Chicago Cubs Minor League Wrap: September 6

by Josh Timmers on Sep 7, 2011 1:19 AM CDT in Minor Leagues

As the legend of Bryan LaHair continues to grow, the Baby Cubs in the playoffs had a rough night tonight.

Daytona Cubs

The Daytona Cubs lost game one of the best-of-three series to the Dunedin Blue Jays,4-3 in ten innings.

There was nothing wrong with starting pitcher Dae-Eun Rhee, who allowed a solo home run in the fifth inning but no other runs. Rhee pitched six innings and surrendered six hits, but he did not walk anyone and struck out five.

This game got wild in the later innings. The Cubs bullpen loaded the bases with nobody out in three successive innings: the eighth, ninth and tenth. In the eighth inning. In the eighth inning, Frank Batista pitched out of the inning allowing only one run, which tied the game at three. In the ninth, Batista got three ground outs without anyone scoring, the first two getting the runner out at home.

In the tenth inning, Juan Serrano loaded the bases with no one out and he then he got a ground out, second to home. But when catcher Chad Noble tried for the double play at first base, Blue Jay pinch-runner Ryan Schimpf did a take out slide and Noble threw wild to first base and the runner from second scored. The Daytona radio team seemed to think it was a dirty play as Noble only had a toe on the plate. Noble also seemed to be hurt on the play and limped off the field.

Is that a dirty play if it was accurately described? I don't know. It seems like we see that kind of thing at second base all the time. But in those cases, the throw is going in the direction of the runner. In this case, it seems like he took out Noble from behind.

Shortstop Elliot Soto was 3 for 4 with a double and a run scored. DH Jake Opitz was 3 for 5 with an RBI. First baseman Justin Bour went 2 for 5 and scored once.

The D-Cubs will try to even the series tomorrow night at home at Jackie Robinson Ballpark. They're the only Cubs minor league team in action tomorrow because . . .

Boise Hawks

The Boise Hawks were swept under the rug by the Tri-City Dust Devils (Rockies), 9-1. Tri-City wins the best-of-three series, two games to none.

Knuckleballer Joe Zeller was roughed up for five runs on six hits over 3.1 innings. One of the five runs was unearned. Zeller walked two and struck out two.

Right fielder Reggie Golden provided the only run the Hawks scored in the whole series with a home run in the sixth inning. Golden was 2 for 3 with a hit-by-pitch.

Second baseman Brad Zapenas was 2 for 4. Catcher Rafael Lopez went 2 for 3 with a double and a walk.

This game was distracted by a UFO in the later innings. Hey, I'm just going by what Mike Safford said. There was no video for the game.

The Hawks next take the field next June. Catch you then, Hawks fans.

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The UFO was a sky lantern

launched from the soccer fields behind the stadium (Gesa Stadium is part of a really nice sports complex in the Tri-Cities). Everyone in our section was watching it, although it didn’t actually slow down the game: the fielders took a look at it but the game was slowed by a short conference on the mound. A photographer near us, I assume a staff photog for a Tri-Cities newspaper, took a few pictures of the sky lantern as it neared the moon, hopefully those will appear online sometime.

Down 4 with the bases loaded, Cuneo hit a monster foul ball that bounced off the top of the wall about 10 feet to the right of the RF foul pole; if he’d straightened it out just a little bit there would’ve been a tie game in the 7th. Golden’s HR sure was pretty, though.

Thanks for the updates this season!

by drewbenn on Sep 7, 2011 3:05 AM CDT reply actions

Wow--someone actually at the game!

I think the attendance was 900 for last night’s game. Yeah, I didn’t mean to imply that the game was delayed by the “UFO” but people did notice it.

That Cuneo almost grand slam was heartbreaking. I don’t think Mike Safford deserves all the criticism that he get around here because it’s really just a summer job for him, but he went into his HR call and didn’t get out of it when the ball went foul. He said “Foul” with the same tone of voice that he would have said “Home Run” with. It was really confusing. But if that ball goes a few feet the other way, who knows how that game would have ended. It would have tied the game.

Thanks for reading!

by Josh Timmers on Sep 7, 2011 11:31 AM CDT up reply actions

Sure felt like more than 900

When I heard ‘nine hundred sixty-two’ over the PA system I wrote down 1,962 in my scorebook because I was sure I had misheard. The bleachers (upper “deck”) were mostly empty but there was a decent-sized crowd in the lower (box) seats. I suspect that paid/announced attendance was the same as actual attendance for once in the NWL.

And yeah, people definitely noticed the “UFO.” I almost missed a couple pitches with everyone in the section talking about it and pointing to it as it passed behind the stadium lights, then changed direction and headed toward the moon and then over the river. I didn’t pay too much attention to it, but my wife watched the two (!) field umpires watching it during a pitching change and said the three Hawks outfielders were interested in it.

by drewbenn on Sep 7, 2011 11:11 PM CDT up reply actions

So, I see that Marcus Hatley is now going to the AFL

But I can’t find whether he’s a full-on roster guy, or a taxi squad guy. If he’s a full-on roster guy, I wonder who is getting bumped. And, because I can’t help but wonder about possibly connected dots, there were some weird tweets by Chris Carpenter two days ago (he sounded mad at the Cubs for not calling him up), which have since been removed.

Coincidence that Hatley was apparently added to the AFL roster yesterday? Probably. But weird, nevertheless.

Bleacher Nation - Cubs Rumors and News

by Brett Taylor on Sep 7, 2011 8:21 AM CDT reply actions