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August 13 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs at Omaha Storm Chasers

August 13, 2021 - International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (37-48) @ OMAHA STORM CHASERS (48-37)

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

RHP Adrian Sampson (4-5, 5.26) vs. RHP Brandon Barker (1-1, 6.94)

TONIGHT'S GAME: Iowa and Omaha are set for game four of the six-game series tonight at Werner Park, with Iowa currently holding a 2-1 series lead. Adrian Sampson will face Omaha for the fifth time this season tonight, making his fourth start against the Storm Chasers. He is 1-1 with an 8.35 ERA, allowing 17 earned runs on 27 hits in 18.1 innings. Sampson has allowed nine home runs and eight walks while striking out 11. Brandon Barker will take the ball for the Storm Chasers, set to face Iowa for the first time in his career. Barker is 1-1 with a 6.94 (18ER/23.1IP) ERA on the year for Omaha, walking eight batters compared to 19 strikeouts. Opponents are hitting .357 against him on the season.

CONTACT IS KING: Although it got covered up with two big performances and two wins, Iowa's offense has swung and missed a lot this series. In the first game of the series, Iowa scored 10 runs; they also went 5-for-12 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on-base, striking out 10 times. In Wednesday's win, they scored 12 runs as a team. In that game, they went 5-for-23 with runners in scoring position, stranding 12 on-base and struck out 14 times. Last night, in their 2-1 loss, the I-Cubs went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position, leaving eight men on-base with 12 team strikeouts. It was more of a glaring issue in last night's loss when the team scored just one run on five hits, but making contact and driving runners in has been a constant problem the entire series.

HIT AROUND: Adrian Sampson gets the start for Iowa in game four as he faces the Storm Chasers for the fifth time this season. Although he is 1-1 against Omaha, Sampson has run into trouble in each of his previous appearances against them. He's allowed at least three earned runs in all four outings, most of them via the long ball. In the 18.1 innings Sampson has thrown against Omaha, they've hit nine homers against him - nearly half of his home run total for the season. The Storm Chasers have also struck in bunches; they've hit four long balls against him on two separate occasions, first when facing him out of the bullpen at Principal Park in May, and again in his series-opening start at Werner Park in June. Because of the damage, Sampson will enter tonight's game with an ERA of 8.35 (17ER/18.1IP) against Omaha this season.

QUALITY CONTROL: Mike Hauschild went six innings and allowed only two runs against Omaha last night, locking in his third quality start of the season for Iowa. With that, he joins Adrian Sampson as the only starters to record more than two quality starts for the I-Cubs this year. Unfortunately for Hauschild, his offense hasn't backed him up. The righty is 0-2 after making a quality start, and the team is 0-3. The I-Cubs have scored four total runs on 17 total hits in the three games Hauschild has made a quality start in. As a team, they've hit just .172 (17-for-99) over those three games.

ONE MAKES THE DIFFERENCE: Omaha took a 2-1 victory over Iowa last night, taking their first game out of the first three played so far. It was the fourth one-run game between the two teams this year, and the first Iowa has lost. The I-Cubs beat the Storm Chasers 5-4 on May 19, 9-8 on May 21 and 4-3 on June 25. With the loss last night, Iowa is now 2-8 in one-run games on the road, while holding a 9-3 record in one-run games at home.

CAN'T TOUCH IT: Ryan Kellogg, recently called up for his fourth stint with the I-Cubs this season, pitched two scoreless innings in last night's game. Kellogg took over in the eighth inning for Mike Hauschild and gave the I-Cubs two perfect innings, facing the minimum of six batters without allowing a single baserunner. That served as Kellogg's first hitless outing at any level this year and also marked his second straight scoreless outing for the I-Cubs. Despite a string of rocky bullpen outings at the beginning of July, Kellogg has been effective for Iowa. His most recent outing for Iowa before last night came on July 31, when he shut out Louisville for four innings out of the bullpen, allowing just two hits and no walks. With those two performances, Kellogg has constructed a six-inning scoreless streak and has allowed only two men on base during that span.

AGAINST OMAHA: Omaha picked up their first win of the series last night, cutting Iowa's series lead in half. The I-Cubs still lead the current set two games to one, but Omaha has the edge in the season series with 11 wins compared to Iowa's nine. Although the I-Cubs are trailing, however, they've done better against Omaha than they have against any other team except Indianapolis. The teams have played nearly identically against each other; both lineups are hitting .260 against one another and Iowa's 5.44 ERA (102ER/168.2IP) against Omaha compares to Omaha's 5.43 ERA (101ER/167.1IP) against them.

IT'S A MYSTERY: Iowa's offense that had won them each of the first two games disappeared last night, scoring just one run on five hits. In the first two games, the I-Cubs combined to score 22 runs on 25 hits, hitting double-digit run totals in back-to-back games for the first time all season. They hit five total doubles and three total home runs, with four players recording multi-hit efforts in each game. Last night, although two of their five hits were doubles, nobody recorded a multi-hit game, and just one run was driven in. Despite receiving a quality start from their starter and a perfect outing from their bullpen, Iowa could not do enough offensively to earn their third straight win.

SHORT HOPS: Last night marked Iowa's first road loss in the month of August, their first since July 25 at Columbus...Iowa is 0-7 when Michael Hermosillo starts in right field this year...Iowa fell to 0-1 on night's in which a Major League Baseball game is played in Iowa.

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