to close out the 5-2 Bats win. With two more hits, Ballesteros is now hitting .405 for the season as he joined Greg Allen, Shaw, and Strumpf with a multi-hit game.
It has been a rough week for the Smokies, which continued on Saturday. Despite outplaying the Blue Wahoos most of the night, the five-run third inning did Knoxville in as the Smokies fell 6-3. Grant Kipp was looking to keep his strong run of starts going, but this wasn't his best effort. After allowing six runs in just 2 1/3, Kipp saw his ERA rise to 3.12 before handing things off to Nick Hull and the rest of the pen. Hull gave the Smokies 2 2/3 scoreless frames, and Brad Deppermann added a strong outing after that. Kipp found himself instantly in a hole with Nathan Martorella cashing in with a first-inning RBI single that put Pensacola in front for good, 1-0. That lead would hold until the third, when the Blue Wahoos erupted for five runs to open up a 6-0 lead. The long ball provided all five runs, with Jake Thompson, Kemp Alderman, Martorella, and Johnny Olmsted connecting for the long balls. That would be all the offense Orlando Ortiz-Meyr would need as he gave Pensacola five shutout innings of six strikeout baseball. It wasn't until the later innings when the Smokies' offense started to come to life, and that began with a pair of RBI singles from Parker Chavers and Casey Opitz in the sixth. Knoxville would then add a Haydn McGeary RBI single in the seventh to close out the scoring in a 6-3 loss. Chavers led the Smokies with two hits. Still fighting. Series wraps tomorrow. @zips3mincarwash
The losses keep piling up for the Cubs as they fell to the Sky Carp 7-3 on Saturday. This was another start where Ryan Gallagher deserved better fate as he gave South Bend 4 1/3 innings of work, allowing three runs (2ER) on just five hits. He walked none and struck out four as the bullpen took a beating later. It didn't take the Cubs long to strike against Jake Brooks with Ariel Armas putting South Bend on top 1-0 with a first-inning RBI single. The Cubs would hold that lead until a Wilfred Lara double tied things up in the third before Edgar Alvarez put South Bend back in front 3-1. Those would be the only runs Brooks would allow as he settled in on the mound before the Cubs' bullpen started to fall apart late. Still leading by that score in the fifth, Lara continued his strong game as his RBI single pulled Beloit within 3-2. Beloit also added a sacrifice fly in that same inning, and just like that, it was a 3-3 game. The Sky Carp continued their comeback bid as the Colby Shade RBI double put Beloit in front for good, 5-3, with Michael Snyder adding a single to push the lead to 6-3. Beloit tacked on their final run in the ninth on a bases-loaded walk from Echedry Vargas as they closed out the 7-3 win. Alvarez paced the Cubs with two hits and two RBIs. Ivan Brethowr also added two hits. Final.
In what was a classic pitchers' duel, it was the Pelicans coming up short as they fell to the Cannonballers 2-1. JP Wheat struggled with his command, walking five and striking out six in five innings, but with only one run allowed, it was one of his better outings. JP, EAT. That run came instantly in the first inning with Javier Mogollon delivering an RBI double to put the Cannonballers in front 1-0. Considering Luis Reyes struck out nine across 5 1/3 innings, it looked like one run would be enough until a sixth-inning wild pitch tied things up 1-1. That was the only run of the day for Myrtle Beach as the seventh inning Nathan Archer homer was the difference in the Cannonballers' 2-1 win. Cameron Sisneros was responsible for two of the Pelicans' three hits in the loss, with Christopher Paciolla picking up the other one. We asked Chat GPT to show us what Slider would look like as a human. pic.twitter.com/jvZzsvqRRkIOWA CUBS 4 - LOUISVILLE BATS 2 (game 1)
RBI-Single plates Caissie!
1-0 I-CUBS! pic.twitter.com/MnT88Itb6u
4-1 I-CUBS pic.twitter.com/NonHbn0ERe
Game Two: TBD pic.twitter.com/qaCZABmLLkLOUISVILLE BATS 5 - IOWA CUBS 2
PENSACOLA BLUE WAHOOS 6 - KNOXVILLE SMOKIES 3
Box Score: https://t.co/ODGzbkTX8A pic.twitter.com/sZEn8FBms5BELOIT SKY CARP 7 - SOUTH BEND CUBS 3
The Cubs will conclude the home stand tomorrow on Sunday Funday. First pitch ➡️ 2:05PM pic.twitter.com/CXdhwpRCPkKANNAPOLIS CANNONBALLERS 2 - MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS 1
A career high 5 K’s for Wheat in his 5 innings of work. pic.twitter.com/fQgpFgqgPU
