Chicago Cubs Minor League Report: Matt Shaw Continues Torrid Stretch

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Image courtesy of Cody Scanlan/The Register

Cubs Affiliate Overview (May 15–16)

• Triple-A Iowa Cubs
Series vs. St. Paul Saints (Minnesota Twins): Cubs lead 4–1
Season Record: 23–17

• Double-A Tennessee Smokies
Series vs. Columbus Clingstones (Atlanta Braves): Clingstones lead 3–1
Season Record: 17–18

• High-A South Bend Cubs
Series at Lansing Lugnuts (Athletics): Lugnuts lead 3–1
Season Record: 10–27

• Single-A Myrtle Beach Pelicans
Series at Lynchburg Hillcats (Cleveland Guardians): Hillcats lead 3–1
Season Record: 14–22

Triple-A: Iowa Cubs
Season Record: 23–17
Series Opponent: St. Paul Saints (21–19)
Series Standing: Lead 4–1

May 15: The I-Cubs swept a doubleheader over St. Paul, winning the opener 8-2, and taking the second game, 8-7.

Game 1: James Triantos’ three-run double in the first highlighted his 2-for-3, four-RBI day, and would give Iowa the lead for good in the ballgame. Carlos Pérez had a monster game, going 3-for-4 with two runs, two doubles, a home run and two RBI. Connor Noland dominated on the mound, turning in his third quality of the campaign, allowing two runs over 6 innings of work, striking out a season-high eight batters.

Game 2: Matt Shaw (2-for-4) continued his absolutely torrid stretch at the dish, leading off the game with a solo shot and delivered a two-run walk-off homer in the eighth. The feat hasn’t been performed at the Major League level since 2010 and has only been accomplished five times since 1957. Jonathan Long (3-for-4), James Triantos (2-for-4) and Chase Strumpf (2-for-2) also tallied multi-hit efforts as Iowa rallied for four runs in the seventh to force extras, thanks to Carlos Pérez’s pinch-hit solo shot, his second-consecutive game with a homer.

May 16: Iowa won its fourth-straight thanks to another monster game from Matt Shaw. Shaw, who homered twice on Thursday, crushed two more home runs against St. Paul, going 3-for-5 overall with three runs scored, three RBI and a walk. Per I-Cubs media relations, Shaw is the first Cub to homer twice in consecutive ballgames since Kyle Schwarber in 2017. Owen Caissie, Jonathan Long, Chase Strumpf and Dixon Machado also had three-hit performances as Iowa amassed 18 hits on the night.

Double-A: Knoxville Smokies
Season Record: 17–18
Series Opponent: Columbus Clingstones (16–19)
Series Standing: Trail 1–3

May 15: Knoxville could only muster one run on six hits, dropping its third-straight game to Columbus. Ethan Hearn (2-for-3) was the lone Smokies batter to have multiple hits in the ballgame. Jaxon Wiggins allowed one run over 4 innings of work in his start, striking out four.

May 16: The Smokies got on the board in their series with the Clingstones, coming away victorious, 4-3, in walk-off fashion on a sac bunt from Casey Opitz. BJ Murray Jr. went 3-for-4 at the dish with two runs and a double. Grant Kipp got the start on the bump, allowing three runs on four hits over 5 innings of work, tallying seven strikeouts.

High-A: South Bend Cubs
Season Record: 10–27
Series Opponent: Lansing Lugnuts (21–15)
Series Standing: Trail 0–3

May 15: South Bend’s losing skid hit four games after dropping Thursday’s contest, 6-2. The Cubs fell behind 6-0 before Edgar Alvarez (2-for-4) tallied an RBI-single in the sixth and Drew Bowser (2-for-4) launched a solo shot in the seventh.

May 16: The Cubs snapped a four-game losing skid with a 12-8 win in extra innings, thanks to a six-run outburst in the 10th. Reginald Preciado led the way, going 3-for-5 with three runs and three doubles. Rafael Morel notched his first multi-HR game of the season and also drove in a season-high four runs.

Single-A: Myrtle Beach Pelicans
Season Record: 14–22
Series Opponent: Lynchburg Hillcats (23–14)
Series Standing: Trail 1–3

May 15: Myrtle Beach late a late lead slip, conceding three runs in the eighth, and fell to Lynchburg 4-3. Alexey Lumpuy went 3-for-3 with a run, double, home run and three RBI. Yahil Melendez also put together a multi-hit effort, going 2-for-4 with two runs and a double. Yoendris Gonzalez turned in 3 innings of scoreless ball in relief, retiring all nine batters he faced,striking out two.

May 16: The Pelicans jumped out to a 2-0 lead to start the game but 10-straight runs from the Hillcats handed them their third-straight defeat. Cameron Sisneros (2-for-4), Christian Olivo (2-for-3) and Anderson Suriel (2-for-4) all tallied multi-hit efforts in the loss. Nazier Mulé struggled for the second-straight start, allowing six runs over 2 innings of work. After allowing just five earned runs over his first 20 innings (4 GS), Mulé has now yielded 13 earned runs in his last 5 innings. (2 GS).

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