First off, thank you for being patient with our issues yesterday, although I can’t say it wasn’t nice to have a couple of days off in the middle of the season. On the other hand, that just makes my work today harder as I have to catch up.

First off, there was a ton of player movement yesterday as some of this year’s draft choices join the affiliates.

Fifth-round pick OF Kade Snell joins High-A South BendSecond-round pick OF Kane Kepley joins Low-A Myrtle BeachTenth-round pick C Justin Stransky joins Low-A Myrtle BeachRHP Matthew Peters was promoted to Myrtle Beach from the ACL CubsOF/SS Leonel Espinoza was promoted from Myrtle Beach to South BendRHP Dominic Hambley was also promoted from Myrtle Beach to South BendOF/2B Carter Trice was promoted to Double-A Knoxville from South BendOF Parker Chavers was promoted to Triple-A Iowa from Knoxville

Finally, the Myrtle Beach Pelicans are one of the hottest teams in all of minor league baseball, and two of their players were honored today.

Outfielder Alexey Lumpuy was named the Carolina League Player of the Month for July. Lumpuy hit .314/.377/.600 and led the league in OPS for the month at .977.

Right-handed pitcher Jostin Florentino was named the Carolina League Pitcher of the Month. Florentino made four appearances in July, three starts, and went 1-0 with a 0.49 ERA. Over 21 innings, Florentino allowed just one run and 12 hits while walking six. He struck out 26 batters.

The Iowa Cubs deconsecrated the St. Paul Saints (Twins), 7-4.

Javier Assad started this game on a rehab assignment and went 4.1 innings and 68 pitches, of which 41 were strikes. Assad allowed one run on four hits. He walked two and struck out four.

Luke Little pitched 1.2 innings, retired all five batters he faced and got the win. He struck out one.

Keegan Thompson got into trouble in the ninth, giving up a two-out, three-run home run, which summoned Ethan Roberts from the bullpen. Roberts faced one batter, James Outman, and struck him out for the save.

Third baseman Chase Strumpf hit a solo home run in the fifth inning, his tenth on the season. Strumpf went 1 for 4.

Center fielder James Triantos was 3 for 5 with a two-run double in the seventh inning. Triantos scored once.

Left fielder Darius Hill was 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI single. Hill scored one run.

Shortstop Dixon Machado was 2 for 4 and scored one run.

Miguel Amaya caught five innings on a rehab assignment. He was 0 for 3.

The Knoxville Smokies got shelled by the Biloxi Shuckers (Brewers), 8-4.

Grant Kipp started and took the loss after giving up two runs on four hits over four innings. Kipp walked two, hit one batter and struck out six.

The big blow was when Mitchell Tyranski and Zac Leigh combined to give up six runs in the top of the eighth inning.

Shortstop Jefferson Rojas was a perfect 1 for 1 with three walks.

Second baseman Reivaj Garcia was 1 for 4 with a double. He scored once and drove in one run.

The South Bend Cubs boiled the Ft. Wayne TinCaps (Padres), 8-2.

Erian Rodriguez pitched the first six innings and took home the win after surrendering two runs on four hits. Rodriguez struck out five, walked two and hit one batter.

Yency Almonte pitched the seventh inning in a rehab assignment. He allowed a one out single, but then got the next batter to hit into a game-ending double play. Almonte did not strike anyone out.

Grayson Moore and Kenyi Perez both threw a perfect inning to close out the game in non-save situations.

Catcher Ariel Armas doubled twice tonight in a 3 for 3 effort. Armas also walked once. He drove in four runs and scored once.

Center fielder Leonel Espinoza had his first two hits for South Bend today. Espinoza went 2 for 5 with a stolen base. He scored one run.

A two-run double for Armas

A great throw by right fielder Rafael Morel.

Kade Snell with a triple. He was 1 for 5.

Rained out at home. Doubleheader tomorrow.