Cubs Minor League News: Rookie League Action |
As we get near the end of another Minor League season, the Rookie League teams are winding down on what has been a rough go of things in 2023. None of the three teams will be making the postseason, and theoretically, only one team has a legitimate shot to reach .500 this season.
Per the norm, Monday is known as Rookie League Monday, where all three rookie league teams have a chance to take center stage and showcase their stuff. With one game canceled due to wet grounds, it was a lighter load, but the Cubs still performed well, going 2-0 for the day.
It has been a while since the DSL Blue team could say they opened up the week with a win, but that was the case Monday as they doubled up the Red Sox. Miguel Cruz was on the mound for the Cubs and gave the Cubs four strong innings of one-run ball to set the tone for what would be a great day. It didn't take long for the Cubs offense to strike as they pushed across a pair of first-inning runs and never looked back. Grenyerbert Velasquez started things off with an RBI double before coming home on the Vincent Nunez single. The Cubs offense continued to roll in the early going as Darlyn De Leon added an RBI single in the second to extend the lead to 3-0 before the Henniel Alcala single gave the Cubs a 4-0 lead in the third. The Alcala single proved to be the game-winning run as the Red Sox had a tough time getting anything going consistently. The Red Sox scored in the bottom of the third as Raimundo De Los Santos used an RBI single to close the gap to 4-1. After De Leon extended the lead in the fourth on a sacrifice fly, the Red Sox closed the gap to 5-3 as Cristofher Paniagua ripped an RBI single in the fifth ahead of a seventh-inning double by Starlyn Nunez. That was all the offense for the Red Sox as Alexey Lumpuy picked up a sacrifice fly in the ninth to close out a 6-3 win. Velasquez paced the offense with three hits, while De Leon and Alcala added two hits.
The only Rookie League team that has a shot at reaching .500 this season happens to be DSL Red, as they put an end to their struggling ways with a nice win. Things didn't start well for the Cubs as Emannoel Madeira struggled with his command, walking five and striking out one in less than three innings. He also uncorked a wild pitch in the first as part of a two-run first inning as the Cubs trailed 2-0 in the first. Little did they know that was the only offense the Tigers would get as the Cubs offense rolled out five unanswered runs to win the game. Two of those runs came in the bottom of the first when Yidel Diaz and Daniel Campos picked up RBI singles to tie things up 2-2. That score held until the fourth when Sandy Sanchez brought home the game-winning run with his RBI single. You had an Andrws Cruz RBI forceout later in that fourth inning to push across another run as the Cubs lead grew to 4-2. The Cubs added their final run of the day in the bottom of the fifth when Josias Ramirez used an RBI double to cap off the scoring in a 5-2 for the Cubs.ACL CUBS vs. ACL GUARDIANS (Canceled due to Wet Grounds)
DSL CUBS BLUE 6 - DSL RED SOX 3
DSL CUBS RED 5 - DSL TIGERS 2
