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August 11 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs at Omaha Storm Chasers

August 11, 2021 - International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (36-47) @ OMAHA STORM CHASERS (47-36)

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

RHP Cory Abbott (1-5, 7.26) vs. LHP Marcelo Martinez (2-3, 4.31)

TONIGHT'S GAME: Iowa and Omaha will play the second game of their six-game series tonight, after Iowa took the first game by a score of 10-2. Cory Abbott will take the ball for Iowa, looking for his first win since May 13 in just his second start of the season. Abbott has pitched in two games against the Storm Chasers, allowing seven earned runs on 12 hits through 9.1 innings of work. He has walked four and struck out 10 in those two games, with Omaha hitting .300 against him. Opposite of Abbott will be lefty Marcelo Martinez toeing the rubber for Omaha, setting up a rematch from June 25 when Iowa beat the Storm Chasers 4-3 at Principal Park. Martinez is 2-3 with a 4.31 ERA on the year with the Storm Chasers, facing Iowa once over that span. He had good success against the I-Cubs, tossing five innings of one-run ball. The one run came on a solo home run by Nick Martini, but allowed just two total hits while walking one and striking out six back on June 25.

ANOTHER ONE: Keegan Thompson made another step in the right direction with his four inning start last night. Thompson was optioned to Iowa on July 27, with the goal being to stretch him out from being a reliever at the major league level back to a starter. Prior to this season with Chicago, he started 32 of his 38 minor league games, and in his first three with Iowa this season, the project has been successful. The righty threw four innings of three-hit ball, allowing one walk while striking out two. For the third consecutive start, he did not give up a run, keeping his ERA at 0.00 with the I-Cubs. In all, he has thrown 10.1 innings, allowing five hits while walking five and striking out nine. Opponents are hitting just .143 against him and he owns a WHIP of 0.97.

WELCOME BACK: Since July 23, Iowa has been missing a key piece of their offensive production. Out with a lower body injury, Michael Hermosillo missed about three weeks before being re-activated for last night's game. Hermosillo didn't waste any time showing how important he is to the offense, reaching in all four of his plate appearances. In his first plate appearance, the outfielder doubled to left field, putting runners on second and third with nobody out to start their five-run frame. He led off the third inning with a solo home run, extending Iowa's lead to six, raising his average to .324 in 39 games with the club. He took a walk and got hit by a pitch in his next two at-bats, raising his on-base percentage to .450. Despite missing nearly three weeks, Hermosillo is tied for fourth on the team with 14 multi-hit games and is tied for second on the team with Nick Martini with nine home runs.

SWINGING A HOT STICK: Over his last 23 games, Nick Martini has been having great success at the plate for the I-Cubs. The outfielder is hitting .390 (30-for-77) 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 23 game hot streak, he has hit two doubles, two triples, five home runs and driven in 16 runs. He has also walked 13 times compared to just 12 strikeouts. He has been hit by three pitches to go along with those 13 walks, raising his on-base percentage to .495. The Crystal Lake native is slugging .662 with an OPS of 1.157 since July 15. He has set his season-long hitting streak of five twice over the span and is currently riding a four-game streak after going 2-for-4 last night. In his 23 games, he has registered two or more hits in 10 of them, and been held hitless just six times.

GOT THE WIN: Matt Swarmer earned his second win of the season and first against Omaha since June 25, 2019. He threw five innings of relief last night, allowing two earned runs on one swing of the bat from Bobby Witt Jr.. He allowed four total hits, walked one batter and struck out three. It was his third time facing the Storm Chasers this season and his first time having success against them. In his two previous starts, the righty went 0-2 and allowed 16 runs on 16 hits including five home runs in just 7.2 innings.

ANGELS IN THE OUTFIELD: Iowa's three outfielders last night contributed a huge part of their offense, scoring six of the team's 10 total runs. Zach Davis, Trayce Thompson and Nick Martini combined to go 5-for-13 with six runs scored, a double, a home run and six runs batted in. Davis opened the scoring in the second inning, knocking a two-out bases loaded single to score two runs. It was the first multi-hit game of his Triple-A career. Thompson followed that single with a two-RBI double, bringing their lead to 4-0 in the second inning. Martini did his damage in the later innings, clubbing a three-run shot in the eighth inning to break open Iowa's lead to 10-2.

AGAINST OMAHA: The I-Cubs and Storm Chasers continue their six-game series tonight with game two, after Iowa took the first game by a score of 10-2. Omaha 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 that series, Iowa has been better at home against Omaha, going 6-5 in games played at Principal Park this season. With their eight-run victory last night, Iowa cut the run difference in the season series to 13, at 110-97.

DO IT WITH TWO: Eight of Iowa's 10 runs were scored last night with two outs, including all five in the second inning and three of their four scored in the eighth inning. Iowa ranks ninth in the Triple-A East this year with 152 runs scored with two outs. They are hitting .245 as a team with 32 home runs and 146 runs batted in when they are down to their last out of an inning.

SHORT HOPS: Iowa's win at Werner Park yesterday marked just their second win there this season and first since June 2, a 2-0 victory...in nine games against Omaha, Michael Hermosillo is hitting .400 (12-for-30) with eight runs scored, two doubles, two home runs and five RBI. He has an on-base percentage of .471 and is slugging .667 against the Storm Chasers...Bobby Witt Jr. hit his fifth home run in his last seven games, hitting at least one extra-base hit in each of his last four games.

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