Results tagged ‘ Brett Jackson ’
Minor Matters – April 11, 2013 (Cubs Minor League Recaps)
At The Plate – The I-Cubs were shut down tonight as they could only manage three hits in the 2-0 loss. Brett Jackson was 1-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base. Ryan Sweeney (1-for-4), and Ty Wright (1-for-3) were the only Cubs to get hits. The Cubs did walk three times, but struck out nine times and were 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position.
On The Mound – Brooks Raley was outstanding, unfortunately the result was his second loss of the season. Raley went seven strong innings giving up two runs on eight hits, he didn’t walk anyone and struck out seven. Jensen Lewis tossed a scoreless frame out of the bullpen surrendering only one hit.
At The Plate - Not much offense at all for the Smokies as they could only manage three runs on five hits, and only had two runners in scoring position all night. Arismendy Alcantara was 1-for-3 with a walk, a stolen base, and a run scored. Christian Villanueva was 1-for-4 with a double, and RBI, and a run scored. Jair Fernandez was 2-for-4 with an RBI, both hits were singles.
On The Mound – Alberto Cabrera got the start for the Smokies and got touched up a bit. He worked six innings giving up four runs on eight hits while walking two and striking out five and was hung with the loss. Marcus Hatley struggled out of the pen as he went two innings giving up two run on three hits while walking one and striking out three. Brian Schlitter worked a scoreless inning giving up one hit and striking out one.
At The Plate – The D-Cubs were able to pound out nine hits in this one, unfortunately they could only push across two runs and were 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position. Taiwan Easterling continued his hot start going 2-for-4 with a double, he’s now hitting .333 on the season. Stephen Bruno is also on fire, he went 2-for-4 as well with a double, a stolen base, and a run scored, he’s hitting .370 on the season. Dustin Geiger has been on fire the last three games, he went 2-for-4 tonight with a double and an RBI.
On The Mound – Not a lot of good for the D-Cubs tonight, but they only used two pitchers. Starling Peralta got the start and got knocked around, but he didn’t walk anyone, so there’s that. Peralta went six innings giving up six runs on eight hits with seven strike outs, he did however give up four home runs, ouch. Yeiper Castillo followed Peralta and had the same success, or lack thereof. Castillo worked three innings giving up six runs on seven hits while walking one and striking out one.
NOTES: Kane County was rained out, and Jorge Soler served game one of his five game suspension tonight.
Thanks for reading,
- George
Minor Matters – April 9, 2013
At The Plate – The Iowa Cubs are scuffling, with the latest loss they fall to 0-6 on the season. Brett Jackson had a solid game going 2-for-4 with a triple, and a run scored, he’s now hitting .280 on the season. Darnell McDonald was 1-for-3 with a walk, a home run, an RBI, and a run scored. Ty Wright was 2-for-4 with two singles in the loss.
On The Mound – Chris Rusin was roughed up early then settled in but couldn’t escape the loss. Rusin went six innings giving up four runs on seven hits while walking four and striking out two. Zach Putnam and Rafael Dolis both tossed scoreless innings out of the bullpen in the loss.
At The Plate – The D-Cubs spent the whole night fighting back, but in the end couldn’t catch the Threshers. Zeke DeVoss showed some power from the lead-off spot going 1-for-5 with a home run, an RBI, and a run scored. Javier Baez was 1-for-5 with a triple, and a run scored. Jorge Soler continues his torrid start to the season going 2-for-4 with a walk, and an RBI. The D-Cubs made four errors, that most definitely cost them in this one.
On The Mound – Zach Cates made the start and as I just mentioned didn’t get much help from the guys behind him. Cates went 3.2 innings giving up three runs, one earned, on six hits while walking none and striking out seven. Eduardo Figueroa went 2.2 innings out of the pen giving up two runs on one hits while walking two and striking out three. Sheldon McDonald was solid going 2.2 innings giving up no runs on two hits while walking two and striking out one.
At The Plate – The Cougars smacked the ball all over the place in this one as six different guys had multi-hit games. Daniel Vogelbach was 3-for-5 bring his season average up to .310, all three hits were singles. Rock Shoulders might be the hottest hitter in the Cubs system, he went 2-for-3 with a walk, a home run, an RBI, and two runs scored, he’s hitting .480 (12-for-25) on the season. Gioskar Amaya, Jeimer Candelario, Marco Hernandez, and Bijan Rademacher all had two hits.
On The Mound – Pierce Johnson had a rough start to this one as he gave up two runs in the first as he struggled with command, but he found it quickly. Johnson went five innings giving up two runs on six hits while walking two and striking out four. Jeffry Antigua was solid out of the pen going three innings giving up one run on four hits while walking none and striking out one. Eduardo Orozco had some tough luck in blowing the save, but ended up getting the win. Orozco gave up two runs, both unearned on NO hits, and one walk in one inning.
