Down on the Farm: Tsuyoshi Wada leads Iowa Cubs to win

Triple-A: Iowa Cubs 2 – Colorado Sky Sox 0 (F)

Tsuyoshi Wada was absolutely dominant on Sunday, tossing 6 2/3 scoreless innings, scattering six hits and striking out eight as the Iowa Cubs took down the Colorado Sky Sox by a 2-0 final despite a dismal day at the plate.

Iowa (43-38) went just 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position Sunday, but a one-run frames in both the fifth and eighth innings proved to be enough for Wada (9-4, 2.55 ERA) and the Cubs’ bullpen.

Eli Whiteside singled to center in the top of the fifth, plating Ryan Kalish for the first run of the ballgame. The Iowa catcher then advanced to second on the play on an error by the Colorado center fielder Delta Cleary. However, he would not score in the inning and the score remained 1-0.

Iowa added an insurance run in the top of the eighth, when top prospect Javier Baez doubled to center, scoring Matt Szczur. That double was Baez’ 14th on the season and was also part of a two-hit night, making him the only Cubs’ player to record multiple hits in the win.

Colorado (35-48) matched Iowa’s seven hits, but no player had more than one apiece and only two players reached base more than one time for the Sky Sox. The club went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.

Sky Sox starter Brian Burres (0-3, 8.68 ERA) was the tough-luck loser in this contest, allowing just one earned run on five hits in six innings of work.

Right-hander Blake Parker nailed things down in the ninth, earning his 17th save of the season.