IL Iowa Cubs

April 24 Game Notes: Iowa at Louisville

Published on April 24, 2022 under International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (8-8) @ LOUISVILLE BATS (6-11)

Sunday - 1:05 ET - Louisville Slugger Field - Louisville, KY

RHP Robert Gsellman (0-0, 0.00) vs. RHP Randy Wynne (0-2, 4.70)

TODAY'S GAME: Today will wrap-up the six-game series between Iowa and Louisville, with the Bats currently leading the series 3-2. The pitching matchup will be a rematch of game one of the series, as Robert Gsellman will take the ball for Iowa, trying to earn the series split for the I-Cubs. Gsellman is set to make his fourth appearance of the season and second start of the series. In his first game against the Bats, the righty tossed four innings allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out one. Trying to turn it around and get the series victory for Louisville will be Randy Wynne, who suffered the loss in the first game of the series. In that first game, Wynne threw 4.2 innings, allowing four earned runs on seven hits and three walks. Iowa hit three home runs against Wynne in that first game, his third consecutive game allowing at least one home run.

NEAR PERFECT: Today's starter Robert Gsellman will be making his fourth appearance and third start of the year for Iowa. Through his first three games, the right-hander has been nearly perfect, allowing just two base runners over eight innings pitched. They both came in his last game, game one against Louisville when he walked one batter and allowed a hit. Before that, Gsellman struck out four batters over four innings pitched against Buffalo and Toledo. Over parts of nine seasons in the minors, he is 36-32 with a 3.18 ERA in 572.0 innings, including a 2-6 record over 17 games at the Triple-A level. Gsellman has thrown 62% (54-of-87) of his pitches for strikes this year.

ALL OVER THE PARK: Louisville recorded 15 hits yesterday en route to their 4-3 game five victory. They did so with eight hits against the starter Alec Mills, six more against Matt Dermody and one against Kevin McCarthy. Iowa was out-hit by Louisville 15-8, moving the I-Cubs record to 2-5 on the year when they are out-hit by their opponent. The 15 hits marked the most Iowa has allowed this year, and the most in a game since allowing 18 on October 1 last year against the Omaha Storm Chasers. Their season high in 2021 was 21 hits, done on September 11, by the Toledo Mud Hens.

MULTIPLE FOR MCCARTHY: Kevin McCarthy threw multiple innings in yesterday's game, his second outing of the season for Iowa. In 2021, McCarthy pitched two or more innings in 20% (7-of-35) of his outings, including his last game of the season on September 30. The righty entered the game in the seventh inning, with Iowa trailing 4-2. He did allow a one-out double in the eighth, but struck out the other three batters he faced, keeping Louisville's offense at bay and giving the I-Cubs a chance in their final at-bat in the ninth inning. Over three innings pitched this year, McCarthy has not allowed a run, surrendering just one hit and one walk while striking out four.

BAND OF THIEVES: Jared Young stole second base off of Connor Overton in yesterday's game, making him the tenth player to swipe a bag for Iowa this season. Of the 15 position players on the active roster, 11 have attempted to steal a base. The ten who have succeeded are the second most on a team in the International League, tied with Norfolk and Nashville. They trail only Buffalo in that category, as the Bison have seen 11 players successfully steal at least one base. For the I-Cubs, Dixon Machado leads the roster with seven steals in eight attempts, which ranks second in the International League. Donnie Dewees and Zach Davis both have three, and seven others are tied for third with one. Iowa's 26 steals is the fifth most in the IL, and their .870 success rate also ranks fifth among teams with at least 15 attempts.

DOING IT ALL: Ildemaro Vargas added to his hot-hitting this series in yesterday's game, going 2-for-3 with a home run and two runs batted in. Entering the series against Louisville, 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 .283. With the 2-for-3 game last night, Vargas now has four multi-hit games this series and five straight games with a hit. The home run also gave him five straight games with an extra-base hit after doubling in the series opener and tripling in three straight games before yesterday. In all, the switch-hitter has scored five runs and driven in four while hitting one double, three triples and a home run, all with just two strikeouts. Vargas, a career .294 hitter over 14 seasons in the minor leagues, is hitting .478 (11-for-23) against Louisville entering the sixth and final game of the series.

AGAINST LOUISVILLE: Louisville once again took the series lead yesterday with their 4-3 win, taking a 3-2 series lead heading into the sixth and final game of the series. The Bats have also come within one game of Iowa in their all-time series dating back to when the two teams were part of the American Association in 1996. The all-time series between Iowa and Louisville stands at 15-14 in the I-Cubs favor, holding a 10-5 lead at home while going 5-9 on the road against Louisville.

SHORT HOPS: Iowa has taken the least amount of walks in the International League with 51, they have taken 10 walks this series against the Bats...yesterday's game marked Iowa's first loss this year when committing one error - they were 3-0 entering yesterday's contest...Iowa's pitching staff did not allow a walk yesterday for the first time all season.

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