Chicago Cubs Minor League Recap: Ben Brown and Jackson Ferris both dominate

Iowa Cubs (Triple-A) - 54-36

The Iowa Cubs beat the Indianapolis Indians 7-1

Iowa continued its dominant season, coming away victorious after never trailing on Wednesday. They went up 1-0 in the second, and didn’t allow a run until the eighth inning but by that point, had put the game out of reach and shut the Indians down in the ninth inning to win 7-1. 

Nelson Velazquez (OF) went 1-for-4 with a grand slam.

Yonathan Perlaza (OF) went 1-for-2 with a homer, two walks, and two runs scored. 

David Bote (3B) went 2-for-4 with a homer, a double, two RBI and a run scored. 

Luis Vazquez (SS) went 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored. 

Ben Brown (RHP) showed that he should still be considered a top prospect yesterday by pitching five scoreless innings, allowing only one hit and no walks while striking out nine. The strikeouts were nice and the single hit was impressive, as well, but the key to his success yesterday (and moving forward) was limiting the walks. 

Jeremiah Estrada (RHP) continued to push for another shot at the major league level by throwing a perfect inning with a strikeout. If/when the Cubs sell and ship off three/four bullpen pieces it will be interesting to see their young internal options in the pen get a shot. 

Tennessee Smokies (Double-A) - 48-37

The Tennessee Smokies beat the Mississippi Braves 7-5

The Smokies only win in exciting fashion. They had an 8-6 lead going into the top of the eighth which they relinquished by allowing two runs. With an 8-8 tie going into the bottom of the ninth inning Owen Caissie drew a walk-off walk to score Cole Roederer and the Smokies came away with the W. 

Pete Crow-Armstrong (OF) would like to pack up and move to Iowa and he’s making it very hard for the Cubs to prevent that much longer. He went 3-for-5 with a double, two singles, a walk, an RBI and a run scored. 

Owen Caissie (OF) went 2-for-5 with two singles, a walk, two RBI and two runs scored. 

Pablo Aliendo (C) went 2-for-5 with two singles and two RBI. 

BJ Murray (3B) went 3-for-3 with his 10th homer of the season, two singles, two walks, three RBI and a run scored. He reached base five times yesterday. 

Cole Roederer (OF) scored the game-winning run and also went 2-for-4 with his ninth homer of the season, a single, an RBI and two runs scored. 

Levi Jordan (SS) went 2-for-4 with two singles, a walk and a run scored.

Luke Little (LHP) tossed 1.1 scoreless, hitless innings while striking out four. 

Brailyn Marquez (LHP) got promoted again, and continued to be dominant. He threw a perfect inning with a strikeout and maintained his 0.00 ERA across his fourth level of baseball so far this season. At this rate he’ll be at Wrigley by the end of the month. 

South Bend Cubs (High-A) - 37-48

The South Bend Cubs beat the West Michigan Whitecaps 5-0

South Bend won! I feel like I haven’t gotten to write that in a while, but they got a great pitching performance to start the game and they didn’t waste it. They took the lead in the fourth inning, added some insurance in the sixth and the seventh and didn’t end up needing it as they completed the shutout. 

Kevin Made (SS) went 1-for-3 with his 16th double of the season, a walk and a run scored. 

Kevin Alcantara (OF) continued to mash. He went 3-for-3 with a double, two singles, and a run scored to bring his batting average to .276 on the season after a very rough start to the year. When PCA gets the call to Iowa, Alcantara will likely take his place in Tennessee. 

Moises Ballesteros (C) went 1-for-4 with a double and an RBI.

Brody McCullough (RHP) went 4.1 innings of scoreless baseball allowing two hits and two walks while striking out seven.