Iowa Snaps Losing Streak, Splits Twin Bill

ST. PAUL, MN – The Iowa Cubs (32-26) and St. Paul Saints (35-24) each grabbed a win in their doubleheader at CHS Field tonight. Iowa was able to break their season-long five-game losing streak, but still trails the series 1-3.

Game one saw a high-scoring Iowa offense that had seemingly been lost this month. The I-Cubs jumped to a quick 7-1 lead after three innings. Chase Strumpf extended Iowa’s lead to nine on a three-run homer in the top of the fourth as he totaled four RBI in the game.

Jared Young put the final touches on a blowout victory for Iowa with a two-run home run in the fifth, his third hit of the day. The Saints stayed alive with a home run and single from Jair Camargo in the final innings but ultimately couldn’t make the comeback.

Ben Brown made the start for Iowa, collecting seven strikeouts over his 4.1 innings. Rowan Wick earned his first win of the season with his 1.2 innings of relief.

Iowa’s hot bats didn’t cool down in the break between games, scoring a run in each of the first three innings. The scoring included Nelson Velazquez's eighth home run of the season. St. Paul kept up scoring two in that stretch.

Velázquez collected another RBI with a double in the top of the fourth. David Bote grabbed two of his own just an at-bat later to give Iowa a 6-2 lead.

The Saints were quick to fire back by tying the game at six in the bottom half of the fourth. A Tony Wolters homer, Jose Miranda single and Edouard Julien sac fly gave them four runs.

With a shutout inning from both teams in the seventh, the game went to extra innings. In the bottom of the eighth the Saints strung together a bunt single and a fielder’s choice with a diving play at the plate to walk it off 7-6.

POSTGAME NOTES:

• Jared Young extended his hitting streak to four as he recorded a hit in both contests. The infielder combined for three runs and six RBI as he went 4-for-8.
• Iowa and St. Paul’s pitching staff each walked 12 batters between both games. They rank 16^th and 10^th in the International League in that category, respectively.
• Today marks the second double-header split for the I-Cubs this season. The first came on April 8 in St. Paul.

Iowa and St. Paul will play game five of their seven-game series tomorrow from CHS Field, with first pitch slated for 7:07 pm. 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.