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August 22 Game Notes: Iowa at St. Paul

August 22, 2021 - International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (40-54) @ ST. PAUL SAINTS (53-42)

Sunday, August 22, 2021 - 2:05 PM - CHS Field - St. Paul, MN

RHP Cory Abbott (1-5, 7.18) vs. RHP Drew Strotman (0-1, 5.85)

TODAY'S GAME: The I-Cubs will try to win the sixth and final game of the series to snap a three-game losing streak and take two-of-six against St. Paul. In a rematch of game one, Iowa will send righty Cory Abbott to the mound to face-off against Drew Strotman for St. Paul. In game one of the series, Abbott threw five innings of three-run ball, allowing four hits including a home run. He tied a career high, walking five batters for the second consecutive game, while also striking out five. Strotman came one out away from a quality start against the I-Cubs, allowing three runs on eight hits over 5.2 innings of work. The righty walked one and struck out three, throwing 68% (62-of-91) of his pitches for strikes.

MOVIN' ON UP: After beating Iowa in three straight games, St. Paul has now moved into first place in the Triple-A East Midwest division. Their 53-42 record puts them a half-game above the Toledo Mud Hens and two games ahead of the Omaha Storm Chasers for the top-spot. With 53 wins, the Saints have the fifth most wins in all of the Triple-A East, behind Durham (61), Gwinnett (55), Buffalo (55) and Scranton Wilkes-Barre (55). St. Paul and Columbus are the only two teams in the Triple-A East Midwest division to have winning records over their last 10 games, with the Saints going 8-2 and Columbus going 7-3. The next best record is an even .500, with Toledo going 5-5 in their last 10 games played.

DOUBLE OR NOTHIN': As a team, Iowa recorded just six hits last night against St. Paul, being out-hit nine to six. For Iowa, five of those six hits were extra-base hits, with the one single coming from Alfonso Rivas in a pinch-hit at-bat in the ninth inning. The I-Cubs recorded four doubles, including two from infielder Abiatal Avelino, with just doubles accounting for 67% (4-of-6) of their hits. One of their other six hits was a two-run home run from Jared Young in the fourth inning.

TWO IS BETTER THAN ONE: Pitchers Luis Lugo and Brendon Little each made their Iowa Cubs' debuts in last night's loss to St. Paul. Lugo was the starter for Iowa, going four innings, allowing six earned runs on seven hits. He walked two batters and struck out five, allowing one home run on the night. He pitched to four batters in the fifth inning, but hit one and allowed three singles before being replaced by Little. Four runs scored in that fifth inning and were all credited to Lugo, making his line look much worse than how he actually pitched. In his I-Cubs debut, Little threw two innings of scoreless relief, allowing two hits and one walk. He also struck out two of the eight batters he faced.

SAVE THE DAY: Ian Hamilton recorded his fourth save of the season last night for St. Paul, and his first against the I-Cubs. Hamilton has been lights-out when he faces Iowa this year, going 2-0 with a 1.32 ERA in 10 games. He now has two wins, one hold and one save in his 13.2 innings pitched against the I-Cubs. In those 13.2 innings, the righty has allowed two earned runs on eight hits and 11 walks, while striking out 19 batters. Iowa is hitting just .167 against him on the season.

MR. MULTI-HIT GAME: Abiatal Avelino recorded his team-leading 25th multi-hit game last night, going 2-for-3 with a run scored, two doubles, a run batted in and two walks. Ian Miller (21) and Nick Martini (18) are the two closest to Avelino when it comes to multi-hit games. The infielder is also one of just three players to notch a four-hit game this season with the I-Cubs. He now has 21 two-hit games, three three-hit games and one four-hit game. For the second night in a row, Avelino was the only player for Iowa to record multiple hits, accounting for two of the I-Cubs' six hits last night.

KEEPING IT ALIVE: In a ninth-inning pinch-hit at-bat, Alfonso Rivas recorded a single to extend his hitting to eight games. Rivas entered the game with a seven-game streak and was getting the night off after playing in every single game this month for Iowa. Instead of getting the whole night off, he got called on to pinch-hit in the ninth inning. He checked in on his at-bat with a single, going 1-for-1 on the night, tying his season long streak of eight consecutive games with a hit. On the eight game streak, he now has five one-hit games and three multi-hit games, while mixing in three doubles, two runs batted in and two walks. He is now hitting .355 (11-for-31) on the eight-game streak, and with a hit today, would tie Iowa's season long record of nine games.

CAN'T BE STOPPED: Tomás Telis added two more hits last night, going 2-for-4 with a run scored. He has now recorded a hit in 12 straight games against the I-Cubs, including multi-hit efforts in half (6-of-12) of those games. Through the first five games of the series alone, Telis is hitting .450 (9-for-20) with six runs scored, a home run, two runs batted in, a walk and a stolen base. He is responsible for the longest hitting streak of the season by an opposing hitter.

PUT IT IN PLAY: In the first five games of this series, Iowa has scored four or less runs in three of them, with the one exception coming in game two of the series. The I-Cubs put together a two-run ninth inning and four-run tenth to tally 10 runs, but were at four runs entering the final frame in that game. This series, they have left 36 men on-base, due in large part to their inability to put the bat on the ball. Iowa has struck out 46 times through four games, highlighted by 15 on Friday night. All three of the Saints' pitchers had at least two strikeouts, with Jovani Moran tallying three over his 2.1 innings of work.

AGAINST ST. PAUL: With their second consecutive 7-4 loss, Iowa is now 10-18 this season against St. Paul. Coming into this series, the I-Cubs were a game above .500 against St. Paul on the road, holding a 6-5 record here at CHS Field. With three straight losses, Iowa has fallen to 7-10 on the year while playing the Saints on the road. When the two teams meet at Principal Park, the I-Cubs are just 3-9, making their overall record 10-19 against St. Paul this year. The Saints lead the season scoring by 20 runs, 148-128, with Iowa leading the scoring by seven runs when the two teams meet at CHS Field, 84-77. St. Paul has the chance to take five-of-six from the I-Cubs with a win today, having swept Iowa earlier in the season at Principal Park.

END THE SLIDE: Entering this series against St. Paul, Iowa was 39-49, 10.0 games out of first place and 10 games below the .500 mark. Since then, they have lost four-of-five games this series and the completion of a suspended game, putting their record at 40-54 on the season. With last night's loss, they moved to 14 games below .500 for the first time this season, owning a .426 winning percentage. They are 4-6 in their last 10 games, including three straight losses. With the loss, the I-Cubs slid 12.5 games out of first place, now playing against the best team in the division, the St. Paul Saints.

SHORT HOPS: Iowa has scored four runs in three straight games, allowing nine runs in one of those contests and seven runs in the other two, falling short in all three games...after going four straight games without committing an error, Iowa has now made one in three straight games, including three on Thursday.

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