DES MOINES, IOWA – The Omaha Storm Chasers lost game one of a Wednesday afternoon doubleheader with the Iowa Cubs on a wild pitch in extra innings, before bouncing back to win game two at Principal Park.
Game 1: IOWA 6, OMAHA 5 (FINAL/8)
After five days of no baseball action, the Storm Chasers didn’t waste any time getting on the board, jumping out to an early 3-0 lead in the first two innings. In the top of the 1st inning, three consecutive singles opened the game, then Nick Pratto singled in Drew Waters and Nick Loftin for a 2-0 lead. A double by Devin Mann started the top of the second inning and Loftin knocked in Mann to extend the lead.
Omaha starter Daniel Lynch IV cruised through his first three innings, but Owen Caissie got the Cubs in the fourth inning with a solo homer to cut the lead down to 3-1 in favor of the Chasers.
Lynch struck out three batters over 4.0 innings of work, allowing just the one run before Major League rehabber Carlos Hernández took over for the fifth.
Before Hernández took the mound, Omaha added a run of insurance as CJ Alexander scored on an Iowa fielding error for a 4-1 lead in the top of the fifth inning.
The Cubs stormed back in the bottom half of the fifth to strike Hernández for four runs. Three singles, a ground-rule double, and a walk gave Iowa its first lead of the game, 5-4. Hernández could only get the first two outs, as he exited with two on and while Walter Pennington allowed the two inherited runners to score, he otherwise finished the inning.
Mann answered right back in the top of the sixth inning, as he crushed his third home run of the season and tied it all up 5-5.
Dan Altvailla worked a scoreless sixth inning and returned to the mound in the bottom of the seventh with the score still tied. Altavilla got the first out of the seventh but put two runners on, giving Iowa the winning run 90 feet away.
Sam Long took over behind Altavilla and worked two outs to preserve the tie and force extras, but Omaha failed to score in the top of the eighth and a wild pitch with two outs in the bottom of the eighth scored the winning run for Iowa, as the Storm Chasers dropped the first game of the doubleheader 6-5.
GAME 2: OMAHA 5, IOWA 1 (FINAL/7)
In game two of the doubleheader, the Storm Chasers came out the gate strong once again and took the early lead, scoring five runs in the first two innings for a 5-1 win.
Nick Loftin and Nate Eaton executed a double steal with one out that plated Eaton for a 1-0 lead. Devin Mann followed with a sharp line drive single and brought Loftin across the plate for a 2-0 advantage.
Brian O’Keefe drew a one-out walk in the second inning and advanced to third on a Tyler Tolbert double to set up for John Rave to follow with a two-run double for a 4-0 lead. Loftin proceeded to single in Rave for a 5-0 advantage and finish the Omaha scoring for the day.
Former Chicago Cub Zach Davies compiled a stellar outing and earned his first win of the year as Omaha’s starter in game 2 of the doubleheader. Over 5.0 scoreless innings (the longest scoreless outing by an Omaha starter this year), he struck out four while limiting the I-Cubs to a walk and three singles.
Major League rehabber Jake Brentz entered in the sixth behind Davies and allowed Iowa’s only run of the game, as an RBI single brought the Cubs within four, a 5-1 score that held to be final.
Will Klein took over in the bottom of the seventh and struck out one in a scoreless inning to finish the game and maintain his 0.00 ERA.
The Storm Chasers continue this six-game series against the Cubs on Thursday with a 12:08 p.m. CT first pitch as right-handed pitcher William Fleming takes the mound for Omaha.
