Iowa Drops Second Straight Game

DES MOINES, IA – The Iowa Cubs (50-34) lost their second straight game to the St. Paul Saints (51-34) Saturday night, falling by a score of 5-2.

The Saints opened the scoring in the third inning on an RBI double by Austin Martin. The double was the only hit allowed by Nick Neidert, who surrendered just two walks while striking out six batters in his 5.0 innings pitched.

Brent Headrick and Simeon Woods Richardson kept Iowa off the board until the fifth, when Luis Vazquez clubbed a solo home run to tie the game. It was the only run the two would let Iowa score, as they combined to throw seven innings, allowing five hits and one walk while striking out 11.

St. Paul regained the lead in the seventh on a two-run home run from Anthony Prato and an RBI single by Matt Wallner. Up 4-1, they grew their lead on a solo home run from Chris Williams in the eighth to make it 5-1.

Iowa loaded the bases in the eighth but couldn’t score. They got an RBI single from Yonathan Perlaza to make it 5-2 and brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth, but Josh Winder ended the threat, striking out Darius Hill to end the game.

POSTGAME NOTES:

• Luis Vazquez went 2-for-4 with a solo home run, giving him four straight multi-hit games. The shortstop is now hitting .394 through 10 games with Iowa this year.
• Iowa’s offense struck out 14 times tonight while walking just twice. They went 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position, leaving nine men on-base.

Iowa and St. Paul will play the sixth and final game of their series tomorrow, with first pitch from Principal Park set for 1:08 p.m. CT. You can listen to all Iowa Cubs games on Hope AM940 and stream them for free on the Bally Live App. For more information and tickets, visit www.iowacubs.com.