Veteran outfielder Shane Victorino reported to Triple-A Iowa and made his Cubs organizational debut on Friday night in Omaha. The I-Cubs beat the Storm Chasers 13-7.
Shane Victorino was in the starting lineup, batting second and playing left field for Marty Pevey. Albert Almora Jr. patrolled center field and John Andreoli was in right field for the I-Cubs.
Wearing No. 4, Victorino had four plate appearances and went 1-for-4 with a double, a run scored and a RBI. Victorino was lifted for pinch-hitter Logan Watkins in the top of the seventh.
Victorino’s hustle double into right center was part of the I-Cubs’ seven-run sixth inning. Victorino drove in Juan Perez and scored on an Albert Almora Jr. single to center field. Arismendy Alcantara led off the sixth with his record breaking triple. The big hit of the sixth inning, a two-run homer off the bat of Willson Contreras.
Victorino was robbed of an extra base knock by Brett Eibner in the fourth inning.
Shane Victorino faced a lefty starter (John Lannan) and a right-handed reliever (Mark Peterson) in his four plate appearances. Victorino batted from both sides of the plate. He is still switch-hitting. Victorino was 0-for-3 from the right-side versus Lannan and 1-for-1 with the RBI double from the left-side against Peterson.
Iowa won their fourth game in a row and reached .500 for the first time this season with the 13-7 victory over the Storm Chasers. The I-Cubs recorded a season-high 20 hits and equaled a season-high with 13 runs scored.
John Andreoli (2-for-5 with a home run, a sac fly and three RBI) led off the game with a home run. Albert Almora Jr. (2-for-6 with a run scored and a RBI), Willson Contreras (2-for-5 with a home run and two RBI), Arismendy Alcantara (3-for-5 with a triple and two runs scored), Kristopher Negron (3-for-4 with a home run, a walk, two runs scored and three RBI) and Juan Perez (4-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBI) collected multiple hits on Friday night. And Carl Edwards Jr. struck out two of the five batters he faced. Edwards Jr. entered the game with runners on base for the first time this season and struck out Dusty Coleman swinging on a 3-2 pitch to end the seventh.
Shane Victorino spent a month in Arizona in extended Spring Training as planned after he re-signed with the Cubs on a minor league contract on March 29. The Cubs released Victorino earlier in the day to keep from paying the retention bonus. Victorino first signed a minor league deal with the Cubs on Feb. 26 that included a $1 million base salary and an incentives package that could have paid him another $1 million. Terms of Victorino’s new contract have not surfaced.
Reports suggested at the end of March that Victorino would spend a month with Triple-A Iowa once he felt he was ready. The Cubs have not indicated how long Victorino will play with Iowa before he could be added to the big league roster.