Felix Stevens – Picture by Todd Johnson
As the fireworks are getting ready to go off in the background, it is time to reflect on what a full slate of games today was. The fact that it was Monday was different, but it made for a great night of baseball .
Special Shout Out of the Day
Angel Cepeda of the Red team in the Dominican went off today, going 4-for-5 with two RBI. That raised his average to .327.
Let the games begin!
The day began with Tennessee leading 12 to 3 in the fourth inning of a suspended game. They went on to win 15 to 10 as PCA and Haydn McGeary both had themselves a day. PCA has his 10th home run of the year and drove in three. McGarry drove him 3 and he now has 41 RBI at Tennessee in two months. Because it was a suspended game, they played the full nine innings, and then the second game, which we’ll talk about later, lasted only 7.
Birds Not So Hot
Luis Rujano made his first full season start as a starting pitcher and he went 3.2 innings and gave up two runs. Unfortunately for the Pelicans, they only managed one hit on the day, a Cristian Hernandez single. They lost six to nothing to Charleston,
McCullough Makes His Debut
There had to be nerves for Brody McCullough. He made his South Bend debut. He went five innings tonight and struck out three, but a couple of errors put the Cubs behind the eight ball. In person, it looked like he just wasn’t hitting his spots, but the defense, for whatever reason, made a couple of bad plays that brought in 2 unearned runs. When he left, the game was tied 4 to 4. Alexander Canario had a two run, single, and. Jacob Wetzel and Fabian. Pertuz also drove in runs.
Tough times in the bullpen has been the theme this week in South Bend, which was a strength in the first half and they seem to be struggling in the second half. Beloit took the lead in the sixth. Thankfully, Felix Stevens hit a two run bomb in the top of the ninth to give the Cubs a 6-5 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth.
However Khalil Watson stole home for the Sky Carp to tie it at 6. A couple batters later, the Cubs lost for the fifth time in the series.
Pictures of the Day
I took these in Beloit.
In Iowa, David Bote hit a two-run shot and a two run double by Miles Mastrobuoni gave the I-Cubs a 4-1 lead after three innings. Ben Brown made a start and looked the best he has in a while as his last two starts we’re pretty rough. He wound up going 5 innings, giving up 2 runs, and striking out 6. The Cubs had a 7-3 lead in the bottom of the ninth before Omaha rallied for to make it 7-6. Manny Rodriguez punched out the last batter for the Iowa win.
Game 2 for the Smokies
Things started out well for the Smokies in game two. Chris Kachmar went four innings and gave up one un earned run and struck out four. Meanwhile, Pablo Aliendo and Jordan Nwogu hit solo shots as Kachmar had a 2 to 1 lead when he left the game. Unfortunately, just like South Bend bullpen woes doomed the Smokies, that’s especially rough in a 7 inning game. You just don’t have a lot of chances to catch up and they did not, losing 5-2.
Thanks Todd! Great pictures!
Do you think Cepeda and Valdez are pretty similar in potential, now that they’ve been playing for a little bit? Valdez is showing more power, but has 11 errors to Cepeda’s 2…….also, does Stevens swing look reminiscent of Sammy Sosa’s a little, or is it just me?
I don’t see the Sosa thing except in the follow through. It is way too early to compare the two young SS as they will both go through a lot of growing in many areas the next 3-5 years. That’s a great question for 3 years from now when they get to high-A.
That’s the main comparison point, as he does lean in a little too, but the follow through definitely; prayerfully he’s even a fraction a fraction of Sosa going forward…………good point, they’re definitely very young, and are performing really well, but definitely a few years from really seeing how things flesh out…….