Results tagged ‘ Blake Lalli ’
7/20: Around the Cubs Minor League System
Our nightly trip through the minor leagues.
Boise dropped another losing 7-2 to Eugene. Rock Shoulders was outstanding at the plate on Friday going 4-for-4 with a double, home run and two RBIs. Besides Shoulders the Hawks only had two other hits, one coming off the bat of Gioskar Amaya and another off the bat of Jeimer Candelario. Felix Pena started and pitched four innings surrendering two runs, he did not factor in the decision. After Michael Hamann pitched two scorelss innings, Rafael Diplan came in and struggled. He gave up three runs, one earned in one inning and took his second loss of the season. Another rough night for Boise as there record now stands at 12-23.
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After tying the game in the eighth Peoria scored four in the eleventh to beat West Michigan 9-6. There were some nice highlights from Chiefs. Pin-Chieh Chen was 3-for-6 with a double, a run scored, and two RBIs. Taiwan Easterling and Dustin Geiger each had two hits and hit a home run on Friday night. Bijan Rademacher and Yaniel Cabezas also had two hits a piece and Cabezas had two RBIs. Javier Baez extended his hitting streak going 1-for-6. Jeffry Antigua struck out three in 1.2 innings and recorded his first win of the season. His ERA now sits at 1.13. Michael Jensen got the start and pitched pretty good going six innings allowing two runs, one earned, while striking out five. Pete Levitt closed out the game striking out two in his one inning of work.
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Robert Whitenack really struggled not recording an out and giving up six runs. The six run first proved to be too much losing 12-8 to Jupiter. Now to some of the highlights. Rubi Silva was 4-for-5 with a triple, two runs scored, and two RBIs. Elieser Bonne had three hits and also drove in three. Ronald Torreyes and Rebel Ridling each had two hits, with Torreyes driving in one along with Matt Szczur. Timothy Saunders got his first hit in seven ABs since being promoted to Daytona. Frank Del Valle pitched four scoreless innings in relief and Brian Schlitter also pitched a scoreless frame bring his ERA down to 1.73. Daytona has given up way too many runs to be successful lately and Friday was no different.
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Tennessee fell to Chattanooga 4-1 in eight innings. Dae-Eun Rhee started and took the loss allowing three runs, two earned on two hits in six innings. Trey McNutt gave up one in 1.1 innings of relief. Justin Bour had two hits and drove in Logan Watkins, the lone Cubs run. Junior Lake, Jae-Hoon Ha, and Michael Brenly all had a hit on Friday. The Smokies have been really struggling as of late and that continued on Friday.
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Iowa and Alburquerque were tied going into the ninth, but Michael Bowden gave up a three run walk off homer to the Isotopes. The offense got going early for Iowa scoring six runs in the first three innings. Brett Jackson led the game off with his 13th home run of the season. He ended the day with two hits and two RBIs. Adrian Cardenas continued his hot hitting going 2-for-4 with two doubles and two runs scored. Josh Vitters also had two hits, one of which was his 29th double. He also scored a run and drove in his 53 run of the year. Brian Esposito had a nice night going 3-for-4 with a double and two runs scored. Blake Lalli also drove in two and had two hits. Chris Rusin got the start, but didn’t pitched too well, allowing six runs on eight hits in five innings of work. Yet another bad loss for Iowa on Friday.
Thanks for Reading,
Mark
7/19: Around the Cubs Minor League System
All teams back in action on Thursday July 19.
Jorge Soler made his much anticipated debut on Thursday night, but the AZL Cubs fell to the AZL Mariners 4-3 in 12 innings. It was not quite the debut we were looking for from Soler as he went 0-3, grounding out twice and lining into a double play. The Cubs got RBIs from David Bote, Daniel Lockhart, and Justin Marra. Marra also had two hits on the evening. Paul Blackburn got the start on Thursday and pitched three innings allowing one runs on three hits. Carlos Martinez-Pumarino struck out five in four innings out of the pen and Daniel Adrian struck out four in three scoreless innings. Chad Martin took the loss giving up the winning run in the 12th inning. Not the type of game we become accustomed to from the Cubs in Arizona.
