IL Iowa Cubs

August 23 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs at Toledo Mud Hens

Published on August 23, 2024 under International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (53-70) at TOLEDO MUD HENS (58-64)

Thursday, August 22 - 5:35 PM CT - Fifth Third Field - Toledo, OH

RHP Connor Noland (3-1, 3.00) vs. LHP Lael Lockhart (2-6, 5.82)

TONIGHT'S GAME: The Iowa Cubs and Toledo Mud Hens play the fourth of a six-game series tonight...right-hander Connor Noland is scheduled to make his sixth appearance (fifth start) with Iowa...Connor made 16 starts with Double-A Tennessee and went 7-3 with a 2.50 ERA (24 ER in 86.1 IP)...opposite of Noland will be left-hander Lael Lockhart for Toledo...Lockhart went 2-2 with a 1.93 ERA (6 ER in 28.0 IP) in seven outings (six starts) with Double-A Erie.

LATE HEROICS: The I-Cubs won last night's game in 11 innings by a 5-3 score at Toledo...Iowa scored three runs in the 11th inning as Luis Vázquez, Chase Strumpf and Miles Mastrobuoni all singled home a run...the offense was led by Matt Shaw who went 2-for-4 with a homer and James Triantos who went 3-for-6 with a double...starter Brandon Birdsell worked 6.0 scoreless frames and struck out nine.

COOL JAMES: Infielder and Cubs No. 5 prospect James Triantos tallied his first three-hit game at the Triple level last night...Triantos started his stint with Iowa going 0-for-8 but is batting .354 (17-for48) since Aug. 8 and has hit in 11 of his 12 starts with Iowa...James is one of three players in the minor leagues with at least 120 hits and 40 stolen bases.

BALLY GOES DEEP: Iowa Cubs catcher Moises Ballesteros hit his eighth home run as an I-Cub in game one Saturday vs. Columbus and his 17th of the season (nine with Double-A Tennessee)...he is one of 11 players in all of minor league baseball aged 20-or-younger to have at least 17 longballs this season...Bally has homered three times in his last 10 games.

MATTY ICE: Cubs No. 1 prospect Matt Shaw hit his third home run as an I-Cub last night and his third in his last seven games...Shaw has hit 17 home runs this season between Double-A Tennessee and Iowa which rank tied for fourth-most among Cubs farmhands...Matt is batting .379 (11-for-29) with four extra-base hits, nine RBI, five walks and four multi-hit efforts in his last nine games.

BIRDSELL STRIKEOUTS: Last night's starter Brandon Birdsell tallied his third game with at least nine strikeouts this season...on Aug. 8 at Omaha Brandon punched out nine batters which was the most by an I-Cub since Ben Brown sat 11 on July 19, 2023...Birdsell has struck out at least five batters in four straight games, the longest such streak by an Iowa pitcher since Caleb Kilian did so in seven straight game from July 14-Aug. 23, 2022.

ALL THE SMALL THINGS: Iowa suffered a one-run loss Wednesday night at Toledo and dropped to 25-18 in one-run games this season...Iowa has played the most one-run games in the International League during this season (43) ahead of next-closest Jacksonville (41).

EXTRA, EXTRA: Iowa improved to 7-6 in extra-inning games in last night's 11 inning contest...two of Iowa's last three games have gone to extra frames for the first time since May 7-9 vs. Columbus.

VS. TOLEDO: Iowa and Toledo are playing their third series of the season and first at Fifth Third Field...despite last night's loss, the I-Cubs have won eight of the 14 games played between the two clubs...in terms of the all-time series between the I-Cubs and the Mud Hens, Toledo leads with a mark of 38-27 and Toledo also leads in games that have been played at Fifth Third Field with a mark of 13-6.

THE BIG O: Cubs' No. 3 prospect Owen Caissie hit his 13th home run of the season in the first game of the doubleheader last Thursday and has homered in three of his last 12 games...Caissie homered in back-to-back games from Aug. 4-6 this season which marked the first time he has done so since July 30- Aug. 1, 2023 with Double-A Tennessee...additionally, it was the seventh time the outfielder has done so in his career.

UPHILL: After recording the longest losing streak of the season from July 23-Aug. 1 (nine games), Iowa has gone 10-8 in their last 15 games dating back to Aug. 2...the I-Cubs last two series have been six-game splits with First Half Champions Omaha (Kansas City) and Columbus (Cleveland).

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