IOWA CUBS (26-32, 56-74) at COLUMBUS CLIPPERS (29-27, 70-60)
September 2 • 5:35 PM CT • Huntington Park • Columbus, OH
LHP Justin Steele (0-0, -.--) vs. RHP Ben Lively (0-0, 2.70)
TONIGHT’S GAME: The Iowa Cubs and the Columbus Clippers are set to play the second of a six-game series at Huntington Park tonight...left-hander Justin Steele is set to open for the I-Cubs with right-hander Connor Noland expected to follow...right-hander Ben Lively is slated to start for Columbus.
FALLING LATE: The I-Cubs fell to the Columbus Clippers by a 7-6 score last night at Huntington Park...Owen Miller led the Iowa offense as he went 3-for-5 with two runs, two doubles, a triple and two RBI...Jordan Nwogu also added three hits including a double...James Triantos went 2-for-3 with two runs, two walks and a stolen base...right-hander Kohl Franklin worked 4.2 innings and allowed three runs on five hits with two strikeouts.
COMEBACK CUBS: Iowa earned their fifth come from behind victory in their last nine games Saturday night...four of those wins have come when they have been trailing and down to their final three outs...Thursday night the I-Cubs secured their third victory this season when trailing after eight innings, all coming in their last nine games...prior to this stretch, Iowa was 0-50 in games when trailing after eight innings.
WALK IT OFF: The I-Cubs earned their second consecutive walk-off win Friday night and their fifth walk-off win of the season...Thursday’s victory was the first walk off win for Iowa since June 17 when James Triantos hit an RBI single to walk it off in a 6-5 victory over Indianapolis in ten innings...it was the first time this season Iowa has earned a walk-off victory when trailing heading into the ninth inning...the last time Iowa earned a walk-off victory in nine innings when entering the inning trailing was May 8, 2024 in a 9-8 victory over Columbus.
MAN OF STEELE: Left-handed pitcher Justin Steele is set to make his first outing in a competitive game since April 7, 2025 vs. Texas...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.
RUNNER: James Triantos tallied another multi-hit game last night and added a stolen base bringing his season total to 121 hits and 26 stolen bases...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 (4th, .309), doubles (5th, 27) and hits (7th, 121).
EXTRA, EXTRA: The I-Cubs improved their record to 8-5 in extra inning games this season with their win on Saturday night against Omaha...it marked Iowa’s fifth straight extra-innings win as they defeated Toledo 7-3 in 10 innings on Aug. 20, 5-4 in ten innings against Toledo on Aug. 18, Indianapolis 5-3 in 10 innings on Aug. 5 and Memphis 5-4 in 10 innings on July 18...it was the third extra innings win at Principal Park during the 2026 campaign and first since June 17 versus Indianapolis.
I WILL TAKE THREE: Iowa Cubs’ infielder Owen Miller hit Iowa’s 27th triple of the season last night, which is fourth-most in the International League this season...also is the most by the I-Cubs since 2023 (29).
AYE-RS!: Chicago Cubs’ No. 2 overall prospect catcher Owen Ayers hit his third Triple-A home run Saturday night, a go-ahead two-run shot in the fifth inning...Ayers threw out his 34th runner of this season Sunday afternoon between Advanced-A ,Double-A and Triple-A, which is tied for 15th most of any player at those levels...he drew three walks Friday night for the second time this season, last doing so with Double-A Knoxville on April 24 against Chattanooga...On Thursday he collected his first walk off hit since being promoted to Iowa on July 17...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...Owen has also reached base in 14 straight games dating back to Aug. 15...he is slashing .255/.387/.412 (13-for-51) during this stretch and is tied for the sixth-longest streak by an I-Cub this season, trailing Kevin Alcántara’s 42-game stretch.
CONGRATS BJ!: Long-time Iowa Cub BJ Murray made his Major League debut last night vs. Milwaukee, going 1-for-4 with a single in the Cubs’ 9-4 loss...Murray had played in 118 games with Iowa this season, batting .294 (128-for-436) with 74 runs, 24 doubles, nine triples, 16 home runs, 68 RBI and 69 walks...he played in 88 games with the I-Cubs in 2024 and hit .204 (61-for-299) with 11 home runs and 39 RBI before batting .242 (107-for-443) in 125 games with Double-A Knoxville in 2025.
AGAINST COLUMBUS: The Iowa Cubs and the Columbus Clippers are meeting for the fourth and final time of the 2026 season...Iowa is currently 7-9 versus the Clippers this year...the two teams last met May 5-10 at Principal Park, with the teams splitting the series 3-3...the teams last met in Columbus April 14-19, also resulting in a 3-3 split...the two teams met on Opening Weekend (March 27-29) at Principal Park, with the Clippers taking the series 2-1, the difference in the 2026 season series between the two teams.
GO BLUE: Iowa Cubs outfielder Jordan Nwogu tallied his first career three-hit game at the Triple-A level last night at Columbus, which raised his batting average from .186 to .219...it marked his first three-hit game since April 3 of this season with Double-A Knoxville...his last four-hit game came on Aug. 21, 2025 with Knoxville as he went 4-for-5 with two runs scored.
WICKS FLICKS: Tomorrow night’s starting pitcher for the Iowa Cubs Jordan Wicks celebrated his 27th birthday yesterday...in his last five starts dating back to Aug. 5, the Kansas State product has gone 2-1 with a 2.38 ERA (6 ER in 22.2 IP) with 19 strikeouts and has surrendered just 18 hits and eight walks...Jordan entered his start on Aug. 5 with a 7.09 ERA and has since lowered it to 5.79...he made the start on Aug. 11 vs. St. Paul at the Field of Dreams game in Dyersville, Iowa and earned the win as he tossed 5.0 innings and allowed two runs (one earned) on two hits (one home run) and struck out two vs. allowing just one walk.