August 21 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs vs. Sugar Land Space Cowboys
IL Iowa Cubs

August 21 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs vs. Sugar Land Space Cowboys

Published on August 21, 2025 under International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (59-62, 20-27) vs. Sugar Land Space Cowboys (58-61, 19-25)

Thursday, August 21 - 6:38 PM CT - Principal Park - Des Moines, IA

RHP Spencer Turnbull (0-4, 7.88) vs. RHP Jose Fleury (0-1, 12.60)

TONIGHT'S GAME: The Iowa Cubs play the third of a six-game series today vs. the 2024 Triple-A champs Sugar Land tonight...right-hander Spencer Turnbull is slated to make his fifth start for the I-Cubs this season and his 11th in the minor leagues...right-hander Jose Fleury is scheduled to make his eighth appearance (fourth start) for Sugar Land.

JOHNNY WHOLESTAFF: The I-Cubs shutout Sugar Land by a 5-0 score in a bullpen game... Ethan Roberts (1.0), Riley Martin (3.0), Caleb Kilian (1.2), Nate Pearson (1.1) and Keegan Thompson (2.0) combined for the shutout... James Triantos led the offense going 2-for-4 with a run, a double and an RBI... Carlos Pérez had a double and drove in two runs.

DAY TIME, BEST TIME: Yesterday, Iowa and Sugar Land matched up for the first of two day games this series...Iowa improved to 27-18 in such games this season which is the most day game wins in the International League this season ahead of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (25-12)...Sugar Land has gone 9-8 in day games this season.

GO LONG: Infielder Jonathon Long hit his 18th home run Friday night and his second in his last six games...the 18 home runs gave Long a career high, surpassing the 17 he hit between Advanced-A South Bend and Double-A Knoxville last season...Long has reached base in 32 straight games, the second-longest active streak in the International League, the longest of his career and the second-longest by an I-Cub since Yonathan Perlaza reached in 34 straight games in 2023...during this stretch, Long is batting .313 (35-for-112) with 19 runs scored, eight doubles, five home runs and 23 RBI...the on-base streak is the second-longest by an I-Cub since data was made available in 2005.

VS. SUGAR LAND: The I-Cubs and Space Cowboys face off the first time in franchise history this week...it marks the first time Iowa has hosted a Texas team since they hosted the San Antonio Missions from Aug. 19-22.

BLANKED: The I-Cubs earned their ninth shutout of the season in a bullpen game yesterday...it marked their second straight Wednesday noon game shutout, following a 1-0 game vs. Worcester.

BIG TIME BALLY: Catcher Moises Ballesteros hit his 11th home run off the season off Alex Hoppe Saturday...Ballesteros has hit all of his home runs this season off right-handed pitching...Bally has hit safely in 15 of his last 18 games dating back to July 24 at Louisville.

BACK TO THE PCL: Iowa will play a team from the Pacific Coast League since joining the International League in 2022...tonight marks the first of a 12-game stretch in which the I-Cubs will play clubs from the Pacific Coast League, including six this week vs. Sugar Land and six next week at Las Vegas.

THE JAGUAR: Outfielder Kevin Alcántara has gone 7-for-17 with four runs, a double, a home run and five RBI in his last three games...the homer marked his 16th home run of the season marked his third in his last eight games...in addition, it marked a career high for him, surpassing the 15 he hit in 2022 with Low-A Myrtle Beach...Kevin ranks among Cubs minor leaguers in RBI (5th, 64), homers (5th), slugging percentage (5th, .471) and OPS (7th, .822).

HOW GRAND: Friday night, Forrest Wall hit a grand slam to put the I-Cubs ahead in the game...it marked the second grand slam of his career and the fifth of the season by Iowa (last - 6/21 at NAS, Pérez)...Wall hit a home run for his first hit as an Iowa player, making him the first I-Cub to do so since Jake Hager on July 3, 2024.

DOUBLE TROUBLE:

The I-Cubs have been effective on offense, especially when they've been leading the International League in doubles (250) for majority of the season, 4th at the Triple-A level...five active I-Cubs have at least 20 doubles... Moisés Ballesteros leads the team with 28 doubles currently and ties for 5th in the International League.

Check out the Iowa Cubs Statistics

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