Down on the Farm: Cougars, Cubs, Smokies pick up wins

Feb 14, 2014; Mesa, AZ, USA; Chicago Cubs relief pitcher

(55) throws in the bullpen during camp at Chicago Cubs training facility at Mesa . Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

The Chicago Cubs Minor League affiliates came into Sunday hoping to sweep the day after doing it last night.

The big league squad dropped the series finale against the St. Louis Cardinals, while three out of the four active Minor League affiliates picked up wins.

Iowa Cubs took on the Memphis Redbirds (St. Louis Cardinals), Tennessee Smokies went up against the Chattanooga Lookouts (Los Angeles Dodgers), Kane County battled Lake County (Cleveland Indians) and the Daytona Cubs went toe to toe with the Tampa Yankees (New York Yankees).

Now before I begin the recaps, I just want to make a quick note that top prospect Javier Baez was added to the 7-day disabled list with an ankle sprain.

With that being said, let’s get this show on the road.

We’ll start off with the Iowa Cubs. Taking the mound today for the Cubs was right-handed pitcher Eduardo Figueroa.

Memphis scored the first run of the ballgame during the bottom of the first inning. Third baseman Scott Moore singled on a ground ball to right field, making it 1-0. Iowa was able to tie the game at one apiece on a double to left field by Arismendy Alcantara.

Lars Anderson would make it a 2-1 game on a sacrifice fly to center field, allowing Edgar Gonzalez to score. Iowa would continue to add on during the top of the seventh thanks to Zac Rosscup and Matt Szczur. Rosscup would make it a 4-1 ball game after lacing a ground ball to center field, driving in Christian Villanueva.

Szczur would launch his first home run of the season, a two run shot to left field, making it a 6-1 game through seven innings.

Jumping to the bottom of the ninth with right-hander Neil Ramirez on the mound for the Cubs, when Greg Garcia took the first pitch of the at-bat deep to right field. It would be his third home run of the season, a two run shot making it 6-3.

Marcos Mateo would enter the game for the Cubs after that home run to pick up the save.

Winning pitcher is Alberto Cabrera (1-0, 1.42 ERA), loss was handed to Boone Whiting (0-1, 1.98 ERA) with Marcos Mateo picking up the save (1).

Final Score: Cubs 6, Redbirds 3.

Iowa improves to 6-5.

Starting for the Tennessee Smokies today was right-handed pitcher Matt Loosen.

For the second time today, the opposing team would score first on a Cubs affiliate. Chattanooga picked up a 1-0 lead after Ozzie Martinez singled to right field.

Tennessee would bounce back after Wes Darvill doubled to right field, plating both Kris Bryant and John Andreoli to make it a 2-1 Smokies lead. Loosen helped his own cause by picking up an RBI off a single to left field, extending the lead to 3-1.

Zeke DeVoss would continue to pour it on with a two-run home run to right field during the bottom of the second inning. Loosen would trot around the bases with him, making it a 5-1 game. Tennessee wasn’t done scoring just yet, as Stephen Bruno hit a two run home run to left center field to make it 6-1 Smokies.

The Lookouts would pick up their final run of the game during the top of the fourth on a double by Brian Cavazos-Galvez to left field. This would make it 6-2 Smokies.

John Andreoli would make the pitcher work with the bases loaded, eventually walking in a run to make it 7-2 during the bottom of the seventh. Darvill would pick up another RBI of the game still in the bottom of the seventh, on a single to right field to make it 8-2.

Winning pitcher was Matt Loosen (1-1, 4.50 ERA), loss was handed to Garrett Gould (0-2, 9.82 ERA)

Final Score: Smokies 8, Lookouts 2.

Smokies improve to 5-5.

The final game of the day was played by the Daytona Cubs. Daytona would be looking to complete the Minor League sweep, but would have to get through the Tampa Yankees.

Taking the mound for the Daytona Cubs today was right-hander Ben Wells. Tampa would score first off a Cito Culver double to center field during the bottom of the first inning to make it 1-0 early. Daytona would finally get themselves on the board during the top of the fourth inning with Bijan Rademacher up to bat. Rademacher would double to left field, driving in Tim Saunders.

The Yankees would get the lead back on a single by Danny Oh to make it 2-1. Angelo Gumbs would single on a ground ball to shortstop Marco Hernandez during the bottom off the fifth inning, allowing Eric Jagielo to score. Shortly after taking a 3-1 lead over Daytona, Reymond Nunez would walk with the bases loaded with Michael Jensen on the mound to add another run to their total.

Oh would pick up another RBI on a sacrifice fly to left fielder Rock Shoulders to make it 5-1. Claudio Custodio would make it 6-1 during the bottom of the fifth inning on a single to center field.

Daytona would finally respond back with some runs of their own during the top of the eighth. It wasn’t much, but Tim Saunders cut the lead down to four with a double to center field to make it 6-2. Rademacher would make it 6-3 on a single to left field. The man who picked up the first run of the game during the bottom of the fourth, Cito Culver, would score the final runs of the game.

Culver would pick up another RBI on a double, this time to right field to make it 7-3 Yankees.

Winning pitcher is Eric Ruth (1-0, 3.86 ERA), the loss was handed to Ben Wells (0-1, 4.50 ERA).

Final Score: Yankees 7, Cubs 3.

Daytona falls to 2-8.