Cubs Minor League Wrap: May 27

The Daytona Cubs today announced that first baseman Rock Shoulders and pitcher Michael Jensen were suspended for an unspecified violation of team rules. Manager Dave Keller said the suspensions would last until the issues were resolved. I don't have any more information than that.

I'm going to remind you all again tomorrow, but Thursday's Iowa Cubs game at Memphis is going to be televised on the CBS Sports Network at 7pm Chicago time. It's an off-day for the major league Cubs, so you won't miss any of that by tuning in to see Iowa play. Besides, I'm pretty sure nine out of ten of you would rather see Javier Baez and Arismendy Alcantara than Justin Ruggiano and Luis Valbuena, no offense to Ruggiano and Valbuena intended.

Chris Rusin is scheduled to start for Iowa on Thursday.

It's Cubs/Cardinals day in the minors, except the weather didn't cooperate.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs were rained out in Memphis. They'll play a doubleheader on Friday because they were already scheduled to play a doubleheader tomorrow.

Tennessee Smokies

The Tennessee Smokies allowed a run in the bottom of the ninth and another in tenth as they were extinguished by the Huntsville Stars (Brewers), 2-1 in ten innings.

Corey Black pitched a solid 5.1 innings, giving up no runs on three hits. He struck out six and walked four.

Armando Rivero entered the game in the bottom of the ninth to nail down a save, but he surrendered the lead with a home run to Jason Rogers, the first batter he faced. Rivero allowed one run on two hits over his one inning. He had neither a walk nor a strikeout.

Austin Kirk took the loss when he intentionally walked the bases loaded with a runner on third with one out and then walked in the winning run. (In fairness, the Smokies felt the home plate umpire called at least two pitches balls that were right down the heart of the plate.) Kirk allowed one run on one hit and one huge wild pitch over a third of an inning. He walked three, two of which were intentional.

The Smokies scored their only run in the third inning when first baseman Dustin Geiger singled home Kris Bryant. Geiger was 2 for 5 and Bryant was 0 for 1 with four walks.

Catcher Rafael Lopez was 2 for 4 with a walk. Shortstop Wes Darvill went 2 for 5.

Daytona Cubs

The Daytona Cubs doubled up on the Palm Beach Cardinals, 8-4.

Tayler Scott started and evened his record with his third win of the season. He pitched 5.2 innings and allowed three runs, two earned, on seven hits. He walked three and struck out three.

Andrew McKirahan threw the final 2.2 innings without allowing a run for his fourth save. McKirahan surrendered two hits and he walked two while striking out four.

First baseman Dan Vogelbach was 2 for 4 with a triple. Video please. I was also told on Twitter than he was robbed of a home run in the fourth inning. Vogelbach had one RBI and one run scored.

Center fielder Albert Almora went 2 for 4 with three RBI and two runs scored. Right fielder Pin-Chieh Chen was 2 for 4 with two runs scored.

DH Willson Contreras was 2 for 4 with one RBI and one run scored.

Catcher Lance Rymel played his first game of the season and he went 2 for 4 with an RBI double. He was thrown out at third trying to stretch it, apparently forgetting that he's a catcher. Still a nice game for Lance.

Kane County Cougars

The Kane County Cougars swept the Peoria Chiefs (Cardinals), 5-4. With the win, the Cougars improved their lead in the division to 7.5 games over Peoria. Their record is 35-17.

Starter Duane Underwood went six innings and allowed two runs on seven hits. He walked one and struck out two.

Michael Wagner got his first win of the season in relief of Underwood. He went 1.1 innings and allowed one run on a solo home run in the eighth, one of four hits he surrendered. Wagner walked one and had two strikeouts.

Tyler Bremer got his third save. He pitched 1.2 innings and allowed one run on two hits and two walks. He struck out three, two of which came with the bases loaded in the top of the ninth to end the game.

The big blow of this game was left fielder Trey Martin's grand slam in the seventh inning, his first home run of the season. Martin was 2 for 3.

Center fielder Jacob Hannemann was 2 for 4. He tripled to lead off the bottom of the first inning and would score two batters later on a Ben Carhart single.