June 27 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs vs. St. Paul Saints

TONIGHT’S GAME: The Iowa Cubs and the St. Paul Saints are scheduled to take the diamond for the third game of their six-game series tonight at Principal Park. The I-Cubs find themselves down 0-2 in the series after dropping yesterday’s contest by a score of 9-7. Tonight, Iowa will send right-handed pitcher Dan Straily to the mound as its starting pitcher. On the season, Straily has amassed a record of 0-4 and a 5.16 ERA in 10 appearances (nine starts) with Iowa. In 45.1 innings of work, the 35-year-old has tallied 42 strikeouts compared to 22 walks and opponents are hitting .271 off him. In his last outing, which came on the road against Indianapolis on June 21, Straily had his best outing of the season tossing 6.0 shutout innings with four hits allowed, two walks, and four strikeouts. Opposite of Straily will be right-hander Randy Dobnak.

AGAINST ST. PAUL: The I-Cubs and the Saints will face off for the third game of their current six-game series tonight. St. Paul leads the current series after taking the first two games by scores of 6-5 on Tuesday and 9-7 yesterday. In the 2024 season series between Iowa and St. Paul, the two ballclubs are tied at 4-4 after playing eight games. Iowa won the first series earlier this year 4-2, which was played in St. Paul back on April 9-14. In terms of the all-time series, St. Paul leads 50-41 and in games that have been played at Principal Park, St. Paul also leads 21-17.

MO BALLER: The No. 6 ranked prospect in the Cubs’ system, Moises Ballesteros, has certainly made quite the impression since being recently promoted to Iowa on June 18. The Venezuelan native notched himself another multi-hit game in yesterdays contest versus the Saints going 2-for-4 with a run scored, a double, and an RBI at the dish. Ballesteros’ multi-hit game yesterday marked his fourth since joining Iowa. In just seven games with the I-Cubs, the 20-year-old is slashing .393/.414/.643 with four doubles, one home run, and two RBI. Before being promoted to Iowa this season, Ballesteros was with Double-A Tennessee and was hitting .299 with nine doubles, a triple, nine home runs, and 43 RBI over the course of 56 games.

SWIPING THE BAG: In yesterday’s game against the St. Paul Saints, the Iowa Cubs were aggressive on the base paths and stole four bases over the course of the game. The four stolen bases by Iowa set a new season high for the I-Cubs. The previous season-high for stolen bases in a game by Iowa was three which had been done six times with the most recent occurrence coming on June 23 against the Indianapolis Indians. The players showcasing their speed for the I-Cubs yesterday were Bryce Windham, who has four bag swipes this year, Jack Reinheimer, who picked up his first stolen base with Iowa, and Hayden Cantrelle, who stole two bases yesterday which upped his season total six.

JUNE STRUGGLES: Despite recording 13 hits and scoring seven runs against the Saints in yesterdays ballgame, Iowa has had a tough month offensively. In 22 games over the month of June, the I-Cubs have tallied a record of 8-14 and are hitting .224 as a team, which is tied for the lowest batting average in the International League with the Louisville Bats. Iowa also has compiled an on-base percentage of .304 this month, which ranks 18th in the International League, and its slugging percentage of .390 ranks 16th in the International League. The I-Cubs have scored 92 runs this month, which ranks 18th in the league and averages out to just over four runs per game.

HAYDEN HEATING UP: An I-Cub player who has had some recent success has been infielder Hayden Cantrelle. The switch-hitting 25-year-old is currently on a three-game hitting streak and recorded his third multi-hit game with Iowa this season after going 2-for-3 with two runs scored in yesterday’s game against St. Paul. Before his current three-game stretch, Cantrelle saw his batting average dip to .182, which was its lowest at the Triple-A level for him this season. Now his batting average is back up to .219 after going 4-for-9 with four runs scored, a double, a home run, and two RBI over his last three games. The home run that he hit, which came on Tuesday against St. Paul, was also his first-career homer at the Triple-A level.