IOWA CUBS (27-38, 57-80) vs. TOLEDO MUD HENS (34-31, 68-71)
September 11 • 7:08 PM CT • Principal Park • Des Moines, IA
LHP Braxton Garrett (1-2, 5.56) vs. RHP Dylan File (6-10, 5.58)
TONIGHT’S GAME: The Iowa Cubs and the Toledo Mud Hens are set to play the third of a five-game series at Principal Park tonight...left-hander Braxton Garrett is set to make his sixth appearance (14th start) for Iowa...right-hander Dylan File is slated to start for Toledo.
MUDDY: The I-Cubs fell to the Toledo Mud Hens 9-1 on Thursday night at Principal Park...Kevin Alcantara drove in the lone run of the game for Iowa, while Chas McCormick and Owen Ayers reached base twice...Justin Steele and Shelby Miller continued their Major League Reab Assignments, with Miller throwing a scoreless inning, allowing one hit and striking out one.
UPS AND DOWNS: After winning eight of their previous nine games, including consecutive series victories over the Toledo Mud Hens and the Omaha Storm Chasers, the I-Cubs have lost five games in a row and seven of their last eight games...the I-Cubs lost the series finale versus Omaha, before going 1-5 against the Columbus Clippers last week and losing the first two games in the current series versus Toledo.
MAN OF STEELE: Left-handed pitcher Justin Steele made his third outing in a competitive game on Thursday night versus Toledo...he pitched 2.0 innings and allowed two runs on four hits while striking out three...last Wednesday at Columbus he made his first competitive outing since April 7, 2025 vs. Texas...he threw 1.2 innings and allowed one earned run on three hits...he was placed on the injured list on April 9, 2025 with left elbow tendinitis...Steele was named an All-Star in 2023 and has gone 32-22 with a 3.30 ERA (186 ER in 506.2 IP) in 102 games (91 starts) with the Cubs.
KIPP TO MY LOU: Iowa pitcher Grant Kipp pitched 1.1 scoreless innings out of the bullpen Thursday night, striking out three...over his last five outings, Kipp has posted a 2-0 record with a 0.79 ERA across 11.1 IP (1 ER), allowing five hits and eight walks while striking out 18...Kipp matched his Triple-A high for strikeouts in an outing with seven on Aug. 21 at Toledo, hitting that mark twice more this year...his season high for strikeouts in a game is eight, doing so with Double-A Knoxville May 7 versus Birmingham and May 27 at Chattanooga.
REHAB CLINIC: The I-Cubs have several Chicago Cubs pitchers on the roster currently on Major League Rehab Assignments...Justin Steele (3rd appearance) and Shelby Miller (11th appearance) pitched Thursday night out of the bullpen, while Gavin Hollowell (2nd appearance) and Edward Cabrera (3rd appearance) continued their rehab assignments on Wednesday...Iowa has had 11 different pitchers join the team on Major League Rehab Assignment this season thus far....Matt Shaw is the lone position player for Chicago thus far this season to join Iowa on a Major League Rehab Assignment.
AYE-RS!: Chicago Cubs’ No. 2 overall prospect catcher Owen Ayers threw out his 38th and 39th runners of the season Thursday night between Advanced-A, Double-A and Triple-A, which is tied for 8th most of any player at those levels...it also marked the fifth time in 29 appearances at catcher since being promoted to Triple-A he has caught multiple runners stealing in the same game, last doing so on September 3 at Columbus...since being promoted to Triple-A on July 17, he has recorded 17 runners caught stealing, which is tied for 12th most amongst all Triple-A catchers across the full 2026 season.
ALL GOOD THINGS COME TO AN END: The Iowa Cubs are playing their final home series of the 2026 season at Principal Park this week...Iowa has a 28-42 (.400) record at home heading into the final homestand of the season...they also played Toledo in the final home series of the 2025 season, losing the series 1-5.
TWO, THREE: Iowa Cubs’ infielder Owen Miller hit his 30th double of the season Wednesday afternoon, which is third-most in the International League this season, trailing Indianapolis’ Ronny Simon (33) and former I-Cub Jonathon Long (34)...he also hit his seventh triple of the year last Tuesday in Columbus, which trails 2026 I-Cub teammate BJ Murray for the league lead (9).
RUNNER: James Triantos tallied another multi-hit game Sunday afternoon and now has 123 hits and 26 stolen bases on the season...the last I-Cub to match those numbers was John Andreoli with 130 hits and 43 stolen bases in 2016...James ranks among International League leaders in batting average (6th, .298), doubles (8th, 27) and hits (7th, 123).
JUMPMAN: Iowa Cubs outfielder Jordan Nwogu collected his third multi-hit game in his last six games yesterday, going 2-for-4...he collected his second consecutive multi-hit game last Thursday night, the first time he has notched back-to-back multi-hit efforts at the Triple-A level...Jordan last recorded back-to-back multi hit games on April 8-9 with Double-A Knoxville against Rocket City...he tallied his first career three-hit game at Triple-A last Tuesday night in Columbus...it marked his first three-hit game since April 3 of this season with Double-A Knoxville...Nwogu is batting .450 (9-for-20) with one home run and four RBI over his last six games, raising his batting average from .186 to .253.
VERSUS TOLEDO: The I-Cubs and the Mud Hens are meeting for the fourth and final time of the 2026 season...Iowa won the series 4-2 in Toledo August 18 - 22...Toledo won the last series at Principal Park 4-1, with the series finale cancelled due to rain...against Toledo, Iowa currently holds a season record of 8-11.
CHAS: Over his last 18 games, Chas McCormick is batting .367/.486/.583 (22-for-60) with four doubles, three home runs, 11 RBI, and 13 walks... Chas went 3-for-3 Saturday night and hit his 13th home run of the season, marking tthe second time in this stretch he has recorded a three-hit game, also doing so August 20 versus Toledo... he had two three-hit games this year prior to this stretch, June 27 against Buffalo and April 29 at St. Paul.
THE JAG: Kevin Alcantara has played at first base in two games this week, the first time in his professional career he has logged time at the position in a game... he has recorded 22 putouts in his first two games at the position...Kevin has set a new career high for home runs in a single season (19) surpassing his previous career high (17) in 2025 with Iowa.
AT THE END OF THE NIGHT: Tonight is the final home night game at Principal Park in the 2026 season, with Saturday and Sunday’s games scheduled for 3:08 and 1:08 PM start times...Iowa has posted a 34-53 record (.390) in night games this year...the 3:08 start time on Saturday is the first Saturday afternoon game at Principal Park since May 9, a 13-6 victory over Columbus.