Cade Horton – Picture by Todd Johnson

The big question heading into tonight’s games was could the system win all their games again for the third night in a row. The Pelicans got things going first as Andy Garriola brought in a run in the first with a groundout. As for South Bend, Kevin Made soon followed suit with a double driving in Ezequiel Pagan. Meanwhile, Tennessee got three in their first inning via singles from Bradlee Beesley and Cole Roederer. So, things got off to a good start!

As for the pitching in the first couple of innings, things were different for each affiliate. Luis Rujano looked very good as he threw four scoreless to start the game for Myrtle Beach. Then in the fifth, Jefferson Rojas hit a grand slam to make it 6-0 Pelicans and then Andy Garriola made it 7-zip as he hit a solo shot. 

In Peoria, Cade Horton rolled straight through the Chiefs like a freight train the first four innings. No runs, not hits, no errors, and 5 Ks. Chris Kachmar was not as lucky for the Smokies, giving up two in the first but none in the second. In addition, Iowa got started but it was not pretty as Adrian Sampson gave up three runs in the bottom of the first.

The whole time the games were going on, I kept thinking about Matt Shaw. He was added to the Cubs’ ACL roster along with several other draft picks. When the lineups were released, there were five draft picks in the lineup. Both Shaw and Rivera popped out in their first ABs. Then later, they all started getting some hits in their debut in the second and third.

As for the rest of the night, Myrtle Beach just pummeled Fredericksburg for the second night in a row. Andy Garriola had him self a game again as he had three hits. I mentioned his home run earlier. That was a solo shot. He drove in two runs later as the Pelicans won 12 to 0. 

As for South Bend, they kept Horton’s no hitter alive until the seventh inning. Max Bain threw in the fifth and sixth frames and struck out 4. After a Fabian Pertuz double in the top of the 7th brought in two runs, the Chiefs broke up the no-no in the bottom of the inning and they plated a run. In the top of the 8th, Yohendrick Pinango cranked one out to make it 4-1 and Sheldon Reed closed it out in the ninth.

As for the Smokies, Kachmar wound up going 3 and then he turned the ball over to Joe Nahas, who was awesome for the Smokies. Joe pitched three scoreless innings and struck out 3 in his best Double-A outing. Unfortunately for Tennessee, Brailyn Marquez was charged with three runs in the seventh that changed the game from a 1-run lead to a 2-run deficit. The question soon became whether or not the Smokies would come back. They did not and lost 5-2. 

So much for the trifecta.

As for Iowa, the 3-0 lead by Memphis expanded to 6-0 as Adrian Sampson was a bit rusty coming off the IL. Alexander Canario later hit his first HR for Iowa to make it 6-2. The Cubs staged a comeback in the ninth as they plated two via a David Bote double and a Yonathan Perlaza. And that’s where it ended at 6-4.

Normally, I don’t cover much on the Mesa front in the Daily, but today was a special day. When I clicked the word “Publish,” Matt Shaw had gone 1-for-2 while Josh Rivera had a triple and a single to go with 2 RBIs. The group on the whole was doing some serious damage. Brian Kalmer was playing some 1B while Shaw was at DH. Tomorrow, about half of the picks should be on flights to Peoria and Fredericksburg.

Awards of the Day

Hitter – Let’s go with Rojas and the Grand Slam. Garriola was a pretty close second.

Starting Pitcher – Horton in a landslide but Rujano got some votes.

Reliever – Well, that is Max Bain. Good for him.

Debut of the Day – Too early to tell but Rivera did some raking.

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