Cubs Minor League News: Rookie League Action |
With the MLB All-Star break currently underway, Minor League action will be limited this week as all of the full-season leagues follow the same MLB Schedule. That means there will be limited baseball to follow this week up until Friday, which could be a good thing for many Chicago Cubs fans.
While the full-season teams may not be in action, the Rookie League teams are, as they will be the focus for the next few days. Monday kicked off another week of Rookie League action, with all three teams playing two games as both DSL affiliates battled each other. That means only one game counts toward the overall record, as the Cubs went 0-1 on Monday.
With the ACL Cubs being the only stateside team in action, they were hoping to keep things rolling for what has been a suddenly hot MLB club. Unfortunately, they spotted the Diamondbacks three runs in the third inning as the Cubs were playing catchup throughout. Vitico Valdez was a problem for the Cubs throughout the game as he got through five strong innings, allowing just one run and striking out five. Three runs of support backed him in that third inning as the Gino Groover sacrifice fly opened the scoring before a two-run blast from Alberto Barriga extended the lead to 3-0. The Cubs tried to battle back in the bottom of the third with an RBI forceout, but with that being the lone run off Valdez and the last run until the seventh, things weren't looking good for the Cubs. Another Groover RBI extended the Diamondbacks lead to 4-1 in the seventh before tacking on an additional run in the eighth. Refusing to go down quietly, the Cubs continued to battle back in the bottom of the eighth as the Angel Cepeda triple made things 5-2 before he came in to score on the Anderson Suriel sacrifice fly. Things got interesting in the bottom of the ninth after a Barriga double extended the Diamondbacks lead to 6-3. Three batters into the bottom of the ninth, and the Cubs had the bases loaded as Eriandys Ramon, Joan Delgado, and Jose Escobar all picked up singles to start things off. With Ramon being gunned down trying to score on the Escobar single, the Cubs were one double play away from having this game end, only to have a pair of walks extend the inning with Leonel Espinoza driving in a run with his walk to make things 6-4. That is as close as the Cubs would get as Cepeda hit one right on the screws, but it resulted in an inning-ending lineout. Pitcher Julian Merryweather continued his rehab tour with a stop in the Arizona Complex League on Monday night. He pitched a scoreless inning and hit 96 on the radar gun. Good to see Julian back on the mound! #Cubs pic.twitter.com/nvgSqOhlI5 The @cubs outfielder @MTauchman began a rehab assignment on Monday night in the Arizona Complex League. He played 5 innings going 0-2 with a K, but his batting eye looked as good as ever as he worked counts. #Cubs pic.twitter.com/Npg6zjD9XP
The best part of having a pair of DSL teams is that they often have a chance to play each other, which allows the fans to see all of the Dominican League prospects in one game. Throw in that this was a highly competitive game, and that is all the fans could ask as DSL Blue rallied late to top DSL Red 6-5. Most of the damage for both teams came in one inning, as seven runs came across to score in the third inning. Four came from DSL Red as they opened up an early 4-0 lead. Enyel Rosario opened the scoring with an RBI single before coming home on the Daniel Campos double. Another single off the bat of Vicent Nunez pushed home the DSL Red's third run, while a steal of home made this a 4-0 game. Not to be outdone, DSL Blue had a big inning up their sleeve as they kept things close with a three-run bottom of the third. Ludwing Espinoza started the scoring with an RBI single as Derik Alcantara and Carlos Altuve followed suit with a pair of RBI singles to pull Blue within 4-3. Alcantara was just getting started, adding an RBI double in the bottom of the fifth to cap off the comeback bid and pull Blue back to even 4-4. Instantly following that run, Red battled back, as the Jesus Meneses sacrifice fly gave Red the lead again, 5-4, which they held until the late innings. With things still sitting at 5-4 entering the bottom of the eight, DSL Blue was looking to make things happen at the plate, and that they did as Alexey Lumpuy delivered a game-tying RBI triple. He would eventually come home to score on the Alcantara grounder as DSL Blue rallied to the 6-5 victory over DSL Red.
Monday was a very challenging day for the Dogs as they had to play two games in one. Not only did they have a game going on against the Milwaukee Milkmen, but they also had to play a game against Mother Nature as massive storms were heading toward that area most of the game. For the most part, the weather held off long enough for them to get some of this game in, but once the tornado sirens went off in the ninth, there was no way to finish this game, as they will pick things up on Tuesday. Stats weren't available and will not be available until this game concludes.ACL DIAMONDBACKS 6 - ACL CUBS 4
DSL CUBS BLUE 6 - DSL CUBS RED 5
CHICAGO DOGS 4 - MILWAUKEE MILKMEN 4 (Suspended in the 9th)
