Luis Devers – Picture by Todd Johnson
Today is one of those days where I missed going to a game to take pictures. It was gorgeous out all day long. That and I wanted to get some pictures of Matt Shaw and Josh Rivera along with more of Christian Franklin. But school has now started and time is of the essence.
Let’s get to the action!
Starting Pitcher of the Day
Luis Devers is getting closer and closer to being the pitcher he was last year. Tonight saw him go 4 innings. He threw 69 pitches, 43 of which were strikes. He gave up 1 run, but struck out 7.
Reliever of the Day
Jose Oquendo got it done for South Bend. He went three innings and struck out 4.
Two Dingers of the Day
Christian Franklin and Moises Ballesteros both hit solo dingers to give South Bend a 2-1 lead. The most interesting part about Franklin’s dinger was Jim Callis was praising him on “The Road to Wrigley” after placing in the Cubs top 30 on MLB Pipeline last night. Jim was downright giddy!
That lead lasted until the bottom of the ninth when West Michigan tied it. In the tenth, South Bend took a 3-2 lead only to lose in the bottom of the tenth as they gave up 2 runs to lose 4-3.
Along the East Coast…
Drew Gray threw two scoreless innings tonight and struck out 5 in the process. He allowed 2 hits and walked 2, but it took him 56 pitches to finish those 2 innings. In total, Gray, has thrown just 26 innings all year in 11 games. That’s not a lot but he is, after all, coming off of TJS. I am beginning to wonder how much the Cubs are going to let him go this year, especially in the playoffs. Could we see him go 70 pitches? Something to think about.
As for the rest of the game, the Pelicans only managed one run in a 7-1 loss. Brett Bateman, my guy, continues to rake as he went 2-for-3 with a walk.
Only One Good Thing in Tennessee
Joe Nahas went 3.2 IP and struck out 5 while only allowing 1 run. The rest of the Smokies did not have a good night as they lost 9-0. They still have a 6.5 game lead over Rocket City.
Iowa Cubs Strengthen Their Lead
The Cubs jumped out to a 4-0 lead against Louisville tonight with a 4 run second and they kept chugging away against the Bats. Caleb Kilian did well going 4.2 innings with 3 Ks. He allowed just one run on the night. Iowa would put up 7 runs as both PCA and Perlaza had 2 hits and 2 RBI on the night, but nobody hit a dinger for Iowa, a rarity.
The I-Cubs won 7-5. They are still are holding on to first place…barely.
