May 8 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs vs. Columbus Clippers

TODAY’S GAME: The Iowa Cubs and the Columbus Clippers (Cleveland) play the second of their six game series today at Principal Park...right-hander Julio Teheran is scheduled to make his fourth start with Iowa...right-hander Adam Oller is slated to pitch for Columbus.

YESTERDAY’S NEWS: The I-Cubs lost their sixth straight game last night in extra innings to Columbus by a score of 6-5... Kyle Hendricks made his second start on Major League rehab assignment and tossed 4.1 innings and allowed one run on five hits and three walks with six strikeouts in a no decision... Matt Mervis tied up the game at 4-4 in the seventh inning in his first game with Iowa since being optioned, but Columbus tacked on two runs in the 10th and the I-Cubs couldn’t quite claw back as they scored just one run of their own...the Clippers stole four bases last night, which is tied for the most allowed by Iowa in a game this season.

WORKING DOWNHILL: Iowa outfielder Darius Hill had his nine-game hit streak snapped Saturday as he went 0-for-4, but he has still reached base safely in 12 straight games...it marks his longest such streak since he also reached in 12 straight from July 15-Aug. 5, 2022...during his nine-game hitting streak, which went from April 21-May 4, he hit .429 (15-for- 35) with five runs scored, four doubles and five RBI during that span...it marked the longest such streak by an I-Cub since Bryce Windham from Aug. 30-Sept 20, 2023 (10G).

EXTRA, EXTRA: After last night’s loss, the I-Cubs have gone 2-3 in extra inning games this season...last night marked the first time the club has gone to extras since May 1 (G1) in which Iowa defeated Omaha in eight innings.

SERIES RECAP: The I-Cubs lost five of their six games against Omaha from May 1-5, including five straight losses...Iowa was outscored by the Chasers, 39-22, (-17) and two of their three series losses have come from Omaha...the I-Cubs and Omaha have played nine games this season with Omaha winning seven of the contests, outscoring Iowa, 51-34.

VS COLUMBUS: Iowa and Columbus are set to play 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...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.

TROUBLE AT HOME: Iowa has lost six straight games (all at home), which is their longest losing streak of the season and longest since they lost seven straight from Sept. 1-8, 2023...the six-game losing streak is the second-longest active such streak in the International League (Jacksonville, L7)...the I-Cubs took the first game of their last series vs. Omaha which gave them a 9-4 record at home, but after dropping the following six games they sit at 9-10 at Principal Park.

THE BIG O: Outfielder Owen Caissie snapped his hit streak at six games Friday night during which he batted .467 (7-for-16)...it marked Owen’s longest such streak since he hit safely in eight consecutive games from July 25-Aug. 4, 2023 with Double-A Tennessee, batting .484 (15-for-31)...additionally, he snapped his on-base streak at 15 games from April 16-May 2 which is tied for the 10th-longest in the International League this season and longest by an I-Cub since Bryce Windham reached in 28 straight games from July 26-Sept. 24, 2023...this season, the 21-year-old is slashing .282/.423/.427 (31-for-110) and his 25 walks rank sixth-most in the IL and are fifth-most among farmhands aged 21-or-younger, trailing leaders Wichita’s Emmanuel Rodriguez and Brooklyn’s Ryan Clifford (27).

NO MAY FLOWERS: The I-Cubs finished the month of April with a 14-10 record and batted .276 with a 4.24 ERA but have faltered in May winning just one of their six games...Iowa is slashing .197/.313/.287 and have posted a 5.75 ERA in May...in April, Iowa’s 4.24 ERA was second-best in the International League and they scored the sixth-most runs with 130...the I-Cubs have scored just 22 runs this month which is ranks 16th in the IL and their 5.75 ERA ranks 16th.