Chicago Cubs Minor League Wrap: June 28

I decided tonight that I hadn’t watched a Smokies game in a while so I’d tune into them. The question now is whether I was good luck tonight or that I cursed them by not watching earlier?

We’re leading with the Smokies tonight because . . .

Tennessee Smokies

For the second time this season, the Tennessee Smokies threw a no-hitter, beating the Rocket City Trash Pandas (Angels), 2-0.

Anderson Espinoza pitched the first five innings and walked one while striking out seven. The one error was a clear throwing error by third baseman Jake Slaughter. Espinoza also hit one batter and picked up his first win of the season.

Samuel Reyes pitched the next two innings. He walked one and struck out three.

Bryan King also walked a batter with one out, but erased him in a double play. King struck out one.

Nicholas Padilla pitched a perfect ninth inning for his second Smokies save, and third overall. He struck out one.

Jake Slaughter gave the Smokies a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning with a home run. It was his 12th on the year and ninth in Double-A. Slaughter went 1 for 4.

Center fielder Alexander Canario doubled in the second inning and DH Bryce Ball singled him home. Neither team had a hit in the game after that. Canario and Ball were both 1 for 3.

In case you forgot, Peyton Remy, Danis Correa and Eury Ramos combined to no-hit the Biscuits on May 11.

Here’s the final pitch of the game.

Here’s Slaughter’s home run.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs sunk the Columbus Clippers (Guardians), 7-2.

Matt Dermody started and got the win. He allowed two runs on five hits over five innings. Dermody struck out two and walked one. He also hit one batter.

Brandon Leibrandt earned a four-inning save by being perfect. Leibrandt retired all 12 batters he faced. Only one was a strikeout.

The I-Cubs scored four runs the bottom of the first inning and never looked back. Left fielder Darius Hill tripled and then right fielder Narciso Crook singled him home. Next, second baseman Jared Young hit a two-run home run, his 12th this season.

Hill and Crook were both 1 for 4. Young went 3 for 4 and scored twice.

Third baseman Levi Jordan hit a two-run double in the fourth inning. Jordan was 2 for 5 with one run scored.

Catcher Tyler Payne was 2 for 4 and scored one time. Center fielder Greg Deichmann was 2 for 4.

South Bend Cubs

The South Bend Cubs decoyed the Beloit Sky Carp (Marlins), 6-3.

Daniel Palencia had a good start, but he fell one out short of qualifying for a win. Palencia went 4.2 innings and gave up no runs on two hits. He walked three and struck out two.

All three runs that the Cubs allowed this game scored off of reliever Adam Laskey. So of course, he was awarded the win. Laskey gave up three runs on three hits and three walks in just 1.1. innings. He struck out two.

Hunter Bigge got a four-out save. He walked one, gave up one hit and struck out three inhis 1.1 innings.

DH Jake Washer hit a two-run home run in the top of the first inning. It was his eighth blast on the season. Washer went 1 for 4.

Center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong tripled twice in this game. The first came on the first at-bat of the game and the second one came to lead off the eighth inning. He scored both times. Crow-Armstrong was 2 for 5.

Third baseman Luis Verdugo doubled twice in a 2 for 4 game. He drove in one run.

Left fielder Yohendrick Pinango went 2 for 4. He scored twice and had one RBI.

Second baseman Yeison Santana was 2 for 4 with two runs batted in.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans were bitten by the Charleston RiverDogs (Rays), 5-4.

Starter Porter Hodge surrendered two runs on three hits over four innings. He walked three and struck out five.

Frankie Scalzo Jr. got the loss in relief. Scalzo got knocked around for three runs on six hits over 2.1 innings. He struck out three and walked one.

First baseman Felix Stevens had a nice game with a solo home run in the second inning and an RBI double in the eighth. Stevens went 2 for 4. The home run was his seventh this season.

Left fielder Ezequiel Pagan stayed red-hot, going 2 for 3 with a walk and two RBI. Pagan seems a shoo-in for Player of the Month, as he’s hit .375/.483/.611 in June with 26 RBI over 21 games.

DH Josue Huma was 2 for 4.

Highlights.

ACL Cubs

Were losing to the Rockies, 5-2 in the sixth.