Brody McCullough – Picture via Myrtle Beach Pelicans

I’m not sure how to describe today other than to say I did not see that I’m growing into expecting the unexpected. And that’s a lot of what happened this afternoon and early evening. 

The Birds are Hot

When “The Breakdown” comes out tomorrow, the Myrtle Beach Pelicans are going to be the Affiliate of the Week. This afternoon, the Birds swept a doubleheader 2 to 0, and 3 to 1. In fact, they swept the Fayetteville Woodpeckers all six games.

I got to watch most of the second game today and was impressed with Brody McCullough, who looked to be in complete control as he went five scoreless frames for the Pelicans. He gave up just one hit and struck out eight Woodpeckers.

Not to be out done, in the first game Grant Kipp did not have his best stuff but the righty from Yale made it through 3.2 scoreless innings. Well he did walk four, he also struck out four and only allowed 1 hit.

The Other Starting Pitcher of the Day

As for South Bend, they played a nightcap all by themselves as the only show in town. Richard Gallardo struck out 11 and allowed 1 run in 5 innings. Unfortunately, Gallardo got no support as the Cubs only managed 5 hits and 1 run. He left with a no decision in one of the best starts of his career.

Crazy Times in Nashville.

This game was pretty much a yo-yo as the lead change several times between the Iowa Cubs and Nashville Sounds. Then, Iowa put up four runs in back-to-back innings. They would go on to win 14 to 9 on a day that saw everybody get hits, except Miguel Amaya in Brennen Davis. Iowa hung on to win 14 to 9. In addition, there’s something wrong with Keegan Thompson as he got shelled in 2/3 of an inning. That is the second straight outing that he’s been torn apart.

The Hitter of the Day and the Four Hit Club

Darius Hill had himself a day going forward for five with two RBI, and he’s clearly knocking on the door to Chicago should the need arise. Unfortunately, I don’t see that happening anytime soon unless the losing streak at the major-league level continues in a clean house in July.

Dingers of the Day 

Owen Caissie and Yonathan Perlaza bot went yard for their respective clubs.

Web Gems of the Day

Down in Tennessee, the Smokies got hammered as they fell behind 9-2 despite the home run you saw above. Still, there were some defensive gems, turned in by Pete Crow, Armstrong and Owen Caissie as they win the web gams of the day despite losing 9-5.

Hot Take of the Day

He’s ready. The Cubs need to stop wasting his time.