Chicago Cubs Minor League Wrap: September 4

Congratulations to Iowa Cubs Bijan Rademacher and Jen-Ho Tseng, who were your choices for the BCB Minor League Player and Pitcher of the Month for August. We’ll have another vote this week for the Player and Pitcher of the Year.

The regular season came to an end today.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs were soaked by the Omaha Storm Chasers (Royals), 7-3.

Williams Perez pitched the first six innings and allowed five runs on nine hits. He walked three and struck out three.

Third baseman Stephen Bruno was 3 for 4 with a pair of doubles. Bruno had one run batted in and he scored once.

Catcher Ali Solis was 2 for 4 with a two-run double in the top of the ninth.

Iowa ends the season 67-72 and in last place in the PCL American Northern Division. Really, if you finish last just five games under .500, that’s a tough division.

Tennessee Smokies

The Tennessee Smokies were extinguished by the Jackson Generals (Diamondbacks), 6-4.

Duane Underwood Jr. started and took the loss after he gave up four runs on six hits over seven innings. He walked two and struck out three. Underwood finishes the season with a 13-7 record.

Left fielder Yasiel Balaguert made the game close with a three-run double in the bottom of the eighth. He was 1 for 4.

Second baseman Andrew Ely was 2 for 3 with a walk and he scored on the Balaguert double.

The Smokies finish the second half with a record of 32-37, which put them in fourth place in the Southern League North Division second-half standings. The Smokies overall record this season was 68-70.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans were scavenged by the Carolina Mudcats (Brewers), 3-1.

Oscar De La Cruz started but only pitched one inning as it was clean out the bullpen refrigerator day for the Pelicans. De La Cruz took the loss after allowing one run on two hits. He did not have a walk or a strikeout.

Left fielder Eddy Martinez was 1 for 2 with two walks.

The Pelicans finished the second half with a record of 30-40, which put them in last place in the Carolina League Southern Division. However, the Pelicans easily won the first half (when they had Eloy Jimenez) and will start a best-of-five playoff series with the Down East Wood Ducks on Wednesday, weather permitting.

The Pelicans finished the regular season with an overall record of 73-67.

South Bend Cubs

The South Bend Cubs crashed against the Bowling Green Hot Rods (Rays), 10-0.

Starter Jose Paulino pitched four innings and allowed six runs on nine hits. One of the six runs was unearned. Paulino walked one and struck out six.

Left fielder Kevonte Mitchell went 2 for 4 with a double.

South Bend finished the second half with a record of 36-34, which put them in fourth place in the Midwest League Eastern Division. Their overall record was 75-64. That was tied for the third-best overall record in the Midwest League, but because it was pretty evenly split between two halves, they failed to make the eight-team Midwest League Playoffs.

Eugene Emeralds

The Ems regular season ended yesterday. They’ll start a best-of-three playoff with Hillsboro in PK Park in Eugene tomorrow night.

AZL Cubs

Beat the Dodgers, 7-6 in the semifinal game of the Arizona League Playoffs.

Cam Belago, Delvin Zinn and Jonathan Sierra all hit home runs.

The rookie league team will face the Giants tomorrow night for the AZL Title.

This ends the Cubs minor league season. However, Eugene and Myrtle Beach’s seasons go on with with the playoffs as both teams look to repeat as league champions. The rookie ball Arizona League Cubs season ends on Tuesday night one way or another. (EDIT: My error. This finals are best-of-three.) So this isn’t the end yet. I’ll be back tomorrow night with the Eugene Emeralds first game of the playoffs and the AZL finale. The Pelicans start their playoff hunt on Wednesday.