Author: Sitrick

Chicago Cubs 3 @ St Louis Cardinals 0

The Cubs shut out the Cards in St. Louis for the first time since '97 last night. Perhaps more surprisingly, Chris Rusin was most responsible for it. 6 innings of 7 hit, 2 walk, 5 K scoreless ball? A 3.08 ERA? The regression is going to be ugly as hell, but for now, please enjoy Chris Rusin, Magician. James Russell got two outs in the 7th, striking out both and not allowing a hit. Blake Parker got the last in the 7th without issue. Pedro Strop was nasty as usual, touching 97 with his fastball, striking out one, and generally looking too good to be on this Cubs team. Reliever variance is fun. Kevin Gregg walked one, struck out one, and got the save.

On the offensive side, it was death by a thousand paper cuts, as the Cubs did not have an XBH on the night, but did draw 8 walks. The Junior Lake Show was 1-4 with a walk. Lake seems to be displaying way more pitch recognition in the early going than I was expecting out of him. It looked like he was getting busted with breaking stuff away all night, and was, for the most part, laying off of it. Who knows if it'll last, but it's been pleasantly surprising seeing Junior not totally fall off a cliff after his blazing start. Anthony Rizzo was 1-5, and once again has an average under .240 and an OBP under .330. His BABIP is still pretty crazily low out of context at .262, but in 1013 MLB PAs he's put up a .275 BABIP, so maybe this is less out of line than we might think. If it turns out he's just always going to be a relatively low BABIP guy, then it's really nice seeing his plate patience take an upswing this year, because he'll need it. Welington Castillo continues to hit well of late, going 1-2 with a walk. Starlin Castro was 1-3. Darwin Barney was 1-2 with 2 walks, which I'm pretty sure is the definition of doing it wrong if you're the Cardinals.

Fresno Grizzlies 4 @ Iowa Cubs 5

Lively day for the I-Cubs bats in this one, as even Mike Olt managed to get a hit, having a 1-4 day with a 2B. Jae-Hoon Ha was 3-5 with a 2B. Julio Borbon led off and was 2-4 with a walk. Nobody else matters.

Jake Arrieta had a bit of a rough day, lasting only 3+ innings and allowing 2 runs on 6 hits and 3 walks. He K'ed 3 as well. As he was being taken out he apparently got in a fight with the home plate umpire, and was ejected for good measure. Fiery. Casey Coleman worked the next 4 and let 2 more cross on 4 hits, 2 walks, and 4 Ks. Chang-Yong Lim worked the 8th and was fine. Brian Schlitter struck out 2 in a spotless ninth.

Montgomery Biscuits 10 @ Tennessee Smokies 11

Some really lousy pitching in this one on both sides, with a combined 33 hits and 13 walks between the two clubs. Javier Baez got the big moment with the walkoff hit in the ninth, going 2-5 with a walk and a K on the day. Arismendy Alcantara had a day himself, going 3-6.  Christian Villanueva had them both beat, though, going 3-5 with two doubles and a homer. Damn, man. Brett Jackson's Lifeless Corpse was 2-3 with 2 walks and a CS. I miss the days of him doing Brett Jackson Things. Matt Szczur was 1-3. Justin Bour was 1-4 with a walk and a bomb. John Andreoli was 2-5 with 2 SBs.

Dae-Eun Rhee had a bad day. Really, everyone had a bad day though, as only one Smokie managed to not allow a run. For Rhee's part, his line finished at 5 IP, 7 hits, 3 walks, 5 runs, 4 Ks and 2 homers. Forget about it and try again next week. Jeffry Antigua worked the next two and allowed a run on a hit and 2 Ks. Dayan Diaz allowed a run for every out he got, 2 each with a walk, a K, and 2 hits. Yeiper Castillo envied this efficiency, and thus gave up a run on a hit and a walk in getting his one out. Frank Batista blew the save in the top of the ninth, allowing a run on 3 hits and a strikeout. Hunter Cervenka managed to get an out without anybody crossing the plate, finally, but not before walking one. He struck out one. Not a good day for Smokies hurlers.

Daytona Cubs @ Clearwater Threshers

Rained out. I am shocked, shocked.

Burlington Bees 6 @ Kane County 5 (10 Innings)

You may have seen the skunk on the field delaying the game during this one. That was a silly thing that happened.

Not too much to get excited about here otherwise. Jeimer Candelario had a 2-3 day with 2 walks. Marco Hernandez was 3-5 with a double and a triple. And Carlos Escobar was 2-5 with a homer.

On the pitching side, Tyler Skulina worked 2 1/3 and gave up 3 runs (2 earned) on four hits, a walk, and 3 Ks. Not great, but he's new here. Al Yevoli was worse, allowing 2 more runs across in 1.2 innings on 3 hits and 1 K. Rob Zastryzny made his KC debut and acquitted himself admirably, allowing 2 hits, a walk, and fanning one in three innings of work. It's like he's a second round pick or something. Andrew McKirahan worked the next two and was excellent, striking out 4 and not allowing a baserunner. Michael Hamann took the loss in the tenth, giving up a run on 2 hits and a walk with 1 K.

Vancouver Canadians 4 @ Boise Hawks 5

Kris Bryant continues to rake, going 2-3 with a double and a walk. His Boise line now stands at .315/.381/.648/1.029, with a 1.287 OPS over his last ten. He's 14 for his last 34 and eight of those fourteen have gone for extra bases. There's rumors that he's going to get sent to Daytona soon, which seems like the worst idea to me. The guy finally has the rust shaken off from a month-plus of being away from baseball, and you're going to send him to a league where he'll get rained out 3 out of every 4 days? This is why I'm carrying the torch for sending Bryant to Tennessee. I suspect Kane County wouldn't offer much of a challenge for him either, and besides, Candelario is younger, has performed well this season, and needs consistent ABs. Daytona doesn't work because of the rainouts. And Bryant is your number two overall pick who was the best collegiate hitter over the past year. Challenge him. If he fails, send him to Daytona to start next year. If he succeeds, that's nothing but surplus value and time saved on his development plan. This will never actually happen, but it should.

Anyway, the rest of Boise. Carlos Penalver was 2-4 with a double for the Hawks' only other XBH. Kevin Encarnacion was 3-5. Yasiel Balaguert was 1-4. Jacob Rogers was 1-4.

James Pugliese was solid, working 4 innings and allowing 6 hits, a walk, and a run against 3 strikeouts. The guy is a ground ball machine, currently sitting with a 2.00 GB/FB rate.  Zack Godley had a rough outing, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits and 2 innings, and only fanning one. Scott Frazier allowed 3 walks in 0.2 innings, but didn't let any score and struck out one. Jasvir Rakkar closed it out with 2.1 innings of 2 hit, 1 walk, 2 K scoreless ball.

AZL Cubs 3 @ AZL Angels 4

Brian Boguesevic is making rehab appearances here, and went 1-4 with a walk and 2 Ks. Jeffrey Baez was 2-5. Charcer Burks was 1-3. Nothing else really interesting going on here.

DSL Cardinals 2 @ DSL Cubs 4  

Iowa Cubs 4 @ Salt Lake Bees 5

Ty Wright went 2-2 with 2 homers. Mike Olt has a .249 OPS and has an ISO of 0 over his last ten. Edwin Mayonnaise had a double. Nobody else is remotely worth mentioning.

