Chicago Cubs Minor League Wrap: August 29

Great night in the majors. Bad night down on the farm. Only Tennessee won, and they’ve been out of the playoff chase since sometime in March. (That’s a literary device known as hyperbole.)

Congratulations to Emeralds outfielder Edmond Americaan, who was named to the Northwest League year-end All-Star team.

Willson Contreras will start a rehab assignment in Iowa on Friday.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs were not OK against the Oklahoma City Dodgers, 9-4.

PCL Pitcher of the Year Colin Rea took the mound, but failed to get the job done. Rea got the loss after giving up six runs on seven hits over six innings. Rea walked three and struck out five.

Wyatt Short had a miserable outing after relieving Rea in the seventh inning. Short faced six batters. He walked four of them and hit the other two for three runs against him. He was lucky that Alex Wilson managed to pitch out of the bases-loaded, no-out mess with no further damage with a strikeout and a double play.

Left fielder Robel Garcia went 3 for 4 with a triple. Garcia drove home two runs and he scored once.

Center fielder Albert Almora Jr. was 2 for 5 and scored one run.

Memphis beat New Orleans, so the Cubs magic number stays at one with a four-game lead over Memphis with four games to play. All four of those games are against Memphis in Des Moines.

Memphis is 17-3 over their past 20 games, including a four-game sweep of the I-Cubs in Memphis this past month.

Tennessee Smokies

The Tennessee Smokies beat the Mobile Bay Bears (Angels), 4-3.

Jack Patterson pitched the first three innings and faced the minimum thanks to a double play. He gave up no hits and one walk. Patterson struck out two.

The win went to Chih-Wei Hu. Hu allowed two runs on six hits and two walks over three innings. Hu struck out four.

Oscar De La Cruz was summoned in the top of the ninth inning to protect a 4-2 lead. The first batter he faced hit a solo home run to make it 4-3. But then De La Cruz got the next three batters to ground out for his second save.

Right fielder Eddy Martinez hit two doubles in a 2 for 5 game. He scored one run.

Third baseman Christian Donahue was 3 for 5 with one run scored.

Shortstop Nico Hoerner was 2 for 4 with a walk.

Second baseman Vimael Machin went 2 for 4 with a sac fly. He had two total RBI.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans were vetoed by the Potomac Nationals, 5-1.

Enrique De Los Rios started and took the loss. De Los Rios allowed two runs, both unearned, on four hits over 4.1 innings. De Los Rios walked one and did not have a strikeout.

Right fielder Kevonte Mitchell was 1 for 2 with an RBI single in the second inning for Myrtle Beach’s only run. Mitchell also walked twice.

DH Grant Fennell went 2 for 4.

With the loss and a win by Fayetteville, the Pelicans were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs.

South Bend Cubs

The South Bend Cubs were smelted by the Ft. Wayne TinCaps (Padres), 9-4.

Riley Thompson pitched the first three innings and took the loss after giving up three runs on two hits and three walks. Thompson did not strike anyone out. He did allowed the first of two home runs hit tonight by TinCaps left fielder Dwanya Williams-Sutton.

Left fielder Yonathan Perlaza went 2 for 3 with a double. He scored one time and had one run batted in.

Catcher Marcus Mastrobuoni was 2 for 4. He also drove home one and scored one.

Lansing won, so South Bend’s magic number to clinch a Wild Card spot remains at two.

Eugene Emeralds

The Eugene Emeralds were buried by the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes (Giants), 10-5.

Starter Josh Burgmann went 2.1 innings and allowed three runs, two earned, on three hits. He was pulled after giving up a two-run home run in the third inning. Burgmann walked one and struck out two.

The loss went to Brad Deppermann, who was torched for four runs in the seventh inning, including a three-run home run. Deppermann’s final line was four runs on five hits over two innings. Deppermann struck out three and did not walk anyone.

DH Jake Washer hit his first professional home run with the bases empty in the fourth inning. Washer went 1 for 3 with two walks.

Right fielder Yovanny Cuevas was 2 for 5 with a walk and one run scored.

Left fielder Jacob Olson was 2 for 5.