Ramírez's walk-off RBI lifts Iowa over Columbus in 11 innings

Iowa spent 10 innings holding off Columbus before Pedro Ramírez finally broke the deadlock, lining the walk-off RBI that gave the Cubs a 3-2 win in 11 innings at Principal Park. It was Iowa’s first walk-off victory of the 2026 season, and it came after a game that never allowed either side much breathing room.

Charlie Barnes gave Iowa the kind of start that keeps a low-scoring game from slipping away. He worked five scoreless innings, allowing four hits and one walk while striking out four, and his command let Iowa play from ahead for most of the afternoon. In cold, cloudy conditions that featured 52-degree weather and a 14 mph wind, Barnes made Columbus earn everything and handed the game to a bullpen that kept the pressure manageable.

Iowa finally scratched first in the sixth when B.J. Murray drove in a run with a sacrifice fly for a 1-0 lead. Columbus answered in the eighth to tie it, then pushed in front with a run in the 10th, forcing Iowa to respond again. Christian Bethancourt did exactly that in the bottom of the inning, delivering an RBI single to pull the Cubs even at 2-2 and keep the game alive.

That set up Ramírez in the 11th, and the hottest hitter on the roster did not miss the moment. Ramírez finished 1-for-4 with the winning RBI, adding another late-game hit to a season that already had made him one of the International League’s most dangerous bats. He entered the day coming off a Player of the Month award for April, when he hit .323 with seven home runs and 28 RBI, and his Triple-A line sat at .310/.382/.574 with eight homers, 34 RBI and 12 stolen bases.

The win mattered beyond one night’s scoreboard. Columbus had already beaten Iowa in the series opener in Des Moines, and the clubs had traded punch-for-punch in earlier meetings this season, including two extra-inning Iowa wins in Columbus on April 16 and April 18. This one was different because Iowa absorbed two late punches, answered both, and finished the job in front of 3,678 fans in 3 hours, 6 minutes. The clubs were set to meet again Thursday at 12:08 p.m. CT, with Iowa carrying the kind of late-inning confidence that can travel.