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April 7 Game Notes: Iowa at Buffalo

April 7, 2022 - International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (1-1) @ BUFFALO BISONS (1-1)

Thursday - 6:05 PM ET - Sahlen Field - Buffalo, NY

RHP Adrian Sampson (0-0, -.--) vs. RHP Casey Lawrence (0-0, -.--)

TONIGHT'S GAME: With the series tied at one game apiece, the I-Cubs will send righty Adrian Sampson to the mound. Sampson made 14 starts in 16 appearances for the I-Cubs in 2021, going 4-5 with a 4.96 ERA over that span. Toeing the rubber for the Buffalo Bisons will be righty Casey Lawrence. Lawrence won seven games last year for Buffalo, going 7-2 with a 4.85 ERA in 21 games, including 10 starts.

STARTING WITH SAMPSON: Adrian Sampson will make his first start of the season tonight for Iowa, hoping to build off a successful 2021 campaign. After joining the I-Cubs' rotation on May 27, Sampson went 4-5 in 14 consecutive starts for Iowa, 11 of which lasted five innings or longer. In under three months with the I-Cubs, he pitched 81.2 innings, which would finish the season ranked fourth on the team. His reliability paid off on August 18, when his contract was selected by Chicago. With the big league club, Sampson's success continued. He made five starts and five relief appearances over the final month and a half of the season, earning a career-best 2.80 ERA in 35.1 innings of work for the Cubs. His 3.09 September ERA was the best by any Chicago starter over the final month, and his .207 opponent average ranked first on the team among pitchers with at least five innings pitched.

DOUBLE OR NOTHING: In the season opener on Tuesday, the two teams combined for five runs on just eight hits, with six of those eight hits going for extra bases. Two of Iowa's three hits were doubles, while Buffalo had three doubles and a home run for four of their five hits. Last night with 12 runs on 17 hits between the two teams, the I-Cubs started right where they left off. Iowa clubbed four more doubles and a home run last night, making it now 54% (7-of-13) of their hits that have gone for extra bases, with six of the seven being two-baggers.

THE LONG RELIEVER, MATT: Despite losing 3-2 on Opening Day, Matt Swarmer started the season with a great effort out of the bullpen in long relief. The righty tossed four scoreless innings to keep the I-Cubs in the game. He allowed just one hit and two walks while striking out three of the 15 batters he faced. Last night, in the I-Cubs first win of the 2022 season, another Matt also had an impressive long relief outing out of the bullpen. Matt Dermody earned a win in last night's game, his first win since August 26 of 2019. The southpaw tossed 3.2 scoreless frames while allowing just two hits, one walk and striking out one. Swarmer and Dermody have combined to throw just over 45% of the innings the I-Cubs have played this year without allowing a single run.

JUST A BIT OFF: Iowa scored eight runs on 10 hits last night, much more offensive production than Opening Day when they scored two runs while recording just three hits. However, it would appear the hitter's timing is just off through the first two games of the season, as the I-Cubs have struck out 27 times. They struck out 11 times in the opener, including five from their top two hitters, while yesterday they were called out on strikes 16 more times. Last night, seven of Iowa's nine starters had two or more strikeouts, with two striking out three times each.

NOT TOO SHABBY: Through the first two games of the season, Iowa's bullpen has done their part to keep Buffalo off the board. In the season opener on Tuesday, after the starter allowed two innings through 2.2 innings, the bullpen combined to allow just one run on two hits, two walks and three strikeouts over 5.1 innings. Last night, the relievers were thrown into a similar position after the starter allowed two runs through two-plus innings. The bullpen combined to allow two runs on four hits and five walks while striking out seven over 7.0 innings. All told, Iowa's relief pitchers have an ERA of just 2.19 (3ER/12.1IP) through the first two games.

FLASH BACK TO 2019: Both Robel Garcia and Dixon Machado were big parts of the 2019 Pacific Coast League American Northern Division Championship Iowa Cubs team. In 76 games with the I-Cubs, Garcia hit .281 (73-for-260) with 12 doubles, 21 home runs and 52 RBI. On Opening Day, he started just where he left off in 2019, he notched his first two doubles of the season, the only I-Cub with a multi-hit performance. Last night in game two of the season, the switch hitter had two more hits including another double. Through two games, he leads the International League with three doubles. Machado, who played in 102 games for Iowa in 2019, started the 2022 season with an 0-for-3 game, but turned it around last night out of the leadoff spot. The infielder went 2-for-3 with three walks, reaching base in five of his six at-bats. Machado also put pressure on the Bisons by stealing two bases, getting in scoring position for the middle of the order.

NEW YEAR, SAME RESULT: Iowa's Opening Day loss on Tuesday very closely mirrored the I-Cubs 2021 Opening Day performance against Indianapolis. Similar to last year, Indy hit a home run and jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Their starter (Chase De Jong) also threw five hitless innings just like Nick Allgeyer did on Tuesday. The I-Cubs registered their first hit in the sixth inning in both games. Similar to 2021, the I-Cubs' bats showed up for the second game of the season. In 2021, Iowa won the second game of the year by a score of 8-3, exploding for eight runs on 11 hits including four home runs. Last night, they took the second game of the year 8-4, scoring eight runs on 10 hits including four doubles and a home run.

AGAINST BUFFALO: Iowa tied the series at one game apiece with their 8-4 victory last night. Buffalo won on Tuesday in the first game between the two teams since the Bisons swept the I-Cubs in the 1997 American Association Championship. With the win last night, Iowa is 109-101 all-time against Buffalo, holding a 60-43 mark at home while going 49-58 on the road against the Bisons.

SHORT HOPS: Iowa committed four errors last night but still won the game; they were 3-5 last year when they committed three or more errors...Aneuris Rosario closed out the game last night for his first save of the year, and his first since July 13, 2016...Levi Jordan hit the first home run of the year for Iowa in the seventh inning, his first since September 15 last year against Omaha.

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