Bahamian minor leaguer Bertram ‘BJ’ Murray Jr. continues to swing a hot bat.
Murray recently tied for the lead in hitting in the International League of Triple-A Baseball, turning in a strong performance for the Iowa Cubs in their game against the Buffalo Bisons at Principal Park in Downtown Des Moines, Iowa, on Wednesday.
The Cubs, an affiliate of the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB), won a slugfest, 18-11, on Wednesday, after erupting for a whopping 11 runs in the fifth inning.
Batting second, Murray finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored, and is now batting a league-leading .328 on the season. The previous day, he finished 3-for-5 and a double short of the cycle in an 11-10 loss by the Cubs to the Bisons. Murray had his ninth home run of the season on Tuesday, drove in two and scored twice.
In his last six games alone, prior to last night, Murray is batting .538 with two home runs, four RBIs (runs batted in) and eight runs scored.
The 26-year-old Bahamian is in his first season with the Iowa Cubs, and is quietly having his best season in Minor League Baseball (MiLB).
Murray is among the league leaders in a number of offensive statistics.
As mentioned, the Bahamian is tied for the league lead in batting average at .328, he is in a five-way tie for second in triples with four, he is tied for third in hits overall (83), fourth in on-base percentage (OBP) at .426, and fourth in on-base plus slugging (OPS) at .964.
He has nine home runs, 43 RBIs, 41 runs scored and eight stolen bases for the season.
As a team, the Cubs continue to struggle though. They have a 31-43 win/loss record on the season — 15 and a half games behind the Memphis Redbirds in the International League West Division.
Murray started off the game on Wednesday with a double off Redbirds’ starter Jake Bloss in the bottom of the first inning. In the bottom of the third, he drew a walk and then came around to score. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Murray struck out, and in the 11-run fifth inning, he was hit by a pitch and came around to score.
Murray finished up his at-bats with singles in the sixth and eighth innings on Wednesday.
Murray was one of five Cubs’ players with at least three hits on Wednesday afternoon. They had 19 hits in total, and both teams combined for 31.
Will Sanders got the win for the Cubs and Bloss suffered the loss.
The Iowa Cubs were back in action last night, taking on the Bisons in the third game of a six-game set, but the result of that game was unavailable up to press time. They play the Bisons throughout the weekend before moving on to play the Toledo Mud Hens at Fifth Third Field in Toledo, Ohio.
