IL Iowa Cubs

Walks Haunt in Iowa's 11-1 Loss to St. Paul

Published on September 26, 2021 under International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


ST. PAUL, MN - The Iowa Cubs (51-74) ended their 2021 road set with a loss, falling to the St. Paul Saints (65-60) by a final score of 11-1 on Sunday afternoon at CHS Field.

Dakota Mekkes made his second career start in his second straight starting assignment for the I-Cubs. He started out strong, sending down his first five batters in order on only 12 pitches. Mekkes quickly ran into trouble after that, however, as he allowed the next six men to reach on five walks and a single. The Saints drove half of their baserunners in before Bryan Hudson could finish off the inning, and they took a 3-0 lead into the third.

The I-Cubs pitchers continued to struggle through the middle innings. Hudson and Scott Kobos combined for five more walks, a hit batter, and two hits in the third and fourth innings to give the Saints three more runs, putting their total at six.

Marcus Walden and Dillon Maples managed to briefly quiet the Saints in the fifth and sixth innings, but St. Paul came back to score four more runs against Juan Gamez in the seventh. They still weren't done, as David Banuelos added a final run on a solo homer against Brendon Little in the ninth.

On the other side, Iowa couldn't come up with offense to match. Christopher Morel hit a solo shot in the fourth inning for his first Triple-A home run, but that was all the I-Cubs could come up with. They finished the game with just five hits, and St. Paul took the finale of the season series by a final score of 11-1.

POSTGAME NOTES:

With today's loss, the I-Cubs finish with a 30-35 road record for 2021.

Iowa's pitchers combined for a season-high 13 walks in today's game. That number is just one off from the franchise record for walks in a nine-inning game.

Seven of nine St. Paul batters took at least one walk today, with two batters walking twice and two batters walking three times. Six out of the 11 runners who scored for St. Paul reached on walks.

Levi Jordan extended his hitting streak to a season-long five games with a single in the fourth, while Christopher Morel's homer extended his own streak to four games.

Iowa will be back in action for game one of their final series of the year on Wednesday at Principal Park. First pitch between the I-Cubs and the visiting Omaha Storm Chasers is set for 12:08. For more information and tickets, visit www.iowacubs.com.

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International League Stories from September 26, 2021


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