A perfect night for the Cubs system!
Jake Fox, who leads all the minors in home runs and RBI, was named PCL Player of the Week today.
Iowa Cubs
The Iowa Cubs roundhoused the Round Rock Express, 7-5.
(tip of the hat to znohitter for "roundhoused.")
Jose Ascanio had his first rough start of the season as he allowed four runs in only 4.2 innings. However, three of the runs were unearned, so his ERA for the season still stands at an impressive 0.71. But Ascanio gave up three hits and three walks and only struck out two, so it wasn't a great outing even if you don't count the unearned runs against him.
J.R. Mathes got his second win of the season with an inning and a third of shutout relief. Mathes allowed two hits and neither walked nor fanned a batter.
Jason Waddell threw a scoreless inning, allowing one hit. Kevin Hart got his second save of the year, although he did allow one run on a hit and a walk over two innings. Hart struck out three.
Second baseman Bobby Scales was 2 for 4 with a walk, a run scored and an RBI. Left fielder Jason Dubois was 3 for 4 with a run scored.
Round Rock kept Jake Fox in the park today. He was a "mere" 1 for 4 with a double and two RBI.
Tennessee Smokies
The Smokies rode some great relief pitching on the way to a 4-2 victory over the West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx.
Starter Casey Lambert gave up two runs on three hits and three walks over 4.2 innings. One of the runs was unearned and one of the hits was a solo home run. Lambert struck out one.
After that though, the Smokies bullpen completely shut down the Diamond Jaxx. Vince Perkins got the win by pitching two innings, allowing only one hit and one walk while striking out two. Then John Glaub came in and retired four straight batters, three of them by strikeout. Finally, Blake Parker got his second save of the season by throwing 1.2 shutout innings. Parker allowed one hit, walked nobody and struck out four.
It should be noted that neither Perkins nor Parker has allowed a run yet this season.
The Cubs had some high hopes for the Smokies double-play combo this season, and so far, so good. Second baseman Tony Thomas hit his third home run of the year with a man on in the sixth inning. Thomas was 2 for 5 overall tonight and is hitting .361 so far. Shortstop Darwin Barney was 1 for 2 with a run scored and two walks. Barney is hitting .379 on the season. (All "it's early and it's a small sample-size" caveats still apply.)
Both right fielder James Adducci and first baseman Blake Lalli were 2 for 4. Adducci is hitting .393 and Lalli is a an even .500.
Daytona Cubs
The Daytona Cubs devoured the Dunedin Blue Jays, 6-2.
Marcos Mateo had another good start. Mateo didn't allow a run over four innings. He gave up two hits and walked one. If you're really a "glass half empty" kind of fan, Mateo only struck out one Blue Jay.
That meant the win went to Craig Muschko, who actually allowed two runs over three innings. Steve Vento pitched the final two innings, allowing only one single. He didn't walk a batter and struck out three.
DH Tyler Colvin hit his first home run of the season tonight. Colvin was 3 for 5 with an RBI and three runs scored. Third baseman (and Colvin's teammate at Clemson) Marquez Smith didn't homer tonight after having done so in three of the past four games, but he did go 2 for 4 with two RBI and a run scored.
First baseman Russ Canzler was 2 for 4 with a double, two runs scored and an RBI.
Peoria Chiefs
Traveling between the Quad Cities and Appleton. Maybe they stopped at the House on the Rock along the way.