Chasers Win Fourth Straight With 10-3 win in Iowa

DES MOINES, IOWA — The Omaha Storm Chasers jumped ahead in the second inning and led the Iowa Cubs the rest of the game, winning 10-3 Saturday at Principal Park, the team's fourth straight win.

Like they did Friday night, the I-Cubs took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on a sacrifice fly, but Omaha starter Jonathan Bowlan settled down after a rough first inning. Iowa loaded the bases against Bowlan in the 1st with nobody out, but the right-hander limited the first inning to an unearned run and only allowed one run, also unearned, in the fifth inning.

Bowlan allowed just two hits with three walks over his fourth straight winning start with the Chasers, while striking out six.

The Storm Chasers got Bowlan support quickly after the Iowa run in the first, as Omaha scored two in the second. Nick Pratto singled, then eventually scored in a wild pitch and Tyler Gentry walked, then scored on a sacrifice fly for a 2-1 lead the Chasers did not relinquish.

Omaha drew a season-high 10 walks in Saturday's win, with three of those walked batters coming around to score.

John Rave opened the top of the fifth with a home run, his third of the season, then after a Drew Waters single and Devin Mann walk, Nate Eaton drove both in for a 5-1 lead.

Iowa struck for a run in the fifth off Bowlan and another in the sixth against reliever Austin Cox, but Omaha pulled away from the seventh inning on. Pratto homered in the seventh, his fourth of the year, then catcher Brian O'Keefe added the team's third home run of the game to open the eighth inning, his third long ball of the season.

Up 7-3 heading into the ninth inning, the Storm Chasers truly pulled away in the final frame, adding three more runs on a hit, three walks and two Cubs errors. Gentry plated a run on the second error of the inning, then Cam Devanney doubled in two to cap the scoring.

After. Dan Altavilla and Sam Long offered scoreless seventh and eighth innings, Steven Cruz quickly finished off the Cubs in the ninth, striking out his first batter and erasing a walk on a game-ending double play.

Four players finished the day with multi-hit games, led by Eaton's second straight three-hit effort. Mann drew three walks off the bench, just the second Storm Chaser to do so this season.

With the series win secured, Omaha will try and take a fifth straight game over Iowa Sunday afternoon at Principal Park with Major League rehabber Alec Marsh headed to the mound with a 1:08 p.m. CT start in Des Moines.