TODAY’S GAME: The Iowa Cubs and the Columbus Clippers will take the field for the finale in their current six-game series... the I-Cubs will send right-handed pitcher Chris Clarke to the mound, who is slated to make his eighth appearance (seventh start) for Iowa this season...opposite of Clarke will be
TODAY’S GAME: The Iowa Cubs and the Columbus Clippers will take the field for the finale in their current six-game series... the I-Cubs will send right-handed pitcher Chris Clarke to the mound, who is slated to make his eighth appearance (seventh start) for Iowa this season...opposite of Clarke will be right-hander Tyler Beede for Columbus and he will make his first start of the season with the Clippers.
YESTERDAY’S NEWS: The I-Cubs took a 5-3 lead in the seventh inning and held on to defeat Columbus last night at Principal Park...it marked the first time Iowa has won back-to-back games since they won three straight games from April 20-24 at Buffalo... Riley Martin earned his first win in relief as he tossed 2.0 innings and allowed one run on two hits with three strikeouts... Carl Edwards Jr. pitched a scoreless ninth inning to pick up his third save.
MASH MERVIS: The Iowa offense was led last night by Matt Mervis who went 3-for-4 with two home runs and four RBI... it marked his second multi-homer game of the season and his first April 12 at St. Paul...additionally, he tallied his most RBI since May 22, 2022 vs. Chattanooga with Double-A Tennessee in which he had five RBI...his first home run traveled 455 feet, which was the longest by an I-Cub since Edwin Rios hit a 480-foot shot on July 4, 2023 vs. St. Paul...Mervis has played in nine games with Chicago this season, batting .115 (3-for-26) but since being optioned on May 4, he is hitting .467 (7- for-15) with eight RBI.
WALK THIS WAY: Owen Caissie and Curt Casali each walked three times Friday night, which matched the most by an I-Cub this season...it marked the fifth multi-walk game of the season for Caissie and gave him 29 on the season, which ranks third-most in the International League and is tied for third most among minor leaguers aged 21-or -younger, trailing Brooklyn’s Ryan Clifford (32)...from April 25-May 2, Owen walked in eight consecutive games, which is tied for the longest such streak in the International League this season and the longest by an I-Cub since Chase Strumpf also walked in eight straight games from Aug. 31-Sept 12, 2023.
VS. COLUMBUS: Iowa and Columbus are playing their first series of the season and first since they played a three-game set from July 14-16, 2023 at Columbus in which the I-Cubs took two of the three games...Iowa has won three of the first five games, outscoring the Clippers (34- 32)...the two teams played 20 games last season and they split the series 10-10...at home, the I-Cubs went 6-4 vs. the Clippers.
McWILLIAMS IN RELIEF: Iowa pitcher Sam McWilliams earned his second win Friday night as he tossed 2.0 scoreless innings... Sam has made 10 outings for the I-Cubs and has gone 0-2 with a 12.96 ERA (12 ER in 8.1 IP) in three starts and 2-0 with a 2.70 ERA (5 ER in 16.2 IP) as a reliever...among pitchers with at least 10 appearances, his 38 strikeouts lead the International League.
I GOT FIVE ON IT: Outfielder Brennen Davis five RBI Friday night was the most by an I-Cub this season and his most since July 21, 2021 at Rocket City with Double-A Tennessee...Davis also hit his second home run of the season and first since his first game back with Iowa this season on April 24 at Buffalo.
WORKING DOWNHILL: Iowa outfielder Darius Hill had his 13-game on-base streak snapped Friday night...it marked his longest such streak since he reached in 16 straight contests from June 5-25, 2021 with Double-A Tennessee...during his 13- game run, he batted .353 (18-for-51) with four doubles, five RBI and 10 walks...it is the second-longest on-base streak by an I-Cub this season trailing Owen Caissie’s 15-game streak from April 16-May 2.
STREAK SNAPPED: The I-Cubs were able to snap their longest losing streak of the season at six games on Wednesday by defeating Columbus in an unconventional walk-off...down two runs in the bottom of the ninth, Clippers pitcher Franco Aleman was removed from the game and outfielder Lorenzo Cedrola was brought in to pitch... Cedrola proceeded to get one out, but then hit a batter and walked the next two...the last walk came with the bases loaded and pushed the winning run across the plate for Iowa...Wednesday’s game marked the fourth walk-off win of the season for Iowa.
