May 3 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs at St. Paul Saints
Published on May 3, 2026 under International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release
IOWA CUBS (15-16) at ST. PAUL SAINTS (14-17)
May 3 - 2:07 PM CT - CHS Field - St. Paul, MN
LHP Jordan Wicks (0-1, 7.04) vs. RHP John Klein (1-1, 7.48)
TODAY'S GAME: The Iowa Cubs and the St. Paul Saints are set to play the finale of a six-game series at CHS Field today...left-hander Jordan Wicks is set to make his fourth start of the season and his third on the road...right-hander John Klein is scheduled to start for St. Paul.
A TOUGH SATURDAY: The I-Cubs dropped the fifth game of the series to St. Paul by a 16-2 score yesterday... Kevin Alcántara went 3-for-4 with two runs, a home run and an RBI... B.J. Murray Jr. went 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI and a walk...marked the largest margin of defeat for Iowa since they dropped a 18-2 decision on Aug. 29, 2024 vs. Memphis.
THE JAG: Kevin Alcántara hit his 11th home run of the season yesterday, which leads the International League and is tied for the most in the minor leagues...Kevin's career-high in home runs is 17, which he accomplished last season in 102 games with Iowa...he tallied three hits yesterday for the first time since Aug. 30 at Las Vegas...he also has homered in back-to-back games this season for the second time, following a three-game stretch from April 4-7...he is the lone I-Cub this season to homer in back-to-back games on two separate occasions.
KEEP IT IN THE PARK: Yesterday, the I-Cubs surrendered seven home runs in the loss...it marked the most by Iowa since they gave up eight on April 16, 2025 vs. St. Paul...it is tied for the most surrendered by an International League team this season along with Toledo whom Louisville hit seven homers off of on April 14...the I-Cubs lead all of minor league baseball with 57 home runs allowed.
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 third game in the month of May today...Iowa went exactly 14-14 in May last season, including a five game winning streak from May 14-17 vs. St. Paul at Principal Park.
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 eight 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... no I-Cub has walked in nine straight games since data was made available in 2005.
EN FUEGO: Cubs reliever Daniel Palencia tossed 0.2 scoreless innings with a strikeout on Friday night...he hit 102.0 mph, which is the fastest pitch by an I-Cub since Palencia hit 102.5 mph on Aug. 23, 2024 vs. Toledo.
HE GET'S ON BASE: I-Cubs infielder B.J. Murray Jr. went 2-for-3 with a double, RBI and a walk yesterday...he is batting .352 this year which ranks third in the International League...he also ranks among IL leaders in OPS (3rd, 1.009), on-base percentage (7th, .438) and slugging percentage (8th, .571)...across his last 17 games, Murray Jr. is batting .391 (25-for-64) with 11 runs, six doubles, one home run and 12 RBI.
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 marked 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 ranks among International League leaders in total bases (1st, 69), RBI (2nd, 31), extra-base hits (2nd, 16), runs scored (T-2nd, 27), home runs (3rd, 8), hits (T-5th, 36), stolen bases (T-5th, 11) and slugging percentage (6th, .575).
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