Down on the Farm: Kris Bryant leads Smokies to another ‘W’

Tennessee 10 – Jackson 7

A six-run third inning was enough for the Tennessee Smokies to hold off the Jackson Generals’ late rally attempts on Tuesday night, and the Cubs’ Double-A affiliate plated three insurance runs of their own in the final two innings to seal the deal.

Scoring in that big third inning started with an RBI double off the bat of infielder Stephen Bruno, who had been red-hot of late, and is now hitting .317 on the year after his 4-for-5 night on Tuesday. Bryant followed with a three-run blast later in the inning, his 11th on the season.

An RBI double by Rubi Silva and a ground ball single by Jae-Hoon Ha added the two final runs of the frame, giving Tennessee pitching plenty to work with – although, at times, Jackson appeared poised to challenge the Smokies for the lead.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Generals hung a four-spot on the board, thanks to an RBI single, a bases-loaded walk, a sacrifice fly and a fielder’s choice ground ball. Heading to the fifth, the Smokies held on to a 6-4 advantage.

In the sixth, Bryant added an RBI single on a liner to center field, to make it 7-5. Taylor Davis hit his first of two doubles on the night in that frame, as well, which pushed the lead to 8-5. Bruno added an RBI single in the top of the eighth and Davis’ second double in the ninth made it a 10-5 ballgame.

Jackson plated two runs in the bottom of the ninth off reliever Armando Rivera, but he was able to close the door and preserve Tennessee’s lead.

With the win, the Smokies improve to 23-16 on the season, while the Generals fall to 16-23.

Charlotte 0 – Daytona 12

It was a rout from the word ‘go’ on Tuesday night down in Daytona, as the reigning Florida State League champions scored in each of the first five innings, en route to a 10-0 shutout of the Charlotte Stone Crabs.

After plating two in the bottom of the first, Daytona added three runs in the second inning. A bases-loaded walk to Zeke DeVoss forced in the first run and Albert Almora doubled to score two, as part of a three-hit, four RBI game for the Cubs’ outfielder.

Ben Wells (2-2, 3.72 ERA) was dominant for Daytona, tossing six shutout innings of three-hit ball, striking out eight. He did not walk a batter.

The Cubs offense added four more runs in the bottom of the fifth, one of which came on another RBI double by Almora. A base hit by Gioskar Amaya accounted for another, and a wild pitch from Ryan Garton led to another.

Daytona pitching held Charlotte to just six hits on the night and the Stone Crabs didn’t help their own case in any way, committing three errors.  Meanwhile, the Cubs played error-free defense and pounded out 11 hits on the night, while going a robust 7-for-17 with runners in scoring position.

Cougars 2 – Snappers 3

The Beloit Snappers scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning Tuesday night and an attempt at a rally in the top of the ninth fell just short for the Kane County Cougars as the Cubs’ Class-A affiliate dropped another game to the lowly Snappers.

With the Cougars trailing 3-1 in the top of the ninth, Jacob Rogers led off the frame with a line drive single to left. After a pop out and a strikeout, Rogers advanced to second on defensive indifference. David Bote then singled to center, scoring Rogers from second and pulling Kane County within one. However, any hopes of a comeback win were snuffed when Shawon Dunston popped out to short to end the ballgame.

Despite being outhit 8 to 5, Beloit managed to hold onto their slim lead late after Kane County starter Daury Torrez tossed six scoreless innings, allowing just three hits on the night to Snappers hitters. However, reliever Nathan Dorris (4-2, 2.70 ERA) allowed the three runs between the seventh and eighth innings, squandering a sterling performance by Torrez.

Kane County hit just 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position on Tuesday, just barely worse than the Snappers’ 2-for-7 clip.

Carlos Penalver led the Cougars’ offense with a 2-for-3 night that included a walk, as well. Hankins and Bote also added a pair of hits apiece in the loss.

With the loss, Kane County falls to 26-12, while Beloit pulls within seven games of .500 at 15-22.