Minor League Wrap: Jonny Long goes long x2 in Iowa win

Four home runs power Iowa to victory. Knoxville scores three runs after two were out in the bottom of the ninth for a comeback win.

Catcher David Avitia retired. He played six games with Myrtle Beach and three with South Bend this year. His brother Daniel, a right-handed pitcher, is with Mesa but is out for the season with an injury. I mention that just so you don’t get confused between the two brothers.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs were amazin’ against the Syracuse Mets, 8-5.

Will Sanders made his Triple-A debut in this game and got the win after allowing four runs on six hits over five innings. Sanders struck out six and walked two.

Nate Pearson pitched two scoreless innings of relief after Sanders left the game, allowing just one hit. Pearson walked one and struck out four.

First baseman Jonathon Long crushed two home runs today, his seventh and eighth on the year. Both came with the bases empty. The first came in the third inning and the second one came in the seventh. Long went 3 for 4 with three runs scored.

Catcher Carlos Pérez went back-to-back with Long in the seventh inning, his seventh. Pérez went 2 for 4 with a double and two runs scored.

Center fielder Kevin Alcántara hit a monster solo home run to dead center to break a 3-3 tie in the fourth inning. Alcántara went 1 for 4.

Long’s first home run and Alcántara’s blast.

The back-to-back blasts by Long and Pérez.

Here’s a rocket 2-run single off the right field wall for Moisés Ballesteros. He was 1 for 4.

Knoxville Smokies

The Knoxville Smokies usurped the Birmingham Barons (White Sox), 8-7.

Starter Chris Kachmar lasted four innings and surrendered three runs on eight hits. He walked four and struck out three.

Cayne Ueckert was summoned from the bullpen to relieve Brad Deppermann in the top of the ninth with the score tied 5-5 and two outs and a runner on third. Ueckert walked the first two batters he faced to load the bases and then got tagged for a two-run double. But he retired the next batter to on a weak grounder to end the inning and got the win when Knoxville struck back for three runs in the bottom of the ninth.

The first two batters in the bottom of the ninth for Knoxville went down meekly on a ground out and a strike out. But then the Smokies mounted a two-out rally. Pedro Ramirez and Corey Joyce both walked and then Knoxville had three consecutive RBI singles by BJ Murray Jr, Pablo Aliendo and Ethan Hearn.

First baseman Murray tied the game 5-5 in the bottom of the eighth with a two-run home run, his ninth. Murray went 2 for 5 with three RBI and two runs scored.

DH Hearn was 2 for 5 with a double. He scored once.

Center fielder Brett Bateman was 2 for 5.

Murray’s game-tying home run in the eighth.

Ethan Hearn’s walk-off.

South Bend Cubs

The South Bend Cubs were hijacked by the Quad Cities River Bandits (Royals), 3-2 in ten innings.

Erian Rodriguez pitched the first five innings and allowed just one run on four hits. He struck out five and walked no one.

After South Bend failed to score in the top of the tenth, Vince Reilly was summoned from the pen to keep the score tied. The first batter he faced laid down a sac bunt which failed to retire a batter after a missed catch error by Reivaj Garcia. With runners on the corners and no outs, Reilly then intentionally walked the bases loaded. Reilly got an infield pop out for the first out, but then walked in the winning run with the next batter.

Both South Bend runs came on a two-run single by shortstop Cristian Hernandez in the fifth inning. Hernandez went 1 for 5 with two steals.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans

The Pelicans game was cancelled after severe storms and a power outage at the stadium. The game will not be made up as the Pelicans already have a doubleheader scheduled for Saturday.

ACL Cubs

Beat the Reds, 6-2 for their third win of the season.

Things have been ugly down in Mesa, but right-hander Jostin Florentino has been a bright spot. Tonight he got his first stateside win with six innings of one-run, three-hit baseball. Even more impressively, Florentino struck out 12 and walked just two. He did hit one batter.