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The pitching for Boise did their job on Thursday, but the Hawks still lost to Eugene 2-1. Ian Dickson got the start and took the tough loss. He gave up two runs, one earned in five innings. He also struck out five, his record now stands at 1-3. Hunter Ackerman was outstanding in relief striking out four and allowing only one hit in three innings pitched. All of the Hawks offense came off the bat of Stephen Bruno who had the only two hits for Boise. He also drove in Gioskar Amaya who reached on a walk. This is a tough one to swallow as the pitching did so well, unfortunately the hitting did not.
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Peoria dropped another to West Michigan losing 4-2. Yao-Lin Wang started and took the loss allowing three runs in the second inning, one earned in just 1.2 innings pitched. Josheph Zeller pitched well in relief allowing one unearned run on seven hits in 5.1 innings. He struck out three and lowered his ERA to 1.69. Javier Baez did it again going 2-for-4 hitting his ninth home run of the season and stealing his 17th base. Chadd Krist only was able to muster up one hit tonight as his average dropped to .462. Dustin Geiger added a hit and scored the only other Chiefs run of the day. Peoria will look to get back on track tomorrow.
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It is tough to win when you allow four runs in one inning and then a single run four innings in a row. Daytona didn’t disprove this losing 8-3 to Jupiter. Austin Kirk took the loss allowing five runs in five innings pitched. His ERA stands at an impressive 2.88. Hunter Cervenka, Scott Weismann, and AJ Morris all gave up a run in their inning of work out of the bullpen. The good news came from one of the Cubs top prospects Matt Szczur. He was 3-for-4 with a triple, run scored, RBI and his 33rd stolen base of the year. Ronald Torreyes was 2-for-5 with a double and a run scored. Elliot Soto added two hits driving in one run and Rubi Silva also had an RBI. Not a good loss all the way around for the Cubs.
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After giving up three in the first Tennessee tried to mount a comeback, but it ultimately came up short losing 4-3 to Chattanooga. Eric Jokisch took the loss allowing three runs on six hits in five innings. Kevin Rhoderick hopefully got back on track Thursday striking out all four of the outs he recorded. Marcus Hatley pitched a scoreless inning giving up three hits, but striking out one. Juan Apodaca hit a double and drove in two runs. Jae-Hoon Ha was 2-for-3 with a run scored and Logan Watkins drove stole his 19th base of the season and drove in his 36th run of the season. It was a good comeback attempt, but turned out to be another disappointing loss.
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Casey Coleman got scratched from his start so Ryan Rowland-Smith took his place and struggled giving up five runs, three earned in just four innings pitched. All of those runs came in the second and Iowa could never rebound losing 9-1. Offensively Brett Jackson was 2-for-4 with the Cubs lone RBI. Dave Sappelt and Blake Lalli each had two hits and both had a double. Adrian Cardenas and Welington Castillo had doubles as well. Other than that not much excitement coming from Iowa on Thursday night.
Thanks for reading,
Mark
7/15: Around the Cubs Minor League System
The Cubs minor league report on Sunday July, 15.
Boise gave up one run in the sixth and one in the seventh losing 5-4 to Vancouver. Felix Pena left after the fifth in line for the win, but took a no decision. He gave up three runs on seven hits and struck out five. Willengton Cruz lost his fourth game of the season giving up a run in both the sixth and seventh inning. The Hawks got a hit and an RBI a piece from Jeimer Candelario, Bijan Rademacher, and Rock Shoulders. Stephen Bruno collected two hits and scored a run. The 202 draft pick is now hitting .318 on the season. The loss dropped the Hawks record to a 10-20.
