Road to Wrigley Game Preview

Teams: Iowa Cubs VS Las Vegas 51s (AAA Blue Jays Club)

Records: The I-Cubs are 57-57, 3rd place in the PCL American North, 4 games back of first place Nashville.

Game Time: 1:20 PM CT, gates open at 11:20

Field: Wrigley Field

Event History: Last year was the first ever "Road to Wrigley" game. The Peoria Chiefs, the Cubs Class A club, took on the Kane County Cougars. the game was suspended due to rain in the 9th, and ended at O'Brien field a day later in the 12-inning Chiefs win.

Weather: A high of 93 degrees, windy, and a 20% chance of rains. More info here.

Pitching Matchup: Marty McLeary (LV); 1-0, 6.00 ERA VS J.R. Mathes (Iowa); 10-6, 3.60 ERA

Iowa Cubs Roster Info

• DL: Neal Cotts, Matt Matulia, and Mark Johnson.
• Darwin Barney, SS: hitting .246 since being moved up from AA Tennessee.
• Matt Camp, 3B: .284 AVG in 71 games with Iowa this year.
• Micah Hoffpauir, 1B: Just sent down from the Cubs to get some work. Will be back in Chicago soon, but I hope to see him in the lineup tomorrow.
• Luis Rivas, INF: Just came off the DL with a leg injury.
• Bobby Scales, 2B: Did very well in short stints with the big league club this season. Hitting .303 in 73 games with Iowa.
• Nate Spears, 2B: Not a lot of power, but a good on base and defense
• John-Ford Griffin, OF: Signed as a minor league free agent by the Cubs, hitting .317 with 4 homers so far with Iowa in 60 games.
• Brad Snyder, OF: Has been red hot since coming off the DL with wrist injury. Has hit safely in each of his last 16 games, and 31 of the last 32.
• So Taguchi, OF: The former big leaguer with the Cardinals and Phillies has spent the whole year with Iowa, hitting .273.

Last Night: Iowa topped Reno 10-7.

Pitchers Update: The Iowa Cubs pitching staff has posted a 2.67 ERA so far this month, that's the league best.

Las Vegas 51s: The Blue Jay AAA clubs has a few names Cubs fans will recognize: former Cubs farm hand Buck Coats who's hitting .301 in 95 games with Las Vegas this season; and former Astros infielder Jason Lane, who played a number of games in the big leagues against the Cubs.

This is game one of a 4 game set.

I'll recap you what will be a fun (and hot!) day at the ball park later!