July 25 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs at Louisville Bats
IL Iowa Cubs

July 25 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs at Louisville Bats

July 25, 2025 - International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (50-48, 11-13) at LOUISVILLE BATS (43-56, 11-13)

Friday, July 25 - 6:15 PM CT - Louisville Slugger Field - Louisville, KY

RHP Brandon Birdsell (0-0, 3.38) vs. RHP Brian Van Belle (1-3, 4.26)

TONIGHT'S GAME: The Iowa Cubs play the fourth of a six-game series at the Louisville Bats tonight...right-hander Brandon Birdsell is slated to start for Iowa...right-hander Brian Van Belle will start for Louisville.

COLD OFFENSE: The I-Cubs dropped the third game of the series last night at Louisville by a 4-2 score... James Triantos led the offense as he went 3-for-4 and Moises Ballesteros hit his ninth home run of the season... Jordan Wicks took the loss and he allowed three runs (two earned) with four strikeouts... Ethan Roberts tossed a scoreless frame and Tom Cosgrove worked 2.0 scoreless innings with three strikeouts.

CINCO DE HIT-O: Tuesday night, Owen Caissie tallied the team's first five-hit game of the season...he went 5-for-5 with two doubles, and a two-run homer (20)...the last time an I- Cub had a five-hit game was when P.J. Higgins did it against the Omaha Storm Chasers on September 5, 2023...he is one of eight players in the International League this season with a five-hit game.

NASTY NOLAND: Last Sunday's starter Connor Noland earned his ninth win and tossed a career-high-tying 7.0 innings with seven strikeouts...Noland is the first I-Cub to have at least nine wins in a season since Matt Swarmer had 10 and Colin Rea had 14 in 2019...he is the second Iowa Cub to toss at least 7.0 scoreless innings, following Kenta Maeda on June 22 at Nashville.

THREE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER: Infielder/outfielder James Triantos tallied a season-high-tying three hits last night, which he has done four times this season...it marked his first three-hit game since June 27 vs. Columbus...in 16 July games, James is batting .279 (17-for-61) with six RBI and five stolen bases.

DO NOT PASS: Wednesday night, Iowa recorded their seventh shutout of the season with a 9-0 win over Louisville...marked their first shutout since a 3-0 win on June 15 also vs. Louisville...the I-Cubs recorded six shutouts all of last season.

FREE PASS: Wednesday night, Iowa recorded their second-most walks of the season with 11, trailing the team's season high of 12 set on May 17...the I-Cubs are one of three teams in the International League this season with at least two games of at least 11 free passes.

PROSPECTING: Yesterday, MLB.com updated their Top 30 prospects in the Cubs' organization and it features 10 players on the I-Cubs, including No. 1 Owen Caissie, No. 2 Moises Ballesteros, No. 4 Kevin Alcántara, No. 6 Jonathon Long, No. 9 Brandon Birdsell, No. 10 James Triantos, No. 14 Christian Franklin, No. 16 Jack Neely, No. 21 Will Sanders and No. 23 Ben Cowles.

JULY MASHIN': Wednesday night, infielder Jonathon Long became the third I-Cub this season to reach 15 home runs, along with Carlos Pérez and Owen Caissie ...Jonny has tallied five multi-hit efforts during the month of July...Long has earned a batting average of .313 (20-for-64) and added five doubles with six home runs on 18 RBI...the Cubs No. 6 prospect is slashing .312/.397/.503 (106-for-340) with 16 doubles, 15 home runs and 65 RBI.

BIG BEN: On Sunday, infielder Ben Cowles hit his third home run in his last two games...it marked the fourth time he has homered in back-to-back games and first since July 4-5, 2023 with Double-A Somerset...Ben hit two homers on Saturday night which tallied his third career multi-homer game and first since July 23, 2023.

BALLY, BALLY: Catcher Moises Ballesteros hit his ninth home run of the season last night...it marked his first home run since June 19 at Nashville...Bally is batting .356 (21-for-59) in 15 July games with seven doubles, 11 RBI and six multi-hit efforts.

BITTER 16: On July 9, the Iowa Cubs offense was 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 most recent was against the Memphis Redbirds on April 22, 2018.

Check out the Iowa Cubs Statistics



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