Game Notes for Monday, August 4

TONIGHT'S GAME: The Iowa Cubs and Omaha Storm Chasers play game three of a four-game series at Werner Park. The Storm Chasers are the Pacific Coast League affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. This is the eighth game of the Cubs' longest road trip of the season. The team is in a stretch of 14 games over 14 days away from Principal Park. The Cubs started this trip with five games in New Orleans and finished 4-1 against the Zephyrs. Following this series, the Cubs will finish this trip with a five-game series at Oklahoma City.

STORM CHASERS LEAPFROG CUBS: The Storm Chasers won 7-5 last night and moved a half-game ahead of the Cubs in the American Northern Division standings. This is the Cubs first day out of first place since July 13 when the Storm Chasers went up by a half-game going into the All-Star Break. Before today, that is the only day that the Cubs were out of first place dating back to June 29.

PEGUERO HAS CUBS' NUMBER: DH Carlos Peguero belted two home runs off Cubs' stater Dae-Eun Rhee to pace the Storm Chasers on offense last night. Peguero has hit six home runs in 12 games against the Cubs this season and has 11 home runs in 23 games against Iowa in his PCL career. Peguero is the seventh player to have a two-homer game against the Cubs this year.

POWER BALL: SS Javy Baez smashed two home runs off Chasers' starter Aaron Brooks last night. It was his first multi-homer game of the season and the sixth of his pro career. Baez is tied for third in the league with 23 home runs this season, including a league-high nine in 20 games since the All-Star Break. He is second in the league with 80 RBI. The Cubs have hit 13 home runs in the first seven games on this road trip and lead the league with seven home runs through three games in August. The Cubs lead the league with 41 home runs since July 1 and rank eighth in the league with 108 home runs this year. Las Vegas leads the league with 143.

MIDDLE MEN: RH Armando Rivero pitched two scoreless innings in relief last night, extending his scoreless streak to 13.1 innings over his last nine appearances. RH Arodys Vizcaino also extended his streak with a scoreless inning last night. Vizcaino has not allowed a run in 6.2 innings over his last five games.  

VS. STORM CHASERS: The Storm Chasers lead this series 2-0, and have evened the season series at 7-7. The Cubs won six of the eight games played at Principal Park, including a double-header sweep on July 1. The Storm Chasers won three-of-four in their first home series, July 7-10 and are now 4-1 at Werner Park in the series. This is the final series between these two clubs this year. Last year, the Cubs won the season series 12-4 over the Storm Chasers, including a 5-3 mark in Omaha. The Cubs lead the all-time PCL series 141-128, but Omaha has a 73-61 advantage in home games.

SEVENTH HEAVEN: 3B Kris Bryant doubled and scored a run in the sixth inning last night. Bryant has a hit and has scored a run in each of his last seven games and is batting .333 (8-for-24) with two doubles, three home runs, 10 runs scored, and five RBI during this stretch. Bryant is batting a combined .336 (136-for-404) with 36 home runs and 92 RBI in 112 games between double-A and the I-Cubs this season. He leads the minor leagues in extra-base hits (68), total bases (276), slugging (.683), and OPS (1.122). He is second in home runs and runs scored (96).

STREAKERS: OF Matt Szczur was 2-for-5 last night and has hit safely in a season-high eight straight games. He has also hit safely in 16 of his 18 starts since the All-Star Break. In his last eight games, Szczur is batting .355 (11-for-31) with two doubles, three runs scored, and five stolen bases. 1B Mike Olt was 1-for-4 last night and has also hit safely in eight straight. Olt is batting .387 (12-for-31) with four doubles, a home run, and four RBI during this stretch. He has hit safely in 14 of 16 games since getting optioned from Chicago on July 23. OF Jorge Soler has hit safely in seven of his nine starts since joining the I-Cubs, but is 0-for-3 as a pinch-hitter. C Rafael Lopez has hit safely in a season-high six straight games and C Eli Whiteside has matched his season-high with a hit in his last four games.

FUJIKAWA ON REHAB: RH Kyuji Fujikawa is with the I-Cubs on a Major League rehab assignment. In six games with Iowa, he has pitched six innings and allowed one run on five hits, issued one intentional walk, and struck out four. Fujikawa underwent Tommy John surgery last June after appearing in 12 games with Chicago. Prior to joining Iowa, he made six rehab appearances at Mesa and Kane County and combined for 5.2 scoreless innings.