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August 10 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs at Omaha Storm Chasers

August 10, 2021 - International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (35-47) @ OMAHA STORM CHASERS (47-35)

Tuesday - 7:05 PM - Werner Park - Papillion, NE

RHP Keegan Thompson (0-0, 0.00) vs. RHP Jackson Kowar (7-2, 2.71)

TONIGHT'S GAME: Iowa and Omaha are set to play game one of a six-game set at Werner Park, with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 pm. Keegan Thompson will take the ball for Iowa in his third start of the season since being assigned to the I-Cubs to get stretched out. Thompson hasn't gone deep enough in a game this year to receive a decision, but has struck out seven batters and allowed just two hits over his combined 6.1 innings. Opposite of Thompson will be righty Jackson Kowar. Kowar is tied for second in the Triple-A East Midwest division with seven wins, including one against Iowa. In three starts against the I-Cubs, the righty is 1-1 with a 2.45 ERA. He has struck out 21 batters compared to four walks over 14.2 innings; allowing four earned runs on 11 hits over that span.

SWINGING A HOT STICK: Over his last 22 games, Nick Martini has been having great success at the plate for the I-Cubs. The outfielder is hitting .384 (28-for-73) since July 15, including all three of his three-hit games this year. Two of those three hit games came in the last series against Indianapolis. On Friday, August 6, Martini was just a single shy of the cycle, going 3-for-5 with a double, triple and home run. Over his 22 game hot streak, he has hit two doubles, two triples, four home runs and driven in 13 runs. He has also walked just as many times as he has struck out, with 12 of each. He has been hit by three pitches to go along with those 12 walks, raising his on-base percentage to .489. The Crystal Lake native is slugging .630 with an OPS of 1.119 since July 15. He has set his season-long hitting streak of five twice over the span and is currently riding a three-game streak after going 2-for-2 on Sunday. In his 22 games, he has registered two or more hits in nine of them, and been held hitless just six times.

12 GAMES UNDER: With four straight losses to Indianapolis, Iowa is now 35-47, 12 games under the .500 mark for the ninth time this season. They have never gone more than 12 games under .500, but haven't been within seven games of the even mark since June 5, when they were 10-17. Before the losing streak started on Thursday, Iowa had won four of their last five games and were 35-43, sitting in a tie for fifth place in the Triple-A East Midwest division. Before Sunday, the last time they were 12 games under .500 was back on July 22, when they were 27-39.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: The I-Cubs will head back on a two-week road trip beginning tonight, with a six-game series against the Omaha Storm Chasers followed by seven games against the St. Paul Saints at CHS Field. These two series will be the first time Iowa has hit the road in the month of August, after being at Principal Park for the last two weeks. Iowa is 16-19 on the road compared to 19-28 at home, and will play five of their eight remaining series away from Principal Park.

ALLOWING TOO MUCH: After completing their best month of the year, going 14-13 in July, Iowa started the month of August with a 3-1 record. Since then, they have fallen upon tough times, going 0-4 in their last four games. The offense hasn't been taking advantage of all of their scoring opportunities, but it is really the pitching that has seen the biggest dip. In the first four games they scored 13 runs and allowed just eight, and have since scored 14 runs but allowed 35. Heading into their August 5 game, they held a 2.25 ERA in the month of August. Just four games later, their ERA for the month has doubled, sitting at 5.69. In those four games, the pitching staff gave up 10 doubles and 14 home runs, including six home runs on Friday and six doubles with five long balls on Saturday alone. Iowa needs to keep the ball in the park to give their offense a chance to score, heading into a series against the Omaha Storm Chasers who have hit more home runs (139) than any other team in the entire Triple-A.

A GOOD FIRST STEP: Iowa's starting catcher yesterday was Austin Romine, making his first major league rehab game of the season with the I-Cubs. Romine had a great first game, going 2-for-2 with a single and a double. The catcher also scored both times he was on-base and caught five innings. He is coming back from an injury that landed him on the 60-day injured list back on May 5. Romine hit .111 (1-for-9) in six games as Chicago's backup catcher before going on the IL. His older brother, Andrew Romine, who just had his contract selected by Chicago on July 30, played in 47 games with Iowa this season. The middle infielder hit .311 (51-for-164) with seven doubles, two triples, one home run and 11 runs driven in in his time with the I-Cubs.

TOUGH ONE: Iowa held a 5-3 lead on Sunday after Trayce Thompson hit his third home run of the series, a fourth inning grand slam. Joe Biagini gave the I-Cubs seven innings of three-run ball, and was relieved by Juan Gamez. In just his third appearance with Iowa, Gamez had an outing to forget, recording just one out and allowing five runs to score. He allowed three hits and one walk, surrendering a three-run shot to Bligh Madris that broke the tie. Iowa couldn't come back from the five-run eighth inning, marking just their third loss this season when they held a lead after seven innings. They are now 22-3 when leading after seven innings. It marked Gamez' first loss since May 31, 2019, giving Iowa four straight losses after winning three in a row.

AGAINST OMAHA: Iowa and Omaha will meet for the fourth time this season and their second at Werner Park. The Storm Chasers dominated the first series at Werner Park, winning five of the six games and out-scoring the I-Cubs by 18 runs, 39-21. Despite going 1-5 on the road, Iowa has been better at home against Omaha, going 6-5 in games played at Principal Park this season. In total, Iowa has been outscored by 21 runs in their 17 games with the Storm Chasers, 108-87. The two teams haven't played in over a month, since June 27, a game that Iowa won 6-1. Starting with this series, four of Iowa's last eight series are against Omaha.

BIG INNING: In Sunday's loss to Indianapolis, Trayce Thompson hit a grand slam in the fourth inning, bringing in all four runs Iowa scored that inning. On the season, it gave Iowa 56 runs in the fourth inning, the most runs scored of any inning. 56 runs accounts for 15% (56-of-369) of the runs Iowa has scored all year, with the next closest inning being the third inning, in which they have scored 53 runs, 10 more than the next closest inning.

SHORT HOPS: Trayce Thompson hit Iowa's seventh grand slam of the year on Sunday and first since July 3, when Alfonso Rivas hit one; both of their last two grand slams came against the Indianapolis Indians...Iowa has given up the second most (120) home runs in the Triple-A East, matching up against the Storm Chasers who have hit the most (139) in all of Triple-A.

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