Tennessee Smokies 0 @ Jacksonville Suns 1

Matt Szczur was 2-4. Arismendy Alcantara was 1-4 with a SB and has yet to really work his way out of the cold snap he's been in lately. His OPS on the season has dipped below .800 at this point. Here's hoping he turns it around soon. Javier Baez did Javier Baez things, going 0-4 with 3 Ks. That makes 38 in about 110 PAs. Ouch. Christian Villanueva and Rubi Silva were both 2-4, Silva with a two-bagger. Brett Jackson's Looming Sadness was 0-3 with a walk and a K.

Eduardo Figueroa tried his best to keep the Smokies in it but took the loss, going 5 and allowing only a run on 4 hits and 2 walks. He K'ed 2. The bullpen was perfect the rest of the way. Dayan Diaz worked the sixth and seventh, striking out 3. And Tony Zych finished it off with 2 Ks in the ninth.

Bradenton Marauders 7 @ Daytona Cubs 9

Lively bats in this one, which was a change of pace for yesterday. Every D-Cub had at least a hit, and everyone but Elliot Soto, Dustin Geiger, and Pin-Chieh Chen had at least one go for a double. Zeke DeVoss was 3-4 with 2 doubles and a walk. Bijan Rademacher was 2-5 with a 2B. Chadd Krist was 3-5 with 3 doubles.

The big story in this one, though, was the Cubs debut of Corey Black, the arm coming back in the Alfonso Soriano trade to the Yankees. The good news is Black struck out 8 and only allowed 3 hits in four innings of work. The bad news is that two of those hits were home runs, including a three-run blast in the third allowed to Jose Osuna after starting the inning with two walks. He walked three and allowed 4 runs total. Ben Wells got the win despite being awful, allowing 3 runs (1 earned) on four walks, 2 hits, and zero punchouts. Lendy Castillo worked the final 3 without a hit, walking one and striking out 4.

Los Angeles Dodgers 6 @ Chicago Cubs 2

Travis Wood had by far his worst outing of the season yesterday, lasting only three and a third and allowing 5 runs on 7 hits, 5 walks, and 2 strikeouts. Michael Bowden got out of the fourth (no hits, a walk, and a strikeout in 0.2 IP), but hit Yasiel Puig and allowed a sac-fly that charged Wood's fifth run. Eduardo Sanchez worked the next two in mop-up, allowing a run on two hits. James Russell, Blake Parker, and Pedro Strop were perfect the rest of the way, tallying four strikeouts between them. 

Offensively, it was a confusing day, with only two runs scoring despite 14 hits, 5 for extra bases. The Junior Lake Show continued with a 4-5 day, all singles. Anthony Rizzo was 0-5. Starlin Castro was 1-4 with a double. Cole Gillespie was 3-4 with two doubles. Darwin Barney was 2-4 with a two-bagger. David DeJesus was 1-4 with a walk. 

Kane County Cougars 4 @ Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 7

Gioskar Amaya went 2-5. Albert Almora bested him by one, going 3-5. Rock Shoulders was 1-4 with a double. Marco Hernandez was 1-4. Oliver Zapata and Jeimer Candelario were both 1-3, Candelario drawing 2 walks and Zapata only 1.

On the pitching side, Michael Heesch was pretty lousy, allowing 5 runs in 6 innings. He walked and struck out 2 each. Al Yevoli worked 2.1 innings and allowed 2 more runs on 3 hits, a walk, and 4 Ks. Steve Perakslis got the final 2 outs, allowing 2 hits on a walk and a strikeout. 

Boise Hawks @ Everett AquaSox

AZL Giants 4 @ AZL Cubs 6

DSL Cubs 4 @ DSL Brewers 3

DSL Cubs 9 @ DSL Brewers 5

Nothing really exciting going on here.

Iowa Cubs 2 @ Round Rock Express 5

Jake Arrieta got dinged up for 4 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks in 5 innings, mostly due to a 3-run homer given up to Mike Olt. He struck out 3, and must be slow to the plate, as he gave up 4 stolen bases. Yoanner Negrin was a homer short of box score bingo, working an inning and giving up a run on a walk, a hit, and a strikeout. Marcus Hatley walked 2 and struck out 1 in a scoreless 7th. And Eduardo Sanchez was perfect in the 8th, striking out 1.

Offensively? Meh. Josh Vitters was 2-3 with a double. Ty Wright and Brad Nelson were both 2-5. Logan Watkins went 0-4, but walked once and got a SB out of it. Darnell McDonald was 2-4. Jae-Hoon Ha grounded into a 5-4-3 triple play in the 2nd, which is noteworthy I suppose.

Jacksonville Suns 4 @ Tennessee Smokies 7

Good day for the prospects on the Tennessee roster. Javier Baez had a 2-5 day with a double, striking out once. Arismendy Alcantara had a great day, going 3-4 with a double and a walk. Matt Szczur was 2-4 with a double and a walk. Christian Villanueva was 2-5 with a double. Rubi Silva was 1-4 with a double. John Andreoli was 1-3 with a walk. And Justin Bour was 1-4 with a 3-run homer and a walk.

Austin Kirk continues to be pretty not great, allowing 4 runs on 6 hits and 3 walks in 5 innings, punching out 3. Marcos Mateo worked 2 scoreless, striking out 2 and walking one. Frank Batista worked the last two, allowing a hit while striking out 2.

Daytona Cubs 0 @ Charlotte Stone Crabs 1 (Game 1 of DH, 13 Innings)

This was a long day for the D-Cubs, who turned what should've been 14 innings of MiLB doubleheader into a 28-inning endurance trial, with 5 runs scored the entire day. Unsurprisingly, there wasn't much offense to be had. In this one, Taiwan Easterling put on the best show, going 2-5 with a double. Elliot Soto was 2-5 with a walk. Zeke DeVoss was 2-6 with a SB.

Ivan Pineyro scattered 4 hits across 6 scoreless innings, striking out 3. Eduardo Figueroa kept it scoreless over the next six, allowing 7 hits and a walk while striking out 2. Frank Del Valle walked 2 and gave up a hit in his two-thirds of an inning, allowing the walkoff hit to finally end the game.

Daytona Cubs 2 @ Charlotte Stone Crabs 2 (Game 2 of DH, called a tie after 15 Innings)

A bit more life in the bats for Game 2, though not much more. Bijan Rademacher was 3-5 with a double, a triple, and a walk. Wes Darvill was 2-5 with a double. Taylor Davis was 1-6, but the hit was an important one, tying the game with a solo HR in the 8th.

Matt Loosen continues to pitch well for the D-Cubs, scattering 4 hits and 3 walks across 6 innings, punching out 7 and allowing 2 runs. The bullpen kept it scoreless the rest of the way. Larry Suarez allowed a hit and struck out one in the 7th. Chang-Yong Lim gave up a walk and struck out one in the 8th. Jeffrey Lorick worked the next 4, working around 3 hits and 4 walks to avoid giving up the game. And Dayan Diaz worked the final 3, allowing a hit and a walk while striking out 4. At that point they ran into a MiLB curfew that required the game be ended in a tie, which caused a minor stir on twitter for some of the players. Ah well.

Chicago Cubs 3 @ Colorado Rockies 9

Luis Valbuena had the game of the day out of the leadoff spot, going 2-4 with a walk and a solo shot. Darwin Barney was 2-4 with a double. Alfonso Soriano was 1-3 with a double and a walk and almost has his OBP over .300 on the season. Junior Lake was 1-3 with a walk and a CS. Starlin Castro was 1-5 with a SB. Anthony Rizzo went 1-3 with a walk. Not much offense going on here.

