July 24 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs vs. Indianapolis Indians

IOWA CUBS (43-54) vs. INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS (41-52)

Wednesday, July 24 • 12:08 PM CT • Principal Park • Des Moines, IA

RHP Dan Straily (1-6, 4.88) vs. TBA

TODAY’S GAME: The Iowa Cubs and Indianapolis Indians play the second of a six- game series this afternoon...the two clubs have played 13 games this season with Indianapolis winning eight of those games... right-hander Dan Straily is scheduled to make his 15th appearance of the season and 14th start for Iowa...Indianapolis’ starting pitcher is yet to be announced.

FIRST OF THE SERIES: The I-Cubs dropped the first game of the series to Indy last night by a 13-6 score... Alexander Canario led the way offensively for Iowa as he went 2-for-4 with a home run... Owen Caissie also homered for the I-Cubs, it marked his first home run since June 16 at Columbus...Iowa starting pitcher Kyle McGowin surrendered seven runs on nine hits across 5.0 innings and suffered the loss...Frankie Scalzo Jr. and Zac Leigh combined for 2.1 scoreless innings in relief and four strikeouts.

CRUSHING CANARIO: Iowa Cubs outfielder Alexander Canario hit his 18th home run of the season last night and his second in his last three games...his 18 home runs lead all Cubs’ minor league players and rank tied for eighth in the International League, despite playing just 63 games this year.

DEBUT IN MEMPHIS: Sunday’s starting pitcher Connor Noland tossed 5.0 scoreless inning on Sunday and earned the win in his Triple-A debut at Memphis... Noland, a ninth round pick in the 2022 First-Year Player Draft by the Cubs, went 7-3 with a 2.50 ERA (24 ER in 86.1 IP) in 16 starts with Tennessee prior to his promotion and at the time of his promotion, he ranked among Southern League leaders in wins (T-1st), ERA (5th), WHIP (8th, .235) and innings pitched (T-8th)...in his last six starts dating back to June 18, Connor has gone 5-1 with a 1.04 ERA (4 ER in 34.2 IP) and 24 strikeouts.

HOME SWEET HOME: Iowa returns back to Principal Park for the first time since July 6 vs. Omaha...the I-Cubs are 24-22 at home this season vs. 19-32 on the road... Iowa had won three straight home games before last night’s loss but have still won and have won six of their last eight dating back to June 27 vs. St. Paul.

ALL THE SMALL THINGS: Iowa snapped their one-run game streak last night at five games...they have posted a 21-14 in such games this season to give them 34 on the season...the 34 one-run games this season which are the most such games in the International League ahead of the Omaha Storm Chasers who are 19-12... this year, 35% of the I-Cubs game have been decided by one run.

I’LL TAKE A THIRD: Indianapolis’ Seth Beer went 4-for-5 with three home runs and five RBI last night...he became the first player to hit three home runs at Principal Park since St. Paul’s Spencer Steer did so on June 5, 2022.

THAT WAS FAST: Iowa and Memphis played a two hour and four minute game Saturday night which marked the I-Cubs fastest game since Sept. 17, 2023 in which they played a two hour game vs. St. Paul...Iowa’s average game time this season (nine innings) is two hours, 40 minutes and 56 seconds, which ranks 11th-fastest in the International League.

VS. INDIANAPOLIS: Iowa and Indianapolis are facing off for their third series of the season following May 21-26 in Des Moines and June 18-23 at Victory Field...the Indians have won eight of the 13 contests played between the two ball clubs this season, including five of the last seven.

MURRAY, MURRAY: Iowa Cubs infielder BJ Murray Jr. has reached base safely in 12 of his 15 games in July in which he is slashing .288/.393/.519 (15-for-52) with 10 runs scored, three doubles, three home runs, eight RBI and eight walks...in addition, BJ has stolen four bases during the month which ranks tied for 10th-most in the International League during that span.

BALLY GOES DEEP: Cubs No. 5 prospect Moises Ballesteros hit his fourth home run as an I-Cub on Sunday and 13th overall...from July 11-19, Bally homered in back-to-back games for the first time this season and the fourth time in his career with the last coming on Aug. 13-15, 2023 with Advanced-A South Bend...he is batting .284 (25-for-88) in 22 games with Iowa and has tallied eight multi-hit efforts.