Down on the Farm: Kris Bryant hits HR No. 20, Cougars clinch 1st half title

After a night full of victories for the Cubs organization, a couple affiliates came crashing back to reality in a tough night for Iowa and Daytona. However, as the Cubs capped off their fifth straight “W”, the Smokies continued their tremendous efforts on the mound and Kane County played another good game after coming out on top of a 12-5 rout last night.

Triple-A Final: Colorado Springs Sky Sox (Rockies) 5, Iowa Cubs 1 

Javier Baez could not save the Iowa Cubs tonight, as after the Iowa staff held the Sky Sox to just one run last night they served up five unanswered runs tonight, leading to a tough 5-1 defeat.

Baez had a fine day at the plate driving in a run and drawing a walk in a night Iowa just couldn`t get anything started. The I-Cubs could not do anything at the dish thanks to the Sky Sox`s pitching staff, with the starter Yohan Flande tossing six innings of one-run ball on just three hits and three strikeouts, but did allow four free passes. Former-Cub Manny Corpas would continue the dominance on the hill, pitching two scoreless frames with three punch outs. Iowa’s starter for the evening, Eric Jockish, did not even pitch that poorly, finishing with just three earned runs allowed on five hits over seven frames, but took the loss anyway, and it certainly did not help when Marcus Hatley surrendered two in the ninth (one earned) to put the nail in the coffin for Iowa.

Double-A Final: Tennessee Smokies 5, Jacksonville Suns 0

It was an absolutely terrific night to be taking in a Smokies-Suns game with the Smokies continuing their winning ways with another shutout. The Suns` offense has yet to break through in any manner against this Tennessee staff, as after a shutout last night, Dae-Eun Rhee came out and tossed seven very strong shutout frames on just five hits to lower his ERA to a fairly solid 3.53. Rhee did not rely on the whiffs for this gem, notching only one strikeout while inducing 10 ground balls. Arodys Vizcaino got some more game action for the Smokies, tossing a perfect ninth with a punch out. Kris Bryant went 3-for-3 with a walk, a double, and his 20th home run of the season.

Advanced Class-A Final: Jupiter Hammerheads (Marlins) 8, Daytona Cubs 0

After getting creamed last night by a score of 10-7, the Hammerheads gave the Daytona Cubs a taste of their own medicine, and beyond, shutting out the Cubs in an 8-0 blowout. When you think of a shutout, this is pretty much all you could even hope for, as the Hammerheads combined to allow just three hits on the evening, while punching out 12 en route to the win.

Hammerheads` starter Austin Brice had a wonderful outing, finishing with just two hits allowed over six shutout frames to lower his ERA to 3.50. The 6-foot-4 right-hander, also punched out seven Cubs over the course of the game.

The bullpen picked up where he left off, with Brian Ellington, ex-Cub Kevin Gregg, and Reid Redman combining for three scoreless innings (five strikeouts). Albert Almora could not break out of his season-long slump, going 0-for-4 with a couple punch outs.

Class-A Final: Kane County Cougars 5, Clinton Lumberkings (Mariners) 2

While it was not the 12-run offensive outburst from last night, the Cougars did pull off a solid 5-2 victory Saturday night to improve to an incredibly impressive 22 games over .500 (42-20) through just 62 games. One of the Cubs` most intriguing pitching prospects, Juan Paniagua, was a huge factor in the Cougars` continued dominance, posting six shutout innings in just three hits while striking out nine.

The only damage Clinton could inflict on the staff was on righty Josh Davis, who was charged with two runs (one earned) in the eighth inning.

Kane County hit just enough to push themselves over Clinton, including two hits and a homer from catcher Ben Carhart, 2 RBIs from Cael Brockmeyer, and first-baseman Jacob Rogers, who got on base three times and drove in a run.