IL Iowa Cubs

August 27 Game Notes: Iowa vs. Omaha

Published on August 27, 2021 under International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


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

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

RHP Mike Hauschild (0-6, 6.30) vs. RHP Jackson Kowar (8-4, 3.45)

TONIGHT'S GAME: Iowa and Omaha are set to play game four of their current six-game series tonight, with Omaha leading the series three games to none. Mike Hauschild will take the mound for the I-Cubs, looking for his first win of the season. The righty will make his third start of the season against the Storm Chasers, after losing the first two. He is 0-2 with a 4.66 ERA (5ER/9.2IP) in his two games, allowing 10 total runs on 12 hits. He has walked six batters and struck out four, allowing Omaha to hit .316 against him. He will face off against Jackson Kowar, who is ranked by MLB.com as Kansas City's No. 6 prospect. Kowar is set to make his sixth start against Iowa, who has started to hit him better in his last two starts. The righty is 8-4 with a 3.45 ERA on the year, while going 1-3 against the I-Cubs.

YOU LOVE TO SEE IT: After joining the roster on August 18, Luis Lugo has now made two starts for the Iowa Cubs. In his first start on August 21, he allowed six earned runs on seven hits over four innings pitched to the St. Paul Saints. He walked two and struck out five, while four of the six runs that were scored against him came in the fifth inning, in which he did not record an out. Lugo looked even better last night against Omaha, allowing just one earned run on three hits over five innings of work. He walked two batters again and struck out four, but worked around and out of trouble, allowing just one run in the second inning, when one of his two walks came around to score on a two-out double. Lugo threw 63% (49-of-78) of his pitches for strikes, up from 57% (50-of-87) on Saturday.

NOT TOO SHABBY: In the month of August, Scott Effross has been lights out coming out of the bullpen for Iowa. He has yet to allow an earned run in his 11.1 innings pitched this month, surrendering just four total hits. Opponents are hitting .111 (4-for-36) against him, while Effross is throwing 68% (100/147) of his pitches for strikes. The side-winder has allowed just one unearned run, while walking four batters and striking out 10. Half (4/8) of his appearances have been outings of two or more innings, with his longest outing of the stretch being 2.2 innings back on August 6 against Indianapolis.

SECOND-HALF SLUMP: With his 1-for-3 night last night, Taylor Gushue broke a five-game hitless streak which had lasted from August 17 to 25. Though he took three walks and scored a run during that span, last night's single marked his first hit since August 15, when he went 2-for-5 with two doubles. The drought is indicative of Gushue's second-half struggles; before his June 30 promotion to the big leagues, Gushue was hitting .270 (34-for-125) for Iowa with six home runs and a team-leading 27 RBI. After returning to the I-Cubs from Chicago, Gushue's production dropped off steeply. Since his first game back on July 11, he's hit just .157 (13-for-83) with one home run and seven RBI. Additionally, August 15 was just his second multi-hit game in the second half compared to the 12 he collected in May and June.

THE PRESSURE IS ON: Omaha puts a lot of pressure on a pitching staff and defense with all of their capabilities offensively. The Storm Chasers have the second-most home runs in the entire Triple-A with 160, just four behind the Las Vegas Aviators; they are also second in runs scored in the Triple-A East with 532. Hitting home runs is a big part of what they do offensively, but another way they set up those runs to score is by stealing bases. They stole five bases on Wednesday night, setting a record for the most in a single-game against Iowa this season, then stole three more in last night's game. Adalberto Mondesi stole second and third with one out in the eighth inning, allowing him to score the eventual game-winning run on a ground ball to shortstop that otherwise would've been an inning-ending double-play. Omaha leads the entire Triple-A in stolen bases with 122, with the next closest team being the Worcester Red Sox with 108. They average 1.24 (122SB/98G) stolen bases per game, and have now swiped 38 against the I-Cubs this season, good for 31% of their total on the year. They have been caught stealing 22 times on the year, including five times by Iowa (23%). In contrast, Iowa has just 70 total stolen bases this season, good for tenth in the Triple-A East.

RESPONSIBLE FOR THE OFFENSE: Trayce Thompson added to his team lead with his 16th home run of the season last night. His two-run shot in the first inning provided all of the offense for the I-Cubs last night, who only recorded three more hits the rest of the game. Thompson now has seven solo home runs, eight two-run shots and a grand slam this year. He hit just one long ball in the month of May, but then heated up in June and hit seven, his most of any month this year. The outfielder had three in July and after last night's blast, has five in the month of August. The longest stretch Thompson has gone this year without a home run was 13 games, from May 14 to May 30. After those 13 games, he hit three out in six days to start the month of June.

UNLUCKY THIRTEEN: Although he reached base twice last night on a pair of walks, Alfonso Rivas went 0-for-2 and ended his career-long hitting streak at 12 games. The streak began on August 13 in Omaha and beat out Ian Miller's nine-game streak for the longest by an I-Cub in 2021. It also bested Rivas' previous career high of nine games, which he set in 2019 with Advanced-A Stockton. While the hitting streak is over, the two walks did preserve his on-base streak, which began the same day and now stands at 13 games. Rivas will have to work to set a new season high in that category, however, as his longest on-base streak this season was set from June 25 to July 27 and lasted 26 games.

AGAINST OMAHA: With last night's victory, Omaha grabbed the lead in the season series at Principal Park for the first time this season. After the I-Cubs took the first three games they played against the Storm Chasers, they've either led or tied the home season series since. The Storm Chasers have already secured at least a split of the current series, and a win tonight would win them the series.

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT: Tonight will mark the sixth game this season that Jackson Kowar will make a start against the I-Cubs, accounting for 21% (6-of-28) of the games between the two teams so far. In his first two starts, Iowa couldn't touch the righty, who threw 11 combined innings, allowing just one run on five total hits over that span. He was 1-0 with a 0.82 ERA in those two games, walking two hitters while striking out 15. However, the last three times the I-Cubs have seen Kowar, they have gotten familiar with him and started to hit him more often. In his last three games, Kowar is 0-3 with an 11.33 ERA. He has allowed five earned runs in each of his last two starts, giving up 13 earned runs on 18 hits in those games. He has also walked eight batters, including tying a season-high with five free passes on August 15, while striking out 15. His shortest Triple-A outing of the year came against the I-Cubs back on August 10, when he threw just 1.2 innings, allowing five earned runs on five hits.

SHORT HOPS: Mike Hauschild has 30 strikeouts in his 50.0 innings this season, while Jackson Kowar also has 30 in just his five starts, or 21.1 innings, against Iowa this year...Iowa's offense has recorded just four hits in back-to-back games, with Omaha's starters allowing just three combined hits in the last two games...Iowa struck out 13 times last night, with two players striking out twice and two players striking out three times.

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