Ezequiel Pagan – Picture by Todd Johnson

Summer is “officially” a month away, but the unofficial start of summer begins in 2.5 days for me as school will be coming to a close. I am getting a little antsy to have mainly baseball on my mind for the next two and a half months. Temps here in northern Illinois got up to 84 today and it felt wonderful making me even more ready for the real summer to get here.

As for MiLB baseball action…

South Bend got started at 5 central today and Richard Gallardo was dealing through 4 and looked much sharper than when I saw him in Beloit last week. For the night, Gallardo went six frames and gave up two runs, one by a home run. In total, he gave up 5 hits and did not walk anybody while striking out five. Over the next three innings, Adam Laskey went two hitless and scoreless and struck out 2 while Frankie Scalzo got the save with a solid ninth where he did not allow a hit nor a run.

Go Ahead Dinger of the Day

The Cubs did win 3-2 and the go ahead run came in the bottom of the fifth as Ezequiel Pagan hit a solo shot. Get used to this.

Birds Get Close to .500

The Pelicans got on the board early thanks in part to a three-run shot by Felix Stevens. It was his sixth home run and he now has 19 RBI on the season. That’s all the pitching staff needed as they held Fayetteville to just one run. Grant Kipp went four scoreless and struck out four. Jordan Holloway, who continues to rehab from Iowa, threw 1.2 scoreless frames, and Koen Moreno continues to impress a little bit. The walks are still an issue. He went 2.1 innings tonight. Although, he did give up a solo home run. Saul Gonzales came in to close it out in the night to win 3-1.

Moonshot of the Day

Rally of the Day

The Smokies rallied behind RBIs by Cole Roederer, Bradlee Beesley, and Luis Vazquez to defeat the Birmingham Barons 7-5.

Comeback Dinger of the Day

That sweet swing is back!

As for Iowa, they started off the game with a Darius Hill leadoff homer and then added three runs later on a Perlaza single and a Jake Slaughter two-run bomb. Caleb Kilian pitched well going five innings, allowing just one run, and striking out five. The I-Cubs made it a system sweep with a 4-1 win.

If you missed out on any transactions today, like say Daniel Palencia going to Iowa, then you need to do some catching up.

The Two Hit Club

James Triantos – High-A seems much easier for him so far than Low-A

Bryce Ball – Hitting over .300 since coming down from Double-A. I was very impressed with his attitude the past week.

Felix Stevens had two hits for Myrtle Beach. I am ready for him to head to South Bend at any moment. He’s now hitting .295 with a .938 OPS.

Cole Roederer went 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs including the dinger above.

Bradlee Beesley is starting to heat back up. He went 3-for-4.

Nelson Maldonado looks to be returning to form. He went 2-for-4 for the Smokies.

Jared Young went 3-for-4 in Iowa, Yonathan Perlza had two hits, and so did Sergio Alcantara.

I will be back tomorrow with an Affiliate Update on the Pelicans’ starting rotation.