Chicago Cubs Minor League Wrap: August 15

Lots of good news on the farm tonight.

Iowa Cubs

Four Iowa Cubs pitchers combined for a one-hitter as they drenched the Omaha Storm Chasers (Royals), 10-0.

Starter Keegan Thompson faced 13 batters and he retired them all. Thompson struck out seven over his 4.1 innings.

Daktoa Mekkes replaced Thompson after he threw 61 pitches and got the final two outs of the fifth inning. Mekkes did walk one batter.

Dillon Maples pitched one inning, the sixth, and was awarded the win. Maples walked one and struck out the other three.

Matt Swarmer finished out the game and got a three-inning save. He gave up a leadoff double on a soft liner to left field in the bottom of the ninth to break up the no-hitter. (It was only a double because Zach Davis made a desperate dive to make the catch to keep the no-hitter intact and the ball got past him. In a normal situation, he would have played in on the bounce for a single.) Swarmer struck out five and walked no one.

That’s 15 strikeouts to two walks for the Iowa pitching staff.

First baseman Jared Young went 3 for 5 with three runs batted in.

Catcher Taylor Gushue went 2 for 5 with a double and three RBI.

Shortstop Abiatal Avelino was 2 for 4 with a double. He scored one run.

DH Alfonso Rivas went 2 for 4 with a walk.

Tennessee Smokies

The Tennessee Smokies left the Rocket City Trash Pandas (Angels) on the launchpad, 12-3.

Cam Sanders pitched the first five innings and got the win after surrendering three runs on five hits over five innings. Sanders struck out six and walked three.

Third baseman Chase Strumpf hit a two-run home run in the third inning, his sixth on the year. In the seventh inning, Strumpf added to his total with a two-run double. He was 2 for 4 with a walk. He scored three runs and drove in four.

In the eighth inning, center fielder Christopher Morel cracked his 13th home run on the year with the bases empty. Morel went 1 for 4 with a sac fly and the two RBI.

DH Nelson Maldonado was 2 for 4 and was hit by a pitch. Maldonado drove in two runs and scored one time.

Second baseman Carlos Sepulveda went 2 for 4 with a double, a walk and a stolen base. He scored once.

Catcher Tyler Payne was 2 for 5. He had two RBI and scored one run.

South Bend Cubs

The South Bend Cubs were boiled by the Ft. Wayne TinCaps (Padres), 6-1.

Starting pitcher Anderson Espinoza didn’t make it out of the first inning, getting pulled after 32 pitches. He got the loss after he gave up four runs on three hits and two walks over two-thirds of an inning. Espinoza struck out two.

Shortstop Luis Vazquez was 2 for 3 with a walk.

The only South Bend run in this game came when third baseman Jake Slaughter hit into a double play in the top of the ninth, scoring Alexander Canario.

Both Slaughter and Canario were 1 for 4 with a double.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans beat the Charleston RiverDogs (Rays), 9-6. The Pelicans and the Fireflies split the six-game series 3-3, which is the first time that the RiverDogs have not won a series since splitting one with Augusta in the first week in June. The RiverDogs have the best record in the minors at 63-26.

Daniel Palencia started and made one big mistake: a three-run home run in the third inning. His final line was three runs on four hits over 3.1 innings. Palencia walked one and struck out five. His fastball was sitting 97 to 98 miles per hour on the stadium radar gun.

Gabriel Jaramillo was perfect in the eighth and ninth innings, retiring all six batters he faced. Jaramillo had one strikeout. He got the win after the Pelicans scored five runs in the bottom of the eighth.

The Pelicans trailed this game 6-1 after 6 ¹⁄₂ innings, but scored three in the bottom of the seventh and five in the eighth to take the lead.

Center fielder Jordan Nwogu went 2 for 5 with three runs batted in. He had a two-run single in the seventh and an RBI single in the eight for three total RBI.

Right fielder Jonathan Sierra was 2 for 5 with an RBI single in the fourth inning.

Catcher Pablo Aliendo went 2 for 4 and scored one time.

Third baseman Kevin Made went 2 for 4 with a double and two runs scored.

Shortstop Ed Howard singled in the bottom of the eighth to score Made and tie the game 6-6. He went 1 for 3.

ACL Cubs

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