Chicago Cubs Minor League Recap: Ariel Armas Drives In Four As Smokies Roll

[Travis Klosinski]

Chicago Cubs Transactions

• Chicago Cubs activated RHP Clay Holmes from the 60-day injured list.
• Chicago Cubs optioned LHP Braxton Garrett to Iowa Cubs.

Triple-A Iowa Cubs: Kevin Alcántara Homers In Iowa's 16-3 Loss At Indianapolis

Iowa took the lead first. Justin Dean walked to open the game, moved up on a single by Owen Ayers and a walk to Kevin Alcántara, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Chas McCormick. Indianapolis erased that in the second, batting around and scoring nine runs on a two-run double by Jack Brannigan, RBI singles by Joshua Palacios, Cameron Barstad, and Mitch Jebb, an RBI double by Billy Cook, and a two-run single by Dominic Fletcher. Two Iowa throwing errors extended the inning.

Alcántara answered with a solo home run in the third, his 18th of the season, and finished 1-for-2 with two walks and a run driven in.

Hayden Cantrelle tripled home a run in the fourth and went 1-for-4. Owen Ayers had one of Iowa's four hits, going 1-for-5, and Owen Miller went 1-for-4. Iowa drew six walks and was hit twice, but struck out nine times and stranded 14 runners.

Will Sanders started and took the loss, allowing five hits, seven runs, seven earned, with three walks and one strikeout over 1 2/3 innings. Collin Snider allowed two hits and two runs in 1/3 of an inning. Antoine Kelly walked two and allowed two runs, and Evan Taylor allowed one hit over 1 1/3 innings. Daniel Palencia struck out one and walked one over one inning. Grant Kipp allowed five hits and five runs across 2 1/3 innings, including a two-run home run to Barstad. Hayden Cantrelle finished the game with 2/3 of an inning. Iowa committed four errors, and three of Indianapolis' 16 runs were unearned.

Iowa Cubs Hitting

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K
Justin Dean	3	1	0	0	2	2
Owen Ayers	5	0	1	0	0	0
Kevin Alcántara	2	1	1	1	2	0
Owen Miller	4	0	1	0	0	1
Chas McCormick	1	0	0	1	1	1
Grant Kipp	1	0	0	0	0	1
Ben Cowles	3	0	0	0	1	1
Greg Jones	1	0	0	0	0	1
Ed Howard	2	1	0	0	0	0
Ethan Hearn	3	0	0	0	0	2
Hayden Cantrelle	4	0	1	1	0	0
Totals	29	3	4	3	6	9

Iowa Cubs Pitching

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR
Will Sanders	1 2/3	5	7	7	3	1	0
Collin Snider	1/3	2	2	1	1	0	0
Antoine Kelly	2/3	1	2	0	2	2	0
Evan Taylor	1 1/3	1	0	0	0	1	0
Daniel Palencia	1	0	0	0	1	1	0
Grant Kipp	2 1/3	5	5	5	3	3	1
Hayden Cantrelle	2/3	1	0	0	0	0	0
Totals	8	15	16	13	10	8	1

Double-A Knoxville Smokies: Ariel Armas Drives In Four As Knoxville Beats Chattanooga 9-4

Knoxville scored in seven of nine innings and collected 20 hits. Ariel Armas led the way, going 4-for-6 with a home run, a double, and four runs driven in. He homered in the second, doubled home a run in the third, singled home a run in the fourth, and singled home another in the sixth.

Kane Kepley went 2-for-4 with two walks and three runs driven in, including a two-run home run in the fourth and a run-scoring double in the seventh.

Alex Madera went 3-for-4 with a run driven in and two runs scored with some great defensive plays. Dom Krupinski went 3-for-5 with a double. Carter Trice went 2-for-6 with a double and two runs scored. Andy Garriola went 2-for-4 with two walks and a solo home run in the ninth, his 20th of the season. Drew Bowser added two hits.

Brooks Caple started and threw four scoreless innings, allowing no hits, walking two, and striking out seven. Jackson Brockett earned the win with three hits, three runs, three earned, three walks, and four strikeouts over three innings, with all three runs coming in the sixth on a bases-loaded walk to Carlos Sanchez and a two-run double by Ruben Ibarra. Tyler Ras closed with two innings, allowing one hit and one run on a solo home run by Carter Graham, with no walks and two strikeouts.

Knoxville Smokies Hitting

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K
Kane Kepley	4	1	2	3	2	0
Andy Garriola	4	2	2	1	2	0
Miguel Useche	5	0	1	0	1	0
Carter Trice	6	2	2	0	0	1
Dom Krupinski	5	1	3	0	1	2
Ariel Armas	6	1	4	4	0	0
Drew Bowser	5	0	2	0	0	2
Alex Madera	4	2	3	1	0	1
Karson Simas	4	0	1	0	0	2
Totals	43	9	20	9	6	8

Knoxville Smokies Pitching

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR
Brooks Caple	4	0	0	0	2	7	0
Jackson Brockett	3	3	3	3	3	4	0
Tyler Ras	2	1	1	1	0	2	1
Totals	9	4	4	4	5	13	1

High-A South Bend Cubs: South Bend Shut Out 7-0 By Cedar Rapids

South Bend managed four hits and two walks and never scored. Angel Cepeda went 1-for-4 as the leadoff man. Kade Snell went 1-for-4 with a double. Josiah Hartshorn went 1-for-4, and Michael Hallquist went 1-for-4. Michael Carico and Justin Stransky each drew a walk. The Cubs struck out eight times and did not put a runner across in any inning.