Carlos Villanueva is not a fan of Coors, and it showed, as he gave up 7 runs on 9 hits and 4 walks with no Ks in 4 innings. That was pretty much the game. Michael Bowden worked the next two, allowing a hit and 2 walks while striking out 3 and keeping the Rockies from adding on. Hector Rondon worked the 7th and struck out 2. Blake Parker finished it up and allowed 2 runs (1 earned) on three hits, a walk, and a strikeout in 8th.

Lansing Lugnuts 4 @ Kane County Cougars (6 Innings)

This one was called after 6th thanks to rain. Albert Almora was 1-3 with a walk. The league seems to be figuring him out a little bit, as he's been scuffling quite a bit lately, going .214/.283/.262 over his last 10. Gioskar Amaya was 1-3 with a walk himself. Dan Vogelbach was 2-2 with a double and a walk. Wilson Contreras was 1-2 with a BB. Everyone else on the roster got at least one walk except Marco Hernandez, who reached base on an error and got a stolen base out of the deal.

Felix Pena wasn't sharp, but with the strong offense he didn't really need to be. He worked six and allowed 4 runs on 8 hits, including a 3-run homer. He struck out 4.

Everett AquaSox 8 @ Boise Hawks 7

Hey, a nine inning game that was actually completed! Every starter got a hit in this one. Shawon Dunston was 3-5, all singles. Daniel Lockhart was 2-4 with a double. David Bote was 2-4. The Hawks struck out 13 times in this game, and walked exactly none times.

Duane Underwood got the start, and worked 4 innings of 3 run ball, dodging 6 hits and 3 walks to avoid more damage. He only got one strikeout. Trey Masek was really good in his two innings, striking out 3 and staying perfect. In the early going at Boise, Masek has yet to allow a run in 8 innings across 5 games and has struck out 9. Eddie Orozco worked 2, and allowed 2 runs on 3 hits and a walk with one K. Jasvir Rakkar finished it off, giving up 2 runs on 3 hits with no Ks in the 9th.

VSL Cubs 4 @ VSL Tigers 1 (Game 1 of DH)
VSL Cubs 3 @ VSL Tigers 1 (Game 2 of DH)

Nothing too exciting happening across this doubleheader.

AZL Cubs 1 @ AZL Angels 8 (4 Innings, suspended due to rain)

The rare Arizona League rainout. Xavier Batista is 1-2 with a double so far in this one. Charcer Burks is 1-1, and Jesse Hodges is 1-2. Carlos A. Rodriguez and Luis Guillen have both been awful.

 

Chicago Cubs 3 @ Colorado Rockies 1

Junior Lake made his debut, doing Junior Lake Things. He was aggressive at the plate and it paid off, having a 3-4 day with a double and a SB. Sveum called him the only kid he's seen come up so far that looked like a big leaguer. So there's that. Starlin Castro had only his third hitless game in the month of July. Anthony Rizzo was 1-4 with a walk and a double. Darwin Barney was 1-5 with a double. Welington Castillo was 1-3 with an (intentional) walk. Alfonso Soriano continues to be Good Sori, blasting his 17th homer.

The big story of this game was Jeff Samardzija, though, who desperately needed a good rebound start and got one, working 7.1 innings of 4 hit, 3 walk ball and allowing only a solo home run. He struck out 6. Pedro Strop continues to be nasty in his Cubs career, working 2/3 of an inning and getting a strikeout. Kevin Gregg managed not to give up a run yesterday, allowing only a hit and a walk. 

Iowa Cubs 4 @ Round Rock Express 10

Let's start with the (potentially) important part: Mike Olt was 1-3 with a walk and 2 Ks. If you're looking for reasons to think his crappy year was due to his vision problems and things are fixed, over his last 10 he's hitting .290/.395/.516/ with a homer and 4 doubles. He also has 14 strikeouts over 36 PAs in that time. Manny Ramirez batted cleanup for Round Rock and had a 1-3 day with a walk.

Unfortunately, nothing interesting happened that had anything to do with the I-Cubs yesterday. Josh Vitters was 2-4 with a home run. If he gets on a little run I wouldn't mind seeing him get a callup and get a ton of at-bats after all the trading's done. It'd be all about the 2014 draft pick anyway, so who cares if he sucks, and maybe you get lucky and he adjusts. Jae-Hoon Ha was 2-4. Edgar Gonzalez was 2-4 with a double. Donnie Murphy was 2-5.

Brooks Raley was Raleyesque, allowing 5 runs on 6 hits and 3 walks with no strikeouts in 4.2 innings, with a 3:11 GO:FO ratio. He didn't give up a homer, so I guess that's good. Nick Struck worked an inning and a third, allowing 3 runs (2 earned) on 3 hits, including a 2-run homer, but didn't walk anybody and struck out 2. Jeffry Antigua gave up a 2-run homer of his own in his inning for his only hit, walking one and striking out two. Casey Coleman was the only pitcher that wasn't terrible, working a clean 8th.

Jacksonville Suns 2 @ Tennessee Smokies 3

Arismendy Alcantara was 2-5 with a double. Javier Baez was 1-4 with a solo homer and a strikeout. That's 4 homers in 45 PAs at a level he hasn't really adjusted to yet. Rubi Silva was 1-4. John Andreoli was 3-4 with 2 doubles and a SB. Matt Szczur was 1-4 with 2 Ks. On the opposite side, uber-prospect Christian Yelich beat up on the Smokies' staff, going 3-4 with a homer and a walk, but did get caught stealing twice. Nice work by Rafael Lopez, who also gunned down Audy Ciriaco. All told, the Smokies got 4 outs out of questionable Suns baserunning.

Dae-Eun Rhee got hit a little bit hard but kept the game under control, allowing 5 hits in 3.2 innings, including 2 solo homers. He kept it to 2 runs, though, and struck out 3. Yeiper Castillo was pretty good in 3.1 innings, giving up 2 hits and 2 walks, striking out 5. Tony Zych worked a clean 8th, striking out 1, and Zach Rosscup finished it off with 2 hitless innings, allowing a walk and striking out 2. Rosscup has been sneakily fantastic this year after being pretty lousy in his first small taste of AA last year. He's posted a 1.91 ERA in 37.2 Innings in Tennessee this year. He's struck out a whopping 57 against 16 walks and only 1 home run allowed, has a .179 BAA, and is stranding 82.9% of his baserunners. He's not young at 25, but there's definitely a shot at a decent bullpen future missing that many bats, and if he turns into a useful piece it adds a little more value to the Garza deal we got him in, if nothing else.

Daytona Cubs 0 @ Charlotte Stone Crabs 0 (Suspended after 6 Innings)

Daytona was getting 1-hit when play stopped. Taiwan Easterling was 1-2 with a double. Wes Darvill had a walk. Ivan Pineyro worked all 6 and allowed 4 hits while striking out 3.

Great Lakes Loons 8 @ Kane County Cougars 6 (7.1 innings, called due to rain)

Gioskar Amaya was 2-4 with a homer and has been on an absolute tear this month, hitting .375/.446/.625 in July and hitting safely in 17 of his last 20 games. His season line is up to .274/.340/.418 and trending upward. Albert Almora was 0-3, but walked once. Dan Vogelbach was 2-4, both singles. His ISO is now appearing on milk cartons. Jeimer Candelario was 2-4 with a homer.  That was about it for notable performances.

