April 14 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs @ St. Paul Saints
TODAY’S GAME: Iowa and St. Paul will play the finale of their six-game series today at CHS Field...the pitching matchup will be a repeat of Tuesday’s series opener in which Iowa won, 9-7...the I-Cubs will send right-hander Sam McWilliams to the mound and he will make his fifth appearance (second
TODAY’S GAME: Iowa and St. Paul will play the finale of their six-game series today at CHS Field...the pitching matchup will be a repeat of Tuesday’s series opener in which Iowa won, 9-7...the I-Cubs will send right-hander
YESTERDAY’S NEWS: The I-Cubs clinched a series victory at St. Paul with a 4-3 win... the game was tied at 3-3 after the seventh inning but
AGAINST ST. PAUL: With yesterday’s win, Iowa now has a 4-1 lead in the current series at St. Paul, and clinched the series win, outscoring them 25-16 (+9)...the I-Cubs have won their last two series against the Saints, dating back to Sept. 12-17, 2023 in which Iowa took five of six games at Principal Park... the I-Cubs and Saints will play game six of their current six-game series and the sixth of 24 total games between the two teams this season...after last night’s win for Iowa, the all-time series record between the two ballclubs sits at 41-47 in favor of St. Paul...in games that have been played at CHS Field, Iowa has a record of 24-28...the I-Cubs have won eight of the last 10 games against the Saints, dating back to the 2023 campaign.
MASHING MERVIS: Yesterday, infielder
IN THE STANDINGS: Despite yesterday’s win, Iowa remains in a tie for first place in the International League West standings with Omaha, just 1.0 game ahead of Toledo...since the I-Cubs lost the first two games of the season at Omaha in extra innings, they have won nine of their last 12 games, including a four-game win streak from April 6-10.
NOTHING EASY: Iowa’s pitching staff has tallied a 3.23 ERA (46 ER in 128.0 IP) this season which leads all of Triple-A, ahead of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s 3.42 mark...additionally, Iowa ranks second in Triple-A with 149 strikeouts, just shy of Norfolk’s 152...I-Cubs starting pitchers lead Triple-A with a 2.63 ERA (14 ER in 48.0 IP), ahead of next closest Oklahoma City and Worcester (3.45).
FIRST IMPRESSION: Prior to yesterday’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 eight players that appear on the Cubs’ Top 30 prospects list.
STAY HOT: Iowa’s shortstop Luis Vázquez tallied his second three-hit game of the season Friday night (Last - 4/9 at St. Paul) and hit his third homer of the year...since April 5, Vázquez is batting .462 (12-for-26) with five runs scored, three home runs and five RBI...during that span, he ranks among International League leaders in home runs (T-3rd), batting average (4th), OPS (4th, 1.308), slugging percentage (5th, .808) and hits (T-5th).
SHUT IT DOWN: The I-Cubs got their second shutout victory of the season Friday night at St. Paul, winning 6-0... Iowa’s last shutout came in a 2-0 win at Omaha on March 31...
LITTLE LEAGUE HOMER: Cubs’ No. 16 ranked prospect BJ Murray Jr. hit an inside-the-park home run in the eighth inning Friday night, giving him his first homer of the season...it marked the first inside-the-park homer by an I-Cub since