Cubs Minor League Wrap: May 27

I fell asleep while listening to the Iowa Cubs game. Did I miss anything?

Seriously, I woke up in the sixth inning to hear Iowa Cubs broadcaster Deene Ehlis talking about how Anthony Rizzo had been pulled from the game, that he didn't appear to be hurt and speculating that he had been called up to Chicago. That's when the firestorm hit Twitter.

So that was a fun twenty minutes. But they did actually play a game tonight.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs won their third game in a row over the Memphis Redbirds (Cardinals), 5-1.

Chris Volstad gave up a lot of hits in seven innings tonight, but only one of the nine hits went for extra bases. Combine that with not walking anybody, and Volstad picked up the win by giving up only one run. Volstad struck out four.

Carlos Marmol pitched a rehab inning in relief of Volstad without allowing a hit and striking out three. But he did walk one batter and moved him all the way over to third base with two wild pitches.

The first three batters in the I-Cub lineup all went 2 for 4 with a walk. Leadoff hitter and second baseman Alfredo Amezaga scored once and batted one in. Right fielder Dave Sappelt batted second: he neither scored nor batted a run in. Third place hitter and shortstop Luis Valbuena had a double as one of his two hits. He also scored once and had an RBI.

Third baseman Josh Vitters was 2 for 5.

Tennessee Smokies

The Smokies took the day off after a long bus ride back home from Jackson. They'll take on Huntsville tomorrow.

Daytona Cubs

In a totally unsurprising event in Florida in the summer, the D-Cubs were rained out. Daytona has an off-day tomorrow, so Robert Whitenack's first appearance since Tommy John surgery will have to wait until Tuesday. At least.

Peoria Chiefs

The Peoria Chiefs got bitten by the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Brewers), 3-2.

The Chiefs wasted a beautiful performance by Michael Jensen, who allowed but one run on four hits over six innings. Jensen walked two and struck out eight, which is a career-high for Jensen's young career.

But Yao-Lin Wang entered the game in the ninth and blew his first save of the season when he gave up a two-run home run to Yadiel Rivera. Wang allowed two runs on two hits and a walk over one inning. He did have one strikeout.

Center fielder Taiwan Easterling was 3 for 4 with a double and a triple. He was involved in both Chiefs runs as he scored once and batted one in.

First baseman Ryan Cuneo was 2 for 3 with a double and an RBI. He also walked once.

Anthony Giansanti made his debut as a catcher this afternoon and went 1 for 3 with a double and a walk. But more importantly, he threw out two of the four runners who tried to steal on him. Obviously, Giansanti is more valuable and has a better chance of making the majors if he can learn to be a solid receiver.