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April 2 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs vs. Toledo Mud Hens

April 2, 2024 - International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (1-2) vs. TOLEDO MUD HENS (2-1)

Tuesday, April 2 - 6:38 PM CT - Principal Park - Des Moines, IA

RHP Walker Powell (0-0 -.--) vs. LHP Bryan Sammons (0-0, -.--)

TONIGHT'S GAME: The Iowa Cubs host the Toledo Mud Hens tonight in their first home game of the season...right-hander Walker Powell is slated to make his first career Triple-A start opposed Toledo's left-handed pitcher Bryan Sammons.

WELCOME HOME: The I-Cubs are just 20-34 (.370) on home openers in franchise history (since 1969) but have won their last two opening home games, including an 8-5 win over Toledo in 2022...Iowa is 2-3 in their last five home openers, but split a doubleheader in 2018, falling to Oklahoma City 2-1 in Game 1 and defeating OKC 3-2 in Game 2.

SUNDAY'S NEWS: Iowa defeated Omaha in the series finale on Sunday, 2-0, giving the club their first win of the season...Hayden Wesneski (3.0), Riley Thompson (2.0), Edwin Escobar (1.2), Richard Lovelady (1.1) and Riley Martin (1.0) combined for the shutout while only allowing six hits and three walks...the only offense came in the 1st inning as Pete Crow-Armstrong led off the game with a walk and Jake Slaughter hit a two-blast to give the I-Cubs the lead.

THE BIG O: Cubs No. 3 prospect and No. 46 prospect (MiLB.com) in all of baseball Owen Caissie has made some noise in his Triple-A debut...the southpaw has reached base in nine of his 14 plate appearances with seven hits and two walks...his seven hits are tied for the International League lead with with Durham's Ronny Simon, ranks second with a .583 batting average and fifth with a .643 on-base percentage...in 2023, Caissie slashed .289/.398/.519 (127-for-439) in 120 games with Double-A Tennessee and added 22 home runs and 84 RBI...he was named a Minor League All-Star and Double-A All-Star by Baseball America along with All- MiLB Prospect First Team and MiLB.com Organization All-Star honors...additionally, Caissie ranked among Cubs farmhands in RBI (3rd), doubles (3rd, 31), home runs (T3rd), and batting average (5th).

AT THE HELM: Iowa Cubs Manager Marty Pevey returns as Iowa's manager for the 12th consecutive season in 2024, extending his records of longest tenured and winningest manager in Iowa history...his 82 wins in 2023 were the second most by any team Pevey has managed, trailing the 2000 Advanced-A Dunedin Blue Jays, who went 84-54 (.609)... Pevey has 681 career wins with Iowa, just 19 short of the 700-mark and holds a career managerial record of 1,325-1,356.

VS. THE MUD HENS: The I-Cubs are opposing the Toledo Mud Hens (Detroit) for the first time this season...the Mud Hens went 2-1 in their opening series vs. Nashville...Iowa and Toledo played 18 times last season with Toledo taking the season series 11-7, outscoring Iowa 112-93 (-19)...the I-Cubs and the Mud Hens will play three six-game series against each other this year, including tonight-April 7, June 4-9 at Iowa and Aug. 20-25 at Toledo.

START ME UP: Through the first three games of the season, Iowa's starting pitching staff is yet to surrender a run with Thomas Pannone tossing 5.0 scoreless innings on Friday night and Chris Clarke adding 3.0 more Saturday afternoon and Hayden Wesneski pitching 3.0 in Sunday's shutout...the I-Cubs are the lone team in the International League to have a starters ERA of 0.00 and one of two teams in Triple-A have played three games and have such an ERA, along with Sacramento (11.2 IP, San Francisco).

ROSTER RUNDOWN: In conjunction with the Chicago Cubs, the Iowa Cubs announced their Opening Day roster on Friday...the roster features 14 players with major league service time and 18 players who have past suited up for Iowa...additionally, the roster featured seven players on the Cubs' Top 30 Prospects List according to MLB.com, including OF Pete Crow-Armstrong (No. 1), OF Owen Caissie (No. 3), RHP Ben Brown(No. 10), OF Alexander Canario (No. 11), INF Matt Mervis (No. 14), INF BJ Murray Jr. (No. 17) and INF Luis Vazquez (No. 19)...just three players are making their first Triple-A roster, including right-handed pitcher Walker Powell, Murray Jr. and Caissie.

APRIL SHOWERS: The I-Cubs got off to a strong start last season as they posted a 16-8 record through April...Iowa won seven of their first 10 games, including each of their first four, outscoring their opponents 81-69 (+12) during that span...in 23 April games, the I-Cubs hit .292 (226-for-773) with 49 doubles, 6 triples, 39 home runs and 29 stolen bases while pitching to a 5.37 ERA (117 ER in 196.0 IP) with 218 strikeouts.

EXTRAS ON OPENING DAY: Friday night's extra innings game marked the first time the I-Cubs have gone to extra innings on Opening Day since April 3, 1997, in which they defeated Omaha 6-5 in 11 innings on the road...Iowa has gone to extras on Opening Day five times in franchise history, including 2024, 1997, 1995, 1988 and 1973.

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