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Peoria had nine hits, but could only plate two runs losing to Bowling Green 4-2. Top prospect Javier Baez was at it again going 3-for-4 with a double and a triple. The ninth overall pick in the 2011 draft is now hitting .331 with an OPS of .980. Wes Darvill and Pin-Chieh Chen each drove in a run and Oliver Zapata scored a run and added two hits. Losing pitcher Zach Cates was only able to last 4.2 innings allowing two runs on four hits while walking four. Jeffry Antigua who had been very good, struggled a bit giving up two runs, one earned in 2.1 innings. He also walked three, his ERA is now at 1.42 on the season. Larry Suarez struck out two in two perfect innings. The Chiefs record now stands at 44-48.
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After giving up the tying run in the ninth, the top of Peoria’s order took care of business walking off with a 4-3 win. John Andreoli led the ninth off with a walk and later moved to third on a Ronald Torreyes double. Rubi Silva then ended the game with a sacrifice fly. Scott Weismann who blew the save ended up getting his second win of the season. Elieser Bonne and Micah Gibbs each were 2-for-4 and Gibbs drove in a run. The Cubs also had an RBI a piece from Andreoli and Torreyes. Andreoli stole his league leading 33rd base of the season. The Cubs started Robert Whitenack on the hill. He pitched 4.2 innings giving up two runs on three hits and walking three. Ryan Searle and AJ Morris did a tremendous job in relief combining to pitch a scoreless 3.1 innings. The win brings Dayton’s record to 41-51.
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Tied at one into the seventh, Tennessee gave up five runs in the last three innings losing 6-1 to Jackson. Kevein Rhoderick struck out four, but took the loss in relief giving up two runs in two innings. Casey Harman wasn’t any better as he gave up three runs in his innings of work. Starter Dallas Beeler pitched well surrendering only one run on six hits in six innings pitched. Offensively, the Smokies had nine hits, but were only able to push one across the plate. Michael Brenly and Logan Watkins each went 2-for-4 on Sunday. Justin Bour drove in the lone Smokies run, he now has 70 on the season. With the loss Tennessee’s record is evened up at 47-47.
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Iowa scored four in the third and five in the fourth in route to a 9-1 win. Adrian Cardenas had a great day at the dish going 4-for-5 with a double. He also scored a run and drove three. Alfredo Amezaga had two his and also drove in three. Welington Castillo and James Adduci each had two hits with Aducci driving one in. Josh Vitters hit his 28th double and drove in one run. Blake Lalli scored collected three hits and scored two runs. Chris Rusin started and earned his seventh win of the season. He pitched five innings allowing only one run on two hits. Esmailin Caridaid, Jeff Beliveau, and Jay Jackson combined to pitch a scoreless last four innings on Sunday. With the win the Cubs record is now 40-55.
Thanks for Reading,
Mark
6/30: Around the Cubs Minor League System
A look at the Cubs minor leagues on Saturday, June 30.
Another game for the AZL Cubs and more runs scored as the Cubs won 12-8. Some of the highlights at the plate were Daniel Vogelbach going 3-for-4 with a double, an RBI, and three runs scored. Carlos Penalver also went 3-for-5 with a double, two runs scored, and three RBI’s. Isaac Garesz and Neftali Rosario had two hits a piece. Rosario had two RBI’s as did Garrett Schlect. Justin Berg got the start, but did not factor in the win. David Henrie did get the win pitching four innings giving up three runs, one earned on five hits.
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Boise got the bats going on Saturday beating Spokane 12-6. Stephen Bruno went 2-for-4 with a double, triple, an RBI, and two runs scored. Jeimer Candelario was 3-for-5 with a double, run scored, and two RBI’s. Bijan Rademacher had three hits and Chadd Krist also added two hits of his own. Xavier Batista and Shawon Dunston Jr. each added an RBI on the night. Jose Arias was not real sharp, but got his first win of the year. Pete Levitt recorded his first save of the year and Michael Hamann pitched two scoreless innings in relief.
