April 17 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs vs. Louisville Bats

TODAY’S GAME: The Iowa Cubs host the Louisville Bats for the second of a six-game series today...Iowa will send right-hander Chris Clarke to the mound, who will make his fourth start of the season...right-hander Lyon Richardson is slated to make his fourth start of the season for Louisville.

WALK-OFF WINNER: The I-Cubs won in walk-off fashion last night in the first game of the series vs. Louisville...Iowa went into the ninth inning trailing 7-4 but they scored four runs in the inning, highlighted by a two-run walk-off single by*
Luis V*á**zquez that gave the I-Cubs an 8-7 walk-off victory...Jose Cuas made his first appearance as an I-Cub and tossed a scoreless ninth inning with three strikeouts to earn the win...it marked the second walk-off win of the year for Iowa, following the home opener on April 2 vs. Toledo in which Curt Casali singled home the winning run in the 10th inning.

STAY HOT: Iowa’s shortstop Luis Vázquez extended his hitting streak to five games Tuesday in the series opener at home against the Louisville Bats...he tallied two hits and three RBI, including the walk-off 2 RBI single with the Cubs down, 7-6, with two outs in the ninth...with the bases loaded and a 1-1 count, Vázquez ripped a line drive to left that fell in front of the left fielder and scored David Peralta and Owen Caissie...Vázquez has hit safely in nine of his last 10 games and 11 of the 15 games he’s played this season...since April 5, Vázquez is batting .500 (17-for-34) with seven runs scored, three home runs and eight RBI...in his last 10 games, he ranks among International League leaders in hits (T-1st), batting average (2nd), OPS (4th, 1.315), total bases (4th, 26), home runs (T-5th) and slugging percentage (6th, .765).

IN THE STANDINGS: Despite last night’s walk-off win, Iowa remains just 1.0 game off first place Omaha in the International League West standings...since the I-Cubs lost the first two games of the season at Omaha in extra innings, they have won 10 of their last 14 games, including a four-game win streak from April 6-10.

AGAINST LOUISVILLE: Iowa and Louisville played their first series of the season beginning last night...the two clubs faced each other in the last series of 2023 with Iowa winning the first three games and Louisville taking the last four...Iowa went 10-7 vs. the Bats last season and tallied a 7-5 record at Principal Park.

SLAUGHTERING THE BALL: Iowa utility player Jake Slaughter has been tearing up the ball in 2024...he has hit safely in nine of the 10 games he has played in, and is on a three-game multi-hit streak and he has multiple hits in four of his last five games...on the season, Slaughter is batting .368/.429/.526 (14-for-38)...he ranks in the top five on the I-Cubs for players with at least 25 plate appearances in batting average (3rd), OBP (4th), OPS (5th, .955), hits (T-3rd, 14), and 2B (T-4th, 3).

FIRST WIN FOR CUAS: Reliever Jose Cuas was credited with the victory Tuesday night against the Bats in his first career I-Cubs appearance...the 29-year old with 124 MLB games under his belt tossed one scoreless inning, allowing one walk, no hits, and three strikeouts...Cuas was optioned on April 12 after he allowed eight earned runs in 6.0 innings of work in Chicago...he made his big league debut for the Royals in 2022 and has pitched in the MLB each year since then, but has also pitched in Triple-A each season since 2021.

CANARIO TO THE SHOW: Outfielder Alexander Canario was called up to the big leagues on Monday...the Cubs’ No. 10 rated prospect (MLB.com) played in 13 games with Iowa and slashed .269/.377/.481 (14-for-52) with five doubles, two home runs and seven RBI...it marks his second stint in Chicago with the first coming in September of 2023 in which he played in six games and batted .294 (5-for-17) with one home run (grand slam) and six RBI.

NICE TO HAVE SOME WISDOM: In his Major League rehab assignment with Iowa, Patrick Wisdom is slashing .385/.500/.846 (10-for-26) with three doubles, three home runs and 10 RBI...since playing his first game with Iowa on April 6 at St. Paul, he ranks among International League leaders in slugging percentage (3rd), OPS (4th, 1.346) and RBI (4th, 10)...in his last six games since April 9, he has hit three home runs and has nine RBI.

FIRST IMPRESSION: Prior to Saturday’s game, right-handed pitcher Porter Hodge was added to the I-Cubs roster...Hodge tossed a scoreless seventh inning and earned the win in his first outing in Triple-A...he topped out at 99.6 mph which is the fastest pitch by an I-Cub this season...he is the Cubs’ No. 27 ranked prospect, according to MLB.com, and gives Iowa seven players that appear on the Cubs’ Top 30 prospects list.