May 2 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs at St. Paul Saints
IL Iowa Cubs

May 2 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs at St. Paul Saints

Published on May 2, 2026 under International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (15-15) at ST. PAUL SAINTS (13-17)

May 2 - 2:07 PM CT - CHS Field - St. Paul, MN

LHP Doug Nikhazy (0-1, 8.71) vs. RHP Zebby Matthews (1-2, 5.91)

TODAY'S GAME: The Iowa Cubs and the St. Paul Saints are set to play the fifth of a six-game series at CHS Field today... left-hander Doug Nikhazy is set to open the game for Iowa in his team debut... right-hander Paul Campbell is scheduled to follow Nikhazy ...right-hander Zebby Matthews is scheduled to start for St. Paul.

BOUNCE BACK: After falling 3-1 on Thursday, Iowa bounced back last night with a 6-5 victory over the Saints... Pedro Ramírez, Jonathon Long, Kevin Alcántara and Owen Miller all recorded multi-hit games... Alcántara led the offense with four RBI, including a go ahead two-run double with two outs in the seventh inning... Connor Noland started for Iowa, pitching 4.0 innings, allowing five earned runs on six hits and three walks... the bullpen threw five scoreless innings of relief, allowing just two hits and one walk... Daniel Palencia, Zac Leigh, Trent Thornton, Gavin Hollowell and Gabe Klobosits all saw action out of the pen last night... Leigh earned his first career Triple-A win and Klobosits picked up his second save of the season.

THE JAG: Kevin Alcántara hit his tenth home run of the season last night...his ten home runs lead the International League and he is now tied alongside teammate Pedro Ramírez for first in extra-base hits (16) and third in slugging percentage (.596)... Alcántara went 2-4, with a double, a home run, four RBI and a walk last night...This was the second time he has had four RBI in a game this season, last doing so on April 14 at Columbus.

LONG BALL: Jonathon Long tallied his 12th multi-hit game of the season last night... Long is currently tied with Pedro Ramírez for the most hits on the I-Cubs (36) and tied with Ramírez for fifth in the International League in hits.

NOT MUCH ALLOWED: Thursday night, the I-Cubs allowed just two hits to St. Paul in the loss...marked the least amount of hits surrendered by Iowa since Sept. 2, 2025 vs. Omaha (also two)... prior to Thursday night the I-Cubs had not lost a game in which they have allowed two or less hits since a 2-1 loss to Toledo on July 13, 2021.

WHOLE LOT OF NOTHING: The I-Cubs earned their first shutout victory of the season last Saturday with a 5-0 win... it marked the first shutout win for Iowa since they took a 1-0 decision on Sept. 19, 2025 vs. Toledo...the I-Cubs are 1-1 in games a team is blanked.

HOMETOWN KID: St. Paul native Brett Bateman hit his first Triple-A home run Tuesday...he also had an extra-base hit in three straight games, his longest such streak since he doubled in three consecutive games from April 13-16, 2024 with Advanced-A South Bend...Brett has also walked in seven straight games, which is the longest such streak of his career and longest by an I-Cub since Jonathon Long did so in eight consecutive games from July 13-26, 2025.

VOTE FOR PEDRO: I-Cubs infielder Pedro Ramírez went 1-for-4 with three runs, a home run, two RBI, a walk and two stolen bases Wednesday night...the home run was his eighth of the season which ties a career-high, done twice in Double-A Knoxville (2025) and Low-A Myrtle Beach (2023)...it also marks his second game this season in which he has had two stolen bases and a home run, the only other I-Cub to do so this season is Hayden Cantrelle on March 31 at Louisville... Ramírez leads the International League in RBI (31), extra- base hits (16) and total bases (75)...he also ranks among league leaders in runs scored (2nd, 27), home runs (T-2nd, 8), slugging percentage (4th, .595), stolen bases (5th, 11), hits (T-5th, 36) and OPS (7th, .980).

HOMER HAPPY: The Iowa Cubs surrendered six home runs to the Saints Tuesday...marked the most homers the I-Cubs have gave up since May 21, 2025 at Columbus (also six).

AT ST. PAUL: The Iowa Cubs are playing their first series vs. St. Paul this season...the club went 12-12 last season vs. St. Paul last season but tallied a 3-8 mark at CHS Field.

IT'S GONNA BE MAY: The I-Cubs are playing their second game in May...Iowa went exactly 14-14 in May last season.

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