Eloy No Joy for Bees at Riverview Park

Trevor Clifton and Adbert Alzolay combined to hurl six innings of two-hit shutout baseball and three relievers followed with three more innings of no-hit ball, as the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (Cubs Hi-A affiliate) two-hit the Inland Empire 66ers (Los Angeles Angels Hi-A affiliate) 4-2 on Field #5, and Eloy Jimenez slugged a two-run home run to cap a three-run 1st and Ricardo Marcano belted a two-run HR in the 7th (the Jimenez bomb carrying 420+ feet over the CF fence just to left of the Batter's Eye), leading the South Bend Cubs (the Lo-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs) to a 7-3 victory over the Burlington Bees (Angels Lo-A affiliate) on Field #6, in a Cactus League Minor League Camp doubleheader played Thursday afternoon at the Riverview Baseball Complex in Mesa, AZ. 

Yasiel Balaguert collected two doubles and an RBI for Myrtle Beach, and Kevonte Mitchell singled twice, walked, scored two runs, and stole a base (home, on the back-end of a double-steal) for South Bend.

RHRP Alexander Santana had an unusual outing for Myrtle Beach, working the 9th inning of the game on Field #5. Santana entered the game with a 4-0 lead, and proceeded to hit three batters and throw two wild pitches, and of the 16 pitches he threw in the inning, only two were strikes. But he never-the-less somehow managed to record three outs, because the two strikes both turned into 5-3 ground outs, and the third out was a game-ending caught-stealng at 3rd base on a ball-three pitch with the potential tying run at the plate.  

OF Alex Bautista, 1B-OF Chris Pieters, and INF Edgar Rondon were moved-up from the South Bend group to the Myrtle Beach squad for the game, and all three entered the game as late-inning replacements for the Pelicans.

Myrtle Beach 2B Ian Happ and SS Gleyber Torres (who are two of the Cubs Top 5 prospects) were absent from Minor League Camp on Thursday, as they traveled with the big league club to Salt River Fields for a morning Cactus League "B" game versus the Colorado Rockies.  

Cubs Spring Training Depth Chart
Minor League Camp Rosters (updated daily)

Here are the abridged box scores from the two games (Cubs players only):

FIELD #5:

MYRTLE BEACH LINEUP:
1a. Rashad Crawford, CF: 2-3 (1B, 3-U, 1B, RBI)
1b. Alex Bautista, CF: 0-1 (K)
2a. Andrew Ely, SS: 1-3 (6-4-3 DP, 1B, P-2, RBI)
2b. Edgar Rondon, SS: 0-1 (6-3)
3. Donnie Dewees, DH-LF: 2-4 (1B, K, E-8, 1B+E3, R)
4. Jeffrey Baez, DH-RF: 1-4 (E-9, F-9, 1B, 6-3, R, SB)
5a. Yasiel Balaguert, 1B: 2-2 (2B, 2B, RBI)
5b. Chris Pieters, 1B: 0-1 (BB, P-4)
6. Sutton Whiting, 2B: 1-4 (1B, 3-U, 1-2-3 DP, K)
7. Charcer Burks, LF-DH: 0-3 (5-4 FC, 5-3, K, BB, CS)
8. Daniel Spingola, RF-DH: 0-3 (3-U, 4-3,. K)
9. Jesse Hodges, 3B: 1-3 (6-3, 3B, K, R)
10a. Tyler Alamo, C: 0-0 (BB, BB, R, SB, PO)
10b. Jordan Hankins, C: 0-1 (4-3)

MYRTLE BEACH PITCHERS:
1. Trevor Clifton: 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, 1 PO, 1/4 GO/AO, 46 pitches (33 strikes)
2. Adbert Alzolay: 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 4/3 GO/AO, 28 pitches (23 strikes)
3. Dillon Maples: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, 2/0 GO/AO, 10 pitches (8 strikes)
4. Ryan McNeil: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K, 1 GIDP, 2/0 GO/AO, 10 pitches (5 strikes)
5. Alexander Santana: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 2 R (2 ER), 0 BB, 0 K, 3 HBP, 2 WP, 2/0 GO/AO, 16 pitches (2 strikes) 

MYRTLE BEACH ERRORS: 1
C Tyler Alamo: E-2 (overthrow at 1st base after fielding "swinging bunt" allowed batter to reach base safely)

MYRTLE BEACH CATCHERS DEFENSE:
1. Tyler Alamo: 1 E (see above)
2. Jordan Hankins: 1-1 CS

FIELD #6

SOUTH BEND LINEUP:
1a. Kevonte Mitchell, CF: 2-2 (1B, 1B, BB, 2 R, SB)
1b. Marcus Mastrobuoni, C: 1-2 (1B, P-6, RBI)
2. Ho-Young Son, SS: 1-4 (K, BB, 1B, F-8, K, SB)
3. Kwang-Min Kwon, RF: 1-4 (1B, K, L-3 DP, 3-1, R, RBI)
4. Eloy Jimenez, DH: 1-4 (HR, 5-4-3 DP, 4-3, L-7, R, 2 RBI)
5. Wladimir Galindo, 3B: 1-3 (BB, L-5, L-8, 1B, R)
6. Ricardo Marcano, LF: 2-4 (K, L-4, 1B, HR, R, 2 RBI, CS)
7. Vimael Machin, 2B: 1-3 (BB, 1B, 6-3, 4-3)
8a. Eric Gonzalez, C: 0-1 (BB, 6-3)
8b. D. J. Wilson, CF: 1-2 (4-3, 1B, 2 SB)
9a. Blake Headley, 1B: 1-3 (3-1, F-8, 3B, R)
9b. Gustavo Polanco, PH-1B  0-1 (F-9)

SOUTH BEND PITCHERS:
1. Bryan Hudson: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K, 5/1 GO/AO, 29 pitches (15 strikes)
2. Kyle Miller: 1.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R (2 ER), 1 BB, 1 K, 1 HR, 1 GIDP, 1/0 GO/AO, 20 pitches (10 strikes)
3. Jose Paulino: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R (0 ER), 1 BB, 1 K, 2/0 GO/AO, 19 pitches (11 strikes)
4. Greyfer Eregua: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 12 pitches (9 strikes) 
5. Tyler Peitzmeier: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 0/1 GO/AO, 13 pitches (8 strikes)
6. Santiago Rodriguez: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, 1 GIDP, 2/0 GO/AO, 9 pitches (6 strikes)
7. Yapson Gomez: 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, 2/0 GO/AO, 20 pitches (13 strikes)
8. Pedro Silverio: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, 1 HBP, 2/1 GO/AO, 8 pitches (5 strikes)

SOUTH BEND ERRORS: 1
2B Vimael Machin: E-4 (fielding error allowed batter to reach base safely)

SOUTH BEND CATCHERS DEFENSE:
Eric Gonzalez: 1-2 CS

SOUTH BEND OUTFIELD ASSISTS: 1
RF Kwang-Min Kwon - runner thrown out 9-4-2 trying to score from 1st base on a double off the RF fence

ATTENDANCE: 78

WEATHER: Sunny with temperatures in the 80's