Cubs Win! Cubs Lose! Cubs Win! Cubs Lose!

Evan Crawford raked a two-run triple over the left-fielder's head to tie the game, Tony Campana followed with an RBI single (his third hit of the game) to plate Crawford, and D. J. Lemahieu capped the inning with an RBI double to score Campana, as the Cubs Minor League All-Stars rallied for four runs in the top of the 9th to defeat the Chicago Cubs 8-6 in the 2011 Cubs Spring Training Intrasquad Charity Game at Dwight Patterson Field at HoHoKam Park in sunny Mesa, AZ, this morning.

The Cubs major league players were long gone by the time the Cubs Minor League All-Stars put together their game-winning 9th inning rally, but while they were still around, Randy Wells worked three innings, throwing two shutout and hitless innings before allowing one run on two hits in his third inning of work (a bunt single by Kyung-Min Na leading off the inning, a 3-U GO, and an RBI ground single to CF by Tony Campana). For the day, Wells threw 43 pitches (26 strikes) and he looked fairly sharp, getting a ton of ground balls (7/1 GO/FO).

John Grabow threw a 1-2-3 eight-pitch 4th (three balls hit sharply, but all right at somebody), and James Russell threw a shutout 5th (lead-off double, but then he pitched out of trouble nicely, getting a 5-3 GO, an L-7, and a K).

Marcos Mateo had a bad outing, allowing two runs on four hits in the 6th (two singles leading off the inning, a 6-4-3 DP, and then an RBI double and an RBI single, both hits coming with two outs).

The Chicago Cubs offense didn’t do much against the Minor League All-Stars starter (veteran AAA LHP J. R. Mathes) through the first three innings (no runs, three hits), but then Starlin Castro led-off the bottom of the 4th with a double down the LF line, and scored on a one-out RBI single by Jeff Baker. Darwin Barney capped the inning by crushing a two-run HR over the LF fence, giving the Chicago Cubs a 3-1 lead.

The Cubs major leaguers then headed for the showers and a bus ride to Sky Harbor International Airport, where they were scheduled to fly back to Chicago via charter at about 4 PM local time, arriving in Chicago around 9 PM (CDT). The Cubs will have a closed workout at Wrigley Field Thursday afternoon, before Opening Day on Friday versus the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Other game highlights after the MLB Cubs left the game included a two run Cubs 6th (Nelson Perez lead-off single, Junior Lake opposite-field double into the RF corner, and a Ryan Flaherty RBI single), a two-out RBI double by Marquez Smith lined off the LF fence in the 7th (M. Smith also made two outstanding stops & throws at 3B), a Josh Vitters RBI double off Marcos Mateo in the 6th and a Vitters RBI triple off the CF Batter’s Eye "Green Monster" in the 7th, and then of course the four-run rally in the top of the 9th featuring the Evan Crawford game-tying RBI triple (the long-legged long-striding Crawford looked like he was running the final leg in the 440 relay as he whipped around the bases), the Tony Campana game-winning RBI single (Campana also stole two bases earlier in the game), and the D. J. Lemahieu RBI double to cap the scoring.

Cubs #1 pitching prospect RHP Trey McNutt followed Mathes to the mound for the Minor League All-Stars and threw four innings of one-run ball and was the winning pitcher, despite allowing eight baserunners (three hits and five walks). McNutt was very wild throughout his outing, throwing 63 pitches in his four innings of work, but only 31 of the pitches (less than half) for strikes.

Here is today’s box score:

CUBS MINOR LEAGUE ALL-STARS vs CHICAGO CUBS

CUBS MINOR LEAGUE ALL-STARS LINEUP:
1a. Brett Jackson, CF: 0-2 (BB, 3-U, K)
1b. Evan Crawford, LF: 1-2 (K, 3B, R, 2 RBI)
2. Tony Campana, LF-CF: 3-5 (4-6 FC, 1B, 1B, K, 1B, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 SB)
3. D. J. Lemahieu, 2B-3B: 2-5 (5-3, 6-4-3 DP, 1B, F-8, 2B, RBI)
4a. Rebel Ridling, 1B: 0-3 (E-5, F-8, 5-4-3 DP)
4b. Nate Samson, 2B: 2-2 (1B, 1B, R, SB)
5. Josh Vitters, 3B-1B: 2-5 (K, 4-3, 2B, 3B, 5-3, R, 2 RBI)
6a. Steve Clevenger, C: 0-2 (3-1, L-7)
6b. Sergio Burruel, C: 1-2 (1B, L-5, RBI)
7a. Marwin Gonzalez, SS: 1-3 (6-3, 2B, 4-3)
7b. Arismendy Alcantara, SS: 0-1 (3-U)
8. Jae-Hoon Ha, RF: 1-4 (L-7, 5-3, F-9, 2B, R)
9. Kyung-Min Na, DH #1: 2-4 (1B, L-7, 1B, 4-3, R, SB)
10a. SLOT SKIPPED FIRST THREE TIMES THRU ORDER
10b. Micah Gibbs, DH #2: 1-1 (1B, R)

