August 27 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs vs. Omaha Storm Chasers

IOWA CUBS (23-30, 53-72) vs. OMAHA STORM CHASERS (25-26, 58-67)

August 27 • 6:38 PM CT • Principal Park • Des Moines, IA

RHP Andrew Wantz (4-1, 5.89) vs. RHP Henry Williams (4-4, 5.74)

TONIGHT’S GAME: The Iowa Cubs and the Omaha Storm Chasers are set to play the third of a six-game series at Principal Park tonight...right-hander Andrew Wantz is slated to make his 11th appearance (6th start) this season with Iowa...Omaha is scheduled to start right-hander Henry Williams.

FLY THE W: The I-Cubs defeated the Omaha Storm Chasers 7-3 on Wednesday afternoon...Chas McCormick, Matt Shaw and Jordan Nwogu each had one RBI while Justin Dean had two RBI...held without a hit through four innings, Iowa erupted for six runs in the fifth inning, highlighted by a Little League grand slam by Dean...Kohl Franklin started the game and pitched 4.2 scoreless innings, striking out a season high seven batters...Luis Peralta earned his first win of the season and Connor Noland earned his first save after throwing 3.1 innings of relief.

HIGH TIDE: Iowa has won five of their last six games dating back to last Thursday, including a four game winning streak to end the series in Toledo...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).

CHAS: Chas McCormick reached base four times yesterday, going 1-for-1 with three walks and an RBI...the three walks are the most he has drawn in a single game in his professional career...over his last eight games, Chas is batting .435 (10-for-23) with six runs scored, two doubles, two home runs, eight RBI, nine walks, and three 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...since August 18, Chas leads Triple-A in on-base percentage (.594) and second in walks (9)...he has also driven in an RBI in three straight games for the first time since doing so in four straight games June 14-June 18.

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.

KOHL’S WORLD: Iowa starting pitcher Kohl Franklin pitched 4.2 scoreless innings yesterday, striking out a season high seven batters...the seven strikeouts were the most he has posted in a single outing since September 16, 2023 with Double-A Knoxville against Rocket City... Kohl had only pitched three combined times between the 2024 and 2025 seasons due to injury...prior to this season, he only made one career appearance at Triple-A, coming April 13, 2024 versus St. Paul before being shut down due to injury...since returning to Triple-A this year, he has a 2.70 ERA across four starts (16.2 IP) allowing five earned runs and striking out 17...Kohl was selected by Chicago in the sixth round of the 2018 MLB Draft.

EXTRA, EXTRA: The I-Cubs improved their record to 7-5 in extra inning games this season with their victory Saturday night...it marked Iowa’s fourth straight extra-innings win as they defeated Toledo 5-4 in 10 innings last 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 at 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...the series finale was 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 his 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 at Triple-A, with the others coming onJuly 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 .250 (6-for-24) with seven runs, two doubles, one home run, three RBI and five stolen bases.

B.J. BALLIN: BJ Murray went 3-for-5 with a double, a triple, and four RBI Tuesday 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 Tuesday 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.

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.