IOWA CUBS (28-38, 58-80) vs. TOLEDO MUD HENS (34-32, 68-72)
September 12 • 3:08 PM CT • Principal Park • Des Moines, IA
RHP Andrew Wantz (2-1, 4.17) vs. RHP Sawyer Gipson-Long (3-6, 5.56)
TODAY’S GAME: The Iowa Cubs and the Toledo Mud Hens are set to play the fourth of a five-game series at Principal Park today...right-hander Andrew Wantz is set to make his 13th appearance (8th start) for Iowa...right- hander Sawyer Gipson-Long is slated to start for Toledo.
BACK ON TRACK: The I-Cubs snapped a five game losing streak, defeating the Toledo Mud Hens 9-3 on Friday night at Principal Park...every I-Cub reached base, with eight of nine collecting hits...up 2-1 in the seventh inning, Iowa expoloded for five runs courtesy of a three- run home run by Kevin Alcantara and a two-run double by James Triantos to blow the game open...Triantos and Owen Miller each had three hits, while Alcantara, Justin Dean, Owen Ayers, and Chas McCormick had two apiece...Braxton Garrett earned the win (his second with Iowa) after pitching 5.0 innings and allowing no earned runs...Gavin Hollowell, Jayden Murray, and Gabe Klobosits threw 3.0 scoreless innings of relief.
SWEET SIXTEEN: The I-Cubs recorded 16 hits in last nights contest versus Toledo, the most they have had in a single game since July 19 at Memphis...they scored five runs in the seventh inning, the most runs they have scored in a single inning since scoring four runs in the tenth inning on August 22 at Toledo...it was the first time they have scored at least five runs in a single inning since scoring six runs in the first inning on August 13 versus St. Paul.
CHAS: Over his last 19 games, Chas McCormick is batting .369/.481/.585 (24-for-65) with five doubles, three home runs, 12 RBI, and 13 walks... in the month of September, Chas is batting .414/.500/.621 (12-for-29...he went 3-for-3 Saturday night and hit his 13th home run of the season, marking the 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...since August 18, he ranks first in the International League on-base percentage (.481) second in batting average (.369),, and fifth in OPS (1.066).
THE JAG: Kevin Alcantara belted his 20th home run of the season last night, setting a new career high for home runs in a single season, surpassing his previous career high of (17) in 2025 with Iowa...he has played at first base in three games this week, the first time in his professional career he has logged time at the position in a game...he has recorded 34 putouts in his first three career games at the position.
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.
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)...teammate James Triantos is one spot behind Owen, with 29 doubles on the year...Miller 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 last night and now has 126 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 (3rd, .302), doubles (4th, 29) and hits (7th, 126).
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 (3rd appearance) appeared on Friday night and Edward Cabrera (3rd appearance) last appeared 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...Owen went 2-for-5 on Friday night, recording his 11th multi-hit performance in 43 games at the Triple-A level.
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 29-42 (.408) record at home this season...they also played Toledo in the final home series of the 2025 season, losing the series 1-5.
JUMPMAN: Iowa Cubs outfielder Jordan Nwogu collected his third multi-hit game in his last seven games on Wednesday, 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 .417 (10-for-24) with two doubles, one home run and four RBI over his last seven 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 9-11.
AT THE END OF THE NIGHT: Last night was 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 35-53 record (.397) 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.