Pete Crow-Armstrong – Picture by Todd Johnson

 With five games on tap for today, I knew it was going to be a busy day and it was.

The day started off with South Bend jumping out to a 4-0 lead. They would go on to win 6-2 behind some excellent relief pitching from Riley Martin, Zac Leigh, and Eduarniel Nunez. The Iowa Cubs couldn’t get much going on offense today and only managed a few hits as they lost 2-0 to Indianapolis. 

Tennessee had a doubleheader today. In the first game, pitcher Peyton Remy returned off the restricted list as he had his second child. He got through four innings and kept the Smokies in the game as the offense put up seven runs. Nicholas Padilla came in and did really well for a couple of innings and handed a 7-3 lead over to Danis Correa. I thought the W was gonna be a sure thing. That did not happen as Correa uncharacteristically gave up 5 runs in the seventh and final inning as Birmingham took game one.

Myrtle Beach fell behind Columbia quickly in the first inning and then came roaring back to score four in the sixth to take a 7-2 lead. The Pelicans won 7-3 to even the series. And in the nightcap of the doubleheader, Tennessee’s offense did not show up in a 2-1 loss and a sweep.

Uniform of the Day

South Bend broke out the Dr. Strange unis on “Defenders of the Diamond” day!

Dinger of the Day

Jake Slaughter is still destroying baseballs.

Hitter of the Day

There were a lot of names in consideration for today’s nod. Pete Crow Armstrong went 3-for-3 with a walk and scored three times as well as hitting a home run, his second at South Bend. Jake Washer went 2-for-4 with a home run and 2 RBI. Jake Slaughter went 2-for-3 in the first game with a home run and 2 RBI and Yonathan Perlaza went 3-for-4 in the first game, also with two RBI. None of the Smokies mentioned had a good second game.

So, Pete Crow-Armstrong it is. After a rough start in high-A and an injury, he looks to back in a groove. His average is up to .266 and should go way up next week against Peoria. In just July, he’s hitting .333 with a .934 OPS.

Starting Pitcher of the Day

This was a tough one. Daniel Palencia only threw four innings and gave up two runs, but he also struck out seven. He looked to be the leader in the clubhouse heading into the nightcap games.  I thought Walker Powell pitched well for Tennessee. He gave up one run in four innings and struck out three. Powell seems to be holding his own at Double-A. Porter Hodge had some trouble with command as he walked four and four. One innings, but he only gave up one earned run on the day. He had just two strikeouts.

As a result, I am going to go with Palencia who really only made one bad pitch today and that was to Joe Gray. Otherwise, he was in control the whole game.

Reliever of the Day

Sean Newcomb had mop up duty for Iowa today and he pitched really well going three innings and striking out four. He is starting to put together a few good outings in a row here at Iowa. I really liked when the Cubs signed him now after he was designated for assignment by the Angels. I thought the Cubs could work wonders with him in the pitch lab. Unfortunately, I think they rushed him back to the majors too soon. Now he’s settling in at Iowa and starting to get the benefits of how the Cubs can help him get back to the majors and be successful when he does get there.