August 26 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs vs. Omaha Storm Chasers

IOWA CUBS (22-30, 52-72) vs. OMAHA STORM CHASERS (25-25, 58-66)

August 26 • 12:08 PM CT • Principal Park • Des Moines, IA

RHP Kohl Franklin (0-0, 3.75) vs. RHP Tony Gonsolin (0-0, -.--)

TODAY’S GAME: The Iowa Cubs and the Omaha Storm Chasers are set to play the second of a six- game series at Principal Park today...right-hander Kohl Franklin is slated to make his fifth appearance and start this season with Iowa...Omaha is scheduled to start right-hander Tony Gonsolin on Major League rehab.

ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The I-Cubs four game winning streak was snapped last night after falling to Omaha 9-6...B.J. Murray drove in four RBI for Iowa, Chas McCormick drove in two RBI, and Ben Cowles had two hits...after taking a 1-0 lead in the first inning, Omaha went on to score seven unanaswered runs between the second and eighth innings...Hoby Milner threw a perfect inning of relief as he continued his Major League rehab assignment, and Evan Taylor threw 1.1 scoreless innings of relief.

STREAK SNAPPED: Iowa’s four game winning streak dating back to last Thursday was snapped last night...the winning streak was one shy of tying their season long five game winning streak from April 1-5 at Louisville...it is their third wining streak of four games this season, last doing so July 8-11 against St. Paul...prior to that stretch, Iowa previously won four in a row May 23-27 versus Memphis (one) and Indianapolis (three).

SERIES-LY: After winning four in a row to close out the week in Toledo, the I-Cubs won their third six-game series of the 2026 season...their last six game series victory came July 7-12 against St. Paul...prior to that, they had not won a six-game series since March 31-April 5 at Louisville...they also won a three-game series July 17-19 at Memphis.

EXTRA, EXTRA: The I-Cubs improved their record to 7-5 in extra inning games this season with the win last night...it marked Iowa’s fourth straight extra-innings win as they defeated Toledo 5-4 in 10 innings on Thursday,Indianapolis 5-3 in 10 innings on Aug. 5 and Memphis 5-4 in 10 innings on July 18...the I-Cubs have won just two extra innings game on home during the 2026 campaign.

IN THE ‘PEN: Cubs’ top pitching prospect Jaxon Wiggins made his fourth consecutive relief appearance Sunday night...Wiggins worked a scoreless frame and struck out one and allowed a walk...in all four outings, Jaxon has pitched a scoreless frame and has six total strikeouts...he has yet to surrender a hit during his relief stint.

AGAINST OMAHA: The Iowa Cubs and the Omaha Storm Chasers are meeting for the second time in the 2026 season this week...their first meeting took place April 7-12 at Principal Park, with Omaha winning the series 4-1, with the series finale cancelled due to rain... the teams will meet once more this year in the final week of the season at Omaha, the I-Cubs’ only trip to Nebraska this season.

KIPP TO MY LOU: Right-hander and Cubs’ No. 20 prospect Grant Kipp worked 3.0 scoreless innings Friday night and allowed just two hits, one walk and seven strikeouts...the seven strikeouts matched a career high in Triple-A and were one short of season high, set on May 27 at Chattanooga and May 7 vs. Birmingham...it marked the third time this season Grant has reached seven strikeouts with the others coming on July 4 at Toledo and June 27 vs. Buffalo...Kipp is the lone I-Cubs pitcher to reach seven strikeouts in a game on three occasions and the first since Will Sanders (4) and Connor Noland (5) in 2025.

HOT START: James Triantos led off Saturday night’s game with a home run, marking just the second leadoff home run for the I-Cubs this year following Justin Dean on March 31 at Louisville...it marked the second leadoff home run of Triantos’ career...since being optioned to Iowa, James has hit .267 (4-for-15) with five runs, two doubles, one home run, three RBI and four stolen bases.

B.J. BALLIN: BJ Murray went 3-for-5 with a double, a triple, and four RBI last night...the four RBI matched his season high for RBI in a game, also doing so on May 22 against Memphis...it was his second three-hit game since August 15 after doing so against St. Paul...prior to August 15, Murray had not recorded a multi-hit game since July 9, also against St. Paul...B.J. hit his International League leading eighth triple last night, the most by an I-Cub since John Andreoli hit eight triples in 2017 and Brett Jackson hit 12 triples in 2012...Murray has matched the International League lead for triples from last season, set by Toledo’s Hao-Yu Lee (8)...the most triples hit in the International League since 2005 was 15, set by Shane Victorino of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre...the I-Cubs franchise record for most triples in a season is held by Billy Hatcher (18) in 1984.

COMEBACK CUBS: The I-Cubs secured two late comeback wins last week in Toledo...on Thursday, down to their final out, James Triantos laced an RBI double off the left field wall to tie the game in an eventual 5-4 victory in ten innings...down to their final two outs on Saturday, they rallied to tie the game on an RBI single from Ethan Hearn before winning 7-3 in ten innings...the two victories marked the first time this year Iowa has won a game when trailing after eight innings...prior to the two victories last week, Iowa was 0-50 when trailing after eight innings.

AYE-RS!: Chicago Cubs’ No. 2 overall prospect catcher Owen Ayers threw out two players stealing Wednesday night...Owen has thrown out 32 runners this season between Advanced-A , Double-A and Triple-A, which is tied for 12th-most of any player at those levels...Ayers joined the I-Cubs on July 17 from Double-A Knoxville and at the time of his promotion, Ayers ranked first in the Southern League in on-base percentage (.417), slugging percentage (.591), and OPS (1.008), second in batting average, third in extra-base hits (33), fifth in total bases (136), and sixth in home runs.

CHAS: Over his last seven games, Chas McCormick is batting .409 (9-for-22) with five runs scored, two doubles, two home runs, seven RBI, six walks, and two stolen bases...at Toledo last week, he tallied three multi-hit games in the series, including a three-hit game on Thursday, his third of the season and first since June 27 against Buffalo.

SWIPER NO SWIPING: James Triantos went 1-for-3 with a run, an RBI, a walk and a stolen base Friday night...it marked the third straight game in which Triantos has swiped a bag...the streak tied for the longest by an I-Cubs this season, along with Brett Bateman who did so from June 16-18...Triantos stole a base in three straight games twice last season from April 8-12 and July 1-3...no Iowa Cub has stolen a base in four straightgames since Tri did so on Aug. 23-28, 2024.

WICKS: Jordan Wicks has made four appearances in the month of August...in those outings, Wicks is 2-1 with a 2.45 ERA across 18.1 innings pitched allowing just five earned runs...he has posted 17 strikeouts againstjust six walks.