Thanks for reading,
- George
Minor Matters – April 8, 2013
At The Plate – Things have not gone well for the Iowa Cubs, that is reflected in their now 0-5 record. Logan Watkins led off today as was great going 2-for-4 with a home run, a double, an RBI, and two runs scored, he’s now hitting .368 on the season. Brett Jackson had a solid game going 2-for-4 with a double, and two RBI’s. Newcomer Donnie Murphy went 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored in the loss.
On The Mound – Really rough go of it for the I-Cubs pitchers. Barret Loux got the start and was beat up giving up six runs on three hits while walking three walks and striking out two in only one inning of work. Jaye Chapman worked 2.2 innings giving up two runs on two hits while walking three without a strike out. Cory Wade got roughed up giving up five runs on eight hits while striking out one in three innings of work. Blake Parker worked 1.1 scoreless innings while walking one and striking out two.
At The Plate – Matt Szczur continued his solid work out of the lead-off spot going 2-for-3 with a run scored, and a stolen base. Arismendy Alcantara who was hitting in the two hole was 2-for-4, but also made two errors. The rest of the Smokies lineup could only manage one hit in the 2-1 loss.
On The Mound – Really solid effort from the Smokies pitchers in this one. Dae-Eun Rhee got the start and was decent, he struggled a bit with his command in 4.1 innings of work giving up one run on two hits while walking three and striking out one. Brian Schlitter was the tough luck loser in this one, he worked 1.2 innings giving up one run, unearned, on two hits while walking one. Zach Rosscup and Trey McNutt each worked a scoreless inning to keep things close.
At The Plate – Finally a win for the Cougars, they did plenty offensively but had to work overtime after a blown save, more on that in a bit. Gioskar Amaya broke out today after a slow start to the season, he was 3-for-5 with a triple, a stolen base, and a run scored. Chadd Krist was 3-for-5 with two doubles, ans two runs scored. Bijan Rademacher did most of the damage today going 3-for-5 with three RBI’s. Rock Shoulders stayed red hot at the plate going 2-for-5 with a run scored, he’s now hitting .455 on the season.
On The Mound – Lendy Castillo who is transitioning to a starting role was fantastic in his 2013 debut. Castillo went five strong innings giving up one run on three hits while walking two and striking out four, unfortunately he had a win snatched from him. Brian Smith was solid out of the pen going two scoreless innings giving up one hit while walking one and striking out one. Justin Amlung blew the save but also got the win, he worked three innings giving up four runs on four hits while walking one and striking out three.
Thanks for reading,
- George
Minor Matters – April 7, 2013
At The Plate – Not a whole lot going on for the Iowa Cubs in their fourth straight loss to start the season. They could only manage three runs on four hits as they were swept by the Isotopes. Ryan Sweeney had his second straight solid game going 2-for-3 with a home run, a walk, and RBI, and a run scored. Brett Jackson was 1-for-4 with a runs scored, the I-Cubs were o-for-5 with runners in scoring position.
On The Mound – 2012 minor league pitcher of the year Nick Struck got the start, and also the loss in this one. Struck went five innings giving up four runs on eight hits while walking none and striking out one. Casey Coleman worked two innings giving up two runs on three hits while walking two and striking out two. Jensen Lewis also gave up a run in an inning of work on two hits.
At The Plate – The Smokies staged a late comeback that came up one run short. Matt Szczur was 1-for-4 from the lead-off spot with a walk, a stolen base, and a run scored, he’s now hitting .368 on the season. Justin Bour was 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, an RBI, and a run scored. Jae-Hoon Ha was 1-for-4 with a walk, a stolen base, an RBI, and a run scored, he is now hitting .389 on the season.
On The Mound - Kyle Hendricks got the start, and had a rough go of it. Hendrick went five innings giving up five runs on eight hits while walking two and striking out five, he took the loss. Tony Zych (1.2 innings) and A.J. Morris (1.1 innings) each had scoreless appearances out of the bullpen.
At The Plate – The D-Cubs are finding a grove right now, they are winning convincingly, and now have won three straight. It was the Jorge Soler show again as he went 2-for-4 with a walk, a home run, two RBI’s, and two runs scored, he is now hitting .438 on the season. Stephen Bruno continued his hot start to the season going 2-for-4 with a walk, an RBI, and two runs scored, he’s hitting .385 on the season. John Andreoli tops them all however as he went 2-for-3 with two walks, a triple, an RBI, and two runs scored, he’s hitting a robust .467 on the season.
On The Mound – P.J. Francescon was outstanding this afternoon, he went five scoreless innings, he gave up only one hit while walking one and striking out six. Yeiper Castillo (2.0 innings), Luis Liria (1.0 inning), and Austin Reed (1.0 inning) all had scoreless appearances to close this one out.
