July 25 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs vs. Indianapolis Indians

TONIGHT’S GAME: The Iowa Cubs and Indianapolis Indians play the third of a six-game series tonight...the two clubs have played 14 games this season with Indianapolis winning nine of those games...right-hander Riley Thompson is scheduled to make his 10th start of the season and his 26th appearance... Thompson has gone 2-1 with a 8.90 ERA (30 ER in 30.1 IP) as a reliever and is 2-2 with a 3.29 ERA (15 ER in 41.0 IP) as a starter...right-hander Mike Burrows is slated to make his first Triple-A start since April 8, 2023 at Louisville for Indianapolis.

WEDNESDAY’S MATINEE: The I-Cubs dropped yesterday’s game by a 14-3 score yesterday vs. Indianapolis at Principal Park...Moises Ballesteros led Iowa on offense as he went 1-for-4 with two RBI and Fabian Pertuz tallied his first career hit at the Triple-A level...I-Cubs starter Dan Straily suffered the loss and allowed seven runs across 1.2 innings of work...Iowa has been outscored 27-9 through the first two games of the series.

STARTING OFF HOT: Iowa Cubs outfielder, and Cubs’ No. 3 prospect, Owen Caissie hit a leadoff home run on Tuesday, despite the loss...it marked the fourth leadoff homer by an I-Cub this season and first since Miles Mastrobuoni on June 13 at Columbus.

HOME SWEET HOME: Iowa returns back to Principal Park for the first time since July 6 vs. Omaha...the I-Cubs are 24-23 at home this season vs. 19-32 on the road...Iowa has lost the first two games of the current series vs. Indianapolis but have still won and have won six of their last nine games at Principal Park dating back to June 27 vs. St. Paul.

McWILLIAMS STRIKEOUTS: Iowa Cubs reliever Sam McWilliams has struck out 81 batters across 55.0 innings this season and despite being a primarily reliever, he ranks tied for 11th in the International League in punchouts...among pitchers who have worked at least 50.0 innings this season, his 13.25 K/9 ranks second in the IL and his 32.8% strikeout percentage is fourth-best in the league.

WRONG SIDE OF HISTORY: Iowa surrendered 13 runs in Tuesday’s night loss and 14 runs in yesterday’s loss to total 27 runs in the first two games of the series...marks the most runs the I-Cubs have given up over a two-game span since they allowed 28 runs (16, 12) from June 29-30, 2022 vs. Columbus.

ALL THE SMALL THINGS: Iowa snapped their one-run game streak Tuesday 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, 36% of the I-Cubs game have been decided by one run.

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 nine of the 14 contests played between the two ball clubs this season, including six of the last eight.

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.

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 .283 (26-for-92) in 23 games with Iowa and has tallied eight multi-hit efforts.