Down on the Farm: Daytona Cubs, Tennessee Smokies win Monday

We’ll go ahead and begin the night with the Daytona Cubs who were taking on the Fort Myers Miracle.

Daytona took the 1-0 lead during the top of the first first inning and held it later into the game.

Starting pitcher Yao-Lin Wang took the mound in hopes of recording his first win of the season. Wang made it through 5.0 innings of work tonight, allowing Fort Myers to only record one hit – while walking three and fanning four. He would be replaced by Nathan Dorris who would end up giving up the lead during the bottom of the sixth and seventh innings as the Miracle were able to tie the ballgame up at 2-2.

Dorris pitched through 2 2/3 innings as he allowed the Miracle to string together three hits for two earned runs while striking out two. He picked up a little bit of run support from Willson Contreras during the top of the eighth inning on a single to right field that would allow two Cubs to come across to score. This made it 4-2 in favor of Daytona.

The ball would then be handed over to Austin Reed, who worked 1 1/3 scoreless innings to help lock up the victory.

Winning pitcher tonight is Nathan Dorris (1-0, 6.75 ERA, 1 BS) with the loss being handed to Brian Gilbert (0-1, 1.96 ERA).

Final Score: Cubs 4, Miracle 2.

Daytona Cubs improve to 15-25.

Next up we have the Iowa Cubs taking on the Round Rock Express.

The Cubs jumped to a 2-1 lead during the first inning of the ballgame and managed to keep it until the bottom of the fifth inning. Chris Valaika and Josh Vitters were the two Cubs who were able to plate their only runs of the ballgame.

Starting pitcher Chris Rusin hasn’t had much go his way despite tossing a no-hitter earlier in the year. Rusin pitched through 7.0 innings today but was tagged with nine hits (one home run), four runs (three earned) while issuing one walk and striking out five batters. Disappointing outing, but not every one can be a no-hitter.

Former Chicago Cubs utility man Donnie Murphy recorded the final run of the ball game on a single to second baseman Arismendy Alcantara who ended up committing an error. This would make it 4-2.

Winning pitcher tonight is Chris Schwinden (1-0, 3.00 ERA) , the loss was handed to Chris Rusin (2-6, 3.91 ERA) and Lisalverto Bonilla picked up the save (1).

Final Score: Express 4, Cubs 2.

Iowa Cubs fall to 22-19.

Last, but not least, we have our beloved Tennessee Smokies who were looking to bounce back from a 4-2 loss against the Mississippi Braves.

Nobody would be able to put runs on the board thanks to some great pitching by both starters. That is until the top of the fifth inning rolled around which resulted in the Smokies taking a 2-1 lead. Tennessee got some run support from top prospect Kris Bryant who hit double number 11 to left field which drove in both Anthony Giansanti and Wes Darvill to make it 2-0. Mississippi would cut the lead to one during the bottom half of the inning.

Starting pitcher Pierce Johnson made it through four hitless innings tonight while walking and striking out two. Tony Zych would be the man to replace him after those four innings and allow the Braves to score their first run of the ballgame.

Tennessee would later extend their lead to 3-1 thanks to Charles Cutler on a sacrifice double play that would end the inning.

Winning pitcher tonight is Tony Zych (1-2, 5.30 ERA) losing pitcher is Jason Hursh (3-3, 3.45 ERA) with the save being awarded to Armando Rivero (8).

Final Score: Smokies 3, Braves 1.

Tennessee Smokies improve to 24-20.