{"id":672171,"date":"2026-04-10T04:12:25","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T04:12:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/672171\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T04:12:25","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T04:12:25","slug":"cubs-minor-league-wrap-jefferson-rojas-leads-giant-smokies-comeback-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/672171\/","title":{"rendered":"Cubs Minor League Wrap: Jefferson Rojas leads giant Smokies comeback win"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rained out. Doubleheader starting at 5:08 tomorrow.<\/p>\n

The Knoxville Smokies knocked the Rocket City Trash Pandas (Angels) out of orbit, 8-7.<\/a><\/p>\n

The Trash Pandas jumped all over Smokies starter Luis Martinez-Gomez with two runs in the first, one in the second and two more in the third. The final line on Martinez-Gomez was five runs on five hits over four innings. He walked two, struck out one and gave up a two-run home run in the third inning.<\/p>\n

Vince Reilly pitched the eighth and ninth innings and got the win. He did not allow a hit or a run, although he did walk one. He faced the minimum thanks to a fantastic diving catch and double play by third baseman Karson Simas. Reilly struck out two.<\/p>\n

The Smokies trailed this game 7-0 after five and a half innings, but they scored three in the bottom of the sixth and five in the bottom of the eighth to stage an improbably comeback.<\/p>\n

First baseman Devin Ortiz hit a three-run double in the sixth. He also chipped in an RBI single in the eighth. His final line was 2 for 4 with the double and four RBI. He scored once.<\/p>\n

Shortstop Jefferson Rojas hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the eighth to give the Smokies the lead. It was Rojas\u2019 third home run this year. He was 1 for 4 with a walk.<\/p>\n

Left fielder Jordan Nwogu went 2 for 4 with a triple.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the Rojas home run.<\/p>\n

The South Bend Cubs were demoted by the Peoria Chiefs (Cardinals), 5-3.<\/a><\/p>\n

Kevin Valdez made his season debut tonight by pitching 3.2 scoreless innings to start the game. Valdez allowed three hits. He struck out five and walked two.<\/p>\n

Ethan Flanagan\u2019s season debut could have gone better. After Grayson Moore gave up two runs in relief and South Bend tied it back up, Flanagan gave up three runs on five hits over 2.1 innings. Two of the five hits were home runs. Flanagan walked two and struck out three.<\/p>\n

Catcher Owen Ayers hit his first South Bend home run with the bases empty in the fourth. He also singled and scored in the eighth. Ayers went 2 for 3 with a walk and the two runs scored.<\/p>\n

Second baseman Drew Bowser tied it up 2-2 with a solo home run in the seventh. Bowser went 1 for 4.<\/p>\n

Third baseman Reginald Preciado went 3 for 4. He singled home Ayers in the eighth.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s Ayers\u2019 home run.<\/p>\n

And here\u2019s Bowser\u2019s blast.<\/p>\n

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans were hypnotized by the Columbia Fireflies (Royals), 1-0.<\/a><\/p>\n

There were only three hits in this game, two by Columbia and only one by the Pelicans, and the one run scored without the benefit of a hit.<\/p>\n

Starter Dominick Reid dominated the Fireflies for five scoreless innings. Reid gave up just one hit. He struck out five and walked no one.<\/p>\n

Here are some highlights for Reid.<\/p>\n

Rowell Arroyo came on to pitch the sixth inning and allowed a runner to go to third with one out after fielding a dribbler in front of the mound and throwing the ball down the right line. The runner would score the only run of the game on a fielder\u2019s choice. The final line on Arroyo was one unearned run on one hit over two innings. He walked two and struck out one.<\/p>\n

Second baseman Jose Escobar singled to lead off the sixth inning. That was the only Pelicans hit of the game. Escobar was 1 for 3.<\/p>\n

Josiah Hartshorn had the night off, so that didn\u2019t help the offense.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rained out. Doubleheader starting at 5:08 tomorrow. The Knoxville Smokies knocked the Rocket City Trash Pandas (Angels) out…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":672172,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2399],"tags":[5,138,24,47140,4245,161,4],"class_list":{"0":"post-672171","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-cubs","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-chicago","10":"tag-chicago-cubs","11":"tag-chicago-cubs-prospects","12":"tag-chicagocubs","13":"tag-cubs","14":"tag-mlb"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116378464643393301","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=672171"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672171\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/672172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=672171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=672171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=672171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}