Ted Lilly was amazing for Peoria tonight. Andrew Cashner dominated in Tennessee. But the Pitcher of the Evening award goes to Jay Jackson.
Iowa Cubs
The Iowa Cubs silenced the bats of the Nashville Sounds, 4-0.
Jay Jackson completely dominated Nashville tonight. He retired the first 13 batters before allowing a single in the fifth inning. He then retired the next six before giving up another single. That baserunner was promptly erased by a double play. He then gave up a walk in the eighth inning. Jackson went eight innings and allowed only those two hits and one walk. He struck out four. He threw 86 pitches, of which 64 were strikes. (I think at one point in the fourth inning, he had thrown 31 of 38 pitches for strikes or something close to that..)
First baseman Micah Hoffpauir and left fielder Jason Dubois both hit solo home runs. They both went 1 for 4. It was Hoffpauir's third home run and Dubois' fifth of the season. That's now 73 career I-Cub home runs for Dubois.
Tennessee Smokies
Andrew Cashner was almost as good as Jackson as the Tennessee Smokies hooked the Carolina Mudcats, 2-1.
Cashner went seven innings tonight and only allowed one unearned run. He also only allowed two measly singles. Cashner walked two and struck out five. Fifty-one of Cashner's eighty-six pitches were for strikes.
Center fielder Tony Campana was 2 for 4 with a run scored and a stolen base. Shorstop Starlin Castro was 2 for 4. He's now hitting .370 on the young season. (Of course, his OBP is "only" .388.)
Daytona Cubs
The Daytona Cubs split a double-header with the Dunedin Blue Jays, winning the first 4-2 and losing the nightcap by an identical 4-2 score.
In the first game Rafael Dolis collected his first win of the season. He went five innings and allowed two runs on four hits. He walked one and struck out two. Mike Perconte collected the save by pitching 1.2 perfect innings. He struck out three.
Center fielder Brett Jackson was 3 for 4 with a three-run triple in game one. Third baseman Drew Macias went 2 for 3 with a run scored and an RBI.
In the second game, starting pitcher Dae-Eun Rhee took the loss. He allowed all four runs on seven hits in the four innings he pitched. Rhee walked two and struck out three.
DH Matt Spencer hit his first home run of the year in his first at-bat of the season. Spencer was 1 for 3 with two RBI.
Third baseman Josh Vitters was 1 for 2 with a double and a walk. He also scored a run.
Peoria Chiefs
The Chiefs burned the Burlington Bees, 2-1.
Ted Lilly didn't disappoint the Chiefs faithful tonight. He allowed a first-inning run and then shut the Bees down the rest of the way. Lilly went seven innings and allowed only the one run on three hits. He walked one and struck out nine. Unless Lilly wakes up tomorrow and feels something is wrong, he's ready to go for the Cubs this weekend.
Robert Whitenack got five ground outs and a strikeout for a perfect two innings and the save.
Third baseman Matt Cerda was 2 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored. Shortstop Hak-Ju Lee only got one hit tonight, but he stole four bases. He was the first Peoria player to steal four bases since 2001. Lee was 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.