On the pitching side, Scott Baker got rocked. 2.2 innings tossed, with 6 runs allowed on 6 hits and 3 walks, getting only one strikeout. Only his second rehab outing, so hopefully he's still shaking the rust off, but there's nothing encouraging here yet.

Nathan Dorris got an out, allowed a hit, and struck out one. Michael Heesch worked the last 4.1 and took the loss, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits and 4 walks, striking out 2.

Everett AquaSox 2 @ Boise Hawks 9

Shawon Dunston was 1-4 with a walk. Lance Rymel had a 3-5 day with a double. Jacob Rogers and Rony Rodriguez were both 2-4, with Rogers adding a HBP. Cael Brockmeyer was 3-4 with a double and a SB. David Bote was 2-3 with two bombs. Carlos Penalver was 1-3 with a walk.

Dillon Maples was okay, working 3 innings and allowing a run on 3 hits and 2 walks. He struck out 3. Corbin Hoffner worked the next three and gave up 4 hits but no runs, striking out 3. Carlos Martinez-Pumarino worked 2 and allowed a solo home run for his only damage, striking out 2. Tyler Bremer worked a clean 9th to close it out, K'ing 2 of his own.

DSL Mets1 1 @ DSL Cubs 9

Shamil Ubiera was 1-2 with a homer and 3 walks. Dalfis Ortiz was 2-4 with a double and a walk. Andin Diaz worked 5 innings and allowed a run while striking out 6.

VSL Phillies 2 @ VSL Cubs 6

Bryant Flete was 1-3 with a double, a SB, and a walk. Delbis Arcila was 2-4. Roney Alcala was 1-4 with a double.

 

St. Louis Cardinals 4 @ Chicago Cubs 6

In what was likely his final start for the Cubs Matt Garza was once again excellent, scattering 10 hits and 2 walks across 6.2 innings, striking out 4, generating 10 ground ball outs, and allowing only 2 runs. I have no idea why we acquired you, Matt Garza, and I wish we still had Chris Archer, but you were no Juan Pierre, at least.

In other news, can Kevin Gregg please get traded already? He's allowed runs in 5 of his last 10 appearances and eventually someone is going to notice that he's coming back to earth, especially given the way he tried to Groggle away the lead late yesterday. 2 walks, a hit, and a run with one strikeout yesterday.

Blake Parker also allowed a run on a hit and a walk while only recording an out in the top of the 8th. Matt Guerrier and James Russell combined for a blemish-free inning of work on opposite sides of Parker's outing.

On the hitting side, things were much more pleasant. Every position player reached base at least once. Starlin Castro kept his nice little hot streak going with a 2-5 day. His batting average now equals Anthony Rizzo's at .243. Tony the Rat was 0-3 with 2 walks. The real story of the offense for awhile now has been Alfonso Soriano, however. It's a simple observation, but it's really hard to understate how much easier it is to win baseball games when Good Soriano shows up. He was 2-5 yesterday with a double and a home run. He now has 7 homers in July (compared to 9 through the first three months of the season) and is slugging .804 with a 1.144 OPS. Damn.

Luis Valbuena also went deep for a 2-run homer in the 8th that would prove to be the game-winner, and was 1-5 on the day.  Julion Borbon got a pinch hit AB and hit a double for the Cubs' only other XBH. Dave Sappelt had a 2-4 day with a SB. Brian Bogusevic was 1-4 with a SB.

Albuquerque Isotopes 9 @ Iowa Cubs 7

Ian Stewart decided he wanted to play today, and had a 3-4 day with 2 doubles in his return to Iowa. But he's still hitting .206 so to hell with him.

As far as players that matter go, Junior Lake had a loud day at the plate, going 4-4 with a double and 3 stolen bases (he tried for 4 but got caught). Hoyer made some comments yesterday that Lake was proving himself pretty damn close to being ready for a shot with the big club, so that's something to look forward to. Edgar Gonzalez was 3-5 with a double and a home run. Darnell McDonald was 2-3 with a walk and a SB. The I-Cubs got 13 hits off of Jonathan Sanchez, who doesn't seem to be very good. Also, two different Isotopes took blown saves in this game, which seems strange to me.

Chris Rusin sucked. Yoanner Negrin sucked too, but slightly less. Casey Coleman was Casey Coleman. And sucked.

Tennessee Smokies 5 @ Jackson Generals 0

Javier Baez was 1-3 with a home run and a walk. That's what we like to see. He's got his average above the Mendoza Line now, and added .100 points to his Tennessee OPS today, which is meaningless because it's only 9 games, but is still fun. John Andreoli was 2-5 with a homer of his own. Christian Villanueva was 2-3 with a homer. Justin Bour was 1-4 with a double, as was Rubi Silva. Nate Samson was 3-4 with a double.

Kyle Hendricks did Kyle Hendricks Things, allowing 1 hit in 5 innings and striking out 4. Please send this man to Iowa already. Carlos Gutierrez, Tony Zych, and Zach Rosscup combined for 3 innings of 2 hit, 1 walk, 2 strikeout ball to finish off the shutout.

Jupiter Hammerheads 0 @ Daytona Cubs 8 (7 innings, Game 1 of Doubleheader)

For as many runs as the D-Cubs plated in this one, not a ton of exciting individual performances. Every D-Cub except Dustin Geiger and Pin-Chieh Chen got a hit, and Geiger was the only D-Cub not to reach base. Elliot Soto was 1-4 with a double. Wes Darvill was 2-4. Ben Carhart was 1-3 with a double. Yaniel Cabezas was 1-1 with a double and 2 walks.

Ivan Pineyro was pretty damn good in his Daytona debut, tossed 5 innings of 5 hit scoreless ball, issuing a walk and getting 3 Ks. Chang-Yong Lim also made his debut for the D-Cubs and worked a perfect 6th, striking out 1. Dayan Diaz closed it out with an identical 7th.

Jupiter Hammerheads 0 @ Daytona Cubs 2 (7 Innings, Game 2 of Doubleheader)

Chadd Krist had a 1-3 day in the second half of the twin bill, blasting it over the fence for a bomb. Dustin Geiger was 1-2 with a walk and had a stolen base, which I imagine was worth seeing. Zeke DeVoss, Elliot Soto, and Ben Carhart were all 1-3. Taiwan Easterling was 1-2.

Matt Loosen was damn good again, stretching his hitless inning streak to 11 before ultimately giving up a knock. He tossed all 7 innings for the CG SO, allowing 4 hits and a walk on 4 strikeouts. Hopefully this success in high-A will let him go back to Tennessee with some confidence soon.

Kane County Cougars 1 @ West Michigan Whitecaps 9

Forgettable day for the Cougars bats today. Dan Vogelbach went deep in a 1-2 day with 2 BBs. Jeimer Candelario was 1-3 with a double. Marco Hernandez was 1-3, and Oliver Zapata was 1-4. That was it.

Taylor Scott got torched for 6 runs in 4 innings, but only 1 was earned. He allowed 8 hits, a walk, and a strikeout. Sheldon McDonald worked a perfect 5th. Armando Rivero was knocked around a bit for 3 runs in 1.2 innings, allowing 2 hits and a walk while striking out 2. Stephen Perakslis finished it off, allowing 2 hits and striking out 1 in the last 1.1

Boise Hawks 5 @ Vancouver Canadiens 4

Jacob Rogers had a 3-5 day with 2 doubles. Jordan Hankins was 3-4 with a double. Trevor Gretzky was 1-3 with a walk.

