Chicago Cubs Minor League Wrap: May 15

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs were smote by the St. Paul Saints (Twins), 2-1.

Shelby Miller made another rehab start tonight and there was some good news and less good news. Miller pitched 3.1 innings and gave up just one unearned run on three hits. But he did walk three batters while striking out four. He threw 64 pitches and 37 were strikes.

Adrian Sampson made his Cubs organization debut when he entered the game in the sixth inning. He was quite good for three innings, keeping the Saints from scoring in all three. But then he came out to pitch the bottom of the ninth and gave up a solo walk-off home run to Ryan Jeffers, the first batter he faced.

The final line on Sampson is 3+ innings, allowing one run on two hits. He struck out one and did not walk anyone.

Iowa had five hits tonight and three of them came off the bat of center fielder Ian Miller. Miller went 3 for 4 with a double and an RBI single in the fourth inning. He also stole a base.

Tennessee Smokies

The Tennessee Smokies got knocked out of orbit by the Rocket City Trash Pandas (Angels), 9-1.

Luis Lugo started and got knocked around for home runs in the first and third inning for the loss. Lugo’s line was five runs on six hits over 2.2 innings. All five of those runs came off of a two-run home run in the first and a three-run bomb in the third.

The Smokies only run came on a solo home run by right fielder Vance Vizcaino. It was his second homer of the season. Vizcaino was 2 for 3.

Shortstop Andy Weber went 0 for 4 with three errors. He’s not a top prospect, but he’s better than that. He’ll have better days in the future.

The Smokies only had four hits tonight.

South Bend Cubs

The South Bend Cubs were bitten by the Beloit Snappers (Marlins), 6-5 in ten innings.

Ryan Jensen turned in a good start tonight, allowing just one run on three hits over four innings. Jensen struck out four and walked one.

Reliever Brandon Hughes pitched a scoreless ninth inning, but gave up a two-run walk-off home run to the first batter he faced in the bottom of the tenth. Hughes’ line for the evening was two runs, one earned, on one hit over 1+ innings. Hughes walked two and struck out one.

Left fielder DJ Artis had three steals tonight. He was 1 for 2 with two walks. Artis scored twice.

Center fielder Cole Roederer was 1 for 4 with a walk. He had an RBI single in the third inning and scored on an error in the fifth.

DH Yonathan Perlaza went 2 for 5.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans split a double header with the Augusta GreenJackets (Braves), winning game one 5-1 and losing the nightcap 2-1 in eight innings.

It was the second good start in a row for Manuel Espinoza in game one, who collected his first win of the season by allowing only one run and five hits over five innings. Espinoza walked two and struck out four.

Scott Kobos pitched two scoreless innings to close out the game. He gave up two hits but no walks. Kobos struck out two.

Four of the five runs for the Smokies were driven in by DH Jonathan Sierra, who had a pair of two-run singles in a 2 for 2 game. It was Sierra’s first game of the season. He also walked one time.

Right fielder Yohendrick Pinango had the other run batted in on a single in the bottom of the first inning. He was 1 for 3 with two runs scored.

In game two, starter DJ Herz pitched 2.1 innings without allowing a hit or a run. On the downside, he did walk three batters and hit another, all in the first inning. (A pickoff on second meant no run scored.) Herz struck out three.

Jake Rendl got the Pelicans out of a jam in the top of the seventh inning after the GreenJackets had tied it up 1-1, but he allowed the ghost runner to score and took the loss when the Pelicans failed to score in the bottom of the eighth. Rendl pitched 1.1 innings and allowed one unearned run on one hit and one intentional walk. He struck out one.

Both teams only had three hits in this game. The Pelicans only run came in the fifth inning when third baseman Luis Verdugo doubled and scored on a wild pitch. He went 1 for 3.

We’ve got highlights of both games: