Cole Roederer – Pic by Tennessee Smokies

I was in draft mode most of the day as I made some draft cards in preparation for tomorrow. You will see them later. All four squads had it going early today. but the bullpens struggled across the system except in Tennessee.

Stats/Tweet of the Day

Every Saturday AM I check out the stats for the month and here who is hot after 7 days in July.

Let’s get to the games.

Myrtle Beach got off to a 5-2 lead and carried that most of the game. Andy Garriola had a double that drove in a run and then later hit a HR. Reivaj Garcia hit one, too! Parker Chavers had a single to make it 5-2. As for pitching, Jackson Ferris went 3.1 innings and struck out five and gave up 2 runs, only 1 earned. The Cubs cut Ferris off at 58 pitches today. Unfortunately, that 3 run lead evaporated quickly in the seventh and eighth innings as Augusta scored 4 runs to take a 6-5 lead which they held on to win.

Starting Pitcher of the Day

Nick Neidert of Iowa had himself a very good start. He went five innings with 6 Ks. On the night, he allowed just 1 run on one run on a solo shot.

As for the rest of the game, Hunter Bigge pitched a scoreless sixth and then exited. However, the Saints pummeled Iowa for four runs to take a 5-1 lead, the initial run coming on a Luis Vazquez homer. The I-Cubs tried rallying in the ninth but fell short at 5-2.

Pictures of the Day

It was Defenders of the Diamond night in Des Moines and the I-Cubs wore some special unis for the occasion.

A Dry Well in Indiana…

There wasn’t much offense again for the Cubs. Kevin Alcantara had two hits and that was half of their total on the night. The Cubs were down 4-1 in the seventh when they had the bases juiced with no outs and came away with nothing. The final score was 5-1 Peoria.

Promotional Jerseys of the Day

South Bend had Star Wars night today, but the Smokies took the cake with their 60s inspired look! Having Pablo Aliendo model your jersey did not hurt either!

Smokies Getting It Done

On Grateful Dead night, the Smokies used nine walks to take out Birmingham. Manny Espinoza looked pretty decent as he went five innings and allowed two runs. Carlos Guzman followed that up with 2,2 innings where he whiffed four Barons but gave up a run. Cole Roederer continued his hot July with a solo shot and Scott McKeon scored twice as the Smokies won 5-3 after Cayne Ueckert closed it out in the ninth despite a couple of walks.

Nice Touch of the Day

List of the Day…

Cards of the Day

Here are my draft cards for tomorrow’s possible #1 pick for the Cubs.

Tomorrow will be a busy day here at NSB…

I will have “The Weekly” at 5:30 AM. Greg Zumach will have some draft stuff, the DSL Recap is at noon, and the Daily will roll sometime around 3-4 PM.

Then at 6 central, we begin our draft show on the YouTube with Greg Zumach, myself, and Rich Biesterfeld.