July 18 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs vs. Columbus Clippers
IL Iowa Cubs

July 18 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs vs. Columbus Clippers

July 18, 2025 - International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (47-45, 8-10) vs. COLUMBUS CLIPPERS (43-47, 9-9)

Friday, July 18 - 7:08 PM CT - Principal Park - Des Moines, IA

RHP Brandon Birdsell (0-0, 0.00) vs. RHP Vince Velasquez (5-2, 2.91)

TONIGHT'S GAME: The Iowa Cubs play the first of a three-game series vs. the Columbus Clippers tonight...right-hander Brandon Birdsell is slated to come off the injured list and start for Iowa...right-hander Vince Velasquez will start for Columbus.

ENDING STRONG: The I-Cubs ended the break with an 8-2 win over the St. Paul Saints on Sunday... Ben Cowles led the offense with three hits with doubles doubles and an RBI... Dixon Machado homered and Jonathon Long and James Triantos each had two hits...Ben Brown earned his first win as he worked 5.0 scoreless innings and allowed two hits with five strikeouts...T yson Miller and Nate Pearson each pitched a scoreless frame.

THERE GOES THAT MAN: On July 3, the last time Iowa played at home, Carlos Pérez hit his 19th home run of the season and his second in as many days...it marked the third time he has homered in back-to-back days this season following June 6-7 and both games of a May 15 doubleheader...Carlos snapped his hit streak at 15 Wednesday night, which marked his longest such streak since he also hit in 15 straight from June 23-July 24, 2017 with Triple-A Salt Lake.

WELCOME BACK: Right-handed pitcher Brandon Birdsell is expected to come off the injured list and start tonight...Birdsell was placed on the IL on March 19 and made four rehab starts with the ACL Cubs and Advanced-A South Bend and went 1-1 with a 2.40 ERA (4 ER in 15.0 IP) and 15 strikeouts...Brandon was named the Cubs' Minor League Pitcher of the Year last season after going 8-9 with a 3.91 ERA (59 ER in 135.2 IP) in 27 outings between Double-A Knoxville and Iowa.

BALLY, BALLY: Since June 1, Catcher and Cubs' No. 2 prospect Moises Ballesteros has played 32 games and has tallied 11 multi-hit efforts...during that span, he is batting .336 (41-for-122) with 14 doubles, three home runs and 27 RBI...Bally ranks among International League leaders in hits (2nd, 101), batting average (2nd, .339), total bases (5th, 150) and doubles (6th, 23).

BACK AT IT: Infielder Jonathon Long tallied his eighth multi-hit effort in his last 12 games on Sunday...Jonny also tallied four RBI on Saturday which marked his third game this year with at least four RBI...Long is batting .388 (19-for-49) with five doubles, five home runs and 14 RBI over the course of those 12 games...the Cubs No. 11 prospect is slashing .323/.401/.514 (105-for-325) with 16 doubles, 14 home runs and 61 RBI in 88 games this season.

OFF THE BREAK: Coming off the break, the Iowa Cubs are 47-45, which is fifth place in the International League West Division, 8.0 games behind first place Indianapolis, who will visit Principal Park from July 29-Aug. 3...Iowa's run differential of 57 is second-best in the division, behind Nashville's 89...last year after the break, the I-Cubs were 41-52.

WHAT MORE CAN I SAY: Outfielder and Cubs No. 1 prospect Owen Caissie hit his 19th home run of the year July 10 and his seventh in his last seven games...Caissie tallied his third multi-homer of the season on Tuesday and his third in the last week...he is the first I-Cub to have three multi-homer games in a season since Alexander Canario in 2024, no I-Cub has had four such games since Jared Young in 2023...Owen played in the Futures Game on July 12 in Atlanta and went 1-for-2 with a double, RBI and two walks.

BITTER 16: On July 9, the Iowa Cubs offense were fanned 16 times in the game...the 16 punchouts marked the most strikeouts given up this season and the most since September 22, 2024 at Rochester (16)...the franchise record for the most strikeouts is 19, which happened three times since 2014...the most recent was against the Memphis Redbirds on April 22, 2018.

SWING IT: Iowa's offense scored eight runs on 13 hits Sunday...the Iowa Cubs lead the International League in batting average (.271), hits (829), doubles (196) and rank third in home runs with 112...last year, the I-Cubs hit just .250 which ranked tied for 15th in the league... Jonathon Long (105) and Moises Ballesteros (101) are ranked first and second in hits in the International League.

Check out the Iowa Cubs Statistics



International League Stories from July 18, 2025


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