IOWA CUBS (13-19, 43-61) vs. SCRANTON/WILKES-BARRE RAILRIDERS (21-9, 58-46)
August 2 • 1:08 PM CT • Principal Park • Des Moines, IA
RHP Jace Beck (0-0, 4.15) vs. RHP Dom Hamel (3-9, 6.96)
TODAY’S GAME: The Iowa Cubs and the Scranton Wilkes-Barre RailRiders are set to play the final game of a six-game series tonight at Principal Park...right-handed pitcher Jace Beck is set to make his fifth appearance (third start) with Iowa...right-hander Dom Hamel is set to start for Scranton.
TOUGH NIGHT: The Iowa Cubs fell to the Scranton/ Wilkes-Barre RailRiders 7-4 last night...Brett Bateman, Moises Ballesteros, and Ben Cowles had multi-hit performances, with Cowles tallying two RBI...after taking a 4-1 lead through four innings, Scranton scored four runs in the fifth inning, three coming on a two-out, three-run home run to take the lead for good...Iowa Starter Grant Kipp worked 4.2 innings, allowing four runs on two hits with three walks and three strikeouts...Chicago Cubs pitchers Hoby Milner and Ethan Roberts threw 2.1 innings of relief on Major League Rehab...Gabe Klobosits made his first outing since June 3, throwing 0.2 innings.
SKID: The I-Cubs have lost five games in a row and nine of their last ten games...they won three of their first four games out of the All-Star Break...Iowa has lost five games to start a series for the second time this season, last doing so May 12-16 at Nashville as part of a six game sweep...the losing streak is the longest since losing eight games in a row May 10-19....Iowa is looking to avoid their first sweep at Principal Park since Sept. 16-21, 2025 against Toledo.
THE JAG: I-Cubs outfielder Kevin Alcántara drew a walk in the second inning last night, extending his on-base streak to 40 games...it is the second longest active on-base streak in Minor League Baseball, trailing Nolan Schubart (55 games) with High-A Lake County and Double-A Akron (Cleveland Guardians)... 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 .240 (12-for-50) with runners in scoring position thus far in the series against Scranton...since returning from the All-Star Break, Iowa is batting .242 (34-for-140) with runners in scoring position.
JONNY LONG: Jonathon Long hit his 30th double of the season Friday night, which extends his International League lead...Additionally, Long has the most doubles in all of Triple-A...the most doubles hit in a singles eason by an Iowa Cub is held by Steve Hammond, who hit 45 doubles in 1986...he is five 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 Perlaza 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...Long is currently tied for second in the International League in hits (111).
NO FREE PASSES: The Iowa pitching staff issued just one walk Thursday 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.
JUST PITCH IT: With Edward Cabrera starting for the I-Cubs Friday night, they have had 23 different pitchers start a game for the team this season...53 different players have pitched in at least one game for the Iowa this season, including five different position players.
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 record winning streak of 11 games with a win over Scranton/WB on Aug. 20, 1990.
BATEMAN: Brett Bateman ranks among the International League leaders in on-base percentage (4th, .431), walks (5th, 60) and batting average (6th, .312)...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...last Sunday he recorded his second three-hit since being promoted to Triple-A and fourth multi-hit game in nine appearances...Ayers is batting .333 (14-for-42) with two doubles, one home run, seven 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.
BALLY BALLY: Moises Ballesteros recorded his first multi-hit game last night since July 19, going 2-for-4 with an RBI...on Tuesday, he recorded two stolen bases, the first time in his professional baseball career he has recorded multiple stolen bases in a single game...he is currently slashing .243/.357/.365 with two home runs, 23 RBI and 22 walks since being optioned to Iowa on June 20.
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.