The Memphis Redbirds (61-67) evened the series with a 4-1 victory over the Iowa Cubs (58-71), Sunday at Principal Park.
Jeimer Candelario highlighted the day, collecting a hit in his ninth-straight game and extending his consecutive on-base streak to 28 games. The switch-hitter went 2-for-4 and has multiple hits in four of his last five games.
Jake Buchanan (11-8) struggled early, giving up two runs to the Redbirds in the the first inning on a single and two doubles, but settled in from there. He allowed seven hits through seven frames, but was able to limit Memphis’ damage. The Redbirds picked up an extra run in the seventh, but the run was unearned on Buchanan’s line. He would ultimately be the unlucky loser as Iowa was confined to one run.
Juan Perez opened Iowa’s scoring drive in the fourth with a single and Candelario duplicated the effort to put runners on the corners with nobody out. Tim Federowicz then skied a pitch to right-center that was lost in the sun by the Redbirds’ outfielders. Federowicz was credited with an RBI single and Iowa had its first run of the game. Iowa had the chance to get ahead with two on and still no outs, but couldn’t take advantage of the baserunners.
Both teams were quiet until the ninth when the Redbirds added insurance, knocking Gerardo Concepcion with a run on three hits.
Iowa was light on offense as the team was held to seven hits without an extra-base knock and drew just three walks. The I-Cubs went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left seven stranded.
Iowa and Memphis meet again at 6:38 p.m. Monday, at Principal Park