BIRDSELL, SHAW LEAD IOWA OVER COLUMBUS

DES MOINES, IA – On the back of 5.2 solid innings from Brandon Birdsell and a three hit game from Matt Shaw, the Iowa Cubs (50-67) defeated the Columbus Clippers (59-56) by a 4-3 score tonight at Principal Park.

Columbus took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on a solo home run from Myles Straw. In the bottom half of the second, James Triantos drove in Matt Shaw with a double to tie the game at 1-1. The I-Cubs took the lead later in the frame on a sacrifice fly from Cole Roederer to make it 2-1.

Shaw extended Iowa’s lead to 4-1 as he hit his first Triple-A homer, a two-run shot in the third inning.

In the sixth, Johnathan Rodriguez hit a two-run homer for Columbus to cut Iowa’s lead to 4-3.

In his outing, Birdsell tossed 5.2 innings and allowed three runs on six hits with six strikeouts and earned the win.

POSTGAME NOTES:

• Iowa has won three of its last five games.
• Matt Shaw hit his first home run at the Triple-A level and was a triple shy of the cycle.

Iowa will play a doubleheader vs. Columbus on Saturday for the fourth and fifth of a six-game series with first pitch from Principal Park slated for 4:38 p.m. You can listen to all Iowa Cubs games on Hope AM940 and stream every home game for free on the Bally Live App. For more information and tickets, visit www.iowacubs.com.