Jake Fox is just sick right now. He hit his 12th home run of the season this afternoon in an Iowa loss. The twelve home runs in a month are tied for the second most in any one month for an I-Cub. The record is 14, held by Julio Zuleta, who hit 14 in June of 2002. That ought to dampen some of your enthusiasm, although I should point out that Fox has only played in 19 games this month because of the late start to the season. I'm sure Zuleta played more than 19 games in June, 2002.
There was a no-hitter in the Cubs system tonight! You won't be excited to find out that it was against the Daytona Cubs.
We're getting a lot of really good info through the BCB Scouting Bureau which I hope to share with you soon. Peoria is ready to go and I'm working on Iowa--but we've got a lot going on in Iowa so that's taking more time. I'm even getting some Tennessee reports. We're still in the dark on Daytona, which I expected but am still hopeful that someone will help us out eventually.
All the games were afternoon games today.
Iowa Cubs
Despite Fox's blast, the Iowa Cubs hit all the wrong notes in a 7-4 loss to the Nashville Sounds.
Starter J.R. Mathes allowed 12 hits over only five innings. But by not walking anyone and not allowing any home runs, Mathes kept the damage down to only four runs scored. He also struck out one. Mathes's record fell to 3-2.
Jayson Ruhlman, pitching in his second game in AAA, got rocked for three runs in only a third of an inning. Ruhlman allowed four hits and one walk.
Both Chad Fox and Kevin Hart threw a perfect inning of relief.
Fox added a double to his home run for a 2 for 4 afternoon. He had two RBI. Shortstop Andres Blanco was 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI.
Tennessee Smokies
The Smokies were filleted by the Carolina Mudcats, 7-5.
Casey Coleman got his first loss of the season in his first poor start. Coleman allowed four runs on seven hits and two walks over five innings. Coleman struck out three.
The Smokies hit three home runs today. Catcher Welington Castillo hit a two-run shot in the ninth inning, his second home run of the year. Castillo was 2 for 4 with two RBI and two runs scored.
First baseman Kyle Reynolds hit his first home run of the year. Reynolds had a 2 for 3 afternoon with a walk and two runs scored. Left fielder Ty Wright also hit a solo home run for his first bomb of the year. Wright was 1 for 4.
Daytona Cubs
The Daytona Cubs were no-hit by Brevard County pitcher Evan Anundsen and lost to the Manatees, 1-0.
Anundsen, a Brewer farmhand, pitched all nine innings and allowed one walk and struck out ten.
Daytona starter Craig Muschko pitched well too. He threw four shutout innings, allowing only three hits. Muschko didn't walk a batter and struck out four.
Steve Vento allowed the only run of the game. He gave up a run on a hit and a walk over 1.1 innings. He struck out two.
Peoria Chiefs
The Chiefs didn't have a no-hitter tonight, but their pitching staff didn't allow a run over 14 innings as the Chiefs swept a double-header from the Cedar Rapids Kernels, 1-0 and 3-0.
In the first game, Chris Carpenter got his first win of the season this afternoon with six strong innings. Carpenter allowed only two hits. He walked three and struck out three.
Erik Hamren allowed one hit but no runs in the seventh inning en route to his fourth save of the season.
Center fielder David Macias was 2 for 3.
In game two, starter Chris Archer was even better than Carpenter in the first game. Archer allowed only one hit over five innings. He walked two and struck out an impressive eight Kernels. Kevin Kreier pitched the final two innings, allowing a single and two walks while recording his first save of the season. Kreier struck out one.
First baseman Rebel Ridling hit a two-run home run in the third inning. He went 3 for 3. Ridling also had the lone RBI in the first game for a total of three on the day.
Second baseman Josh Harrison was 2 for 3 with a double, and RBI and a run scored.