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Josh was traveling all day Monday so I agreed to fill in for him on the Minor League Wrap. And guess what? I had the easiest possible assignment as Triple-A Iowa, Double-A Tennessee, Advanced-A Myrtle Beach and Low-A South Bend all had the day off. Thanks, Josh, for giving me this piece-of-cake work! He'll be back tomorrow.
Eugene Emeralds
The Eugene Emeralds duplicated their effort from Sunday night. Sadly, that meant blowing a late-inning lead, and they were drenched by the Everett AquaSox (Mariners) 6-4.
Eugene took a 4-2 lead into the eighth inning. They scored three runs in the fifth when, after a walk and a single, Ricardo Marcano tripled. Kevonte Mitchell followed with a sacrifice fly. The fourth run scored in the sixth. Varonex Cuevas walked, advanced to second on a single and scored on a single by Adonis Paula, who went 2-for-4.
These guys might not ever make the major leagues, but they have awesome names.
It fell apart for the Emeralds in the eighth, and unfortunately, the victim of most of the Everett runs was Dillon Maples, who is quickly running himself out of the system with his pitching. He faced four batters. The first hitter singled, then Maples hit two consecutive hitters, then allowed a double. All four hitters eventually scored, as well as two more runs off reliever Sam Wilson. Those were unearned thanks to an error by Cuevas.
Arizona Cubs
The rookie-league Cubs were defeated by the the rookie-league Diamondbacks, 4-1.
Again in this game, former well-known prospects were responsible for the runs allowed. 2013 second-round pick Rob Zastryzny started and gave up one run on three hits and two walks in four innings. He struck out four.
Rob Z. was relieved by Dylan Cease, who was making his professional debut. Unfortunately, he didn't make it out of his first pro inning. He allowed a single to the first hitter he faced, who then stole second and scored when Cease's throw to third base was missed by third baseman Wladimir Galindo. Cease then threw a wild pitch to the next hitter, and another pitch was charged as a passed ball. A groundout scored a second run, and when Cease threw another wild pitch and gave up an RBI single, he was, likely mercifully, removed.
The AZL Cubs had just four hits in the game, all singles. They did manage to sandwich two of those hits around a sacrifice bunt in the fifth for their only run in the game.
Josh, as well as the rest of the Cubs system, will return for a full slate of games Tuesday, which will include the Triple-A Iowa debut for Kyle Schwarber.