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August 24 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs vs. Omaha Storm Chasers

August 24, 2021 - International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (41-54) vs. OMAHA STORM CHASERS (51-43)

Tuesday - 4:08 PM - Principal Park - Des Moines, IA

LHP Ryan Kellogg (1-2, 3.42) vs. LHP Foster Griffin (0-0, 5.40) (Game One)

RHP Matt Swarmer (2-6, 6.42) vs. RHP Brandon Barker (1-1, 9.00) (Game Two)

TONIGHT'S GAMES: The I-Cubs will play two against the Storm Chasers tonight, opening a new series in game one and wrapping up an old one in game two. The first game serves as the series opener and will feature dueling south paws, with Ryan Kellogg going for Iowa against Foster Griffin for Omaha. Kellogg, who has split time between Iowa and Double-A Tennessee will be making his third start at Triple-A. He holds a 1-2 record and a 3.42 ERA (10ER/26.1IP) in split duty between the rotation and bullpen. Griffin will be making just his second start for Omaha after missing the first half of the season with an injury. He pitched 3.1 innings and allowed two runs against Columbus in his first turn for the Storm Chasers. In game two - the make-up for June 22 - Iowa will send out Matt Swarmer to face Brandon Barker. Swarmer has also bounced between the rotation and the bullpen lately, but will be making his second consecutive start after tossing six inning against St. Paul on Thursday. Barker joined the Storm Chasers in mid-July and will face Iowa for the second time this season following his three-run, 4.2-inning start against them on August 13.

A TALE OF TWO STARTERS: Both of Iowa's starters for today have faced off with Omaha multiple times this season already, and both of them have met with mixed results. Game one starter, Ryan Kellogg, first matched up with the Storm Chasers on June 26, and it did not go his way. Omaha's lineup tagged Kellogg with nine runs - three of them earned - on ten hits, including two home runs, in just three innings of work. In his August 12 rematch with Omaha, however, Kellogg spun two perfect innings of relief. Similarly, game two starter, Matt Swarmer, has had both success and failure against Omaha. In his two starts against the Storm Chasers, Swarmer surrendered a combined 16 runs (15 earned) on 16 hits, good for an ERA of 17.60. In his two relief appearances against them, however, he allowed just two runs on five hits, good for an ERA of 2.25. While Omaha has handed both Kellogg and Swarmer their season highs in runs, hits, earned runs, and home runs, the two pitchers have also each logged a scoreless outing against the Storm Chasers in 2021, too.

MR. MULTI-HIT GAME: Abiatal Avelino collected two more hits on Sunday, bringing him to 26 total multi-hit games this season, which leads the team. The infielder's 2-for-4 performance against the Saints was also his third straight two-hit game, marking the first time this season that he's notched three multi-hit games in a row. He has recorded at least one multi-hit game in every series since the June 30-July 4 trip to Indianapolis, including a season-high four-hit game on July 4. Overall, Avelino has 22 two-hit games, three three-hit games, and one four-hit game.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Marcus Walden became the third pitcher to debut for Iowa last series when he entered Sunday's finale against St. Paul. Walden joined the Cubs organization on August 19 on a minor league deal after spending the balance of the season with Worcester, the Triple-A affiliate of Boston, and joined the I-Cubs at CHS Field over the weekend. Walden was tested immediately, as he entered the game with a slim one-run lead in the seventh inning. Although he was tagged with a blown save, Walden allowed only one unearned run on one hit in his first inning as an I-Cub. The error was erased just a half inning later when the I-Cubs scored another run to retake the lead, and Walden was credited with the win in his Cubs organization debut.

STILL STREAKING: Alfonso Rivas went 1-for-4 in Sunday's series finale against the Saints, extending his hitting streak to season-long nine games. Not only is it a season record for Rivas, whose previous high was eight games, but the streak also ties Rivas with Ian Miller for longest streak by any I-Cub in 2021. The streak is not entirely unexpected from Rivas, who has been one of Iowa's most consistent hitters. He previously had a seven-game hitting streak from July 8 to 15 and an eight-game streak from July 18 to July 27. Rivas' current streak began August 13 in Omaha and includes every game Iowa has played since then. During the streak, Rivas has hit .343 (12-for-35) with three multi-hit games, three doubles, and two RBI.

SPEAKING OF SERIES: Although Iowa trails 11-12 in the season series against Omaha, the I-Cubs have won two out of four series they've played against the Storm Chasers this year, and they have a chance to split another one today. The teams' first series of the season went to the I-Cubs officially on June 23, when the rain-delayed game originally scheduled for May 18 ended with an Iowa win. The Storm Chasers picked up a series win on their home turf by a decisive 5-1 margin in the team's second meeting, but the I-Cubs came out on top of the teams' most recent set in Omaha two weeks ago, taking four out of six on the road. The second half of today's doubleheader is the make up for June 22's scheduled game, and an Iowa win would serve to split that series and move Iowa to 2-1-1 in series play against Omaha. The I-Cubs enter today's doubleheader with momentum in the season series. They won their last matchup with Omaha by a score of 10-0, the third time that series that they'd put up double-digit runs against Storm Chasers' pitching. The offensive efforts resulted in them outscoring the Storm Chasers 37-21 during the six-game set, while the pitching staff limited Omaha to less than three runs in three of the games.

AN INSIDE LOOK: For much of the year, Iowa and Omaha have been on opposite ends of the standings in the Triple-A East Midwest division. Iowa has spent most of the season in sixth place, while the Storm Chasers have been in first place for much of the year. Interestingly, some of the stats show the story more than others. Omaha has almost twice as many home runs (154) as Iowa (86), coming just 18 long balls away from exactly doubling the I-Cubs total. Similarly, Omaha is 19 stolen bases away from doubling Iowa, with 113 compared to Iowa's 66. Other stats are oddly close, including batting average, walks, strikeouts, doubles and triples. As a team, Iowa has a batting average of .250 compared to .255 for Omaha. The I-Cubs have 396 walks with 883 strikeouts, compared to 332 free passes and 854 strikeouts for Omaha. Iowa has three more doubles (149-146) and the two teams are tied in triples, each recording 15.

AGAINST OMAHA: The I-Cubs and the Storm Chasers will meet for the fifth of their seven series this season starting today. The teams have been fairly evenly matched so far, with only one game and two runs separating them in the season series. The I-Cubs hold a narrow 6-5 advantage against Omaha at Principal Park. While they've hit for a higher average against the Storm Chasers than the Storm Chasers have hit against them, the difference has been in power; Omaha has crushed 42 home runs against the I-Cubs compared to just 25 the I-Cubs have hit against them.

SHORT HOPS: Today marks Iowa's fourth doubleheader of the season, all of which have been played at home...they've won two and split one so far this season.

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