Down on the Farm: Smokies and Cubs pick up wins Wednesday

Mar 10, 2014; Scottsdale, AZ, USA; Chicago Cubs third baseman

prior to the game against the San Francisco Giants at Scottsdale Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

What’s going on Chicago Cubs fans? I hope each and everyone of you are enjoying this beautiful, cold day. Now if you haven’t heard, (not sure how that might happen) today is Wrigley Field’s 100th birthday. The greatest sports park/stadium on the entire planet hits a huge milestone. Now if only we could top the year off with a World Series. A man can dream, am I right?

Three of the five Cubs’ Minor League affiliates took the field today looking to improve their overall record. Daytona’s bats were absolutely on fire last night, but the Smokies were absolutely hammered by Barons’ bats. The Cougars were able to beat the Beloit Snappers by a run and have played fairly well to start the 2014 campaign.

Before we start on today’s early action, I’d like to note that the Iowa Cubs had the day off.

We’ll start off the day with the Tennessee Smokies looking for redemption and the series win against the Birmingham Barons. I noted in the beginning of this article that the Barons hammered Smokies pitchers yesterday. Most of the damage came from Josh Richmond who had a grand slam which was followed up by a solo blast by Rangel Ravelo.

Now most of the offense from this game came from the good guys, but during the top of the first inning. The Smokies pushed across eight runs right out of the gate. Both Wes Darvill and Dustin Geiger picked up RBI doubles which made it 3-0 then 7-0 before Zeke DeVoss picked up an RBI, making it 8-0.

Smokies pitcher Corey Black had Birmingham‘s bats completely quiet his entire outing. He made it through six innings, walked three batters while striking out eight. Black was pulled after the sixth inning and was replaced by P.J. Francescon who would give up the only Barons run of the ball game.

Birmingham’s only run of the game came during the bottom of the eighth inning on a Gordon Beckham groundout to shortstop Jeudy Valdez. Rubi Silva would launch his second home run of the season during the top of the sixth.

Despite giving up a run, Francescon would be credited with the save after completing the final three innings of the ball game. He would finish with one earned run, two walks and two strikeouts.

Winning pitcher is Corey Black (1-1, 2.65 ERA), loss was handed to Terry Doyle (2-2, 6.00 ERA) and the save was awarded to P.J. Francescon (1).

Final Score: Smokies 9, Barons 1.

Tennessee improves to 10-10.

Next up we have the Kane County Cougars looking to pick up victory number 13 on the year as they continued their series against the Beloit Snappers. They were able to pick up a one run victory against Beloit yesterday.

Kane County would tie the ballgame during the bottom of the fourth inning after the Snappers took the lead during the first inning. They would then take a 4-3 lead during the bottom of the fifth, shortly after Beloit regained the lead during the top half of the inning. The Cougars would bust things wide open during the bottom of the seventh inning as they were able to hang a five spot to make it 10-3.

Catcher Will Remillard had himself a fantastic ball game as he finished 4-for-4 with three RBIs. He would pick up his first RBI of the ball game during the bottom of the fourth inning, then the final two of the day the very next inning which helped give his team the 4-3 lead. Outfielder Shawon Dunston made it 10-3 during the bottom of the seventh after he connected with a 2-0 pitch and sent it over the fence in right field. Dunston picked up two RBI’s during that at-bat.

Starting pitcher Tyler Skulina was pulled after four and one-third innings of work after he was tagged for six hits and three earned runs. Skulina walked four batters while striking out only two before he was replaced by Justin Amlung. Amlung worked through three and two-third innings, gave up four hits but didn’t surrender a run.

Winning pitcher is Justin Amlung (3-0, 2.45 ERA), losing pitcher is Junior Mendez (0-1, 5.40 ERA).

Final Score: Cougars 10, Snappers 4.

Kane County jumps to 13-6.