IOWA CUBS (11-10, 41-52) at GWINNETT STRIPERS (10-10, 48-46)
July 21 • 5:35 PM CT • Gwinnett Field • Lawrenceville, GA
RHP Grant Kipp (0-0, 7.59) vs. LHP Herick Hernandez (0-0, 6.35)
TONIGHT’S GAME: The Iowa Cubs and the Gwinnett Stripers are set to play the first of a six-game series tonight at Gwinnett Field...right hander Grant Kipp is set to make his fourth appearance (third start) for the I-Cubs...left-handed pitcher Herick Hernandez is set to start for Gwinnett.
RUN IT UP: The Iowa Cubs defeated the Memphis Redbirds by a 13-4 score Sunday afternoon...Jonathon Long led the I-Cubs offense as he went 4-for-6 with two runs, two doubles, one home run and two RBI...James Triantos added two hits and Brett Bateman, Moises Ballesteros, Owen Miller and Ben Cowles all had two hits with Miller and Bateman both hitting home runs...starter Will Sanders earned his sixth win of the season worked 5.0 innings and allowed two runs (one earned) with two strikeouts...Ethan Roberts, Jake Woodford and Collin Snider all worked a scoreless frame.
AYE-RS!: Chicago Cubs’ No. 8 overall prospect Owen Ayers made his Triple-A debut Friday night at Memphis, going 3-for-4 with a walk...Ayers played in 65 games in Knoxville, batting .304 with 16 home runs and 48 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,
BATEMAN: Brett Bateman extended his hit streak to eight games Sunday and is slashing .459/.535/.676 (17-for-37) with three doubles, a triple, a home run and 10 RBI during the stretch...on Sunday, Brett hit his third home run of the season, which is a career best...Bateman entered the 2026 season with four career home runs in professional baseball...he ranks among International League leaders in on-base percentage (1st, .435), walks (4th, 56) and batting average (6th, .310)...the I-Cubs have had just on player lead the 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.
GWINNETT CONNECTIONS: The Iowa Cubs and Gwinnett Stripers are meeting for the first time down in Lawrenceville...Iowa Cubs Media Relations Manager, Peter Brooks started his career in professional baseball as a intern in 2019 under the guidance of current Senior Manager of PR and Broadcasting Dave Lezotte...I-Cubs broadcaster Jason Kempf and Lezotte are both Wisconsin natives...Stripers’ Assistant General Manager Nick Bernabe is the son of current I-Cubs President and longtime General Manager Sam Bernabe.
BIG WILLIE STYLE: Starting pitcher Will Sanders picked up his sixth win of the season on Sunday...in his last seven appearances (six starts) since returning from injury on June 12, Sanders has gone 4-1 with a 3.00 ERA (11 ER in 33.0 IP) with 33 strikeouts...during that span, Sanders ranks among International League leaders in wins (1st), innings pitched (2nd), opponents’ average (3rd, .174), WHIP (3rd, 0.85), strikeouts (4th) and ERA (7th).
JONNY LONG: Chicago’s No. 6 prospect Jonathon Long went 4-for-6 Sunday afternoon at Memphis to give him his third game with at least three hits in his last six games...in the month of July, Long is batting .386 (22-for-57) with eight doubles, four home runs and 12 RBI...on July 9, Long went 5-for-5 with a walk, five runs scored, two doubles, a home run, and two RBI...it marked the first time in Long’s professional career he has had a five hit game and the first time he has reached base six times in a single game in his career as well...the five-hit performance was the first since Owen Cassie did so on July 22, 2025 against Louisville...he came up one hit short of tying the franchise record for most hits in a game (6), held by Jeff Small (June 1, 1990) and Tony LaRussa (June 18, 1976)...his five runs scored were the most in a single game since Moises Ballesteros did so on April 16, 2025 against St. Paul.
TRI: Chicago Cubs’ No. 7 prospect and infielder/outfielder James Triantos currently leads the International League in hits (107), ranks tied for second in doubles (24), and fourth in batting average (.314)...since June 2, Triantos is batting .361 (53-for-147) with 14 doubles, three home runs and 25 RBI...James is one of four players in all of minor league baseball with at least 107 hits and 18 stolen bases, along with Josue De Paula (LAD), Andy Perez (COL) and Roldy Brito (COL)...he is the only farmhand in Triple-A with such numbers.
MILLER TIME: I-Cubs infielder Owen Miller’s season-high hitting streak ended at 14 games Saturday night...it was the joint longest active streak in Triple-A, longest active streak in the International League, and longest by an I-Cub during the 2026 campaign, matching James Triantos’ 14-game stretch from June 14-30...during the streak, Owen was batting .443 (27-for-61) with eight doubles, two triples, and 13 RBI...Owen also had six consecutive multi-hit games, which is the second-longest streak in the IL this season and the longest by an I-Cub this season, surpassing Jonathon Long’s five game streak from April 3-8...this is the first time an Iowa player has had six straight multi-hit games since Kevin Alcántara from June 27-July 3, 2025...Miller hit seven doubles in the series versus St. Paul from July 7-12, including hitting three doubles on July 8, the first time an I-Cub has tallied three doubles in a game since Pete Crow-Armstrong on May 24, 2024.
WICKS FLICKS: Iowa left-handed starting pitcher Jordan Wicks pitched five innings Saturday night, the first time he has done so since June 21 versus Indianapolis...it marked Jordan’s fourth appearance of five or more innings during the 2026 campaign across his 14 appearances...he posted six strikeouts, matching his season high from May 15 at Nashville.