Cubs Minor League Wrap: June 4

Congratulations to Albert Almora, Pierce Johnson and Paul Blackburn, who were all selected by the Cubs in the first round. We at Bleed Cubbie Blue want to welcome you all to the Cubs family. I hope to have a write-up on the three players either tonight or first thing in the morning.

The draft has really gotten big recently. In the first draft after this site was founded, the diary of the 2005 draft of Mark Pawelek in the first round got 38 comments. The next year, Tyler Colvin's draft diary had 28 comments. The first one I did, on the 2007 draft of Josh Vitters, had 328 comments. We had well over 1000 tonight. So I thank all of you who were there. There will be another draft thread tomorrow for the picks in rounds 2 through 20.

On to the games.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs were dropped by the Oklahoma City RedHawks (Astros), 6-5.

Chris Rusin pitched the first five innings and the first four batters of the sixth. He allowed five runs on eight hits, including two home runs. One of those home runs was a solo home run to Mike Hessman, who hit three homers off the I-Cubs yesterday. Rusin walked two and struck out three. He did go 2 for 2 with an RBI at the plate.

Esmailin Caridad relieved Rusin in the fifth and stranded the runner on second. But then he allowed a run in the seventh inning on a solo home run by, you guessed it, Mike Hessman. Caridad took the loss after allowing the one run on the one hit and one walk over two innings of relief. Caridad struck out three.

Hessman has now hit five home runs over the past two games with Iowa. At least all five of them were solo home runs.

Left fielder Ty Wright hit a solo home run in the third inning. Wright was 3 for 5 with a double and two runs scored. He now has three home runs for Iowa and four overall.

First baseman Anthony Rizzo was 3 for 5 with a double and an RBI. Shortstop Matt Tolbert went 2 for 4 with a stolen base. Tolbert scored once and had one RBI.

Tennessee Smokies

The Smokies used a six-run seventh inning to ruin the Montgomery Biscuits (Rays), 7-4.

Dallas Beeler started and allowed two runs on seven hits over 5.1 innings. Beeler walked three and struck out one.

Marcus Hatley relieved Beeler in the sixth and stranded two runners. He went on to pitch 1.2 innings and allow no runs on one hit. Hatley walked one and struck out one as he got his second win of the season.

Alberto Cabrera picked up his fifth save with a perfect ninth inning. He did not have a strikeout.

First baseman Justin Bour was 2 for 5 with a bases-loaded double in the seventh inning that scored three. Center fielder Jim Adduci was 2 for 4 with a walk. He scored once and had one RBI.

Daytona Cubs

The Daytona Cubs made the Ft. Myers Miracle (Twins) vanish, 8-3.

Frank Del Valle started and picked up the win with six strong innings, allowing but one run on four hits. Del Valle walked one and struck out two.

The Cubs knocked out 15 hits tonight. Right fielder Nelson Perez led the way, going 3 for 4. He scored twice and had one run batted in.

Center fielder Rubi Silva was 2 for 5 with a triple and a run scored. Third baseman Taylor Davis was 2 for 5 with an RBI.

Right fielder John Andreoli went 2 for 4 with a double and a walk. He scored twice. Shortstop Arismendy Alcantara went 2 for 5 with a double and two runs knocked in.

First baseman Greg Rohan went 2 for 5 with a double and two RBI.

Peoria Chiefs

The Peoria Chiefs shut out the Kane County Cougars (Royals), 2-0.

The Chiefs pitching staff never let a runner get past second base. Starting pitcher Ben Wells, however, was only able to go two innings before getting pulled with some sort of injury. Wells allowed one hit. He walked no one and struck out two.

Luis Liria did not allow a hit over two innings of relief of Wells and was awarded the win. Liria walked one and struck out one. Larry Suarez pitched two perfect innings and then Sheldon McDonald pitched two more shutout innings, although McDonald did allow two singles while striking out three.

Finally, Yao-Lin Wang pitched a perfect ninth for his fifth save. He did not strike anyone out.

Center fielder Pin-Chieh Chen was 2 for 3 with a walk and a run scored. He was also one of five Chiefs to steal one base tonight.

Shortstop Javier Baez was kept in the park, but he did go 1 for 3 with a double and a walk. He also had one of those stolen bases.