Cade Horton – Pic via Tennessee Smokies

Tonight was a great night for starting pitchers in the system. All the starting pitchers, who we will get to in a minute, all went five innings and gave up 1 earned run or less. But today began in Iowa as the Cubs had a matinee against Louisville. It was a win as the Cubs offense exploded for 10 runs on the day.

The 3 Hit Club of Des Moines

Only one guy had three hits today and that was Jake Slaughter who seems to be heating back up again. He also had one RBI

The 4 Hit Club

Anyone who reached this level of production had a special game. Today, that was Yonathan Perlaza of Iowa who went 4-for-5 with a RBI, his 64th on the year. Two of his were doubles.

While Slaughter and Perlaza combined for 7 hits, PCA, Matt Mervis, and Alexander Canario all drove in two apiece.

Feats of Ferris

It was Jackson Ferris’ biggest night of strikeouts, but it was his longest outing of the year. The 19-year-old went 5 frames and struck out 6 while allowing 1 run. He threw 73 pitches, 46 for strikes. I am getting excited to see him next year with South Bend, especially when is getting this deep into games now.

As for the rest of the Pelicans, both Jefferson Rojas and Ismael Mena hit HRs and drove in two runs each.

3 Hit Pelican Club

Ismael Mena is flashing from time to time and tonight was one of those evenings. He went 3-for-4 with 2 runs scored and is hitting .353 this month, his best this year and his career.

Myrtle Beach wound up winning 7-4.

Noland Strikes Again

Tonight looked like how Connor Noland looked in the first half of the year. He went five innings today and gave up just one run. He struck out five and allowed just one run.

This game was a 1-1 tie until the 10th when the Cubs scored twice in what looked to be an unsurmountable lead with Yovanny Cruz on the bump. Unfortunately, he gave up three in the bottom of the tenth.

Felix Stevens hit a home run on the day and drove in 2 of the Cubs three runs in a 4-3 loss.

Starting Pitcher of the Day

This is one strange stat line. Cade Horton went five innings, his longest at Tennessee in what was only his third start. He allowed 2 runs, both of them unearned – one in the first and another in the third. Along the way to his five frames, Horton struck out seven while allowing just 3 hits. After this start, Horton’s ERA at Tennessee is 1.38.

Fortunately, the Smokies offense was able to plate 4 runs – 2 runs on an Owen Caissie single and 2 more in the eighth to take the lead on wild pitches. Zac Leigh got the save in the 4-3 win.