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Peoria took the loss on Saturday losing to Wisconsin 9-5. Zach Cates struggled only lasting four innings givine up five runs, four earned on six hits, while striking out five. Zachary Rosscup pitched well in relief striking out five and only giving up one hit in two innings. Offensively Oliver Zapata was 3-for-4 with an RBI. The Chiefs also got RBI’s from Pin-Chieh Chen, Dustin Geiger, Paul Hoilman, and Yasiel Balaguert. Javier Baez was 1-for-4 with a run scored as well.
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Kyler Burke took the loss as Daytona fell to Dunedin 5-2. Burke only lasted four innings giving up two runs, one earned on three hits in four innings. He struggled with his control walking four, but he also struck out six. Matthew Spencer and Eduardo Figueroa each pitched two innings and each gave up runs. Brian Schlitter pitched well in his one inning out of the bullpen. There wasn’t much excitement at the plate either as the Cubs could only muster five hits. Two of those hits came off the bat of John Andreoli. Arismendy Alcantara, Rebel Ridling, and Rubi Silva had the other Daytona hits and Elieser Bonne had contributed with an RBI.
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Logan Watkins hit a solo home run in the bottom of the eight which proved to be the game winner as Tennessee won 3-2. Michael Burgess also connected hitting his ninth homer of the year. James Adduci drove in the other Smokies run and Jae-Hoon Ha contributed with two hits including a double. Erik Jokish was pretty good, but did not factor in the decision. He gave up two runs on seven hits and struck out five in seven innings. Kevin Rhoderick who had been struggling of late got the win in relief striking out one in two perfect innings of relief.
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Despite a late rally Iowa fell short losing to Nashville 4-3. Down 4-0 entering the top of the ninth Iowa scored three runs including a solo home run off the bat of Brett Jackson. Jackson added a double earlier ending the night with two hits and a stolen base. Blake Lalli connected on a two-run homer in the ninth, his sixth of the season. Dave Sappelt had two hits and a run scored. Brooks Raley took the loss giving up one run on four hits in five innings. Ryan Rowland-Smith and Mike MacDougal each gave up runs in relief, but Jeff Beliveau pitched well striking out four in 1.2 innings pitched.
Thanks for Reading,
Mark
6/28: Around the Cubs Minor League System
Your nightly trip around the bases for June 28th, 2012.

AZL Cubs had a nice night winning 11-2. Jacob Rogers had a great night at the plate going 4-for-4 with two home runs, four runs scored, and four RBI’s. Trey Martin had three hits and three RBI’s on Thursday. Ben Carhart and Carlos Penalver each had two hits. Dan Vogelbach and Justin Marra each had a double and drove in a run. Carlos Martinez-Pumarino got the win pitching five innings in relief giving no runs on three hits while striking out five. Nathan Dorris and Ryan Hartman each pitched a scoreless inning in relief. Hope to see more nights like this from the Cubs as the summer goes forward.
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We have been waiting, and Boise finally delivered beating Spokane 12-2. Chadd Krist was 4-for-5 with two doubles, three runs scored, and one driven in. Wilson Contreras also was 4-for-5 with a double, two runs scored, and three driven in. Stephen Bruno had two hits with a run scored and an RBI. Dong-Yub Kim hit his second home run of the season, a grand slam. Ian Dickson was the beneficiary of all those runs earning his first win of the season pitching five innings, giving up two runs, one earned on four hits, while striking out six. Eduardo Orozco, Rafael Diplan, and Su-Min Jung all pitched well in relief. All in all it was a very good night for the Hawks.
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Gerardo Concepcion was roughed up early, giving up four runs in the first, but settled down as he pitched six inning giving up five runs on six hits. He took the loss and is now 2-6 with a 7.39 ERA. Javier Baez had a great night at the plate going 3-for-4 with two doubles, a run scored, and three stolen bases. Dustin Geiger, Taiwan Easterling, and Oliver Zapata all had RBI’s on the night and Paul Hoilman had two hits. Larry Suarez also struggled in relief giving up two runs on four hits in two innings of work.
