Cubs Minor League News: Iowa’s hot streak cools off with another defeat

Dustin Riese · Senior Writer · 9 hours ago

After being one of the hottest teams in AAA for the better part of two weeks, things have gone South for the Cubs in recent days as the wins have been tough to come by. A lot of that has to do with their pitching, as several games saw the Cubs' pitching staff allow big innings, including two big innings on Tuesday.

Another massive issue right now is the Cubs' lack of an offense, as they have suddenly forgotten how to score runs. That tends to happen over the course of the season for any team, but when the Cubs' offense struggles, their margin for error is that much smaller. That lack of offense continued to do the Cubs in on Wednesday as the Toledo Mud Hens came into Principal Park and picked up a second straight victory, 5-1.

For the final time in 2025, Cubs right-hander Connor Noland was on the mound, and although things didn't end well, he still put together another strong season. Noland led the Cubs organization in wins in 2024, and with a 9-7 mark this season, to go with a 4.07 ERA, there were times when it looked as if Noland was ready to take that next step to the Majors.

Wednesday saw both the good Noland early on and the bad Noland late as the right-hander gave the Cubs five strong innings before running out of gas in the sixth. The result was a 5 1/3 inning start, allowing four runs and striking out three, as he will now head into another offseason looking to lead Iowa in 2026.

With neither team coming away with a run in the first, it was the Mud Hens who got the scoring started in the second as Andrew Navigato's homer made this a 1-0 game. Not to be outdone, it was the Cubs' turn to get in on the homer fun in the bottom of the second as Chase Strumpf Lael Lockhart deep to make this a 1-1 game. That would be all the offense the Cubs could muster as Lockhart was dominant through five innings, striking out three and allowing just three hits to go with that run.

Immediately after watching the Cubs tie things up in the bottom of the second, it was the Mud Hens bouncing back in the third as the Eduardo Valencia double put Toledo on top for good 2-1. They would hold that lead until the sixth as Noland began to find his groove on the mound, making it difficult for the Mud Hens to get much of anything.

Then, just as quickly as Noland found it, he lost it as the sixth inning was a massive struggle for the right-hander, as Jace Jung touched him up for the Mud Hens' second solo shot of the game to make this a 3-1 game. That was just the start of what wound up being a three-run innings as Navigato added to an already strong game with a two-run double as the Mud Hens' lead grew to 5-1.

That is how things would finish as this game was called after seven innings, handing the Mud Hens a seven-inning shortened win. Iowa struggled to put the ball in play, as they were held to just four hits in the loss.

The Cubs also saw Eli Morgan make another relief appearance, as he worked a scoreless seventh for Iowa.