Cubs Minor League Report: Jonathan Long, Kevin Alcántara Continue to Shine for Iowa Cubs

Cubs Affiliate Overview (May 29–30)

• Triple-A Iowa Cubs
Series vs. Syracuse Mets (New York Mets): Mets lead 3-1
Season Record: 28–24

• Double-A Tennessee Smokies
Series vs. Birmingham Barons (Chicago White Sox): Smokies lead 3–1
Season Record: 23-24

• High-A South Bend Cubs
Series at Quad Cities River Bandits (Kansas City Royals): River Bandits lead 3-1
Season Record: 13–36

• Single-A Myrtle Beach Pelicans
Series vs. Augusta GreenJackets (Atlanta Braves): Tied 2–2
Season Record: 18–28

Triple-A: Iowa Cubs
Season Record: 28–24
Series Opponent: Syracuse Mets (25–30)
Series Standing: Trail 1-3

May 29: The Iowa Cubs fell behind 11-0 after two innings and would eventually go on to lose, 12-3, to the Syracuse Mets. Greg Allen went 2-for-2 with an RBI and a walk and was the only Cub to notch multiple hits in the contest. Kevin Alcántara (1-for-3) drove in two runs in the ballgame. Brandon Hughes turned in 2 1/3 scoreless innings in relief, picking up one strikeout. Phil Bickford also posted a scoreless outing, working 2 innings while punching out three.

May 30: The I-Cubs snapped a three-game losing skid with an 8-5 victory over the Mets. Jonathan Long had another big night at the plate, going 3-for-4 with three runs scored, two home runs and two RBI, tallying his first multi-HR game this season. Kevin Alcántara also went yard, reaching the 30-RBI mark in the process. Nate Pearson spun 2 scoreless innings, picking up four strikeouts. Pearson has now worked 7 1/3-straight shutout frames, spanning five games, whiffing 11 batters.

Double-A: Knoxville Smokies
Season Record: 23–24
Series Opponent: Birmingham Barons (26–21)
Series Standing: Lead 3-1

May 29: The Knoxville Smokies split a doubleheader with the Birmingham Barons, winning the opener, 1-0, before falling in the nightcap, 2-0.

Game 1: BJ Murray Jr.’s (1-for-2) solo blast in the second was the only hit recorded in the ballgame by the Smokies but it was enough run support for Grant Kipp, who turned in 6 shutout innings, striking out three batters, earning his first quality start of the season. Mitchell Tyranski picked up his fourth save of the campaign by working a perfect seventh inning, striking out two batters.

Game 2: Making up a postponed game from April 6, Knoxville played as the “road” team and were limited to just three hits on the night. Sam Thorensen (1.1 IP, 2 SO), Robert Kwiatkowski (1.0 IP, 1 SO) and Zac Leigh (1.0 IP, 2 SO) combined for 3 1/3 scoreless innings out of the bullpen, yielding just one hit.

May 30: The Smokies stunned the Barons by scoring three runs with two outs in the ninth to come away with an 8-7 walk-off victory. Ethan Hearn’s (2-for-5) RBI-single was the final of three-straight RBI-singles from Knoxville, with BJ Murray Jr. (2-for-5) and Pablo Aliendo (1-for-4) also picking up the crucial knocks in the frame. Murray Jr. also slugged a two-run homer in the contest, his ninth of the season, Nolan Clenney allowed just one run, unearned, over 3 innings of work out of the bullpen.

High-A: South Bend Cubs
Season Record: 13–36
Series Opponent: Quad Cities River Bandits (31–18)
Series Standing: Trail 1–3

May 29: South Bend used a five-run sixth to propel them to an 8-6 victory over Quad Cities. Edgar Alvarez (2-for-5) and Ivan Brethowr (2-for-4) each tallied multi-hit performances, while Christian Hernandez and Rafael Morel each collected two RBI in the ballgame. Evan Aschenbeck turned in his third-straight quality start, allowing two runs over 6 innings of work, racking up a season-high eight strikeouts.

May 30: The Cubs were walked off by the River Bandits, 3-2, in 10 innings. Eight of the nine South Bend batters recorded a hit, with Christian Hernandez driving in both runs with a single in the fifth. Erian Rodriguez took no decision in his start, allowing just one run over 5 innings, striking out five. Connor Schultz fired 2 shutout innings out of the bullpen, whiffing two.

Single-A: Myrtle Beach Pelicans
Season Record: 18–28
Series Opponent: Augusta GreenJackets (25–21)
Series Standing: Tied 1-1

May 29: Myrtle Beach and Augusta were postponed due to inclement weather.

May 30: The Pelicans and the GreenJackets had their contest canceled due to inclement weather and power outages.

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