May 11 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs vs. Columbus Clippers

TONIGHT’S GAME: The Iowa Cubs and the Columbus Clippers will take the field for the fifth game in their current six-game series...the I-Cubs will send right-handed pitcher Dan Straily to the mound, who is slated to make his third start with Iowa this season...opposite of Straily will be right- hander Connor Gillispie for Columbus, making his eighth appearance (sixth start).

YESTERDAY’S NEWS: The I-Cubs powered their way past Columbus by a 11-9 score last night at Principal Park, evening up the series at two games apiece...Iowa scored their most runs this season since they plated 12 runs on April 26 at Buffalo and tallied 10 hits... Brennen Davis led the way for Iowa with three hits, including a home run, and five RBI... Jake Slaughter also homered for Iowa, his fifth of the season, and both Owen Caissie and Curt Casali reached base four times... Sam McWilliams spun 2.0 scoreless innings in relief to earn the win and Luke Little picked up a four-out save to secure the win.

I GOT FIVE ON IT: Outfielder Brennen Davis’ five RBI last night was the most by an I-Cub this season and his most since July 21, 2021 at Rocket City with Double-A Tennessee...Davis also hit his second home run of the season and first since his first game back with Iowa this season on April 24 at Buffalo.

VS COLUMBUS: Iowa and Columbus are playing their first series of the season and first since they played a three-game set from July 14-16, 2023, at Columbus in which the I-Cubs took two of the three games... the two clubs have split the first four games of the series, each scoring 29 runs...the two teams played 20 games last season and they split the series 10-10...at home, the I-Cubs went 6-4 vs. the Clippers.

McWILLIAMS IN RELIEF: Iowa pitcher Sam McWilliams earned his second win last night as he tossed 2.0 scoreless innings... Sam has made 10 outings for the I-Cubs and has gone 0-2 with a 12.96 ERA (12 ER in 8.1 IP) in three starts and 2-0 with a 2.70 ERA (5 ER in 16.2 IP) as a reliever...among pitchers with at least 10 appearances, his 38 strikeouts lead the International League.

WALK THIS WAY: Owen Caissie and Curt Casali each walked three times last night, which matched the most by an I-Cub this season...it marked the fifth multi-walk game of the season for Caissie and gave him 29 on the season, which ranks third-most in the International League and is tied for third most among minor leaguers aged 21 or younger, trailing Brooklyn’s Ryan Clifford ...from April 25-May 2, Owen walked in eight consecutive games, which is tied for the longest such streak in the International League this season and the longest by an I-Cub since Chase Strumpf also walked in eight straight games from Aug. 31-Sept 12, 2023.

WORKING DOWNHILL: Iowa outfielder Darius Hill had his 13-game on-base streak snapped last night...it marked his longest such streak since he reached in 16 straight contests from June 5-25, 2021 with Double-A Tennessee...during his 13- game run, he batted .353 (18-for-51) with four doubles, five RBI and 10 walks...it is the second-longest on-base streak by an I-Cub this season trailing Owen Caissie’s 15-game streak from April 16-May 2.

STREAK SNAPPED: The I-Cubs were able to snap their longest losing streak of the season at six games on Wednesday by defeating Columbus in an unconventional walk-off...down two runs in the bottom of the ninth, Clippers pitcher Franco Aleman was removed from the game and outfielder Lorenzo Cedrola was brought in to pitch...Cedrola proceeded to get one out, but then hit a batter and walked the next two...the last walk came with the bases loaded and pushed the winning run across the plate for Iowa... Wednesday’s game marked the fourth walk-off win of the season for Iowa and the sixth comeback win of the season... the I-Cubs also drew 12 walks in the game, which marked the most they have drawn in a game this season...it was also the second time this season that a position player came into pitch against Iowa this season...the other occurrence of a position player pitching against Iowa came on April 26 against Buffalo with Max McDowellon the mound for the Bisons.