IL Omaha Storm Chasers

Chasers Loose Lead in Ninth and Fall to I-Cubs 6-5

Published on June 30, 2023 under International League (IL)
Omaha Storm Chasers News Release


PAPILLION, NEB. - While Omaha Storm Chasers starter Max Castillo threw his fourth quality stars, the Iowa Cubs scored three runs in the ninth to pull ahead on Friday night, in a 6-5 loss for Omaha.

Castillo kept the Cubs to just a one hit across his first five innings, a solo homer in the third inning. While he allowed what was a game-tying two-run homer in the sixth, he finished the night with just three earned runs allowed on three hits over 6.0 innings, his fourth quality start in his last six outings with the Chasers.

Omaha gave its starting pitcher early run support, scoring runs in the first and second innings. After Brewer Hicklen led off the first with a double for the second straight game, Major League rehabber Michael Massey singled and Tyler Gentry grounded out to score Hicklen from third.

In the second, Jermaine Palacios singled and soon scored on an RBI single from José Briceño, for what was at the time a 2-0 lead.

While the Cubs scored a run in the third, Omaha countered with one in the fifth, on an RBI single from John Rave that scored Hicklen from second base, at the time a 3-1 lead.

After Iowa tied the game in the sixth, the Chasers jumped back ahead as Rave doubled, then scored on an errant throw for a 4-3 lead.

Jonah Dipoto fired a 1-2-3 seventh inning and Walter Pennington got the first two outs of the eighth before handing the ball off to Jackson Kowar for the final out of the frame.

Kowar got the last out of the eighth inning and the first of the ninth but allowed his next five batters to reach on four singles and a walk, giving the I-Cubs a 5-4 lead. Dylan Coleman followed Kowar and got two quick outs on a fielder's choice and strikeout, but the fielder's choice allowed one of the three runners he inherited to score, pushing Iowa's lead to two runs.

Omaha made things interesting in the bottom of the ninth, putting a pair of runners on with Hicklen hit by a pitch and a single from Rave, his third hit of the day. Hicklen scored from third base on an errant throw by the Cubs with two outs, but Rave was stranded on third base as the tying run and Tucker Bradley on first as the potential winning run, in a 6-5 defeat to Iowa.

Omaha will try and even the series back at two wins each on Saturday, with left-hander Jonathan Bowlan starting for the Chasers with a 7:05 p.m. CT first pitch.

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International League Stories from June 30, 2023


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