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It was a great night for the Daytona offense beating Dunedin 14-4. Cubs got home runs from Ronald Torreyes, Arismendy Alcantara, and Rebel Ridling. Arismendy went 3-for-5 with three runs scored and four RBI’s. Rubi Silva was also 3-for-5 including two doubles and drove in two. Lead-off hitter Matt Szczur was on base five times. He was 3-for-3 with two walks, two RBI’s, three stolen bases, and three runs scored. Robert Whitenack got the start but didn’t get the win pitching only four innings while giving up three runs, only one earned on six hits while striking out four. A.J. Morris got the win in relief pitching two scoreless innings while striking out one. Brian Schlitter threw another good outing in relief pitching a scoreless ninth.
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Trey McNutt was not able to get out of the first inning on Friday pitching only .2 inning and giving up eight runs, four earned on six hits. Ty’relle Harris threw four quality innings of relief giving up two runs, one earned on five hits, while striking out two. The Smokies were pretty good at the plate scoring six runs on twelve hits. Jae-Hoon Ha, Junior Lake, Michael Brenly, and Elliot Soto all had two hits on the night. Nelson Perez and Brenly each hit a home run. The Smokies also had RBI’s from Ha, Lake, Justin Bour, and James Adduci.
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Chris Volstad pitched pretty good on Friday, but it wasn’t enough for Iowa losing 3-1. Volstad gave up three runs, two earned on six hits in seven innings. He also struck out seven and walked zero. Matt Tolbert was great at the plate going 4-for-5 with a double, triple, and a run scored. Adrian Cardenas, Ty Wright, and Blake Lalli each had two hits. Josh Vitters was finally held hitless and Brett Jackson went 1-for-5. Jay Jackson struck out two and didn’t allow a baserunner in one inning of work out of the bullpen.
Thanks for reading,
- Mark, and George
6/26: Around the Cubs Minor Leagues
A look at the minor league system for Tuesday, June 26.
The Cubs lost 9-4 to the Dodgers on Tuesday night. The Offense for the Cubs was pretty good as they had 10 hits and four runs. Left fielder Trey Martin Led off on Tuesday and went 3-for-5 including a double and two runs scored. Dan Vogelbach went 2-for-3 with a double and a walk to raise his average to .412. Bijan Rademacher hit his first home run of the season and Daniel Lockhart had a triple and had an RBI. Alvido Jimenez struggled big time and took the loss on Tuesday. Michael Hamann, Ethan Elias, and Daniel Adrian all pitched well in relief.
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Boise dropped another on Tuesday losing to Spokane 3-1. James Pugliese took the loss allowing two rus on three hits in 4.2 innings. Hayden Simpson had another strong outing allowing one run on two hits while striking out four in 3.1 innings. There was not much good happening from the offense as Boise only had three hits on the day. Jeimer Candelario, Rock Shoulders, and Stephen Bruno had the only hits for the Hawks and Shoulders drove in the only run of the game.
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Peoria was chasing two early, but tied it up in the sixth and then exploded in the tenth to win the game 7-2. Paul Hoilman had a nice night going 2-for-5 with two RBI’s and a run scored. The Chiefs got an RBI a piece from Taiwan Easterling, Dustin Geiger, Yasiel Balaguert, and Pin-Chieh Chen. Chen also had two hits including a triple. Oliver Zapata also had two hits and two runs scored on Tuesday. The Chiefs got a nice start from Starling Peralta who pitched seven solid innings as he only gave up two runs on eight hits while striking out three. Matthew Spencer got the win in relief, striking out three in two perfect innings of work.
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Daytona took a 3-2 lead in the top of the ninth, but ended up losing a heartbreaker 4-3 in 12 innings. The Cubs got a nice outing out of P.J. Francescon who gave up two runs on seven hits in six innings. Ryan Searle took the loos out of the bullpen giving up one run in 2.2 innings. The offense had 11 hits, three of which cam off the bat of Elieser Bonne, who also scored a run. John Andreoli and Rebel Ridling each had two hits and Ridling added two RBI’s. The other RBI came off the bat of Arismendy Alcantara.
