IOWA CUBS (14-21, 44-63) at INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS (22-13, 53-57)
August 6 • 5:35 PM CT • Victory Field • Indianapolis, IN
RHP Connor Noland (2-4, 6.19) vs. RHP Antwone Kelly (5-5, 4.29)
TODAY’S GAME: The Iowa Cubs and the Indianapolis Indians are set to play the third game of a six-game series tonight...right-handed pitcher Connor Noland is set to make his 13th appearance (12th start) this year with Iowa, and first since June 11...right-hander Antwone Kelly is set to start for Indianapolis.
BACK IN THE W COLUMN: The Iowa Cubs defeated the Indianapolis Indians 5-3 in ten innings Wednesday afternoon...Owen Ayers led the offense with two hits and two RBI while Chas McCormick also tallied two hits as well...tied 3-3 through nine innings, Ayers hit a go-ahead double to lead off the tenth inning and Owen Miller drove in an insurance run...Jordan Wicks earned his first win of the season, throwing 3.1 scoreless innings out of the bullpen, allowing just one hit with three strikeouts...Chicago Cubs Pitcher Edward Cabrera started the game for Iowa, his second start on Major League Rehab...he dominated, throwing 4.0 innings, allowing one unearned run on one hit while striking out eight...it is Iowa’s fifth extra innings win in 2026.
SKID SNAPPED: The I-Cubs snapped a seven game losing streak, their second longest of the season...last week versus Scranton, they were swept in a six-game series for the second time this season following May 12-17 at Nashville...the I-Cubs had not been swept at Principal Park in a six-game series since July 23-28, 2024 vs. Indianapolis.
WALK THIS WAY: The I-Cubs matched their season high for walks in a game after walking 13 Indianapolis hitters Tuesday night...they last allowed 13 walks in a game on May 19 versus Memphis...Iowa currently lead the International League in walks (547), rank second in all of Triple-A, trailing Oklahoma City (573) and rank tenth in all of Minor League Baseball.
ERROR MESSAGE: Yesterday the I-Cubs committed four errors in a game for the second time this season, last doing so on April 2 at Louisville...they committed three errors on Tuesday, giving them seven errors thus far in the series...they are tied for 15th in the International League with 88 errors on the season.
AYE-RS!: Chicago Cubs’ No. 2 overall prospect and catcher Owen Ayers recorded his fifth multi-hit game in fifteen appearances since being promoted to Iowa...Ayers is batting .340 (17-for-50) with four doubles, one home run, nine RBI, 10 walks, and three stolen bases since joining the I-Cubs...Ayers played in 65 games in Double-A Knoxville, batting .304 with 16 home runs and 48 RBI...since being promoted to Iowa on the 17th of July, 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.
JUST PITCH IT: With Edward Cabrera starting for the I-Cubs last 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.
AT THE DEADLINE: Iowa lost four players in trades on Sunday and Monday...catcher Moises Ballesteros is heading west to join the Los Angeles Angels in exchange for reliever Ryan Zeferjahn...Bally played in 214 games with the I-Cubs across three seasons. He batted .293 (242-for-825) with 52 doubles, 25 home runs and 134 RBI...first baseman Jonathon Long is joining former Iowa Cub Owen Caissie in Miami in exchange for Braxton Garrett...Long played for Iowa in 2025-26 and batted .296 (269-for-910) with 32 home runs and 153 RBI in 239 games. Long set a franchise record last season as he reached base in 35 straight games which has since been broken by Kevin Alcántara...also heading to South Beach is pitcher Jace Beck who went 0-1 with a 6.60 ERA (11 ER in 15.0 IP) with the I-Cubs in five appearances...outfielder Brett Bateman is heading north to the Blue Jays in exchange for RHP Kevin Gausman...Bateman batted .312 (89-for-285) in 82 games with the I-Cubs (all in 2026) with 18 doubles, three home runs, 33 RBI and 20 stolen bases.
THE BIG HIT: Since returning from the All-Star Break, Iowa is batting .238 (42-for-176) with runners in scoring position.
AT INDIANAPOLIS: the Iowa Cubs and Indianapolis are playing their third series of the season versus each other...each team has won seven games over the course of the season.
THREE ME: BJ Murray recorded his seventh triple of the season last 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.
HIT PARADE: The I-Cubs pitching staff surrendered 20 hits in Sunday’s loss to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre...it marked the second-most hits allowed by the Iowa Cubs pitchers this season, just behind the 21 they gave up on June 11 at Louisville.
THE JAGUAR: Outfielder Kevin Alcántara was called up to Chicago on Monday and hit his first Major League home run...prior to being called up, Kevin extended his on-base streak to 41 games with a single in the eighth inning on Sunday...it is the second-longest active on-base streak in Minor League Baseball, trailing Nolan Schubart (58 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 franchise history on July 26 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.