Game Notes June 26: Iowa Cubs vs. Buffalo Bisons

IOWA CUBS (1-2, 31-44) vs. BUFFALO BISONS (2-1, 37-41)

June 26 • 7:08 PM CT • Principal Park • Des Moines, IA

RHP Andrew Wantz (1-0, 6.23) vs. LHP Josh Fleming (3-4, 2.15)

TONIGHT’S GAME: The Iowa Cubs and the Buffalo Bisons are set to play the fourth of a six-game series at Principal Park tonight... right-hander Andrew Wantz is slated to make his fourth appearance (first start) with Iowa...left-hander Josh Fleming is scheduled to start for Buffalo.

WELL THEN: Last night, the Buffalo Bisons defeated the Iowa Cubs by a 15-1 score...the game was highlighted by an eight-run fifth inning from Buffalo...the I-Cubs scored their one run in the ninth inning on a run-scoring single from James Triantos, who led the Iowa offense with two hits...Antoine Kelly worked 2.0 scoreless innings and allowed just one hit and struck out two.

THE OFFENSIVE: The Iowa Cubs scored 18 runs Wednesday, a mark they have hit twice this season, last doing so May 24 vs. Memphis... the 18 hits were a new season high and the most since May 16, 2025 against St. Paul... the 11 runs scored in the fifth inning also set a new season high for runs scored in an inning, one short of matching the second most runs scored in an inning in franchise history of 12, done by the I-Cubs on August 12, 2008 vs. New Orleans...the franchise record for most runs scored in an inning is 15, achieving the feat on April 28, 2019 versus Nashville...Kevin Alcántara hit the seventh grand slam of the season for Iowa, surpassing the season total the I-Cubs have had for grand slams over the last two seasons...the most grand slams Iowa has hit in a season since 2017 is eight, done in 2023...Kevin’s grand slam was the fourth grand slam Iowa has hit during the first eight games of this 12 game homestand after Owen Miller hit one on Tuesday, Jonathon Long hit one on June 19 and Ben Cowles hit one on June 17.

TRI: Chicago Cubs’ No. 9 prospect James Triantos is batting .354 (28-for-79) with eight doubles, two home runs and 15 RBI in 19 June games...James currently has a season-high 10-game hitting streak, batting .390 (16-for-41) with four doubles, one home run, and nine RBI during the stretch...Triantos is ranked tied for fifth in the International League with 82 hits on the season...Triantos is just one home run shy of tying a career high of seven done twice, in 2022 and 2025... he did not hit his fifth home run of year last season until Aug. 29 at Las Vegas...Triantos’ 82 hits and 17 stolen bases are numbers matched by just three other players in the International League, Nashville’s Luis Lara Gwinnett’s Jim Jarvis and Indianapolis’ Ronny Simon.

BJ BALLIN’: I-Cubs infielder BJ Murray tallied three hits Wednesday, giving him back-to-back three hit games and five multi-hit efforts in his last seven games... Over the last seven games, he is batting .500 (15-for-30) with three doubles, a triple, two home runs, four RBI, and four walks... Wednesday marked the second time Murray has had back-to-back three hit performances this season, last doing so April 21-22 vs. Louisville...BJ recorded a home run and a triple Tuesday night, becoming the first I-Cub to do so since Hayden Cantrelle on Aug. 17, 2025 vs. Worcester...BJ ranks among International League leaders in batting average (1st, .327), triples (2nd, 4), hits (3rd, 84), OPS (4th, .957), on-base percentage (3rd, .424), total bases (5th, 137) and extra- base hits (5th, 31).

BATEMAN!: I-Cubs outfielder Brett Bateman’s 14 game on-base streak came to an end last night...during the 14-game stretch, Brett was batting .368 (21-for-57) with 11 runs scored, four doubles, seven RBI, 13 walks and 10 stolen bases...he has also recorded a .486 on-base percentage during this span... his 20.4% walk rate ranks second among International League players with at least 150 plate appearances this season...Brett ranks fourth in the International League in on-base percentage (.423) and seventh in walks (44).

HALT: Iowa surrendered at least 15 runs for the fifth time this season...they are the lone team in the International League to do so at least five times this season, ahead of Omaha, Memphis and Durham who have allowed at least 15 runs three times.

THE JAGUAR: Kevin Alcántara went 4-for-5 with a grand slam and a double Wednesday... the four-hit performance was the first for Kevin this season, last doing so on April 16, 2025 against St. Paul...Kevin extended his on-base streak to 32 games last night with a walk ...the streak is the longest by an I-Cub since Jonathon Long reached in 35 consecutive games from July 9-Aug. 24, 2025, which set a franchise record...in addition, it is the longest active streak in the International League and second longest active streak in Triple-A...the on-base streak is the longest in the International League this season, and the fourth longest in Triple-A...since returning to the Iowa lineup on June 10 after being optioned by Chicago, Kevin is batting .333 (15-for-45) with 11 runs scored, five doubles, two home runs, nine RBI and eight walks.