Cubs Notes: Kane County Keeps Rolling

The Cubs’ most successful minor league affiliate of 2014, the Kane County Cougars, are one win away from being crowned Midwest League Champions.

The Cougars have not lost yet in the playoffs, a run that continued Thursday night as they won Game 2 of the championship series against the Lake County Captains 6-0. Duane Underwood surrendered five walks, but pitched six scoreless and hitless innings for the victors

The top two Cougar hitters were at it again: Shawon Dunston Jr. was 2-for-3 with three runs scored and a walk, and Mark Zagunis cracked three hits in five at-bats.

The Captains did not get a hit until the top of the eighth inning.

Kane County will look to sweep the series and win the championship when Game 3 takes place on Saturday at 6 p.m. CT.

Other notes

* The Cubs High-A minor league affiliate may be moving out of Daytona, according to an article from the  Daytona Beach News-Journal. The article speculates the Cubs’ High-A team may want to enter the Carolina League, in order to move closer to the Double-A Tennessee Smokies, who announced an extension with the Cubs earlier this year. The Cubs’ High-A affiliate has played in Daytona since 1993.

* A very scary moment occurred in Thursday night’s Brewers-Marlins game, when Giancarlo Stanton was hit in the face with a Mike Fiers fastball.

The 24-year-old is one of the most exciting young sluggers in the game right now and has 37 home runs this season. Many have speculated Stanton may be traded this off-season, and Tommy Cook recently discussed on this site what it might take for the Cubs to land the star outfielder. Stanton underwent X-rays and a CT scan.

* Another talented Cuban player has recently taken one step closer to the Major Leagues. Yasmany Tomas, a 24-year-old slugging outfielder has been unblocked by the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, according to Jesse Sanchez.

He has not been declared a free agent yet, Sanchez said, and teams would not be able to offer an agreement until that happens. Tomas reportedly has huge power but may be prone to swings and misses.

Given that the Cubs showed interest in fellow Cuban outfielder Rusney Castillo — who recently ended up signing with the Red Sox — it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Cubs kick the tires on Tomas as well.

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