I-Cubs Drop Finale

DES MOINES, IA – The Iowa Cubs (68-49) dropped the series finale to the Louisville Bats (63-55) by a score of 9-8, Sunday at Principal Park.

Louisville jumped in front with three runs in the second inning, getting a solo home run from Jason Vosler and a two-run single from Alejo Lopez.

That is all Nick Neidert would allow, as the righty surrendered six hits and two walks while striking out five over his 4.0 innings pitched.

Iowa got two runs back in the third on a single from Yonathan Perlaza and a bases loaded walk by P.J. Higgins. Down by one in the fifth, Jake Slaughter used his 19th home run of the year to tie the game.

He was followed by Perlaza who hit a solo home run of his own, giving Iowa a 4-3 lead. They padded the lead in the sixth on an RBI double by Chase Strumpf.

The Bats got one of those runs back in the seventh on an RBI single from Vosler and took the lead in the eighth on a three-run blast from Chuckie Robinson. Strumpf clubbed a solo home run in the eighth to make it 7-6, but Louisville wasn’t done.

An RBI single from Jhonny Pereda and a sacrifice fly from Drew Mount grew their lead back to three, at 9-6. Iowa fought back with two runs in their half of the inning on a single from Luis Vazquez, but it wasn’t enough, as Daniel Duarte recorded the final out to end the game.

POSTGAME NOTES:

• Keegan Thompson spun 2.0 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit while striking out one. Since August 9, in four outings, Thompson has allowed just two earned runs on one walk and eight strikeouts over 8.1 innings pitched.
• Chase Strumpf, Luis Vazquez and Jake Slaughter each collected two hits from the bottom of the order. The three combined to go 6-for-12 with three runs scored, a double, two home runs and five runs driven in.

Iowa will get the day off tomorrow and travel to Indianapolis where they will start a six-game series against the Indians. First pitch from Victory Field on Tuesday night is set for 6:35 pm CT. 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.