CHICAGO CUBS LINEUP:
1a. Kosuke Fukudome, RF: 0-2 (3-1, F-8)
1b. Nelson Perez, RF: 1-2 (1B, 6-3, BB, R)
2a. Starlin Castro, SS: 1-2 (F-9, 2B, R)
2b. Junior Lake, SS: 1-2 (2B, F-7, R)
2c. Wes Darvill, PH-SS: 0-1 (F-8)
3a. Alfonso Soriano, DH #1: 0-1 (5-3)
3b. SLOT SKIPPED 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th TIMES THRU ORDER
4a. Tyler Colvin, LF: 0-2 (4-3, L-4)
4b. Ryan Flaherty, LF: 1-2 (1B, 4-3, RBI)
4c. D. J. Fitzgerald, PH-LF: 0-1 (P-4)
5a. Jeff Baker, 1B: 2-2 (1B, 1B, RBI)
5b. Justin Bour, PR-1B: 0-2 (3-U, BB, FC, 2 R, RBI)
6a. Darwin Barney, 2B: 1-2 (F-8, HR, R, 2 RBI)
6b. Logan Watkins, 2B: 0-1 (K, BB)
6c. Pierre LePage, 2B: 0-1 (F-9)
7a. Blake DeWitt, 3B: 2-2 (1B, 1B)
7b. Marquez Smith, 3B: 1-2 (5-3, 2B, RBI)
7c. Reggie Golden, PH: 0-0 (BB)
8a. Reed Johnson, CF: 0-2 (P-5, 4-6 FC)
8b. Rubi Silva, CF: 2-3 (1B, 1B, 6-4 FC)
9a. Koyie Hill, C: 1-3 (1B, 6-3, K)
9b. Michael Brenly, C: 0-0 (BB, SB)
9c. Yaniel Cabezas, C: 0-1 (F-8)
10a. Carlos Pena, DH #2: 0-1 (P-5)
10b. SLOT SKIPPED 2nd, 3rd, and 4th TIME THRU ORDER
11a. Randy Wells, DH #3: 0-0 (1-4 SH)
11b. SLOT SKIPPED 2nd, 3rd, and 4th TIMES THRU ORDER

CUBS MINOR LEAGUE ALL-STARS PITCHERS:
1. J. R. Mathes: 5.0 IP, 10 H, 5 R (5 ER), 0 BB, 1 K, 1 HR, 60 pitches (44 strikes), 8/6 GO/FO
2. Trey McNutt: 4.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R (1 ER), 5 BB, 1 K, 1 PO, 63 pitches (31 strikes), 4/5 GO/FO

CHICAGO CUBS PITCHERS:
1. Randy Wells: 3.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R (1 ER), 1 BB, 1 K, 1 GIDP, 43 pitches (26 strikes), 7/1 GO/FO
2. John Grabow: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, 8 pitches (6 strikes), 1/2 GO/FO
3. James Russell: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 BB, 1 K, 18 pitches (13 strikes), 1/1 GO/FO
4. Marcos Mateo: 1.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, (2 ER), 0 BB, 0 K, 1 GIDP, 16 pitches (12 strikes), 3/0 GO/FO
5. Jeffrey Lorick: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 1 WP, 21 pitches (12 strikes), 0/1 GO/FO
6. Kevin Rhoderick: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R (1 ER), 0 BB, 0 K, 17 pitches (11 strikes), 1/2 GO/FO
7. Frank Batista: 0.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R (4 ER), 0 BB, 0 K, 31 pitches (19 strikes), 1/0 GO/FO
8. Justin Berg: 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, 2 pitches ( 2 strikes), 1/0 GO/FO

CUBS MINOR LEAGUE ALL-STARS ERRORS: 3
1. SS Marwin Gonzalez E-6 – errant relay throw to 1st base on attempted 6-4-3 DP went into 1st base dugout allowing batter to advance to 2nd base
2. 3B Josh Vitters E-5 – fielding error while trying to cut-off throw to plate allowed batter-runner to advance from 1st to 2nd base on RBI single
3. 1B Josh Vitters E-3 – errant throw to 2nd base allowed runner who had been picked-off to arrive safely.

CHICAGO CUBS ERRORS: 2
1. 3B Blake DeWitt E-5 – errant throw to 1st base allowed batter to reach safely
2. LF Ryan Flaherty E-7 - errant throw home allowed batter-runner to advance to 2nd base on an RBI single

CUBS MINOR LEAGUE ALL-STARS CATCHERS DEFENSE:
Sergio Burruel: 0-1 CS

CHICAGO CUBS CATCHERS DEFENSE:
1. Koyie Hill: 0-2 CS
2. Michael Brenly: 0-1 CS
3. Yaniel Cabezas: 0-1 CS

CUBS MINOR LEAGUE ALL-STARS OUTFIELD DEFENSE:
LF Evan Crawford threw out runner at home plate 7-2 trying to score on double

CHICAGO CUBS OUTFIELD DEFENSE:
CF Rubi Silva threw out runner at home plate 8-2 trying to score from 2nd base on single to CF