IL Iowa Cubs

August 28 Game Notes: Iowa vs. Omaha

Published on August 28, 2021 under International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (42-58) vs. OMAHA STORM CHASERS (55-44)

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

RHP Cory Abbott (1-5, 6.75) vs. LHP Marcelo Martinez (2-5, 5.85)

TONIGHT'S GAME: Iowa and Omaha are set to play game five of their current six-game series tonight, with Omaha leading the series four games to none. Cory Abbott will take the ball for the I-Cubs, looking for his first win since May 13 against St. Paul. The righty is 1-5 with a 6.75 ERA on the season, and is set to face Omaha for the fourth time this season. Opposite of Abbott will be Marcelo Martinez toeing the rubber for the Storm Chasers. Martinez is 2-5 with a 5.85 ERA in 11 starts for Omaha this year, with two of those starts coming against the I-Cubs. The lefty is 0-1 with a 10.13 ERA in those two games, allowing nine earned runs on eight hits over eight frames.

KEEPING IT CLOSE: Cory Abbott's start tonight will be his fourth against Omaha this season. Though he exited each of his previous three starts with no decision, the I-Cubs went on to win all three of those games. In both of his first two starts against the Storm Chasers, the I-Cubs were trailing by at least two runs when Abbott left, but went on to claim comeback victories. In his most recent matchup with Omaha on August 11, Abbott left with an 8-3 lead in the fifth inning, but the Storm Chasers tied the game back up before the I-Cubs edged them out with a four-run ninth. That narrative is familiar for Abbott, who holds a 1-5 record overall with the I-Cubs this season. Despite his individual record, the team is 6-8 when he starts for them. Of the games Abbott has started for Iowa, he has left only two of them with the I-Cubs trailing by more than three runs. The team's .429 winning percentage when Abbott starts is second best this season for an I-Cubs starter (min. six starts) behind Adrian Sampson (.500) and ranks first on the active roster.

ROSTER ROTATION: Both Scott Effross and Alfonso Rivas had their contracts selected by the Chicago Cubs today, both set to make their major league debuts. Effross went 4-2 with the I-Cubs with a 3.64 ERA, also recording two saves. The righty did not allow a run in the month of August, throwing 11.1 scoreless frames, surrendering just four hits over that span. Opponents hit .111 (4-for-36) against him in the month, and he struck out 10 batters, throwing 68% (100-of-147) of his pitches for strikes. He pitched two or more innings in half of his appearances in the month of August, with his longest coming on August 6 against Indianapolis in which he threw 2.2 frames. Rivas just had a career-long 12-game hit streak snapped on Friday night and departs Iowa after hitting .284 (56-for-197) with four home runs, 13 doubles, and 32 RBI in 56 games this season. He appeared in all but four of the games Iowa played while he was on the roster, including starts at first base, left field, right field, and designated hitter.

DOING THEIR THING: Omaha continued to hit home runs in last night's game, hitting five more to bring their total in the four-game series to 10. First baseman Nick Pratto, Kansas City's No. 4 ranked prospect by MLB.com hit his third home run in as many games last night. He now has seven home runs in his last nine games, including four straight from August 19 to August 22 and now three in a row. The Royals number one prospect and number three overall as rated by MLB.com, Bobby Witt Jr., hit his second home run of the series as well. In just 34 games at the Triple-A level, the shortstop has 12 home runs and is hitting .297 (43-for-145). Last, but most definitely not least, MJ Melendez, Kansas City's No. 5 ranked prospect by MLB.com hit two home runs last night, driving in four of Omaha's 11 runs. With their five home runs last night, Omaha closed the gap to just two behind Las Vegas for the lead in the entire Triple-A; trailing the Aviators 167 to 165.

RIDIN' SOLO: Iowa knocked four home runs out of the park last night and Omaha hit five of their own. Unfortunately for the I-Cubs, all four of their long balls were solo shots, only bringing in four runs. When Iowa scores four or more runs this year, they are 32-24 compared to when they score fewer than four runs holding a record of 10-34. One of those 24 losses came last night, as Omaha scored 11 runs to beat the I-Cubs 11-5. While Iowa's four home runs were all solo shots, Omaha hit three solo home runs, a two-run blast, and a three-run homer. For Iowa, it was nice to see them register eight hits, as they had only tallied eight combined hits in their previous two games, but for their home runs to turn into wins, more people need to be on base when they hit them.

SCORELESS AGAIN: In his seventh major league rehab appearance coming back from a blister that landed him on the injured list back on July 29, Dillon Maples threw a scoreless frame last night for the I-Cubs. Since joining Iowa's roster on August 11, the righty has now faced Omaha in four of his seven rehab appearances, with the other three coming against the St. Paul Saints. Last night marked his fourth appearance without allowing a run, his third without walking a batter his sixth recording at least one strikeout. In last night's game, Maples was the only pitcher for Iowa to not allow at least one earned run, with three of the other four surrendering two or more. It marked his first completed inning since August 18 when he got the win against St. Paul, after throwing just one-third of an inning on August 20 and two-thirds on August 22.

KEEPING THEIR FOOT ON THE PEDAL: 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 165, just two behind the Las Vegas Aviators with 167; they are also second in runs scored in the Triple-A East with 543. 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 three more bases last night, making it now 12 stolen bases for Omaha in their five games here at Principal Park. Omaha leads the entire Triple-A in stolen bases with 125, with the next closest team being the Durham Bulls with 109. They average 1.26 (125SB/99G) stolen bases per game, and have now swiped 41 against the I-Cubs this season, good for 33% of their total on the year.

AGAINST OMAHA: Omaha officially won the series last night with their third straight win, taking a 4-0 series lead. After scoring 11 more runs last night, the Storm Chasers have now doubled Iowa in runs in this current series, out-scoring the I-Cubs 32-16. Omaha leads the season series 16 games to 12, while now leading the series here at Principal Park 9-7.

SHORT HOPS: Four players on Omaha's roster have hit two or more home runs over their five games at Principal Park this week...Iowa is 7-19 this season when they face a lefty; they are hitting .226 (202-for-895) as a team when they face southpaws...with the loss last night, Iowa has now lost eight of their last nine games at Principal Park.

Check out the Iowa Cubs Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



International League Stories from August 28, 2021


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central