Chicago Cubs Farm System Recap: Taillon Leads Iowa, Cespedes Lifts Pelicans

Chicago Cubs Transactions

• Chicago Cubs designated RHP Jake Woodford for assignment.
• Chicago Cubs activated RHP Phil Maton from the 15-day injured list.

Taillon Tosses Scoreless Outing As Iowa Cubs Beat Saints, 8-2

Jameson Taillon allowed one hit and one walk over 4 2/3 scoreless innings, striking out three, and the Iowa Cubs beat the St. Paul Saints, 8-2.

Iowa scored in each of the first four innings. In the first, Moisés Ballesteros singled, Owen Miller doubled, and Chas McCormick singled them both home for a 2-0 lead. In the second, Brett Bateman tripled home James Triantos and Scott Kingery. Kingery added an RBI single in the third to score McCormick, and in the fourth, Bateman singled, moved to third on a double by Miller, and scored on a wild pitch to make it 6-0.

The Saints scored twice in the seventh against Ty Blach on an RBI single and a run-scoring groundout. Iowa answered in the eighth when Ben Cowles hit a two-run home run, his fifth of the season, scoring Triantos Miller finished 3-for-4 with two doubles, Bateman went 2-for-4 with a triple, two RBI, and a walk, and Triantos went 1-for-2 with two walks and two runs scored.

Blach allowed two runs over 2 1/3 innings, Jayden Murray struck out two in a scoreless inning, and Liam Hendriks struck out one in a scoreless inning to close it out.

Beck Strikes Out Nine, But Smokies Fall To Shuckers, 3-1

Jace Beck struck out nine over five innings, allowing one run on three hits and a walk, but the Knoxville Smokies lost to the Biloxi Shuckers, 3-1. Knoxville took the lead in the third. With two outs, Drew Bowser singled, and Jefferson Rojas doubled him home, his 13th double of the season, for a 1-0 advantage. Biloxi answered in the fourth with a solo home run off Beck to tie the game.

The game stayed tied until the eighth, when Biloxi scored twice against Tyler Schlaffer. A sacrifice fly put the Shuckers ahead 2-1, and an RBI single made it 3-1, with the batter thrown out at second base on the play. Schlaffer allowed two runs on one hit and one walk over three innings, striking out three. Tyler Ras struck out one in a scoreless inning.

The Smokies managed just five hits and went quiet after the third inning. Bowser finished 2-for-3 with a run scored, Alex Madera went 2-for-4, and Rojas went 1-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Knoxville drew three walks, from Owen Ayers, Carter Trice, and Ariel Armas, but stranded six runners on base in the loss.

Cubs' Seventh-Inning Lead Slips Away In 11-7 Loss To Kernels

The South Bend Cubs fought back from a 5-0 deficit to take the lead in the seventh, but the Cedar Rapids Kernels answered with a six-run inning of their own, and South Bend lost, 11-7.

Starter Alfredo Romero allowed four runs on six hits over 4 2/3 innings, walking one and striking out four. Cedar Rapids scored twice in the fourth and three more in the fifth, the last run charged to Nate Williams, to build a 5-0 lead.

South Bend rallied in the sixth. Jose Escobar doubled home Kane Kepley, and Angel Cepeda followed with a two-run home run, his first of the season, to cut it to 5-3. The Cubs took the lead in the seventh. Michael Hallquist doubled, Christian Olivo singled, and Kepley walked. Escobar's sacrifice fly scored Hallquist, Olivo stole home to tie the game, and Matt Halbach singled home Kepley for a 6-5 lead.

The lead did not last. Ben Johnson recorded just one out in the bottom of the seventh and was charged with five runs, including a two-run double and a three-run home run. Grayson Moore allowed an unearned run over 1 2/3 innings.

Olivo finished 3-for-4 with a double, a walk, and an RBI single in the eighth, Hallquist went 2-for-4 with a double and a triple, and Escobar drove in two runs.

Cespedes' Three-Run Homer In Eighth Lifts Pelicans Past Nationals, 8-7

Ivan Cespedes hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the eighth, his second of the season, and the Myrtle Beach Pelicans came back to beat the Fredericksburg Nationals, 8-7.

Starter Noah Edders struck out seven over 4 1/3 innings, allowing three runs, two earned, on two hits and three walks. Fredericksburg took a 1-0 lead in the second when a runner scored on a throwing error during a double steal, but Geuri Lubo answered with an RBI double in the bottom half, scoring Jose Silva.

Myrtle Beach broke out in the third. Alexis Hernandez led off with a home run, his second of the season,

Derniche Valdez tripled home Alexey Lumpuy, and Silva singled home Valdez for a 4-1 lead. Valdez added a sacrifice fly in the fourth to make it 5-1.

The Nationals chipped away with two runs in the fifth, a solo home run in the sixth, and three runs in the seventh, including a two-run homer off Jhon Rosario, to take a 7-5 lead.

In the eighth, Silva and Jairo Diaz walked, and Cespedes homered to left center to put the Pelicans ahead, 8-7. Edwardo Melendez struck out three over two scoreless innings to finish the game. Hernandez went 2-for-4 with a walk, and Valdez went 2-for-4 with a triple and two RBI.

Top-20 Prospect Performance

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

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