St. Paul Completes Sweep Over Iowa

DES MOINES – The Iowa Cubs (9-13) dropped all six games to the St. Paul Saints (13-11) after losing the series finale 7-3, Sunday at Principal Park.

Despite taking the loss, Iowa starter Cory Abbott struck out a career-high 13 St. Paul batters through his six innings of work. Abbott allowed four earned runs on six hits, walked one batter and surrendered two home runs.

The Saints scratched across a run in the top of the first with a two-out RBI double by Mark Contreras to take a 1-0 lead. Iowa fought back with three of their own in the third, thanks to back-to-back doubles from Taylor Gushue and Abiatal Avelino.

JT Riddle and Brent Rooker each hit home runs in the fifth for St. Paul, giving the Saints a 4-3 lead. They would add a run in the eighth with a Ryan Jeffers solo shot and two in the ninth when Riddle hit his second two-run homer of the game.

Rob Whalen threw two scoreless innings for the Saints, closing out the 7-3 victory and the six-game sweep over Iowa.

POSTGAME NOTES:

•Cory Abbott struck out two batters in every inning he pitched, including striking out the side in the fourth.

• With his two-RBI double, Taylor Gushue increased his total to 20 on the season, good for the team-lead.

• Iowa’s pitching staff combined for a season-high 19 strikeouts today, their fifth straight game with double-digit punch outs.

• St. Paul scored six of their seven runs with two outs, all on extra-base hits. One double and three home runs.

Iowa has tomorrow off and will kickoff a six-game set with Omaha at Werner Park on Tuesday. First pitch between the two teams is set for 7:05 pm. For more information and tickets, visit www.iowacubs.com.