Pierce Coppola started and took the loss, allowing five hits, two runs, one earned, with one walk and four strikeouts over four innings. Cedar Rapids scratched a run across in the second on a run-scoring groundout by Byron Chourio, and Quinn McDaniel homered in the fourth.

Nate Williams allowed four hits and five earned runs over 3 1/3 innings with no walks and three strikeouts. Chourio hit a three-run home run off him in the sixth, and Jose Salas doubled home a run and Luis Hernandez added a sacrifice fly in the eighth. Yoendris Gonzalez finished with 1 2/3 innings, two hits, no runs, no walks, and three strikeouts.

South Bend Cubs Hitting

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K
Angel Cepeda	4	0	1	0	0	1
Kade Snell	4	0	1	0	0	1
Josiah Hartshorn	4	0	1	0	0	1
Jose Escobar	4	0	0	0	0	0
Alexey Lumpuy	4	0	0	0	0	2
Michael Hallquist	4	0	1	0	0	1
Michael Carico	2	0	0	0	1	1
Geuri Lubo	3	0	0	0	0	1
Justin Stransky	2	0	0	0	1	0
Totals	31	0	4	0	2	8

South Bend Cubs Pitching

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR
Pierce Coppola	4	5	2	1	1	4	1
Nate Williams	3 1/3	4	5	5	0	3	1
Yoendris Gonzalez	1 2/3	2	0	0	0	3	0
Totals	9	11	7	6	1	10	2

Single-A Myrtle Beach Pelicans: Myrtle Beach Falls 4-3 In 10 Innings At Hickory

Myrtle Beach struck out 17 times, took a one-run lead in the 10th, and lost on a walk-off. Alexey Lumpuy led off and went 2-for-4 with a home run, a walk, and two runs scored. His solo home run in the third, his seventh, put the Pelicans ahead 2-1. Alexis Hernandez went 1-for-3 with a hit by pitch and a run driven in. Ethan Conrad went 1-for-5,

Derik Alcantara went 1-for-4, and Edward Vargas went 1-for-4 with a run scored. Eli Lovich went 0-for-4 with a sacrifice fly that drove in the game's first run, and Fernando Cruz went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts.

In the 10th, Alexis Hernandez lifted a sacrifice fly that scored zombie runner Edward Vargas for a 3-2 lead. Hickory answered with a run-scoring double by Marco Argudin and a run-scoring groundout by Pablo Guerrero to end it with one out.

Noah Edders started and allowed four hits and one earned run over four innings, with no walks and four strikeouts. Emilio Ramos followed with three innings, four hits, one earned run, one walk, and five strikeouts, with the run coming on a solo home run by Yolfran Castillo. Edwardo Melendez took the loss, allowing two hits and two unearned runs over 2 1/3 innings with one walk and three strikeouts.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans Hitting

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K
Alexey Lumpuy	4	2	2	1	1	1
Alexis Hernandez	3	0	1	1	0	1
Ethan Conrad	5	0	1	0	0	1
Eli Lovich	4	0	0	1	0	3
Derniche Valdez	3	0	0	0	2	2
Derik Alcantara	4	0	1	0	0	2
Fernando Cruz	4	0	0	0	0	4
Jose Silva	3	0	0	0	1	1
Edward Vargas	4	1	1	0	0	2
Totals	34	3	6	3	4	17

Myrtle Beach Pelicans Pitching

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR
Noah Edders	4	4	1	1	0	4	0
Emilio Ramos	3	4	1	1	1	5	1
Edwardo Melendez	2 1/3	2	2	0	1	3	0
Totals	9 1/3	10	4	2	2	12	1

Top-20 Prospect Performance

1. Jefferson Rojas: DNP
2. Pedro Ramirez: DNP
3. Jaxon Wiggins: DNP
4. Josiah Hartshorn: 1-for-4, K
5. Kevin Alcantara: 1-for-2, HR, 2 BB, RBI
6. Ethan Conrad: 1-for-5, K
7. Kane Kepley: 2-for-4, HR, 2B, 2 BB, 3 RBI
8. Owen Ayers: 1-for-5
9. Jonathon Long: DNP
10. Kaleb Wing: DNP
11. James Triantos: DNP
12. Brooks Caple: 4 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 K
13. Mason McGwire: DNP
14. Ty Southisene: DNP
15. Will Sanders: 1 2/3 IP, 5 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 3 BB, 1 K
16. Juan Cabada: DNP
17. Eli Lovich: 0-for-4, RBI, 3 K
18. Ariel Armas: 4-for-6, HR, 2B, 4 RBI
19. Jostin Florentino: DNP
20. Grant Kipp: 2 1/3 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 0-for-1, K

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