IL Iowa Cubs

August 2 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs vs. Toledo Mud Hens

August 2, 2023 - International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (59-42) vs. TOLEDO MUDHENS (43-59)

Wednesday, August 2 - 12:08 PM - Principal Park - Des Moines, IA

RHP Nick Neidert (5-4, 5.21) vs. RHP Sawyer Gipson-Long (0-2, 6.10)

TONIGHT'S GAME: Trailing the series 1-0, the I-Cubs give Nick Neidert the starting nod this afternoon. After spending two weeks in the bullpen, Neidert returned to the starting rotation last week in Memphis. He suffered his fourth loss of the season, allowing two runs on three hits and one walk in 5.0 innings in his last outing. The righty faced Toledo earlier this season on May 12. He spun 5.0 shutout innings, giving up just two hits and one walk in the outing. His win earlier this year is the only time Neidert has faced the Mud Hens in his career. Opposite Neidert is Sawyer Gipson-Long for Toledo. The righty has made just two starts for the Mud Hens this season. He's allowed seven runs in 10.1 innings for a 6.10 ERA and 0-2 record. Gipson-Long has recorded 13 strikeouts compared to just four walks. This afternoon marks his first career start versus the I-Cubs in his young Triple-A career.

BULLPEN BREAKDOWN: It was a rough go for three of the four relievers Iowa used in last night's series opening loss versus Toledo. Following a quality start from Caleb Kilian, who finished with a final line of 6.0 innings pitched, one earned run on five hits allowed, one walk and six strikeouts, the arms of Ryan Jensen, Brendon Little, and Cam Sanders struggled against the Mud Hens lineup. The trio of arms combined to throw 2.2 innings giving up eight hits, seven earned runs, five walks and two home runs while also only striking out two batters. Jensen came into the contest first with the I-Cubs leading by a score of 2-1 and proceeded to give up back-to-back solo home runs to Grant Witherspoon and Johan Camargo to give Toledo a 3-2 advantage. Little allowed one run in the eighth to make it a 4-2 deficit. The game broke open in the ninth from a bases-clearing, three-run triple by Wenceel Perez followed by an RBI single from Joe Rizzo all of which was off Sanders. When breaking down the Iowa bullpen as whole this season, relievers have tallied a record of 32-18 and over 439 innings pitched they have allowed a total of 303 earned runs for an ERA of 6.21.

STRIKEOUTS GALORE: The Iowa Cubs set a new season-high in the series opener versus the Mud Hens last night. Unfortunately, it is not one that the team would want to boast about. Iowa struck out a total of 17 times against the Toledo pitching staff with Mud Hen starter, Jack O'Loughlin, racking up eight of those 17. The previous season-high for strikeouts in a game this season by Iowa was 15, which they had done three times. In the game, Iowa had six players strikeout at least twice and four players struck out on three separate occasions. The 17 strikeouts by the I-Cubs last night tied the fifth-highest mark by a team this season in the International League. Ironically, the other mark that Iowa is tied with is itself when its pitching staff struck out 17 Columbus Clippers on July 14.

MASTRO MASH: Infielder Miles Mastrobuoni was able to get a hold of a pitch last night and sent a two-run homer over the right field wall in Principal Park off Will Vest during the sixth inning. It was Mastrobuoni's lone hit of the night as he went 1-for-4 at the dish with two RBI and it marked his first home run at the Triple-A level in 2023 and just his second of his entire season. The other homer he hit came while he was up in the big leagues with Chicago not too long ago on July 21 versus the rival St. Louis Cardinals. Mastrobuoni is currently in his third stint with Iowa this season and when he has donned an I-Cub jersey, he has performed well. On the year with Iowa, he has slashed numbers of .302/.469/.477 over 27 games with eight doubles, two triples, a home run, and 10 RBI. Mastrobuoni has also showed off his speed on the base paths swiping seven bags, which ranks third on Iowa's active roster, and he has yet to be caught.

FINDING HIS GROOVE: If you were looking for a silver lining in the hitting department for Iowa in last night's game, Alexander Canario would be your man. The outfielder went 2-for-3 at the plate with a walk and was the only I-Cub to record multiple hits in the game. It marked his fourth multi-hit contest of the season while playing for Iowa, which has only been 14 games. Canario seems to be getting back into the swing of things after sustaining ankle and shoulder injuries slowed down the start of his season. Over his last 10 games, the Dominican Republic native has posted numbers of .282/.378/.410 with three runs scored, two doubles, a home run, and nine RBI. He also went on his longest hitting streak of the season over that span at six games from July 22-29.

AGAINST TOLEDO: Last night, the I-Cubs suffered their third straight loss to the Mud Hens with the streak dating back to May 13 and 14. Despite the loss, Iowa still retains the season series lead 4-3, with all seven of those games coming at Principal Park. The I-Cubs continue to trail 16-24 all-time against Toledo and 13-15 at home.

SHORT HOPS: With their series opener loss last night, the I-Cubs broke a five-game win streak in the first game of the series that stretched from June 28 to July 25 ... As he went 0-4 last night, Matt Mervis ended his season-long eight game hitting streak, tied for the eighth longest streak by any I-Cub this season ... Iowa has lost two games when their starter earns a quality start this season, both of those losses have come with Caleb Kilian earning the quality start, last night and June 3 .... Iowa moved to 3-3 in the first game of the month with their lost last night on August 1 ... Over Iowa's last two games, they have scored just two runs on eight hits while striking out 27 times.

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