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The bats came alive for Tennessee beating Birmingham 11-6 on Tuesday. The Smokies pounded out 15 hits and hit four home runs. Michael Burgess hit two of those four homers in a game where he went 3-for-3 with three RBI’s and four runs scored. Michael Brenly also had a very nice night going 3-for-4 with a homer, a double, three runs scored, and two RBI’s. Jae-Hoon Ha had two hits including his third homer of the season, he also had three RBI’s. Logan Watkins, Justin Bour, and James Adduci all had two hits and Watkins added two RBI’s as well. Nicholas Struck got his ninth win of the season. He gave allowed four runs, only one of which was earned in six innings. Frank Batista pitched two innings striking out two batters in route to his 12th save of the season.
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In their first game with Anthony Rizzo in Chicago Iowa lost 3-1. Frankie De La Cruz got the loss as he gave up three runs in five innings of work. Ryan Rowland-Smith and Michael Bowden pitched well out of the bullpen on Tuesday. Offensively there wasn’t much happening for Iowa. Juan Apodaca went 2-for-4 with two doubles raising his average to .330. Brett Jackson and Josh Vitters each added a hit and Blake Lalli had the only Cubs RBI on the day.
Thanks for Reading,
Mark
6/21: Around the Cubs Minor League System
Still not a full slate of Minor League action because of all-star breaks, here is a recap from last night, June 20th.

The home opener for Boise didn’t go as planned as the Eugene Emeralds spoiled the fun with a late rally to beat the Hawks 7-4. The Boise pitching, especially out of the bullpen as been ugly, last night was no different. Jose Arias made his second start of the season as was good again going three innings giving up two runs, one earned on six hits while walking none and striking out one. Amaury Paulino and Pete Levitt really struggled out of the pen, giving up a combined five runs on ten hits. Boise had one of it’s better offensive games of the early season, pounding out ten hits but only scoring four runs. Shawon Dunston Jr. was 2-for-4 at the plate with a double. Jeimer Candelario continued his strong start to the season going 2-for-4 with his first home run of the season, two RBI’s and two runs scored.
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From the looks of the line score the D-Cubs probably should have been blown out, but that’s not what happened as D-Cubs pitchers pitched in and out of trouble en route to a 3-2 victory over Tampa. P.J. Francescon was terrific again for the D-Cubs. PJ went six strong innings giving up two runs, one earned on nine hits while walking two and striking out five. Both runs were given up in the first inning, PJ settled down after that. Brian Schlitter and A.J. Morris shut to door the rest of the way for the D-Cubs. Daytona only managed four hits, but made them count. Arismendy Alcantara hasn’t slowed down all year, he was 2-for-4 at the plate with a run scored, he is now hitting .299 on the season. The hero was Rubi Silva, not only did Rubi hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth he also threw out Tampa’s Kyle Roller at the plate.
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Brooks Raley had his best outing of the year for the I-Cubs as he went seven excellent innings giving up one unearned run on two hits while walking one and striking out seven. The outcome was very much in doubt until the I-Cubs put up a three spot in the seventh to take a 4-1 lead and that is how it would end. Raley ended up getting his third win of the season and Rafael Dolis earned his second save for Iowa. It was the bottom of the order getting the job done for Iowa as Ty Wright was 1-for-3 with a walk, and his 5th home run of the season. Blake Lalli had the big hit for the I-Cubs, a two run single in the seventh inning, Lalli finished 2-for-4 with two RBI’s. Anthony Rizzo finished 0-for-3 in what might be one of his last games at Iowa, stay tuned.
Thanks for reading,
- George











































