June 28 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs vs. St. Paul Saints

IOWA CUBS (34-44) vs. ST. PAUL SAINTS (40-37)

Friday, June 28 • 7:08 PM CT • Principal Park • Des Moines, IA

RHP Riley Thompson (3-1, 5.68) vs. RHP Caleb Boushley (8-1, 3.52)

TONIGHT’S GAME: The Iowa Cubs and the St. Paul Saints play the fourth of a six-game series tonight...the two clubs met in St. Paul from April 9-14 with the I-Cubs winning four of the six games in the series... right-hander Riley Thompson is slated to make his 22nd appearance for Iowa and his seventh start...Thompson has gone 1-1 with a 2.59 ERA (7 ER in 24.1 IP) as a starter and is 2-0 with a 8.54 ERA (25 ER in 26.1 IP) as a reliever...St. Paul is scheduled to start right-hander Caleb Boushley, who will make his 14th start with the club.

THURSDAY NIGHT RECAP: The I-Cubs won by a 11-9 score last night vs. St. Paul...Iowa hit three home runs, including solo home runs from BJ Murray Jr. and Jack Reinheimer and a three-run blast by Cole Roederer which came in the seventh inning with Iowa trailing 9-8... Hunter Bigge earned his first win with Iowa this season in relief as he tossed 1.0 scoreless frame with two strikeouts... Michael Arias picked up his second save as he pitched a scoreless ninth inning and struck out three.

COLE WORLD: Iowa outfielder Cole Roederer has hit safely in six consecutive games dating back to June 20 in which he is batting .250 (6-for-24) with two doubles, three home runs and seven RBI...he homered in back-to-back games from June 23-25 for the fifth time in his career and first since July 16-19, 2023 with Double-A Tennessee.

BIGGE SMALLS: Reliever Hunter Bigge earned his first win since June 1, 2023 with Double-A Tennessee last night...Bigge has pitched 8.1 scoreless innings and has 13 strikeouts with the I-Cubs this season after joining the active roster on June 4...since he joined Iowa, his three saves rank tied for third most in the International League.

THE HALFWAY POINT: Sunday’s loss at Indianapolis marked the halfway point of the International League season...the I-Cubs went 33-42 through the first 75 games of the 2024 campaign and are 17.0 games back from first place Omaha (49-24) in the International League West Division.

ALL THE SMALL THINGS: With their 11-9 win last night, Iowa improved to 7-14 in two-run games, which is the most such games in the International League this season...the I-Cubs 6-5 loss Tuesday night vs. St. Paul dropped them to 14-12 this season in one-run games...Iowa has played 26 one-run contests this season which is the most such games in the IL this season.

MO BALLER: Moises Ballesteros tallied his third straight multi-hit game last night going 2-for-5...marks the third time this season he has done so and first since May 29-31 with Double-A Tennessee... since joining Iowa on June 18, Bally is batting .394 (13-for-33) with four doubles, one home run and two RBI...he is one of three position players aged 20-or- younger to have appeared in a game in the International League this season, along with Jackson Holliday (BAL) and Junior Caminero (TBR).

KEEPING IT IN THE PARK: Iowa shortstop Jack Reinheimer hit his first home run of the season last night and the second by an I-Cub this season following BJ Murray Jr. on April 12 at St. Paul...Jack is batting .400 (4-for-10) with two extra-base hits in his first three games with Iowa.

VS. ST PAUL: Iowa and St. Paul are matching up for the second time this season and first since April 9-14 in which the I-Cubs won four of the six games and outscored the Saints 36-29...in 2023, the I-Cubs went 14-10 against St. Paul, including 8-4 at home...Iowa had their five-game winning streak snapped against St. Paul at home in the loss Tuesday night.

FOR STARTERS: For a four-game stretch from June 19-22 at Indianapolis, Iowa’s starting pitching combination of Kyle McGowin (5.0 IP), Trey Supak (6.0 IP), Dan Straily (6.0 IP) and Riley Thompson (5.0 IP) did not allowed an earned run...this marks the first time I-Cubs starters have had four consecutive outings with no earned runs since Aug. 15-17 (G2), 2017 in which Brad Markey (3.0 IP), Seth Frankoff (7.0 IP), Jen-Ho Tseng (6.0 IP) and Williams Pérez (7.0 IP) also accomplished the feat in four straight games.