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April 5 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs at St. Paul Saints

April 5, 2023 - International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


TONIGHT'S GAME: Iowa will head on the road for their first of 75 road games this year, set to open a six-game series against St. Paul at CHS Field. Making his season and I-Cubs debut tonight in game one against the Saints will be Roenis Elías. Elias went 0-1 with a 5.00 ERA in 9.0 innings for Team Cuba in the World Baseball Classic this off-season while going 2-0 with a 6.48 ERA in 8.1 innings with Chicago in Spring Training. Opposite of Elias will be Louie Varland, set to make his first start of the year for the Saints. Varland made one start against Iowa last year and shut their offense down. In that outing, he spun six scoreless frames, allowing just three hits and one walk while striking out nine.

COMEBACK KIDS: Iowa has been down in all three of their games so far this season, with Columbus getting on the board in the first inning in two of the three games played. The I-Cubs have come back and won all three games, already accounting for 11.5% (3-of-26) of wins when their opponent scored first in 2022, as they were 26-55 in those games. They also have 8.5% (3-of-35) of the comeback victories they had in 2022. Iowa's win on Sunday moved them to 1-0 when allowing 10 or more runs, a category in which they were just 1-16 in last year with their only win coming against Omaha on Sept. 20, also a 12-11 victory.

WHAT A START: With wins in each of their first three games, Iowa is now 3-0 for the first time since 2017. Although that was just six years ago, a win tonight would put the I-Cubs in a spot they haven't been since 1998. A win tonight would mark just the second 4-0 start in franchise history for Iowa and the first since 1998. The I-Cubs have never started a season with a 5-0 mark.

SIT'EM DOWN: Iowa's pitching staff recorded 13 more strikeouts on Sunday, giving them 34 on the year. After the conclusion of Opening Weekend, Iowa's 34 strikeouts were tied for second in the International League, where they are now tied for 12th after missing last night's game. In game one against Columbus they struck out seven, but followed that with 14 on Saturday and 13 on Sunday. In 2022, their season high for strikeouts in a single game was 17.

GET OUT THE BROOMS: Iowa is coming off an Opening Weekend sweep of the Columbus Clippers, entering tonight's game against St. Paul with a 3-0 record. For Iowa, the sweep marked their first since August 10-13, 2019, against the Salt Lake Bees. The I-Cubs had three four-game sweeps in 2019, with the other two coming against Omaha from May 3-6 and June 25-28.

STAY HOT: In 19 games with Chicago in Spring Training, David Bote hit .323 (10-for-31) with two doubles, a triple, a home run and five runs batted in. He also stole two bases and took five walks, raising his on-base percentage to .447. He hasn't cooled off in his first two games with Iowa this year, starting on Friday by clubbing the team's first home run of the 2023 season in the season-opener. Bote played an even bigger role in Saturday's 4-3 extra-inning victory over Columbus, going 2-for-2 with a double, an RBI and three walks. His RBI double came when Iowa was down by one with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, tying the game and sending it to extra innings. Through his first two games this year, the infielder is hitting .429 with an on-base percentage of .600. Among all International League players, Bote enters tonight's contest ranked fifth in on-base percentage (.600), tied for sixth in slugging percentage (1.000) and fifth in OPS (1.600).

DON'T STOP NOW: Although Iowa's starting pitching combined to allow 14 runs on 19 hits in 9.1 innings through the first three games, the bullpen was nearly perfect. Iowa's relievers combined to go 3-0, allowing just five runs on 11 hits over 18.2 innings pitched. They struck out 28 batters compared to 10 walks, holding a 1.93 ERA through three games. In game one of the season, four pitchers threw five innings, allowing just one unearned run on two hits. In Saturday's contest, five pitchers covered seven innings and allowed just one run on five hits and striking out 11. In the finale on Sunday, the bullpen covered 6.2 innings, allowing three runs on four hits and fanned 12. Nick Burdi threw the final scoreless frame on Sunday, earning the first save of the year for an I-Cubs pitcher.

AGAINST ST. PAUL: Iowa and St. Paul will face off for the first game in their current six-game series and their first of 24 total games this season. The Saints have had the I-Cubs' number through the first two seasons they've played, holding a 36-23 record over Iowa in that time. Iowa enters tonight's game seven games under the .500 mark at CHS Field, going 14-21.

SHORT HOPS: Nick Burdi recorded a save in Sunday's win over Columbus, marking his first save since July 28, 2020...Iowa has scored 27 runs on 33 hits through their first three games, all while stranding 36 runners on base and hitting .282 (11-for-39) with runners in scoring position...with Omaha's loss last night and Iowa having a postponed game, the I-Cubs now sit alone at the top of the International League West Division with a 3-0 record; the only other undefeated team in the IL is Lehigh Valley, also at 3-0 at the top of the IL East.

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