Ben Brown – Pic via Iowa Cubs

For the first time in a week, the windows on the house were opened up, and there was a nice cool breeze coming inside. And it’s gonna stay that way probably until Thursday. But in the meantime, it was nice to catch some games in the afternoon and be done watching at a reasonable hour .

The Early Tilts in Class A

The Pelicans’ bats were working today and they also took advantage of four Fredericksburg errors to score 8 runs. Andy Garriola drove in three on the day while Cristian Hernandez drove in two. Reivaj Garcia and Cristian Hernandez were also members of the three hit club, but the Pelicans had some pitching issues giving up 9 runs in six innings. Only Jose Oquendo was spotless as he went two scoreless and struck out four. Garriola wound up with 13 runs batted in on the week to go along with two home runs and he hit .464 with an OPS of 1.376. 

For South Bend, they played a nip-and-tuck game with Peoria all afternoon. Connor Noland went 6 innings, but gave up 3 runs. Felix Stevens hit a solo shot for the Cubs. The Cubs did tie in the ninth at 4 only to lose it in extra innings. Still, it was a very successful week for South Bend on the road going 4-2. And now, they are back in contention for a playoff spot.

Starting Pitcher of the Day

As for Iowa, Ben Brown had another solid start going 5 innings. He gave up 1 run and struck out 4. Unfortunately, Michael McGreevy of Memphis out pitched him going 7 scoreless innings and striking out 6. I found it interesting that Brown was pulled after 69 pitches while McGreevy was stretched out to 94. This is a common theme in other systems that really stretch out their starters where the Cubs are extremely cautious (for whatever reason) with their starting pitchers. Anyway…Memphis won 2-0.

Web Gems of the Day

Jordan Nwogu was pretty busy doing some catching and throwing today.

The Nightcap

As for the final game of the day, it came right in the middle of supper which was a ham and cheese egg casserole with celery, onion, tomato, orange sweet pepper, and asparagus. Yes, it was very healthy with lots of protein and vegie vitamins.

As for the Smokies, Manny Espinoza was the starting pitcher and he gave up a run in the second only to see the offense come right back in the third to knot it up at one. A wild pitch in the third plated another Rocket City run in the bottom of the inning to make it 2-1. Espinoza only lasted three innings. Joe Nahas came on in the fourth and did not allow a run that inning, but gave up two in the fifth to make it 4-1 Rocket City.

A Cole Roederer double in the seventh looked like it might be the start of something. But that rally quickly dwindled after a strike out and a ground out.

Brailyn Marquez came on in the sixth inning. He was able to pitch out of a little trouble and came back out for the seventh. When he left the mound, the bases loaded, and there was only one out. As for Marquez, his velocity has diminished into the low middle 90s, probably sitting around 92 or 93. He’s walking guys, he’s hitting guys, it’s an issue of command and not getting hitters at this level to chase after the slider. He’s got to figure that out and quick.

Hunter Bigge had a lot of work to try to keep the score close. a two run single meet at six to one. Next thing you know, it was 10-1.

Owen Caissie homered in the ninth, but the game would end up with a final score of 11-2.