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August 26 Game Notes: Iowa vs. Omaha

August 26, 2021 - International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (42-56) vs. OMAHA STORM CHASERS (53-44)

Thursday - 7:08 PM - Principal Park - Des Moines, IA

LHP Luis Lugo (0-1, 13.50) vs. LHP Jake Kalish (2-4, 7.39)

TONIGHT'S GAME: Iowa and Omaha will face off in game three of their six-game series tonight, with Iowa looking to bounce back from a 10-3 loss in last night's contest. They'll send out Luis Lugo for his second start as an I-Cub and his first at Principal Park. The lefty took the loss in his Triple-A debut last Saturday against St. Paul, but he'll try to turn it around tonight against the Storm Chasers and starter Jake Kalish. Kalish has made nine starts in 24 appearances for Omaha this season, including two starts and five bullpen outings against Iowa. The righty is 2-4 with a 7.39 ERA (52ER/63.1IP) overall, and 2-0 with a 4.96 ERA (9ER/16.1IP) against the I-Cubs.

THE TWELVE DAYS OF RIVAS: Though he'd already set a new career-long hitting streak, Alfonso Rivas did not let that stop him in yesterday's game, where he went 1-for-4 with an RBI. The effort extended his streak - which is also the longest by an I-Cubs player this season - to 12 games. Since the streak started on August 13, Rivas has taken at least one at-bat in every game the I-Cubs have played. Of the 12 games, Rivas has started 11 of them - seven at first base, two in left field, one in right field, and one as the designated hitter - and entered the remaining game as a pinch hitter. Entering tonight's game, Rivas has hit .348 (16-for-46) during the streak with five doubles, five RBI, four multi-hit games, and six runs scored.

DOING DAMAGE: The top four hitters in the Storm Chasers' lineup last night did the majority of the damage in their 10-3 victory over Iowa. They recorded 10 of Omaha's 12 hits with Rudy Martin, Bobby Witt Jr. and Ryan McBroom each recording three-hit games. The four hitters hit all five of the team's extra-base hits, including two doubles and three home runs. They also combined to drive in all 10 of their runs and the four of them scored seven of those 10 runs. Martin, Witt Jr., Nick Pratto and McBroom combined to hit .500 (10-for-20) in last night's game.

BIAGINI FROM THE BULLPEN: Joe Biagini made his third relief appearance of the season in last night's game, entering in the fourth inning to take over after Adbert Alzolay and Jonathan Holder had completed their rehab outings. Biagini has started 14 of the 17 games he's pitched in with Iowa this season, but last night marked his second straight outing from the bullpen. Before last night, he had last pitched on August 20 in St. Paul, a game he entered in the sixth inning. His only other relief appearance came on July 2. In that game, he took over for Trevor Williams, who was pitching on a Major League rehab assignment as well. Including last night, Biagini now owns a 6.75 ERA (7ER/9.1IP) as a reliever and a 5.52 mark (36ER/58.2IP) as a starter.

AN INNING TO AVOID: Omaha put their third crooked number of the game up yesterday with four runs in the fourth inning after scoring two in the first and two in the second. Their four runs in the fourth inning made it 81 total runs Iowa has allowed in the fourth inning this year, seven more than any other inning. The two next closest innings are the two innings surrounding the fourth, with 74 runs allowed in the fifth and 68 runs allowed in the third. They have allowed a season-low 35 runs in each the sixth and ninth innings.

RUNNING WILD: Omaha stole five bases as a team last night, including two from Dairon Blanco. Four of the bases were stolen in the first two innings against Iowa's starting pitcher Adbert Alzolay and catcher Erick Castillo, with the other coming against Joe Biagini and Castillo. It marked just the second time this season that the I-Cubs have allowed five stolen bases in a single game, both done by the Storm Chasers. They last stole five bags on August 14, all against Biagini and Castillo again. Lucius Fox accounted for three of the five stolen bases by himself that game, setting a single-game record for stolen bases against Iowa this year. Castillo's percentage of baserunners caught stealing went from 23% (6-of-26) down to 19% (6-of-31) after yesterday's game.

ON ASSIGNMENT: Yesterday's game featured two pitchers on Major League rehab with Iowa: starter Adbert Alzolay and reliever Jonathan Holder. Alzolay, who was placed on the injured list on August 14 with a hamstring strain, went two innings in his first rehab outing. The Storm Chasers touched him up right away, scoring two runs in each of his innings. Alzolay gave up three hits - including a home run - walked one, and hit a batter before completing his outing, which eventually earned him the loss. He was relieved by Holder, who was also making the first appearance of his rehab assignment with Iowa. Holder was placed on the injured list on April 1 and joined Iowa yesterday after completing the first half of his rehab assignment with the ACL Cubs. He pitched one inning against Omaha and allowed just one hit - a solo home run to Ryan McBroom.

AGAINST OMAHA: With last night's win, Omaha has once again evened the season series at Principal Park at seven games apiece. The Storm Chasers still hold the edge in the overall season series, with 14 wins to Iowa's 12. The I-Cubs have come close to tying up the season series a few times over the past month, drawing within one game on several occasions, but have never quite managed. The teams have played 18 games against one another since the season series was last tied on June 3.

SHORT HOPS: Iowa is now 0-10 when their opponent scores 10+ runs this season, they are 9-0 when scoring 10+ runs...they fell to 12-40 when their opponent scores first, 5-26 when they give up 10 or more hits, and 8-37 when they are out-hit by their opponent...the I-Cubs' ERA as a team went from 5.00 to 5.23 in the month of August after allowing 10 earned runs last night.

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