IOWA CUBS (2-4, 32-46) vs. TOLEDO MUD HENS (5-1, 39-41)
June 30 • 11:05 AM CT • Fifth Third Field • Toledo, OH
RHP Will Sanders (4-0, 4.75) vs. RHP Dylan File (4-4, 6.16)
TODAY’S GAME: The Iowa Cubs and the Toledo Mud Hens are set to play the first game of a six-game series at Fifth Third Park today...right-hander Will Sanders is set to make his eighth appearance (seventh start) for Iowa...right-hander Dylan File is scheduled to start for Toledo.
SUNDAY BLUES: The I-Cubs fell in the series finale 8-5 on Sunday against Buffalo at Principal Park...Scott Kingery homered, James Triantos had two RBI, and Jonathon Long and Moises Ballesteros recorded one RBI each...after falling behind 8-0 in the third inning, Iowa scored five unanswered runs...they brought the tying run to the plate in the fifth, sixth, and eighth innings but were unable to close the gap...Scott Kingery, Drew Pomeranz, Corbin Martin, and Christian Bethancourt combined to throw 6.1 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit.
TRI: Chicago Cubs’ No. 9 prospect James Triantos is batting .348 (31-for-89) with eight doubles, two home runs and 17 RBI in 23 June games...James extended his hitting streak to 13 games on Sunday with a single, making it the second longest active hitting streak in Triple-A behind St. Paul’s Gabriel Gonzalez (14 games)...he is batting .373 (19-for-51) with four doubles, one home run, and 11 RBI during the stretch...Triantos is ranked fifth in the International League with 85 hits on the season...James is just one home run shy of tying a career high of seven done twice, in 2022 and 2025...he did not hit his fifth home run of year last season until Aug. 29 at Las Vegas...Triantos’ 85 hits and 17 stolen bases are numbers matched by just three other players in the IL, Nashville’s Luis Lara, Gwinnett’s Jim Jarvis and Indianapolis’ Ronny Simon.
BJ BALLIN’: I-Cubs infielder BJ Murray extended his hitting streak to a season high nine games on Saturday, batting .462 (18-for-39) with 11 runs scored, four doubles, two triples, two home runs, four RBI, and four walks during the stretch... Murray recorded two hits Friday night, giving him six multi-hit efforts in his last nine games.....Wednesday marked the second time Murray has had back-to-back three hit performances this season, last doing so April 21-22 vs. Louisville...BJ is the first I-Cub to have at least five triples in a season since Donnie Dewees also had five in 2019...BJ ranks among International League leaders in triples (1st, 5), batting average (1st, .327), hits (3rd, 87), OPS (3rd, .961), on-base percentage (4th, .423), total bases (5th, 143) and extra-base hits (5th, 33).
THE JAGUAR: Kevin Alcántara extended his on-base streak to 35 games on Sunday with a single in the fourth inning...the streak is now tied with Jonathon Long for the longest on-base streak in Iowa Cubs history...in addition, it is the longest active streak in the International League and second longest active streak in Triple-A...the on-base streak is the longest in the International League this season, and the third longest in Triple-A...Kevin was called up to Chicago on Monday.
WILL THE THRILL: Iowa Starter Will Sanders is set to make his fourth start since being activated off the injured list by Iowa on June 12...in his three previous appearances, Sanders is 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA, allowing just five earned runs in 15.0 innings pitched, with 18 strikeouts against four walks.
BATEMAN!: I-Cubs outfielder Brett Bateman has reached base safely in 16 of his last 19 games, including a season high 11-game hitting streak from June 6-19... in the month of June, Bateman is batting .329 (24-for-73) with 13 runs scored, four doubles, seven RBI, and 16 walks...Brett currently ranks second in the International League in on-base percentage (.430) and sixth in walks (47).
POSITIONLESS BASEBALL: On Sunday, Iowa position players Scott Kingery and Christian Bethancourt pitched for Iowa, combining to throw 2.1 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit...Bethancourt struck out Buffalo’s lead off hitter Jay Harry with a 94 MPH fastball...this was the second time in the series Iowa pitched two position players in a game after Catchers Eric Yang and Casey Opitz pitched on Thursday...Kingery became the first I-Cub pitcher to homer in a game since Tyson Miller on August 26, 2019.
THE GRAND BALL: Kevin Alcántara hit the seventh grand slam of the season for Iowa last Wednesday, surpassing the season total the I-Cubs have had for grand slams over the last two seasons...the most grand slams Iowa has hit in a season since 2017 is eight, done in 2023...Kevin’s grand slam was one of four grand slam Iowa hit during their 12 game homestand in Des Moines after Owen Miller hit one on June 16, Ben Cowles hit one on June 17 and Jonathon Long hit one on June 19.
VS. TOLEDO: The I-Cubs and the Mud Hens are meeting for the second time this season after meeting June 1-7 at Principal Park...Toledo won the series 4-1, with the series finale being cancelled due to inclement weather.