Cubs Minor League Wrap: August 30

There's a nice interview with Dan Vogelbach here and one with Rock Shoulders here.

We all talk about Shoulders having the best name in baseball, but he's got one of the best smiles in the game too.

The Iowa Cubs final four game series, scheduled to start tomorrow in New Orleans, was cancelled. Both teams had been eliminated from playoff consideration, so there seemed to be little reason to tempt fate and Hurricane Issac. The Iowa Cubs finish the season with a 53-87 record.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs went out with a whimper, not a bang against the Nashville Sounds (Brewers), 6-1.

Starter Yoanner Negrin pitched the first five innings and allowed three runs, two earned, on six hits. He walked one and struck out two.

Second baseman Adrian Cardenas was 1 for 4 with an RBI double that scored Tony Campana for Iowa's final run of the season.

Tennessee Smokies

The Tennessee Smokies reeled in the Pensacola Blue Wahoos (Reds), 4-2.

Starter Dallas Beeler got his sixth win, going five innings and allowing two runs on four hits. One of the two runs was unearned. Beeler walked two and struck out four.

Brian Schlitter had a two-inning save, surrendering two hits but no runs. Schlitter didn't walk anyone and struck out four. It was Schlitter's sixth save of the year.

The Smokies scored all four runs on three home runs. The first one came in the top of the first when shortstop Logan Watkins got the Smokies out to a 1-0 lead. Watkins went 1 for 3 with a walk and now has eight home runs this season.

In the sixth inning, second baseman Matthew Cerda hit his third home run of the year with a man on, which gave the Smokies the lead for good. Cerda was also 1 for 3 with a walk.

First baseman Justin Bour tacked on an insurance run in the eighth inning with his seventeenth home run of the year. Bour went, you guessed it, 1 for 3 with a walk.

Chattanooga beat Birmingham so despite the win, the Smokies were eliminated from post-season contention. Tennessee missed the post-season for the first time since 2008.

Daytona Cubs

The Daytona Cubs were capsized by the Brevard County Manatees (Brewers), 6-5.

Starter Kyle Hendricks allowed three runs on two home runs: a two-run home run in the third and a solo shot in the fourth. Hendricks pitched four innings and allowed seven hits. He walked one and struck out two.

Eduardo Figueroa got the loss when he allowed two runs in the top of the ninth on two solo home runs. Figueroa pitched 2.2 innings and allowed two runs on three hits. He walked no one and struck out two.

Shortstop Javier Baez crushed his second Daytona Baezbomb. It came in the fourth inning with the bases empty. Baez was 1 for 4.

Center fielder John Andreoli was 3 for 5 with a double and a run scored. He was caught stealing second once.

Left fielder Rebel Ridling went 2 for 5 with a double and a run scored.

Peoria Chiefs

The Peoria Chiefs lost to the Cedar Rapids Kernels (Angels), 11-7 in ten innings.

Joe Zeller started and gave up five runs on eight hits over 6.2 innings. He walked one and struck out two.

This game went back and forth all game until Luis Liria had a fairly disastrous top of the tenth inning. In the one inning Liria pitched, he gave up four runs, three earned on two hits, a walk and a hit batsman. Liria struck out one.

Center fielder Pin-Chieh Chen had a big game tonight, going 3 for 4 with a triple and two walks. He also stole a base and scored three times.

Shortstop Wes Darvill was 3 for 4 with a double and a walk. Darvill had one RBI and scored once.

Catcher Sergio Burruel went 2 for 5 with a two-run double in the fourth inning.

DH Jorge Soler was 2 for 6 with a stolen base and one run batted in.

Boise Hawks

The Boise Hawks were drenched by the Everett AquaSox (Mariners), 4-3.

Justin Amlung allowed a run in the top of the first inning and Boise never caught up. He pitched two innings and only allowed that one run on two hits. He walked two and struck out one.

Rock Shoulders crushed a pinch-hit two-run home run with two out in the bottom of the ninth to make the score close. The ball went just to the right field side of dead center. It was his tenth home run this season.

Second baseman Stephen Bruno extended his hitting streak to twenty games by going 2 for 4 with a double. He scored one run.

AZL Cubs

Lost to the Athletics, 13-5 in their one-game playoff.

This ends the Cubs rookie ball season. They finished at 37-20, including the playoff loss today.