Chicago Cubs Minor League Report: I-Cubs Claim Series Win with 16-Hit Outburst, Coppola Picks Up First-Career High-A Win

Chicago Cubs Minor League Report

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Triple-A Iowa Cubs
Series at Memphis Redbirds (St. Louis Cardinals): Cubs win, 2-1
Season Record: 41–52-1

Double-A Knoxville Smokies
Series at Montgomery Biscuits (Tampa Bay Rays): Biscuits win, 3-0
Season Record: 49–41

High-A South Bend Cubs
Series vs. Peoria Chiefs (St. Louis Cardinals): Cubs win, 2-1
Season Record: 51–35

Single-A Myrtle Beach Pelicans
Series at Kannapolis Cannon Ballers (Chicago White Sox): Lose, 3-0
Season Record: 36–52

Triple-A: Iowa Cubs

Season Record: 41–52-1
Series Opponent: Memphis Redbirds (55-41)
Series Standing: Win, 2-1

July 19: The Iowa Cubs claimed a series victory on the road with a dominant 13-4 victory over the Memphis Redbirds on Sunday at AutoZone Park. The Redbirds plated a run in their first trip to the plate but the Cubs would take the lead for good in the ballgame with four runs in the third. Jonathan Long (4-for-6) launched a solo shot, his 11th of the season, and Owen Ayers (1-for-4) drove in a pair with a two-run single. James Triantos (3-for-5) then capped the frame with an RBI-double. Owen Miller (2-for-4) broke the game open with a three-run shot in the fifth to make it 7-1 before the Redbirds grabbed one run back in the bottom of the inning. Iowa put the contest out of reach with three more in the fifth to make it 10-2, with Long doubling in a run and Moisés Ballesteros (2-for-5) bringing in two with a single. The hosts would score two more in the eighth but the I-Cubs put three more on the board in the ninth, making it 13-4, thanks to an RBI-triple from Ben Cowles (2-for-5) and a two-run homer from Brett Bateman (2-for-5). Will Sanders got the start on the mound for Iowa and picked up the win, improving to 6-1 on the season. Sanders allowed two runs, one earned, on two hits over five innings of work, walking one and striking out two. Offensively, Iowa tallied 16 hits on the day, with seven of the nine starters recording at least one hit and one RBI. Six of those batters also recorded multi-hit efforts.

Double-A: Knoxville Smokies

Season Record: 49–41
Series Opponent: Montgomery Biscuits (44–45)
Series Standing: Lose, 3-0

July 19: The Knoxville Smokies were swept by the Montgomery Biscuits following a 10-2 defeat on Sunday at DABOS Park. The Smokies were outscored 17-4 during the three-game set. The Biscuits jumped out to a 4-0 lead after the first and held that lead throughout the ballgame. Knoxville got on the board in the fifth when Ethan Hearn (1-for-4) singled in a run but Montgomery would score three times in the home half of the inning and two more in the sixth to make it 9-1. Hearn grounded out in the seventh, bringing in another run for the Smokies, but the Biscuits grabbed that run right back after the stretch to make it 10-2. Kevin Valdez got the start on the mound for Knoxville, making his Double-A debut, and took the loss, falling to 0-1 on the season. Valdez allowed four runs on nine hits over 3 1/3 innings of work, striking out two batters without issuing a walk.

High-A: South Bend Cubs

Season Record: 51–35
Series Opponent: Peoria Chiefs (41–48)
Series Standing: Win, 2-1

July 19: The South Bend Cubs blanked the Peoria Chiefs on Sunday, 7-0, to earn a series victory at Four Winds Field. Both teams were held scoreless through four innings until the Cubs broke the deadlock with five runs in the fifth. Kane Kepley (1-for-2) opened the scoring with a bunt single with the bases loaded and a Josiah Hartshorn (0-for-4) fielder’s choice resulted in three runs scoring, thanks to an error also occurring on the play. Jose Escobar (3-for-4) capped the scoring in the frame on an RBI-single. Angel Cepeda (1-for-3) launched a solo shot in the sixth, his second of the season, and Escobar brought home another run with a single in the seventh to make it 7-0. Kohl Franklin got the start on the mound for South Bend and took no decision. Franklin allowed just two hits over 4 1/3 innings of work, walked one batter and struck out four. After Eli Jerzembeck worked 2/3 scoreless frames, Pierce Coppola picked up his first-career High-A victory by firing three shutout innings, yielding two hits to go along with two walks and two strikeouts.

Single-A: Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Season Record: 36–52
Series Opponent: Kannapolis Cannon Ballers (47–43)
Series Standing: Lose, 3-0

July 19: The Myrtle Beach Pelicans were swept by the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers after dropping Sunday’s series finale, 10-2, at Atrium Health Ballpark. The Cannon Ballers scored twice in both the first and second innings to take a 4-0 lead before Alexis Hernandez (1-for-4) got the Pelicans on the board with an RBI-groundout. Kannapolis got that run back in the bottom of the inning before Derniche Valdez (2-for-4) plated Myrtle Beach’s final run of the ballgame with a single in the sixth. The Cannon Ballers again prevented a shutdown frame with a run in the sixth and added three more in the seventh and one more in the eighth to ease to the 10-2 win. Noah Edders got the start on the mound for the Pelicans and was handed the loss, falling to 0-4 on the season. Edders allowed four runs on six hits over three innings of work to go along with two walks and three strikeouts.

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