Dae-Eun Rhee got the start and dominated the way you'd expect a guy who's seen AA this year to dominate a short-season lineup. 5 innings of scoreless 2 hit ball, with 5 Ks. Unfortunately he was the only Hawk to avoid giving up a run. Loiger Padron gave up 2 runs on 4 hits and a walk in 3 innings, striking out 4. Matt Iannazzo failed to record an out, allowing a run on a hit. And Tyler Bremer closed out the game with a 2 hit, 1 run, 2 K 9th inning.

DSL Nationals 4 @ DSL Cubs 3

Nothing too exciting going on here. Dalfis Ortiz had a 1-3 day with a triple and a walk. Bravo Dalfis Ortiz.

Albuquerque Isotopes 0 @ Iowa Cubs 3

This one was a pitching duel, so not much in the way of offense. J.C. Bocan had a 2-run double that put the game away in his 1-3 day. Darnell McDonald was 2-2 with a walk. Other than that, meh.

Guillermo Moscoso was tremendous, though, taking a no-hitter into the 8th, finishing with a line of 8 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB's and 5 Ks. Brian Schlitter got the save in a scoreless 9th, walking and striking out 1 each. He now has a 21:2 K:BB ratio and a 1.66 ERA in Iowa in 21.2 innings and 19 appearances, is 28, and I would have to think he's the next guy to get a look if the big league team needs a bullpen arm.

Tennesseee Smokies 2 @ Jackson Generals 0 (Game 1 of DH, 10 Innings)

Javier Baez had a big day in the doubleheader, starting with this game, going 2-4 with a walk. He did strike out once and got picked off of first. Arismendy Alcantara put up an identical line. Jonathan Mota was 2-4. Matt Szczur was 1-3 and Rubi Silva was 1-4.

Austin Kirk thew 6 innings of scoreless 4 hit ball, walking 1 and striking out 3. Frank Batista worked three scoreless of his own, with 2 BBs and 2 Ks. Hunter Cervenka worked the 10th, getting the save with a 1 hit, 2 walk inning.

Tennessee Smokies 2 @ Jackson Generals 1 (Game 2 of DH, 9 Innings)

Lot of free baseball from the Smokies yesterday, as they ended up playing a full 5 innings more than your standard minor league doubleheader. Javy stayed hot in game 2, going 2-4 with a solo home run. Final tally for the day: 4-8, 1 BB, 1 HR, 2 Ks. More of that please, Javy. Got some work to do to catch up to Sano.

Not a ton of offense in this one otherwise. Rubi Silva was 2-4. Justin Bour and Christian Villanueva were both 1-4 with a double.

Yeiper Castillo got the start and went 4 strong innings, allowing a solo home run for his only hit, with no walks and 6 punchouts. Marcos Mateo tossed 2 innings, gave up a hit, and walked 2 with 2 Ks. Kevin Rhoderick threw three scoreless, struck out 2, and got the win. He still sucks.

This Smokies team is easily the most exciting and fun roster in the system. If you're a MiLB.tv person, you absolutely should be watching these games if you're not already.

St. Louis Cardinals 3 @ Chicago Cubs 2

[Carlos Villanueva] was the day's starter and was really quite good, holding [The Cardinals] to [2 runs, 4 hits, and 2 walks with 4 strikeouts in 6 innings] and leaving with [the Cubs only one run down]. Unfortunately, [awful defense, zero offense] and [Matt Guerrier] couldn't come through, and the Cubs lost. C'est la vie.

CastroWatch: Starlin was 2-3 with a home run, and is starting to look like himself again. Here's hoping for a torrid second half. RizzoWatch: 1-4 with a double and 2 strikeouts. Alfonso Soriano was 1-3 with a walk. Welington Castillo was 1-3.

Pedro Strop looked nasty once again, allowing a hit and a walk but striking out 3 in his inning. Michael Bowden and James Russell combined for a spotless 9th.

Jupiter @ Daytona was rained out.

Kane County Cougars 4 @ South Bend Silver Hawks 5

The Cougars hit Hawks starter Kyle Winkler hard in interdivision play, smacking 4 of their 6 hits for extra bases. Gioskar Amaya was 2-3 with a triple and a BB and his gotten his line up to .261/.324/.400/.724 after struggling mightily to start the year. He's been hotter'n shit lately too, posting an .892 OPS over his last ten.

Albert Almora was 0-3, but walked once. Dan Vogelbach was 0-4. Really surprised at the disappointing season he's had so far. A .780 OPS as a no-glove 1B is just not going to get the job done. Jeimer Candelario was 1-4 with a 2B, as was Marco Hernandez who also stole a base. Oliver Zapata went 1-4 with a home run. Wilson Contreras was 1-3 with a walk. Kevin Encarnacion was 0-4 and has a .629 OPS since getting promoted from Boise.

Jose Rosario was a mixed bag, striking out 9 but allowing 6 hits and 3 walks. He gave up 3 runs in 6 innings, but only 1 earned. Justin Amlung allowed a 2-run homer to blow the save and take the loss in his inning of work, striking out 1. Michael Hamann worked a clean frame in the 8th to finish it off, striking out 1.

Boise Hawks 4 @ Vancouver Canadians 8

Shawon Dunston continues to mash, going 3-5 with 2 doubles. Rony Rodriguez was 1-4 with a double and a walk. Cael Brockmeyer, Daniel Lockhart, and Trevor Gretzky were all 1-4. Jordan Hankins was 2-4 with a double. This lineup needs Kris Bryant.

Paul Blackburn got touched for 4 runs on 4 hits, 4 walks and a strikeout in a 3 inning start. Best to forget about that one. Tyler Skulina worked the next 2 and gave up a hit and a walk, getting a strikeout and allowing no runs. Andrew McKirahan struck out 3 in his inning and only gave up a hit, but saw 3 runs (2 earned) plated against him. Jasvir Rakkar almost had box score bingo, working an inning and allowing a hit, a run, a walk, and striking out 2. No homers though. Ethan Elias closed it out with a clean inning, striking out 2.

DSL Orioles2 0 @ DSL Cubs 4

Nothing interesting to see here.

VSL Rays 1 @ VSL Cubs 2

Adbert Alzolay worked 5 innings, allowed only 2 hits, and struck out 5.

AZL Reds 7 @ AZL Cubs 0

Jeffrey Baez and Kelvin Freeman got the only hits for the AZL team yesterday, Baez going 2-4 with 2 SBs and Freeman going 2-4 with a double. Erick Castillo didn't get a hit but did throw out 3 different attempted steals of second.

Starling Peralta didn't start but got the most work, going 3 innings, allowing a hit and striking out 1. Jose Arias, Trey Masek, and Carlos A. Rodriguez all worked scoreless innings, with Rodriguez getting 2 Ks and walking 1. Luis Vallalba worked 2 innings, gave up a hit, walked one, and struck out 2. David Villegas got rocked, allowing 7 runs (but just one earned) on 3 hits and a strikeout in 0.1 innings of work. That's a lot. Juan Francisco got the last 2 outs without issue.

