Chicago Cubs Minor League Wrap: April 14

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs got stuck in the Toledo Mud Hens (Tigers), 8-6.

Eric Stout kept the Mud Hens from scoring over the first three innings. giving up just one hit to go with three walks. Stout struck out four.

The next four Iowa relievers all gave up runs. The fifth, James Bourque, didn’t allow any runs of his own to score, but he let in two inherited runners thanks in large part to three wild pitches.

The loss went to Ben Leeper, who entered the game in the eighth inning. Leeper gave up an RBI double to former I-Cub Zack Short, but managed to get out of the eighth inning with Iowa still in the lead. Leeper went out again for the ninth inning and got the loss.

The final line on Leeper was three runs on three hits, including a solo home run to lead off the ninth, over one inning. He struck out two and walked two.

Iowa hit three home runs in this game. The first was a two-run home run by catcher P.J. Higgins in the bottom of the first inning. Higgins was 1 for 4 with a walk.

Third baseman Levi Jordan hit a solo home run in the third inning to make it 3-0 Iowa. Jordan was 1 for 4.

Finally, left fielder Narciso Crook hit a monster solo shot to left-center in the fourth inning. Crook went 1 for 4 with a walk and two runs scored.

Shortstop Dixon Machado got on base in every trip to the plate, hitting a single a double and drawing three walks. Machado also stole three bases.

Tennessee Smokies

The Tennessee Smokies were cooked by the Montgomery Biscuits (Rays), 5-2.

Starter Cam Sanders was throwing heat in the first inning, hitting 97 to 99 miles per hour on the Biscuits stadium radar gun. But unfortunately, he had trouble getting it anywhere near the plate and he didn’t make it out of the first inning. Sanders went two-thirds of an inning and allowed four runs on one hit and three walks. He did not strike anyone out. Of his 33 pitches he threw, only 16 were strikes.

Blake Whitney gave up no runs and just two hits in his 4.2 innings of work. Unfortunately, the first of those hits was a bases-loaded triple to the first batter he faced, allowing three inherited runners to score. Whitney struck out six and walked no one.

The Smokies never really got back in the game after the Biscuits plated four in the first. Center fielder Nelson Velazquez hit a solo home run in the top of the ninth, his first this year. He was 1 for 4.

Left fielder Darius Hill was 2 for 4.

South Bend Cubs

The South Bend Cubs split a doubleheader with the Ft. Wayne TinCaps (Padres), winning the first game 7-2 and dropping the second game 6-2.

Jordan Wicks was good in game one, tossing 3.2 scoreless innings and allowing three hits. Wicks struck out five and walked one.

The win went to Max Bain because Wicks didn’t go five innings. Bain gave up two runs on two hits over three innings. Both runs scored on a two-run home run in the sixth inning. Bain struck out four and walked two.

Left fielder Yohendrick Pinango hit a solo home run in the fourth inning. Pinango went 1 for 4 with a walk and two runs scored.

One inning later in the fifth. third baseman Fabian Pertuz also connected for his first home run and it also came with the bases empty. Pertuz went 1 for 2 with a walk and two RBI. The walk came with the bases loaded in the third inning.

In fact, South Bend scored four runs in the third and all four were driven in by three bases-loaded walks and one bases-loaded hit-by-pitch.

First baseman Matt Mervis hit an RBI double in the second inning to open the scoring. He was 2 for 4.

In game two, Chris Clarke gave up two runs in the first inning and three more in the third to take the loss. The final line on Clarke was five runs on five hits over three innings. He walked two and struck out two.

Both runs in game two came on an RBI double by center fielder Alexander Canario in the fourth inning. Canario went 1 for 2 with a walk.

South Bend had just four hits in game two.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans smoked out the Augusta GreenJackets (Braves), 3-2.

Pelicans starter Tyler Schaffer allowed a home run to the first batter of the game, but he settled back down and allowed just the one run on two hits over four innings. Schlaffer struck out five and walked two.

Adam Laskey got the win after pitching a scoreless eighth and ninth inning. Laskey gave up one hit and he walked one. He did not strike anyone out.

Catcher Ethan Hearn hit a walk-off, two-out RBI single in the bottom of the ninth to score Pete Crow-Armstrong to win the game. Hearn was 1 for 4.

Center fielder Crow-Armstrong went 2 for 4 with a double and the one run scored.

Third baseman Liam Spence hit a two-run double in the sixth inning to tie the score 2-2. Spence was 1 for 3.

And that’s all four hits the Pelicans had tonight. It was enough.