Chicago Cubs Minor League Wrap: May 8

I kind of took a break from watching minor league baseball today after having two games on at a time for each of the first four days of the season. I did have the Smokies game on in the background as I watched El Tráfico, or what they call the LA Galaxy/LAFC soccer match. This is the best rivalry in MLS. It’s been rough to be a Galaxy fan over the past few seasons, but beating LAFC, like they did today, certainly makes things better.

Also, I want to give a special shoutout to South Bend’s LHP Alex Katz for this :

He was promoted to South Bend today.

Iowa Cubs

Iowa and Indianapolis were postponed due to inclement weather. The game will be made up as part of a doubleheader in August.

Tennessee Smokies

The Tennessee Smokies baked the Montgomery Biscuits (Rays), 4-3.

Starter Javier Assad pitched well over 2.2 innings, allowing no runs and just one hit. Assad struck out two and walked no one. He threw 37 pitches, of which 25 were strikes.

Montgomery took the lead in the top of the fifth when they scored two unearned runs off of reliever Ryan Kellogg. The Smokies scored three runs in the bottom of the inning to take a 3-2 lead.

Bryan Hudson pitched two innings and gave up the lead when he gave up an RBI double in the seventh. He got the win when the Smokies retook the lead in the bottom of the eighth. Hudson pitched two innings and allowed one run on one hit and one walk. He also hit one batter. Hudson struck out two.

Wyatt Short pitched the ninth and got the save. He allowed a one-out walk but no other baserunners. Short struck out two.

The Smokies retook the lead in the bottom of the eighth inning when DH Tyler Payne singled home catcher Miguel Amaya. Payne was 2 for 4 with a double and one runs scored and the one RBI. Amaya was 1 for 3 with a double and a walk.

South Bend Cubs

The South Bend Cubs kidnapped by the Quad Cities River Bandits (Royals), 5-1. It’s South Bend’s third-straight loss to the River Bandits.

Starter Ryan Jensen had some issues with the long ball, as he surrendered two solo home runs in his three innings of work. Jensen’s final line was four runs on three hits and a walk in his three innings. He also hit one batter. Jensen did strike out five.

Alex Katz pitched a scoreless inning of relief. He did give up a double and a walk. He struck out one. I mention this to say there are no hard feelings.

Shortstop Delvin Zinn was 2 for 4.

South Bend only had three hits in this game. Their only run came on a double play, so no RBI.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans chained up the Charleston RiverDogs (Rays), 5-1.

DJ Herz pitched the first two innings and gave up just one hit and no runs. Herz walked two and struck out four.

Because Herz didn’t throw five innings, the win went to Scott Kobos in relief, and he really earned it. Kobos entered the game in the bottom of the sixth inning after Blake Whitney walked the first two batters of the inning. Kobos struck out the next three batters to finish out the inning and then struck out two more batters in the seventh. He struck out the first five batters he faced and got a ground out on his sixth and final batter.

The Pelicans took the lead on an RBI double by third baseman Luis Verdugo in the second inning. Then Vedugo was 2 for 4.

Center fielder Darius Hill was 2 for 5 with a stolen base and an RBI single later in the second inning.