At The Plate - Pitchers duel in this one, only thirteen combined hits in thirteen innings as Kane County dropped their fourth straight. Oliver Zapata had another solid game going 2-for-5 with a walk and a caught stealing, he’s now hitting .357 on the season. Rock Shoulders continues his torrid start going 2-for-3, he’s now hitting .471 on the season. Willson Contreras was 1-for-3 with a walk, and an RBI in the loss.
On The Mound – Michael Heesch was outstanding this afternoon, he went 6.1 innings giving up one run on one hit while walking two and striking out five. Felix Pena was just as solid out of the pen going 5.2 scoreless innings giving up three hits while walking one and striking out five. Eduardo Orozco got the loss as he gave up two runs in his inning of work on two hits while walking one.
Thanks for reading,
- George
Cubs Struggle to Find Runs In Castro’s Return
The Cubs lost to the Rockies 2-0 yesterday, that’s alright, because the bigger news was that Starlin Castro returned to the lineup and looked no worse for wear.
At the plate:
Darwin Barney had a solid day going 2-for-3, Brett Jackson, Steve Clevenger, and Starlin Castro were all 1-for-1, and Scott Hariston tallied the only other hit for the Cubs. They only managed six all day, and all of them were singles.
On the mound:
Edwin Jackson was stellar, going five innings giving up one run on three hits while walking one and striking out two. Kyuji Fujikawa had a rare sub par outing as he struggled with command giving up one run in one inning of work on one hit, while walking two and striking out two. Cory Wade, Carlos Marmol, and Jensen Lewis all tossed scoreless, uneventful innings in the loss.
Spring Record: (7-11)
Up Next:
Cubs face the Dodgers, and Chris Rusin gets the ball, Rusin has been pretty darn good so far this Spring, and is slated to join the Iowa rotation this year.
Thanks for reading,
- George
Late Cubs Rally Falls Short
Every time the Cubs fought back in this one the Giants would tack on a couple of insurance runs to keep the Cubs at bay, the Cubs final push came in the ninth inning as they scored twice, but ran 
out of outs as they fell to the Giants 9-7. Carlos Villanueva made his second appearance of the Spring, and had a much better performance. Villanueva was able to make it through three innings, giving up one run on four hits while walking one, and striking out two. It was nice to see Villanueva find the strike zone repeatedly in this one, I’ll take giving up hits over walks any day, and he was able to work around the hits for the most part. Barret Loux came on in relief and didn’t have it today, he tossed two innings, giving up four runs, all earned on three hits while walking one and striking out one, Loux was hung with the loss. Jaye Chapman also struggled today as he surrendered two runs on two hits in his inning of work. After having a rough Spring debut, Robert Whitenack bounced back nicely today as he pitched a scoreless inning, walking one and striking out one.
The Cubs were once again productive at the plate as they scored seven runs while pounding out ten hits. Brian Bogusevic got the start in right field today and was stellar at the plate going 2-for-2 with a triple, a walk, and two runs scored. Dioner Navarro only had one hit but he had a productive day, he ended the day 1-for-3 with a walk, and two RBI’s. Steve Clevenger got the start at first base today, yes first base, and he did his best Anthony Rizzo impersonation going 2-for-3 with two RBI’s, Clevenger is having a solid Spring at the plate, hitting .500 (4-for-8) in the early going. Brett Jackson didn’t start, but had an eventful day nonetheless going 1-for-1 with a double, and a stolen base. Jackson is having a resurgent Spring, and a lot of that can be contributed to a new swing, and new-found confidence, he his slated to start 2013 in Iowa, but is doing everything he can to make that decision anything but a given, he’s hitting .375 (3-for-8) with two triples, and a double this Spring.
Thanks for reading,
- George
Cubs Throttle Angels Behind Hot Hitting, Solid Pitching
Things didn’t exactly get going the right way for the Cubs and eventual winning pitcher Travis Wood. Wood walked the first batter he faced today, on four straight pitches, then threw 11 consecutive strikes to close out a solid two inning outing. He didn’t get out of the game unscathed as the lead-off walk he issued scored for the Angels which was part of a two run first inning. The Cubs quickly erased that deficit thanks to some clutch hitting in the third inning. 
After Luis Valbuena brought the Cubs to within one run in the second inning with a solo home run, the Cubs exploded for five runs in the third, all with two outs. The highlight of the inning had to be Brett Jackson‘s two run triple, his second triple of the game, he finished the day going 2-for-2 with two triples, two RBI’s and a run scored, guess that new swing is working out okay so far, it’s early, I know. Jorge Soler, and Anthony Rizzo had solid spring debut’s as they each registered a double in three plate appearances, Soler’s double brought in a run for his first RBI of the Spring season. Junior Lake also wowed the capacity crowd with a long solo home run, his only hit of the day in three plate appearances. Back to the pitching, it was outstanding, sure it wasn’t against the vaunted Angels every day lineup, but it was still an excellent performance for so early in the Spring. After Travis Wood, six Cubs pitchers joined the fun to close out the game, they tossed seven innings allowing four hits, one walk and no strikeouts.
