I-Cubs Take Down Sounds Behind Brown's 11 K's

NASHVILLE, TN – The Iowa Cubs (28-19) claimed the series lead over the Nashville Sounds (25-24) by taking the fifth game of the series by a score of 5-1 on Saturday night from First Horizon Park.

Similar to Friday night’s contest, the offenses for both the I-Cubs and the Sounds started off slow as the game was stuck in a 0-0 tie through the three innings. Iowa finally broke the scoreless tie in the fourth inning and plated four runs in the frame. With the bases loaded, Nashville starter Caleb Boushley walked in a pair of runs to score Nelson Velazquez and Jake Slaughter.

Nashville went to the bullpen after the second walked in run, but Iowa scored another two runs thanks to the bat of the recently added Nick Madrigal. Madrigal, who was optioned to Iowa from Chicago on May 25, laced a single into right field, which brought in Brennen Davis and David Bote.

Ben Brown, the No. 6 ranked prospect in the Cubs’ system, took the mound for Iowa and had his stuff working from the get-go. The 23-year-old right-hander held the Nashville offense in check and recorded a season-high 11 strikeouts on the night. The only time the Nashville offense was able to get to Brown came in the bottom of the fourth when Jon Singleton hit a solo home run to make it a 4-1 ballgame. After recording one out in the fifth, Brown was pulled for a final line consisting of 5.1 innings pitched, one earned run on four hits, two walks, and 11 strikeouts.

After scoreless fifth, sixth, and seventh innings, Iowa added to its lead in the eighth. Slaughter started off the inning with a single and eventually made his way to third by the time Bryce Windham came to the plate. Windham came through and poked a single into right field to score Slaughter and set the score at 5-1.

That would be the final run of the game as Cam Sanders put on the finishing touches with a scoreless ninth inning to secure the win for the I-Cubs.

POSTGAME NOTES:
• Ben Brown’s 11 strikeouts are the most by an Iowa pitcher this season and Brown surpassed himself on that mark, which he previously set when he struck out 10 versus Toledo on May 10.
• Nick Madrigal paced the Iowa offense in his Triple-A season debut going 2-for-4 with a walk and two RBI. He was the only I-Cub to record multiple hits.
• The Iowa bullpen arms consisting of Anthony Kay, Codi Heuer, and Cam Sanders combined to throw 3.2 scoreless, hitless innings with four strikeouts and just one walk allowed.

Iowa and Nashville will close out their six-game series tomorrow afternoon, with first pitch from First Horizon Park scheduled for 2:05 p.m. You can listen to all Iowa Cubs games on Hope AM940 and stream them for free on the Bally Live App. For more information and tickets, visit www.iowacubs.com.