The Storm Chasers let a three run lead slip away as Omaha fell to the Iowa Cubs, 5-4, on Tuesday night. Yuniesky Betancourt went 2-for-4 at the dish with a two-run homer in the sixth inning.

Jonathan Sanchez, who started his first rehab game with the Storm Chasers (31-22), put on a fine performance. Sanchez did not factor in to the decision but went 5.2 strong innings and allowed just a single run while punching out five Cubs (24-27). Reliever Doug Davis (0-1) was tagged with the loss after allowing four runs to score in just 1.1 innings.

Clint Robinson opened the scoring with a bang as his second inning solo jack put the Chasers ahead by a run. Iowa notched a run of their own to tie the game at 1-1 in the top of the fifth when Sanchez gave up a solo shot to Josh Vitters.

Derrick Robinson started the bottom of the sixth with a walk and then scored thanks to Betancourt’s two-run shot. Wil Myers followed that up with a blistering double through the hole at shortstop and eventually wound up at third on a missed catch on a pickoff by Iowa’s shortstop, Luis Valbuena. David Lough singled to right field to bring in Myers and stretch the Storm Chasers lead to 4-1.

The I-Cubs started the top of the seventh with back-to-back singles. After a force out at second and with runners on first and third, Brian Esposito doubled in both runs to cut Omaha’s lead to 4-3. Iowa slapped two more singles off of Davis, who came in with two outs in the sixth, to start off the eighth and knock him out of the game. Roman Colon came out of the pen in relief of Davis and allowed the runners to advance to second and third on a sac bunt. Vitters was then walked intentionally to load the bases. Unfortunately, the plan did not work as a run still scored on a force out at second. Two batters later, Colon uncorked a wild pitch to bring in another run and put the Storm Chasers in an insurmountable 5-4 hole.

The Chasers and Cubs will lock horns for game two of their four game series on Wednesday at 6:35 p.m. Wednesday’s game is a special All You Can Eat contest thanks to our friends at ValPak. Enjoy an all you can eat buffet while you watch the game for only an additional $10 for kids and $18 for adults. If you can’t make it to the game on Wednesday, it can be heard locally on AM 1180 or online at omahastormchasers.com.