Thanks for reading,
- George
Cubs Cactus League Opener; Lineup/Preview
It’s finally here, baseball counts again, well for Spring Training records anyway, the Cubs get their Cactus League schedule underway today at 2PM CST against the Angels of Anaheim, Los Angeles, West Coast, California. Here is how the Cubs will lineup with Travis Wood getting the start, a first step towards making his case to crack the Cubs starting five. The game is available on WGN Radio, and also on MLB.com, so tune in and enjoy. Other things to look for today, or I guess listen for, would be Brett Jackson’s new swing, and Anthony Rizzo’s first spring HR, because it will happen today.
Today’s lineup (for the first time through at least)
1. Logan Watkins, 2B
2. Dave Sappelt, CF
3. Anthony Rizzo, 1B
4. Scott Hairston, RF
5. Luis Valbuena, 3B
6. Welington Castillo, C
7. Brett Jackson, LF
8. Brent Lillibridge, SS
9. Darnell McDonald, DH
Thanks for reading, go Cubs!
- George
BREAKING: Cubs Pull Deal Off The Table
Remember when Carlos Marmol was flat-out awful? You should, it was this past season, that same Carlos Marmol was just traded to the Angels for three-time All-Star starting pitcher Dan Haren. THAT is why it was so important to the Cubs for Marmol to succeed, and why Dale Sveum had to keep running him out there. Today justifies all of that, Carlos Marmol was lights out in the second half, all of those factors led to the Cubs being able to acquire a top of the rotation pitcher. Haren will be the Cubs property next year, at 32 years old there is a good chance that he can become part of the rotation when the Cubs are contending, that probably won’t be next year. So the Cubs would have to sign Haren to an extension if they want his services after 2013, if the Cubs don’t sign Haren, and are not contending, they now own a huge piece to trade at next years deadline. Ton’s of possibilities here, and really a stellar deal for Theo and the Cubs, of course this all hinges on Haren staying healthy, which he didn’t do last year. I will update as necessary, great news on November 2, this bodes well…
[UPDATE] Gordon Wittenmeyer has confirmed via a source that the deal is official, Paul Sullivan reporting deal done as well. We’ll see if pieces are added.
[THOUGHT] I suspect that once this deal is announced officially by both teams that more players would be heading to the Angels from the Cubs, Josh Vitters and Brett Jackson could be headed to Anaheim, that’s just a guess. not both, but one or the other..
[UPDATE 2] As expected, because this involves the Cubs, there are reports now that the deal that so many legit sources confirmed might not exactly be 100% done yet… did someone say Dempster again!? Stay tuned.
[UPDATE 3] Carrie Muskat and Paul Sullivan are saying that the rumored trade that would send Marmol to the Angels for Dan Haren is “off for now”
[UPDATE 4] Per multiple sources, the REPORTED deal of Haren for Marmol has been pulled off the table by the CUBS, and this is after Marmol said yes to go to the Angels, you can’t make this up, it’s the Cubs!
- George
Cubs Swept as Ninth Inning Rally Falls Short
The Cubs seem to spring to life in the ninth inning today, unfortunately poor at bats from Starlin Castro and Josh Vitters brought a would be rally to a grinding halt. Trailing 7-3 heading into the ninth inning the Cubs strung together four straight hits which resulted in two quick runs but that’s as far as it would get. With runners at second and third, trailing by two with 
nobody out, Castro and Vitters both struck out and looked bad in doing so, and the Cubs inched closer to the 100 loss mark. Chris Volstad was Chris Volstad bad today as he could only last for three innings giving up seven runs on ten hits while walking none and striking out none, with the loss he falls to 3-11 on the season. The Cubs were actually uncharacteristically clutch, I mean not counting the ninth inning. The Cubs pounded out 13 hits, and were 5-for-12 with runners in scoring position, but still managed to leave 11 guys on base. Anthony Rizzo snapped out of a mini funk by going 3-for-3 with his 15th home run of the season, two RBI’s, two walks, and a run scored. Alfonso Soriano added to his career high RBI total in this one as well, registering an RBI double in the ninth inning to give him 106 for the season. The Cubs now head to Arizona where they will meet the Diamondbacks and possibly 100 losses.
Game Highlights:
Full Video Recap
Soriano’s RBI Double
Rizzo’s RBI Single
LaHair’s RBI Single
Rizzo Goes Deep
Jackson’s RBI Single
Thanks for reading,
- George