 

 

Pittsburgh Pirates 1 @ Chicago Cubs 4

CastroWatch: 0-4 today. Booo. Soriano hit two homers in a 2-4 day. Yaaaaay. Anthony Rizzo was 1-4 with a double. Welington Castillo was 2-2 with a double. Julio Borbon was 0-2 with 2 walks and 2 SBs out of the leadoff spot.

Edwin Jackson had one of his better outings of the year, allowing a solo home run and nothing else on 4 hits and 2 walks in 5.2 innings. The bullpen was great yesterday, allowing a single hit in 3.1 innings of work and striking out 3. 

Iowa Cubs 3 @ Albuquerque Isotopes 10 (Game 1, continuation of Friday's suspended game)

Esmailin Caridad picked up where Jake Arrieta left off yesterday, working 3 innings of 3 hit, 2 run (1 earned) ball. He walked one and struck out 2. It was generally an awful game for the I-Cubs pitching, as the Isotopes scored against every hurler Iowa threw at them. Jeffry Antigua gave up 2 runs on three hits, 2 walks, and a strikeout in his 2 IP. Marcus Hatley and Eduardo Sanchez had nearly identical lines, giving up 2 earned runs in 2 hits and 2 walks. The difference was Hatley struck out 2 and Sanchez gave up an unearned run as well.

At least the offense made up for it by being completely tepid and flaccid. Ty Wright was 1-4 with a double. Junior Lake was 1-3 with 2 walks. Logan Watkins was 2-4 with a walk. Other than that, snooze.

Iowa Cubs 0 @ Albuquerque Isotopes 1 (Game 2, 7 innings)

Offensively, everybody sucked.

Barret Loux tried his damndest to put the team on his back, working 6 innings of 4 hit, 1 run ball with 4 walks and 6 Ks. 'Twas not to be, however.

Huntsville Stars 8 @ Tennessee Smokies 2

The first time Javier Baez took the bat off his shoulder as a Smokie, he hit a home run. It was on a 2-1 count in his first at-bat. So, welcome to AA, Javy. He went 1-4 on the day and had a strikeout.

Christian Villanueva decided he liked the cut of this Baez kid's jib and put up an identical line, 1-4 with a homer and a K. He's got a nice little 5 game hitting streak going, with 3 homers over that span. Looking at his splits on the season, there are some interesting trends, albeit with the SSS caveats. For example, in the Smokies' 16 day games, Villanueva has a .490 OPS, compared to an .833 OPS in 65 night games. He's got a .712 OPS at home vs an .815 on the road. Perhaps somewhat strangely, his platoon splits look fairly similar, as only 12 points of OPS separate his numbers against lefties and righties (.777 vs .765, respectively).

The rest of the offense mostly sucked. Rubi Silva was 2-4, so there was that.

Austin Kirk got shelled, lasting only 2 innings and allowing 6 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks, striking out 2. Yeiper Castillo came on in long-relief, working 5 innings and allowing a run on 4 hits and 3 walks, K'ing 4. Kevin Rhoderick was generous enough to allow one last run in a hit and 3 walks in his 2 innings. Once again, every pitcher allowed at least one run. On the bright side, the pitching in the Cubs organization has at least found some consistency.

Daytona Cubs 6 @ Dunedin Blue Jays 5

Bijan Rademacher was 2-4 with 2 doubles. Pin-Chieh Chen was 1-2 with a triple and 2 walks. Zeke DeVoss was 3-5 and drove in 3 of the cubs 6 runs.

Help us Pierce Johnson, you're our only hope. Prince Albert worked 5 innings of 5 hit, 1 walk scoreless ball, striking out 5, and was awesome. Austin Reed kept up the good work, going 2 scoreless, and giving up only a hit and a walk. Jeffrey Lorick decided the game wasn't all that interesting, and thus decided to give up 5 runs, including a 2-out, 3-run homer. He allowed 4 hits and walked 1 in his inning, striking out 2. Dayan Diaz closed it out with a scoreless 9th, though he did give up 3 hits.

Quad Cities River Bandits 5 @ Kane County Cougars 0

Albert Almora was 1-2 and was pulled for Oliver Zapata in the fifth after Almora apparently hurt himself sliding into 2nd trying to break up a double play. Apparently it was just hemherroids, though. Make your own "pain in the ass" jokes.

The Cougars got 3-hit yesterday. Other than Almora, Marco Hernandez was 1-3, and Carlos Escobar was 1-3. Reggie Golden and Giuseppe Papaccio each walked once. That was that.

Jose Rosario was terrible. 5 runs in 5 innings, walking 4 and striking out only 1. He's now 0-5 with a robust 6.00 ERA at Kane County. Yikes. Sheldon McDonald worked 3 scoreless, allowing only a hit and striking out 3. Michael Hamann closed it out with a scoreless 9th, allowing a hit on a walk and a strikeout.

Tri-City Dust Devils 5 @ Boise Hawks 3

Jacob Rogers was 2-4 with a homer for the Hawks' only XBH. Daniel Lockhart was 2-4. Nobody else really did much of anything.

James Pugliese wasn't very good (8 hits, 2 walks and 5 runs in 5 innings) but did strike out 6, so it wasn't an outing without bright spots. Scott Frazier threw 2 scoreless, allowing a hit and a walk with a K. Zack Godley made his Boise debut, striking out 2 in a spotless frame. Matt Iannazzo closed it out with a scoreless ninth, allowing a hit and punching out 2.

DSL Cardinals 2 @ DSL Cubs 4

We'll give Jhonny Pena the game of the day, going 1-3 with a 2-run homer.

VSL Mariners 13 @ VSL Cubs 5

Arnaldo Calero had a 3-4 day with a home run and a stolen base. 

AZL Cubs 4 @ AZL Rangers 11

Another Cubs team, another bland, tepid offense. The AZL Cubs were 3-hit and held without an XBH. They did walk 5 times though, which is good to see. Rashad Crawford was 2-2. Charcer Burks was 1-4. Xavier Batista walked twice. That was about it.

Juan Francisco was the only AZL Cub not to give up a run. He worked 2 scoreless, walked 2, and struck out 1. This dropped his ERA to 10.80 on the young season.

Iowa Cubs @ Albuquerque Isotopes

Jake Arrieta's Iowa debut was suspended in the top of the second, which is great because Arrieta was on his way to a blowup second, giving up a hit and 2 walks without getting an out. It's also great because I-Cubs.

Huntsville Stars 1 @ Tennessee Smokies 3

Arismendy Alcantara went deep for the 12th time Friday in a 2-4 day, adding a double and a SB for good measure. Alcantara had the Smokies' only 2 XBHs on the day. John Andreoli and Christian Villanueva were both 2-3, with Andreoli swiping a bag. No Smokies walked on the day.

Alberto Cabrera was damn good, allowing a run on 4 hits and 2 walks in 7.2 IP, striking out 7. Cabrera's been on a particularly hot streak lately, giving up 2 runs or less in 8 of his last 10 starts, posting a 2.73 ERA in 66 innings, striking out 65 and walking 3 per nine. Kyle Hendricks gets all the good pub, but don't sleep on Cabrera, who's missing more bats and has been just a notch less dominant.

Hunter Cervenka faced one batter and struck him out. Frank Batista worked the ninth, giving up 2 hits and striking out 2 in a scoreless frame.

Daytona Cubs 5 @ Brevard County 2

Javier Baez got promoted! He celebrated with a 1-3, 1 BB, 2 SB day and, of course, a strikeout. He closed the book on his Daytona career with a .256/.319/.507 line in 99 games, 21 homers, a 23% K rate, and a 6.1% walk rate. Cross your fingers and hope the improvements in approach we've seen over the last 200 PAs or so carries over to AA.

