April 7 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs vs. Toledo Mud Hens

WELCOME TO IOWA: Catcher Ali Sanchez was signed to a minor league contract by the Chicago Cubs on April 5. The following day he was in the starting lineup hitting out of the eight spot. Sánchez made the most of his debut by going 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles and two RBI leading Iowa to a comeback victory over the Toledo Mud Hens. The 27-year-old started his day hot as he knocked his first double of the day in his first Iowa at-bat. His biggest moment of the day, however, came in a clutch spot. With two outs in the bottom of the eighth, Sánchez sent his second double of the day into left field and plated two key insurance runs, which helped the I-Cubs secure their victory. Before being signed by Chicago, the Venezuela native spent this spring training with the Pittsburgh Pirates and hit .125 (2-for-16) in eight games. He has played in seven Major League games in his career and made his Major League debut on August 10, 2020, as a member of the New York Mets.

CAN DO CANARIO: Outfielder Alexander Canario has been seeing double in this current series versus the Toledo Mud Hens. In yesterday’s contest Canario went 1-for-4 at the dish with a two-bagger. The 23-year-olds double is what began the rally in the eighth inning for the I-Cubs when they scored four runs to take the lead over the Mud Hens. Over the course of five games versus Toledo, the Dominican Republic native has gone 4-for-18 (.222) with one RBI. All four of his hits have been doubles. With his four doubles this series, Canario finds himself tied atop the International League.

BULLISH ON THE BULLPEN: The I-Cubs got another outstanding performance from their bullpen on Saturday. The trio of Riley Martin, Brad Wieck, and Riley Thompson combined to toss 5.2 scoreless, hitless innings with one walk compared to 10 strikeouts. Martin was first out of the gate and went 2.2 innings picking up six strikeouts. Wieck followed with 2.0 innings and a pair of strikeouts. He was also credited with his first win of the season. Thompson closed the door and struck out two of the three batters he faced and earned the save, which was his first save of his career. There has been no doubt that Iowa’s relievers have been impressive so far in 2024. Although they have tallied a record of 3-4, over 48.0 innings of work they have an ERA of 3.38 and 69 strikeouts compared to 20 walks.

CARDIAC CUBS: Despite being just eight games into the 2024 season, the Iowa Cubs have already had a flare for the dramatic playing in several close contests. Six of the eight games that Iowa has played have been decided by two runs or less. Five of the eight games have been by one run, and they have already gone into extra innings on three separate occasions. Unfortunately, the I-Cubs are just 1-4 in one-run contests this season which is the opposite of last season when they went 26-13 in one-run games. Iowa has however pulled off two comeback wins this season, highlighted by yesterday’s victory over Toledo, but is still a long way away from the 38 comeback wins it achieved in 2023.

THE EIGHTH IS GREAT: The 2024 I-Cubs have seemed to save the offense for later in games through the first eight games of the season. This season Iowa has scored a total of 37 runs and 16 of those have come in the eighth inning. That accounts for 43-percent of the teams runs. In the past two contests versus Toledo, the eighth inning has seen some fireworks. On Friday night, Iowa rallied to score three runs in the eighth, highlighted by a two-run home run by David Bote, to tie the game at 3-3. Yesterday, Iowa scored four runs courtesy of a BJ Murray Jr. single and doubles from Curt Casali and Ali Sánchez to overcome a 3-0 deficit to defeat the Mud Hens.

TODAY’S GAME: The Iowa Cubs and the Toledo Mud Hens will take the diamond today for the series finale with Iowa looking to claim its first series victory of the 2024 season. On the mound, it will be a rematch of the Tuesday starters as right-hander Walker Powell will take the hill for Iowa and left-hander Bryan Sammons will toe the rubber for Toledo.

AGAINST TOLEDO: Iowa and Toledo will close out their six-game series this afternoon with Iowa looking to secure the series with a victory. The I-Cubs lead the current series 3-2, which coincides with the season series between the two ballclubs. Iowa and Toledo will face each other 12 more times this season. The Mud Hens will travel back to Des Moines for six games, June 4-9 and then Iowa will hit the road for six games, August 20-25. With Iowa’s victory over Toledo yesterday the all-time series moved to 22-34 in favor of the Mud Hens. In games at Principal Park, Iowa is 17-21 versus Toledo.