July 31 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

IOWA CUBS (13-17, 43-59) at SCRANTON/WILKES-BARRE RAILRIDERS (19-9, 56-46)

July 31 • 7:08 PM CT • Principal Park • Des Moines, IA

RHP Edward Cabrera (0-0, -.--) vs. RHP Elmer Rodriguez (7-3, 2.93)

TONIGHT’S GAME: The Iowa Cubs and the Scranton Wilkes-Barre RailRiders are set to play the fourth game of a six-game series tonight at Principal Park...right-hander Edward Cabrera is set to make his first start on Major League rehab assignment with Iowa...right-handed pitcher Elmer Rodriguez is set to start for Scranton.

BLANKED: The Iowa Cubs fell to the Scranton/ Wilkes-Barre RailRiders 11-0 last night...Greg Jones tallied the lone multi-hit game for the I-Cubs going 2-for-3...Jordan Wicks made the start and worked 5.0 innings and allowed five runs (two earned) on six hits with a strikeout and suffered the loss...Collin Snider worked a scoreless frame and catcher Ethan Hearn retired the one batter he faced.

NO GO: The I-Cubs were shutout for the fifth time this season last night...marked the first time the club has been shutout since Saturday at Gwinnett in the first game of a doubleheader in which they lost 8-0...their last shutout in a nine inning game was May 28 at Indianapolis, falling 3-0.

MIXING IT UP: Iowa is wearing six different uniforms for all six games this series for the first time in franchise history...the minor leagues started playing six-game series in 2021 and have done so ever since...this marks the first series without a repeat uniform.

THE JAG: I-Cubs outfielder Kevin Alcántara hit a single in the second inning last night, extending his on-base streak to 38 games...Kevin broke the Iowa Cubs franchise record for the longest on-base streak in franchse history on Sunday at Gwinnett, previously held by Jonathon Long at 35 games that he set from July 9-Aug. 24, 2025...it is the longest streak in the International League this season and second longest streak this year in all of Triple-A, trailing Albuquerque’s Chad Stevens’ 51-game on-base streak from March 27-July 3.

STR-YIKES: The Iowa Cubs struck out a season high fifteen times Wednesday, surpassing their previous season high for strikeouts in a game of 14, set on April 14 against Columbus.

THE BIG HIT: Iowa is batting .153 (4-for-26) with runners in scoring position thus far in the series against Scranton...since returning from the All-Star break, Iowa is batting .224 (26-for-116) with runners in scoring position.

NO FREE PASSES: The Iowa pitching staff issued just one walk yesterday despite the loss... marked the ninth the team has issued one or less walk this season and the fourth time in July...the staff tossed 9.0 innings without a walk on June 30 at Toledo.

AGAINST SCRANTON: the Iowa Cubs and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre are facing off for the first time since the 1990 season in the American Assoociation of Triple-A...the I-Cubs set a recordwinning streak of 11 games with a win over Scranton/WB on Aug. 20, 1990.

BATEMAN: Brett Bateman’s hitting streak ended at 14 games Wednesday, which was his season high...it was the second longest active hitting streak in the International League and all of Triple-A...it was also the longest hitting streak of his professional baseball career...Brett’s longest hitting streak of his pro career prior to the 2026 season was nine games, a feat he reached twice from Aug. 28 - Sep. 6, 2025 with Double-A Knoxville and July 5-July 20, 2024 with High-A South Bend...Brett is slashing .433/.507/.617 (26-for-60) with six doubles, a triple, a home run and 12 RBI during the stretch...he ranks among International League leaders in on-base percentage (1st, .437), walks (4th, 58) and batting average (4th, .317)...the I-Cubs have had just on player lead the league in on-base percentage as Terrell Lowery tied for the lead in 1997 with a .401 mark...Brett is one of three players in the International League with at least 75 hits and 55 walks, along with Lehigh Valley’s Christian Cairo and former Iowa Cub and current Rochester Red Wing Christian Franklin.

AYE-RS!: Chicago Cubs’ No. 8 overall prospect Owen Ayers recorded his first home run at the Triple-A level Tuesday night...on Sunday he recorded his second three-hit since being promoted to Triple-A and fourth multi-hit game in nine appearances...Ayers is batting .361 (13-for- 36) with two doubles, one home run, six RBI and three stolen bases since joining the I-Cubs...Ayers played in 65 games in Knoxville, batting .304 with 16 home runs and 48 RBI...since being promoted to Iowa last Friday, Owen is batting .285 (6-for-21) with four RBI...at the time of his promotion, Ayers ranked first in the Southern League in on-base percentage (.417), slugging percentage (.591), and OPS (1.008), second in batting average, third in extra-base hits (33), fifth in total bases (136), and sixth in home runs.

THREE ME: BJ Murray recorded his seventh triple of the season on Sunday, moving him past teammate Owen Miller for the International League lead in triples...Murray’s seven triples are the most by an I-Cub since John Andreoli hit eight triples in 2017 and Brett Jackson hit 12 triples in 2012...Murray is one triple shy for matching the International League lead for triples from last season, set by Toledo’s Hao- Yu Lee (8)...the most triples hit in the International League since 2005 was 15, set by Shane Victorino of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

JONNY LONG: Jonathon Long hit his 29th double of the season Tuesday night, which extends his International League for doubles...Additionally, Long has the most doubles in all of Triple-A...the most doubles hit in a single season by an Iowa Cub is held by Steve Hammond, who hit 45 doubles in 1986... he is six doubles short of matching the IL league high for last season, held by Joey Meneses with Syracuse and Cesar Prito with Memphis...former I-Cub Yonathan Peralza was the last Iowa player to lead the IL in doubles, tying for the league lead in 2023 with 40...Jon Weber of Durham has the most doubles in the IL since 2005, hitting 46 doubles back in 2009...Juan Brito of Columbus is the last IL player to hit 40 doubles, doing so in 2024.