Thank you everyone for reading my blog posts. As I may have or may not have mentioned I work full time and my weekend work schedule was a little crazy. I didn’t have an opportunity to post a Minor League Wrap-Up for Saturday (4/13/13) so I am going to do a review combining Saturday’s recaps with Sunday’s.

Kane County Cougars: 1-1 on the weekend, 3-6 on the season.

The Cougars were supposed to play a double header on Saturday and Sunday because their games on Thursday and Friday were postponed due to inclement weather. They did get their games in on Saturday but both games of the double header were cancelled on Sunday.

Game 1:

Kane County lost the first game of the 7 inning double header on Saturday 7-6 to the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. Ian Dickson took the loss as the starting pitcher with a line of 5 IP, 8 H, 7 ER, 0 BB, 3 K. His line looks much worse than it really was some bad routs on fly balls dropped in and led to runs, that should have been outs. These plays weren’t ruled as errors so they went down as earned runs for Dickson. I would like to say that the 9 walks by the Cougars was a sign of good patience at the plate but Starting Pitcher Tyler Wagner of the Timber Rattlers was wild and out of the zone, and most of his pitches were easy to lay off. Rock Shoulders once again Rock Shoulder continued his torrid pace with 2-Run double. Shoulders was 1-3 at the plate with a walk. Dan Vogelbach hit his 1st HR of the season for Kane County the HR was his only hit of the game, but he also walked twice and scored twice.

Game 2:

The Cougars had a sensational pitching effort and Wilson Contreras hit a game winning 2-run HR to earn a 3-1 win in 11 innings. Keep in mind this was only scheduled to be a 7 inning game. The Cougars pitching staff combined to throw 11 innings, 8 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K. SP Felix Pena pitched 6 innings of shut out ball giving up 5 hits and an unearned run, while striking out three and was saddled with a no decision. 2012 12th round pick, Justin Amlung was credited with the win. He hurled 4 strong innings in relief giving up only 2 hits. Fellow 2012 draft pick, Eduardo Orozco earned the save in a scoreless inning of work. Contreras not only hit the game winning HR but he also was 2-2 at the plate coming off the bench. Jeimer Candelario the Cubs 8th ranked prospect according to Baseball America was 2-3 at the plate with 2 walks. The 19 year old (which is very young for the Midwest League) is now hitting .278 on the year.

Other performance of note:

Shortstop Wes Darvill is now hitting .300 on the year after going 2-4 in the second game of the double header.

Daytona Cubs: 1-1 on the weekend, 5-5 on the season.

Saturday-

The Daytona Cubs took a tough loss 9-4, against the Tampa Yankees in game number two of the series in Tampa. P.J. Francescon had a rough day on the mound with a line of: 5 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 0 BB, 5 K. Javier Baez went 2-4 with a triple, double, and 2 runs scored in what was probably his best game of the year. Dustin Geiger had a 2-run double and is now hitting .286 on the season. Stephen Bruno continues to just hit no matter where he is. Last year in his first year of professional baseball led the Northwest League with a .361 average. After skipping Single A completely he is now hitting .385 in the Single A Advanced Florida State League. He went 2-4 on the day with 2 RBIs.

Sunday-

Daytona won the rubber match of this series 3-1 on a strong pitching performance by Zach Cates. Cates was acquired from the San Diego Padres in the Anthony Rizzo deal. He threw 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K and is now 1-1 on the year after the win. The Cubs recieved a strong pitching performance out of the bullpen from Austin Reed and Frank Del Valle. The two combined for 3 IP, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, Del Valle was credited with the save. It was just another game and another 2 hits for Stephen Bruno. A 2 run double in the 7th inning by Ben Carhart proved to be the difference in the ball game. Carhart later scored on one of Micah Gibbs 2 hits on the day.

Tennessee Smokies: 2-0 on the weekend, 5-5 on the season

Saturday-

The Smokies had a great day at the plate score 8 runs on 11 hits in an 8-6 win against the Chattanooga Lookouts. 2B Ronald Torreyes made his season debut and quickly collected 2 hits and scored 2 runs in the lead-off spot for the Smokies. Torreyes was acquired by the Cubs in the deal that sent Sean Marshall to the Cincinnati Reds. Switch hitting SS, Arismendy Alcantara was 2-5 with a HR and 3 RBI also scored 2 runs. Alcantara is ranked as the Cubs #10 prospect by Baseball America. Rubi Silva was 3-4 at the plate with a double, triple, and 2 RBI at the plate on the day. First Baseman Justin Bour added 3 RBIs with 1 hit on the day. Kyle Hendricks had a strong day on the mound tossing: 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 1 K he is now 1-1 on the season after being credited with the win. A.J. Morris seemed to be the only Smokies player to have a bad day as he only managed 1 1/3 IP giving up 3 hits and 5 earned runs. 

Sunday-

Tennessee won the final game of the series against Chattanooga 7-4 with another strong offensive game. In just his second game of the season Ronald Torreyes added another 2 hits in 3 ABs and added one RBI. Jae-Hoon Ha who played RF went 3-4 at the plate with a RBI and a walk. Ha is now hitting .343 on the year with a .410 OBP. Rubi Silva collected his second 2 hit game in as many days in 4 ABs. The Smokies received a pitching gem from Dae-Eun Rhee as he gave up only 1 hit in 6 innings and struck out 3. Rhee has an absurd 0.87 ERA and has only given up 3 hits in his 2 starts this year. Lefty Zach Rosscup came out of the bullpen and gave up 2 hits and an earned run in an inning of relief, but he did strike out 3.

Iowa Cubs: 2-0 on the weekend, 3-8 on the season

Saturday-

The Iowa Cubs finally beat the Albuquerque Isotopes!!! After losing the previous 5 games against the Isotopes and being outscored 50-20, the Iowa Cubs picked up their 2nd win of the season 6-1. Barret Loux pitched 5 strong innings giving up 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K and was credited with his first win of the season. Yoanner Negrin continues his strong start of the season out of the bullpen with 3 IP giving up 2 hits and striking out 8. Negrin has pitched 7.2 innings of relief and has yet to give up a run, while striking out 13 and only walking 2! He has been one of the bigger surprises in the minor league season. Logan Watkins hit his 2nd home run of the season with a 2-run shot in the 4th inning. Brad Nelson, J.C. Boscan, and Brian Bogusevic all had 2 hits in the game for the I-Cubs.

Sunday-

Chris Rusin produced a great pitching performance for the I-Cubs to secure a 4-1 win. Rusin threw 7 great innings in his first win of the young season, allowing 4 hits, an earned run, and 4 K. Zach Putnam threw 2 innings of shut out baseball and received the save. Brian Bogusevic added another 2 hit game and is now hitting .378 on the season. Brad Nelson also had another solid day at the plate with a hit and 2 RBI, he now has 2 HR and 7 RBI on the year.

Other Performance of Note-

Darwin Barney played his first 2 rehab assignment games over the weekend for the Iowa Cubs. He is rehabbing after getting a cut that needed stitches on his knee in a Spring Training game against the Astros. Barney had 5 ABs, 3 BBs, 3 Ks, 1 SB, 1 H, and 2 runs. He is expected to play 2 more games with Iowa before being recalled to the Chicago Cubs.

Ian Stewart made his first rehab start for the Iowa Cubs on Sunday and went 0-3 with a RBI, a walk, and two strikeouts. Stewart is on the DL with a strained left quad, he played in only 55 games last year after a wrist injury ended his season.