April 7 Game Notes vs. OKC

Iowa Cubs (1-1) vs. Okalhoma City Dodgers (1-1)
Saturday, April 7 • Principal Park • Des Moines
RHP Luke Farrell vs. RHP Brock Stewart

TONIGHT'S GAME: Iowa and Oklahoma City meet for Game 3 of the series, after playing an Opening Day doubleheader Thursday. 
#GOLDENSEA50N: Iowa and Oklahoma City played the very first Opening Day at Pioneer Memorial Field on April 21, 1969 - back when the Cubs were the Oaks and Dodgers were the 89ers. The Oaks took the victory in that game by a score of 12-7. 
TAKE A BOW: Cubs top prospect RHP Duane Underwood Jr. made his Triple-A debut Thursday as pinch-runner in extra innings. With MiLB's new extra innings rules, Underwood began the inning on second. Back-to-back singles from Mark Zagunis and Efren Navarro brought in Underwood to give Iowa the walk-off win. 
IN A PINCH:Bijan Rademacher collected a pinch-hit single in Game 2 Thursday, Iowa's only pinch-hit baserunner for the day. In 2017, Iowa hit .172 in pinch-hit situations. Stephen Bruno was the best bat off the bench, swatting .261 (6-for-23) with two doubles and two RBI. 
WALK-OFF FEELING: Efren Navarro snuck a single between first and second in Game 2 Thursday to knock in Iowa's winning run in extras. It was the first walkoff for Iowa since Aug. 17, 2017. In that game, John Andreoli broke up Angel Ventura's perfect game (Colorado Springs) with a home run in the seventh inning of a doubleheader game at Principal Park. 
IN THE DUGOUT: Hitting Coach Chris Valaika is the sole new addition to the Iowa Cubs coaching staff. Valaika notched 10 professional seasons, playing 1,001 minor league contests and 99 major league games. Valaika played in the Cubs organization from 2014-15, logging 208 games with Iowa and 44 games with Chicago. This is his second season coaching in the Cubs organization. 
AGAINST OKLAHOMA CITY: Iowa finished 7-9 against the Dodgers last season and 3-5 at Principal Park. Cody Bellinger hit Iowa pitching for a .476 average (10-for-21) with three doubles, one home run and three RBI. Among I-Cubs, Kyle Schwarber went 2-for-5 with a double and two walks, while Jacob Hannemann was 10-for-37 (.270) with five steals.
STRONG AND STEADY:Taylor Davis is the longest tenured I-Cub, spending parts of four seasons with Iowa from 2015-18. Davis has logged 252 of his 461 minor league games with Iowa entering 2018. He's batting .288 (242-for-839) for the I-Cubs with 111 RBI, 88 walks and just 110 strikeouts. 
ROSTER ROUND UP: Of 26 on Iowa's Opening Day roster (including one DL), 16 have MLB service time and 14 have past worn an Iowa Cubs uniform. There are five Cubs top prospects (according to Baseball America), led by No. 9 RHP Jen-Ho Tseng. The median age of the group is 28, with RHP Duane Underwood Jr., RHP Jen-Ho Tseng and LHP Randy Rosario checking in as the youngest at 23, and C Chris Gimenez on the opposite end of the scale at 35.  
GOING, GOING, GONE!: David Bote mashed a ball over the right-center wall in Game 2 Thursday for Iowa's first homer of 2018. The last Iowa Cub to hit a home run on Opening Day was Cubs 2007 first-round pick Josh Vitters in 2014. Vitters went deep off Memphis pitcher Boone Whiting. 
TROPHY CASE: Manager Marty Pevey is just one win shy of 1,000 career wins. The same win will mark the 356th in his Iowa Cubs career, making him the winningest manager in Iowa Cubs history. Joe Sparks, Iowa's manager 1973-75 and 77-99, is the current record holder and Pevey's former hitting coach with the Expos in 1989.