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April 23 Game Notes: Iowa at Louisville

April 23, 2022 - International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (8-7) @ LOUISVILLE BATS (5-11)

Saturday - 2:05 ET - Louisville Slugger Field - Louisville, KY

RHP Alec Mills (0-0, -.--) vs. RHP Connor Overton (1-1, 3.75)

TODAY'S GAME: Taking the hill for the I-Cubs will be Major League rehabber Alec Mills. Mills is familiar with pitching for Iowa, having pitched in at least three games for them over each of the last four seasons Iowa has had a season. For Chicago, the right-hander is 12-13 with a 4.47 ERA in 59 games (37 starts) over parts of four seasons. Opposite of Mills will be Connor Overton toeing the rubber for the Bats. Overton is set to make his fourth appearance and second start of the year for Louisville, currently holding a 1-1 record with a 3.75 ERA. The righty has allowed five earned runs on 11 hits and two walks while striking out 13 over his 12.0 innings pitched this year.

MILLS ON MLR: Today's starter for Iowa, Alec Mills, joins Iowa's roster on a Major League rehab assignment. Mills was placed on the injured list on April 4 after appearing in two spring training games for Chicago, so today will mark his first game of the regular season at any level. The righty made 41 starts for the I-Cubs between 2018 and 2019 before joining Chicago's roster full time in 2020, and appeared in three games for Iowa on Major League rehab last season. During that assignment, he went 0-2 with a 5.40 ERA (7ER/11.2IP), but recorded six shutout innings against Omaha in the final of the three starts. When Mills takes the mound, he will be the tenth different pitcher to start a game for Iowa through their first 16 contests this year.

STILL SOMETHING TO WORK ON: Iowa enters today's game with a 2-2 record in the series, winning by a combined seven runs with both losses being by just one run. Despite being 2-2, one could make the argument that Iowa should be 4-0 with the traffic they have had on the bases in each game. In the series so far, they are hitting .180 (9-for-50) with runners in scoring position, while leaving 34 runners on. In their two one-run losses, games in which they recorded 10 and 15 hits respectively, the I-Cubs went 6-for-33 (.182) with runners in scoring position and stranded 10 men on base.

PLAYING WITH A BEACH BALL: Entering the series against Louisville, Ildemaro Vargas was hitting .133 (4-for-30) with no extra-base hits, two walks and four strikeouts through eight games. Since coming to Louisville, the infielder has started to find his swing, bringing his average on the season up to .260. Last night marked the first game of the series in which Vargas hasn't had multiple hits, going 1-for-5 out of the two-hole last night. The one hit he had was a big one, an RBI triple in the first inning to give Iowa an early 1-0 lead. It marked Vargas' third straight game with a triple and fourth straight game with an extra-base hit. In all, the switch-hitter has scored four runs and driven in two while hitting one double and three triples all with only one strikeout. Vargas, a career .294 hitter over 14 seasons in the minor leagues, is hitting .450 (9-for-20) through the first four games against the Bats.

SAVE THAT BASEBALL: With 2.0 scoreless frames last night, Erich Uelmen notched the first Triple-A save of his career and just his third save in his professional career. Uelmen has been lights-out so far this year, tossing 8.2 scoreless innings, allowing just five hits and four walks compared to 12 strikeouts. Opponents are hitting just .167 against him, and he is throwing 59% of his pitches for strikes.

HAVE A DAY, P.J.: P.J. Higgins notched a four-hit night last night, Iowa's second night in a row having a player record four hits after Rivas did so on Thursday night. Not only did the catcher have four hits, but he also drove in 75% (3-of-4) of Iowa's runs last night. Two of his four hits were two-baggers, doubling in his first and third at-bat of the game. Last night marked Higgins' second multi-hit game of the year, after getting three knocks in the first game of the series against Toledo. Higgins entered last night's game hitting .200 (6-for-30) on the season, with one double and one home run. With last night's four-hit game, he bumped that average all the way up to .294 (10-for-34) and moved his slugging percentage from .333 to .471. Despite not getting off to the best start in Buffalo, going 0-for-13 with six strikeouts in his first four games, Higgins is now on a four-game hitting streak, and hitting .476 (10-for-21) with almost as many doubles (3) as strikeouts (4) in his last six games.

ROSTER ROTATION: After just three games with Iowa, Alfonso Rivas quickly got recalled back to Chicago before the game last night. In his three games with the I-Cubs, the infielder hit .538 (7-for-13) with two doubles, a home run and four runs batted in. He recorded two straight multi-hit games, including a four-hit performance in his last game with the team on Thursday. Filling Rivas' spot on the roster will be Greg Deichmann, who was designated for assignment by Chicago on Saturday and has since cleared waivers and been outrighted back to Iowa. Deichmann was hitting .207 (6-for-29) with one double and three runs batted in before being designated for assignment.

A WIN IS A WIN: Matt Swarmer got his second win of the year last night, and the first of the season for an I-Cubs starting pitcher. Swarmer marked the third straight Iowa starter to throw five innings, while no starter had done so entering the series. The righty spun five innings allowing two runs on five hits, while striking out six compared to zero walks. He struck out 30% (6-of-20) of the batters he faced, a season high mark. Last night was the first time a team has scored a run against Swarmer, doing so with two outs in the third inning. The two-out run ended Swarmer's 14.1 scoreless innings streak to start the year. The Mohnton, PA, native now ranks third in the International League in ERA (1.08), fifth in innings pitched (16.2) and tied for eighth in batting average against, with opponents hitting just .180 against him.

AGAINST LOUISVILLE: Iowa and Louisville are knotted at two games apiece after the I-Cubs' 4-2 win last night. Their lead in the all-time series is back to two, at 15-13 over Louisville. Iowa is 10-5 against Louisville at home and now three games under the .500 mark at 5-8 on the road.

SHORT HOPS: The I-Cubs' starting staff have posted three straight five-inning starts after failing to make it more than 4.2 for the first two weeks of the season... Donnie Dewees, P.J. Higgins and Ildemaro Vargas all enter today on four-game hitting streaks, just one off from the team high of five games, set by Brennen Davis...the lineup has recorded a triple in each of the four games this series, with one from Dewees and three from Vargas.

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