They may not compare to an Anthony Rizzo Jedi bobblehead, but the Cubs farm system has a couple of nice promotions coming up soon. On May 12 the Cubs will be wearing replica Iowa Oaks jerseys, representing the original name of that franchise (they became the Cubs in 1981 when they affiliated with the North Side). Then on May 24 the Iowa Cubs will be giving away Javier Baez jersey-shirts to the first 1000 fans. That’s a Saturday night game against a pretty good Round Rock team, so expect the ballpark fill up quickly. Get there early.
May 17 is the annual Kane County Halfway to Halloween game. Show up in costume, parade on the field, trick or treat at the ballpark, and enjoy some fireworks. In between all those festivities, you can also watch a very good and very talented Kane County team play some quality Low A baseball.
And if you are going to be in Tennessee at the end of the month, make plans to visit the Smokies on May 31. The Tennessee Smokies are wearing throwback Cubs jerseys for that game, and then auctioning those jerseys off as soon as the game is over. If you want a chance to own one of the first Cubs jerseys to be worn by Kris Bryant, break out your money bags and head for the ballpark.
If he is still in Tennessee on May 31, that is, because that is no sure thing. He could be an Iowan by then.
Scores From Yesterday
Iowa – Game One was a low scoring affair, but Iowa won it 1-0. Game Two was pretty much the opposite in every way, and the Cubs lost 8-6. Tennessee – The Smokies staged a five run rally in the ninth to put this game away and lock up the 7-2 win. Daytona – Daytona was rained out. Kane County – Four errors did not help as the Cougars lost Game One 5-2. Game Two went a little better, but Kane county still lost 5-4.
Performances of Note
[Iowa] The shutout in Game One was pitched by Tsuyoshi Wada, or at least the first 5 innings were. He gave up a walk, 2 hits, and struck out 8. Marcus Hatley and Blake Parker finished things off with an inning each.
[Iowa] Matt Szczur singled home the winning run in Game One (his only hit in that game), and then singled and walked in Game Two.
[Iowa] Javier Baez was 0 for 1 with 2 walks in the first game (one of those was intentional), and finished 1 for 3 with 2 steals and 2 runs scored in the second contest. After walking just 6 times through April 26, Baez now has 4 walks in his last 3 games.
[Tennessee] Matt Loosen struck out 8 over 5 innings for the Smokies, allowing just one run on 3 hits and a walk in the process.
[Tennessee] P.J. Francescon continued his excellent season with 2 nearly flawless innings. He allowed a single walk as he lowered his ERA to 1.17.
[Tennessee] Kris Bryant struck out twice, but he also went 2 for 4 with a walk. Wes Darvill also had 2 hits.
[Tennessee] Catcher Rafael Lopez doubled, walked, and finished 3 for 4. His early season OPS is up to 1.026.
[Kane County] The Cougars managed to play 14 innings without coming up with a single extra base hit. Only Cael Brockmeyer and Daniel Lockhart managed 2 hits on the day.
[Kane County] They did steal a few bases, though. Trey Martin swiped a pair, leaving him at 6 for the year. Jacob Hannemann stole his tenth.
[Kane County] Game Two featured an interesting pitching pair in Juan Paniagua (4.2 IP, 3 R, 6 H, 3 BB, 3 K) and Gerardo Concepcion (1.1 IP, 2 R, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 K). Had they pitched well, it would have been a neat story.
Other News
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NEWSLETTER
They may not compare to an Anthony Rizzo Jedi bobblehead, but the Cubs farm system has a couple of nice promotions coming up soon. On May 12 the Cubs will be wearing replica Iowa Oaks jerseys, representing the original name of that franchise (they became the Cubs in 1981 when they affiliated with the North Side). Then on May 24 the Iowa Cubs will be giving away Javier Baez jersey-shirts to the first 1000 fans. That’s a Saturday night game against a pretty good Round Rock team, so expect the ballpark fill up quickly. Get there early.
