Iowa Cubs

Sean Gallagher made his first AAA start a successful one, with five scoreless innings against the Albuquerque Als...I mean Isotopes.  The I-Cubs won 4-3.  Sean gave up one hit, with 2 walks, and 4 Ks in 5 innings.  Good to see his relative lack of use in the majors the last couple of weeks didn't seem to affect him negatively.  

Clay Rapada, the Mitch Williams of Des Moines, gave up a home run in the ninth, but still got the save.  Geovany Soto, Buck Coats and Ronny Cedeno had two hits each, one of which was a home run for each player.  Josh Kroeger had a single.

Soto played catcher again, and threw out one of two baserunners who tried to steal.  

Tennessee Smokies

The Cubs' AA affiliate beat the Carolina squad  4-1 behind a strong start from Justin Berg and relief by Rocky Roquet.  Tyler Colvin went 0-5 and Jake Fox played first base.  Matt Craig hit a two-run homer.

Daytona Cubs

The Daytona team lost a heartbreaker in the 11th inning to the Yankees affiliate.  Jeff Samardzija started and had a line of 5 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 2 K.  

In the eleventh, three straight Tampa singles with one out led to the winning run off Tim Layden, who was in his third inning of relief.  

Peoria Chiefs

Slugfest!  The Chiefs beat Beloit 11-9 behind strong offense from Ryan Norwood (3-4), Alfred Joseph (3-5), and Nate Samson (3-5).  Matt Camp and Russ Canzler also had two hits.  Channeling Phil "The Vulture" Regan, Jeremy Papelbon blew the lead in the seventh, but then got the win.  

Oddly enough, there were no home runs for either club.  

Boise Hawks

Boise lost 5-4 today, but it wasn't all Al Alburquerque's fault.  OK, he did throw away a pickoff throw that led to an unearned run, and also allowed two earned runs.  

Audy Santana pitched the ninth effectively.  He's 6'3", 160, 20 years old, and pitched in the Dominican Summer League last year.  I hear he is popular with teammates because on long bus rides, he simply stretches out in the overhead luggage bin.  

Finally, in the Arizona rookie league, Elvis Lara left the building, but only after he left the yard, and Billy Muldowney did the cha-cha as he and five other pitchers held the opponent down.