Other than that, this was a fairly ho-hum day for Daytona. Wes Darvill's home run was the team's only XBH, going 1-5. Dustin Geiger was 2-4. Chadd Krist was 1-2 with 2 BBs, and made 2 outs on the basepaths, getting picked off and caught stealing. Taylor Davis was 1-4.

Zach Cates got the start, and worked 6 innings of 2 run ball, allowing 6 hits and striking out 4. Luis Liria gave up a hit and struck out one in a scoreless 7th, and Frank Del Valle worked the last 2, allowing a single hit and striking out 3.

Quad Cities River Bandits 7 @ Kane County Cougars 8

Big day for Albert Almora, going 2-4 with a triple and a homer. Dan Vogelbach was right behind him, going 2-4 with a bomb of his own. Giuseppe Papaccio was 2-4 with a double, as was Gioskar Amaya. Jeimer Candelario was 0-2 but walked twice. Marco Hernandez was 1-3 with a BB.

Brian Smith gave up 3 runs in 5 innings, allowing 3 hits and 3 walks against 1 strikeout. Lendy Castillo continues to be awful, allowing 5 hits, 3 runs, and 3 walks in 3 innings, striking out nobody. Justin Amlung worked the ninth and got the save despite allowing a run on a hit and a strikeout. The pitching here kinda stinks now that Pierce Johnson's gone.

Tri-City Dust Devils 9 @ Boise Hawks 3

Not much going on here offensively. The roster did walk 6 times, which is good to see, but the Hawks had 4 guys in the starting lineup yesterday hitting below the Mendoza Line to start the year. Carlos Penalver was 1-3 with a double. Shawon Dunston was 0-2 with 2 BBs and a caught stealing. Other than that, meh.

Trey Lang got the start and was awful. 5 hits, 3 walks, and 8 runs (7 earned) in 2+ innings pitched. He faced 6 batters in the third and failed to record an out. He did strike out 3, so there's that. Ethan Elias was much better, working 3 innings of scoreless 1 hit ball, striking ot 1. Trey Masek gave up a single run and 2 hits in his 2 innings, walking 1 and striking out 3. Tyler Skulina worked a perfect 8th, striking out 1, and Orbandy Rodriguez did the same in the ninth.

DSL Cubs 6 @ DSL Yankees1 5

Shamil Ubiera with the game of the day here, going 2-4 with a homer.

VSL Cubs 1 @ VSL Tigers 2

Alberto Diaz worked a perfect 7th, 8th, and 9th to close it out, striking out 3. That's easily the only interesting thing that happened in this one.

AZL Rangers 3 @ AZL Cubs 1

Charcer Burks, Zak Blair, and Kevin Brown all went 1-4, Brown sending his for a double. Rashard Crawford was 1-3 with a walk. Mark Malave was 1-2 with a walk. Michael Wagner worked the ninth inning and allowed a hit and a walk in a scoreless frame, striking out 1.

Pittsburgh Pirates 6 @ Chicago Cubs 2

Francisco Liriano threw the second complete game of his career against this offense yesterday, which about says it all, I think. Scott Hairston was 1-3 with a 2 run homer in the 2nd. Starlin Castro was 1-4 with a double, and has only gone hitless once since his day off in Milwaukee, though he did get the TOOTBLAN pickoff, getting caught between 2nd and 3rd by Russell Martin). Dioner Navarro was 2-3 with a walk. Cody Ransom was 1-2 with 2 BBs. Anthony Rizzo was 0-3 with a BB.

On the pitching side, we got Lousy Jeff Samardzija. He had poor command (5 walks), got slapped around a bit (9 hits, including 2 triples and a double), and didn't miss bats the way we expect (only 3 strikeouts) in his 6 innings of work. The result was 5 earned runs and a hole the flaccid offense couldn't dig its way out of.

Henry Rodriguez gave up a hit and a walk in a scoreless 7th, striking out 1. Hector Rondon gave up a run on 3 hits and a walk in the 8th. And new Cub Pedro Strop worked a blemish-free 9th 

Chicago Cubs 5 @ Seattle Mariners 3

Starlin Castro hit his first home run in forever. He was 2-5 on the day. Alfonso Soriano hit a 2 run, game winning homer in the top of the 11th and was 3-5, pretty much begging AL clubs in need of a DH to take a look at him. Ryan Sweeney was 0-1 and was taken out for Julio Borbon after breaking his rib. He'll be out 4-6 weeks. Cubes.

Jeff Samardzija was very solid, allowing 2 runs on 6 hits and 3 walks in 7 strong innings, striking out 5. James Russell got out of the 8th without allowing a run despite giving up 3 hits. Kevin Gregg blew the save, and has been a lot more Kevin Greggy of late, giving up a run in his last three appearances and increasing his ERA by a full run over that span.  Carlos Villanueva worked a clean tenth, striking out 1, and Blake Parker did the same in the 11th to get the save, earning the lofty "He showed me something out there today" from manager and would-be distant father-figure Dale Sveum. 

Iowa Cubs 8 @ Omaha Storm Chasers 5

Logan Watkins had the game of the day, going 2-5 with a homer, and has been on a decent little run lately, OPSing .850 with 3 homers over his last ten games. Darnell McDonald was right behind him, going 2-5 as well with a triple and a double. Junior Lake was 2-5 with a double, and had a rough day on the basepaths, getting picked off and caught stealing. Jae-Hoon Ha was 1-4 with a walk and a SB. Donnie Murphy was 1-4 with a triple. Ty Wright was 2-4 with a double. J.C. Boscan was 2-4. Today in "This is Why Your Team Is Mediocre": Of players currently on the roster with more than 20 games played in Iowa, only 3 of them have an OPS over .800, and nobody has an OPS over .850. And this is in a hitter's league.

Nick Struck tossed 6 innings of 8 hit ball, giving up 3 runs on three walks and a strikeout. Casey Coleman gave up 2 runs on 5 hits and a walk in 1.1 innings. Brian Schlitter worked the last 1.2, giving up a hit and striking out 2. He now has 14 strikeouts, 3 walks, 3 runs allowed, and a 9.67 GO/AO in 15.1 AAA innings, and I'm wondering what it could hurt to give him a shot in the big club bullpen. He's 27 and will probably suck, but how much worse than everybody else can he be, and what can it hurt at this point? I'd be content to bench the regulars after the trade deadline, let the I-Cubs play the major league games, and actively try not to win a game in August or September, really make a run at Rodon next year.

Tennessee Smokies 13 @ Montgomery Biscuits 0

The Smokies really ate up the Biscuits in this one. Rubi Silva had the game of the day, going 3-5 with a double and a homer. Arismendy Alcantara was 2-6 with two doubles. Ronald Torreyes was 2-5 with a walk. John Andreoli had a 3-5 day with a double in his Smokies debut. Jonathan Mota was 3-4. Christian Villanueva was 0-4 and is slumping badly again, with a .233/.227/.442/.669 line in his last 10 and a .312 OBP on the season. If there's a reason for the cognitive dissonance dmick was discussing yesterday between the current state of the organization and the desire to be a fringe contender next year, it's because of guys like Villanueva, who the organization really needed big, breakout years from and who just can't seem to put any sustained success together. A lot of guys on this Smokies roster were going to have to put it together this season to make contending a realistic possibility in 2014, and other than Alcantara, nobody's even come close to doing so. Tim Torres leads the roster in OPS and he's thirty.

