The rosters for the Arizona Fall League were announced today.  The Cubs are the host team for the Mesa Solar Sox and this year they will be providing six players to that team along with the Phillies, Braves, Marlins and Tigers.  Ryne Sandberg will serve as one of the coaches for the Solar Sox and former Cub Ray Burris will be the pitching coach.

The players all must have played at AA or above and have less than two years major league experience.  The teams are allowed one "Under AA" exception.

The six Cubs players chosen for the AFL are:

Iowa Cubs RHP Justin Berg

Tennessee Smokies RHP Rocky Roquet

Smokies LHP Donnie Veal

Daytona Cubs SS Darwin Barney (The "below AA" exception)

Smokies 2B Nate Spears

Smokies OF Tyler Colvin

It's not exactly an honor to get picked for this league as players are often picked because they were injured during the year or there is something the team feels they need more work on.  But because space is limited, it is a sign that the organization has high hopes for the player and considers them worth the extra effort.

Iowa Cubs

In a game made completely meaningless by the I-Cubs clinching victory on Sunday, the Iowa Cubs lost to the Memphis Redbirds, 5-4.

Mike Burns saw his record fall to 8-12 by allowing five runs in a five inning start.  Two of the runs were unearned.  Burns allowed six hits, walked two and struck out three.

Angel Guzman threw two innings of relief without allowing a hit.  He walked one and a whopping five of the six outs he recorded were via the strikeout.  The other was a sacrifice bunt.

Catcher Tony Richie went 2 for 3 with a double and his third home run of the season. Richie walked once and scored twice.

Second baseman Bobby Scales was 2 for 4 with a double and a run scored.

Tennessee Smokies

Rained out.

Daytona Cubs

The D-Cubs returned home from a ten-game road trip in which they actually only played one game and that was rain-shortened.  But the weather in Daytona smiled upon them and they took out their frustration by thrashing the Vero Beach Devil Rays, 8-1.

Jeremy Papelbon started and threw three innings without allowing a run or a hit.  Papelbon walked one and struck out one.  Todd Blackford got the win in relief by the "Starter didn't go five" rule.  Blackford threw two shutout innings and allowed three hits and a walk.  He struck out two.

Center fielder Jim Adduci went 3 for 5 with his third home run on the season.  Adduci scored three times.  DH Blake Lalli was also 3 for 5.  Lalli had a double, two RBI and scored once.

Left fielder Ty Wright went 3 for 4 with a double and a walk.  Wright scored once and had three RBI.  Catcher Steve Clevenger was 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI.  Second baseman Tony Thomas went 2 for 5 with a double and a run scored.

Peoria Chiefs

The Chiefs were cut down by the Clinton Lumber Kings, 5-2.

Starter Robert Hernandez continues to struggle this season.  Hernandez allowed five runs, four of which were earned, in only four innings plus the first two batters of the fifth.  Hernandez gave up eight hits, walked one and struck out three.

For those just tuning in, Hernandez was a top Cubs pitching prospect who was suspended for 50 games out of spring training for testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug.  His ERA for this season is now 5.38.

Jake Muyco threw three shutout innings of relief.  He allowed only one hit, struck out four and didn't walk a batter.  Muyco's ERA in Peoria is now 1.89 over 33.1 innings.  Not bad for a guy who started the season as the backup catcher for the Tennessee Smokies.

Fun fact:  Jake's first name is "Dionisio."

Third baseman Jovan Rosa continued to excel in the month of August.  Rosa was 2 for 5 tonight with a double and a run scored.

Shortstop Nate Samson went 2 for 3 with two walks.

First baseman Rebel Ridling was 2 for 4 with a double and two RBI.  On the bad side, he committed two errors at first base.

Boise Hawks

The Hawks lost to the Yakima Bears, 3-1.

Starter Ryan Searle took the loss despite not allowing an earned run.  Searle pitched five innings and allowed one unearned run on seven hits.  He walked one and struck out three.

Bubba O'Donnell had three innings of scoreless relief.

Ryan Keedy hit his third home run in the ninth inning to provide all of Boise's offense.  Keedy was 2 for 3 on the night with a walk.  Catcher Carlos Perez was 2 for 4.

AZL Cubs

Lost to the AZL Mariners, 10-2.