Erik Jokisch was dominant, allowing only 3 hits in 6.1 scoreless innings. He did walk 4, but struck out 7. Yeiper Castillo allowed a hit and a walk and struck out 4 in 1.2 innings. And Tony Zych closed it out with a clean 9th, striking out 1.

Clearwater Threshers 3 @ Daytona Cubs 2

Pretty mediocre day for D-Cubs bats today. Only Chadd Krist and Wes Darvill went without hits, both going 0-4, but nobody had more than 1, and only Ben Carhart had an XBH (1-4, 2B). Zeke DeVoss and Taiwan Easterling were the only D-Cubs to get on base twice, DeVoss going 1-3 with a BB and a SB, and Easterling going 1-3 with a HBP. Javier Baez was 1-4 with a K and a SB, and made his 31st error. He's rapidly approaching half an error a game. Yikes.

Pierce Johnson was okay in his 2nd FSL start. He worked 5 innings, gave up 5 hits, 4 walks, and three runs, striking out 3. Jeffrey Lorick threw 2.2 scoreless, allowing a hit and 2 walks, striking out 3. Luis Liria finished it off with a perfect 1.1, striking out 2.

Kane County Cougars 9 @ Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 10

Dan Vogelbach hit his first homer in awhile in a 2-5 day with a walk. Albert Almora was 0-5, and the only Cougar not to get on base. Reggie Golden had a 3-4 day with a double. Gioskar Amaya was 3-5 with 3-5 with a 2B, and after being ice cold seemingly all year, is finally showing some life, with a .308/.357/.513 line over his last ten. Jeimer Candelario had a 2-6 day with a double. Kevin Encarnacion had a 2-4, 1 BB day in his Kane County debut.

Felix Pena tossed 6 innings of 4 hit, 4 run ball with 2 walks, striking out 2. Dillon Maples continues to have trouble finding the zone, walking 4 in 3 innings, allowing 2 runs while striking out 1. Nathan Dorris got slapped around to blow the save and lose the game, allowing 4 runs (3 earned) in 1.2 innings, allowing 5 hits and 2 walks, punching out 1.

Eugene Emeralds 6 @ Boise Hawks 8

Shawon Dunston had a 2-3 day with a double, and is destroying the NWL in the early going, hitting .362/.434/.511. I would think, given the way Encarnacion was moved out of Boise fairly quickly, that Dunston will see Kane County as soon as Almora gets moved up. Yasiel Balaguert was 2-5 with a homer.

2013 Draftee Trey Masek worked a scoreless inning, giving up a hit. That's about all the notable excitement from this one.

DSL Pirates2 7 @ DSL Cubs 8

Jose Paniagua was 24 with a homer and a walk. Antonio Valerio was 3-5 with a double and a homer.

VSL Phillies 2 @ VSL Cubs 3

Roney Alcala was 2-4 with a homer.

Iowa Cubs 5 @ Omaha Storm Chasers 1

Dave Sappelt went 3-5 with a double. Logan Watkins had a 4-5 day. Darnell McDonald, Luis Flores, and Ty Wright were all 2-5, Flores adding a double. Junior Lake was the only I-Cub without a hit, and he walked once. The roster had 16 hits with only 2 going for extra bases, which seems to happen a ton with this club.

Chris Rusin had a good rebound start, tossing 7 innings of 5 hit ball, walking 1 and striking out 2. He has 63 strikeouts in 110 innings this season and a 1.40 GO/AO. Meh.

Jackson Generals 1 @ Tennessee Smokies 2

This game was suspended in the top of the 2nd. Ronald Torreyes, Arismendy Alcantara, and Rubi Silva each had a hit.

Daytona Cubs 13 @ Tampa Yankees 6

Javier Baez busted out of his mini-slump, going 3-6 with a homer. Wes Darvill and Zeke DeVoss were each 2-5 with a homer and a walk, DeVoss adding a SB. Dustin Geiger was 1-4. He was hit in the head with a pitch but stayed in the game. Somehow this resulted in the Tampa manager getting ejected. Whuck. Bijan Rademacher was 2-5 in his A+ debut. Ben Carhart was 1-5. Chadd Krist was the only D-Cub without a hit, going 0-5. Taylor Davis had a 2-4 day with a double and a walk. And Pin-Chieh Chen was 2-5. 

Yao-Lin Wang had a bad day, tossing 2.2 innings, walking 4, and giving up 4 runs on 3 hits. He struck out nobody. Austin Reed threw 3.1 innings in relief and was much better, allowing 1 hit and striking out 5. Eduardo Figueroa worked the final 3, giving up 2 runs on 5 hits and a walk, punching out 2.

Chicago Cubs 4 @ Seattle Mariners 5 (10 innings)

Really need to just create a boilerplate template for these recaps. [Travis Wood] was the day's starter and was really quite good, holding [The Mariners] to [2 runs, 3 hits, and 3 walks with 6 strikeouts in 6.1 innings] and leaving with a [3 run] lead. Unfortunately, [awful defense] and [the terrible bullpen] let the opposition back into the game, and the Cubs lost. C'est la vie.

 Alfonso Soriano had a good day out of the DH spot, going 2-4 with a no-doubt homer in the 7th. Dioner Navarro was 2-4 with a homer, and continues to be damn productive for a backup catcher, hitting .269/.340/.538 in 103 PAs. In a limited role, he's beating his career totals for wOBA and wRC+ by huge margins. So congrats to him. Anthony Rizzo was 1-4 with a double. Ryan Sweeney was 1-4 with a triple. Brian Bogusevic was 1-4 and made an incredibly boneheaded defensive play in the 8th, leaving his feet on a Raul Ibanez liner I don't think he really had any shot at, allowing a triple and scored the tying run. Bad Bogey.

Beloit Snappers 2 @ Kane County Cougars 0

The Cougars got 4-hit on the day, and only put 2 runners in scoring position. Dan Vogelbach was 2-4, Rock Shoulders was 1-4 and Reggie Golden was 1-3. Marco Hernandez stole a base after drawing a walk.

Michael Heesch worked 7 innings of 1 run ball, allowing 5 hits and a walk with three strikeouts. Stephen Perakslis worked 2 innings, allowing a solo home run, but striking out 2 and walking none.

Eugene Emeralds 4 @ Boise Hawks 5 (10 Innings)

Jacob Hannemann was 2-5 with a triple. Shawon Dunston had a nice game was 1-2 with a double, 2 walks, and a SB. He's hitting .341/.420/.477/.897 to start the year. Rony Rodriguez hit a pinch hit homer in his only AB. Jacob Rogers was 1-3 with 2 walks. Lance Rymel was 1-4 with a SB.

Duane Underwood was pretty alright, throwing 4.1 innings, allowing 3 runs (2 earned) on 4 hits and 3 Ks. Ethan Elias gave up a run in 2.2 innings, allowing 3 hits and a walk with 1 K. Orbandy Rodriguez worked 2 scoreless innings, walking and striking out 1. Matt Iannazzo finished it off in extras, giving up a hit and striking out 1 in the 10th.

DSL Nationals 0 @ DSL Cubs 3

Jose Paulino worked 5 scoreless innings and struck out 8. He allowed 3 hits and a walk.