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August 3 Game Notes: Iowa at Indianapolis

August 3, 2021 - International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


TONIGHT'S GAME: Iowa is set to welcome the Indianapolis Indians to Principal Park for game one of a six-game series. The I-Cubs took three-of-five from Indy in the first series at Principal Park between the two teams and most recently took four-of-six from the Indians at Victory Field. Taking the ball for Iowa will be righty Joe Biagini, still in search of his first win at home this season. Biagini is 1-5 on the year with a 6.13 ERA, including two games against Indianapolis. He will face off against Beau Sulser toeing the rubber for Indianapolis. Sulser will also make his third appearance against Iowa this year, after throwing 5.1 innings of scoreless, hitless relief on July 4 against the I-Cubs.

LOOK OUT: In 10 games this season against Indianapolis, Abiatal Avelino is hitting .400 (16-for-40) with six runs scored and eight runs driven in. The infielder has loved playing against the Indians, tallying a triple and home run, while walking twice and stealing four bases. He has an on-base percentage of .442, is slugging .525 with a .967 OPS. Avelino has played in 62 games this year with Iowa, meaning that just 16% (10/62) of his games have come against Indianapolis. In that 16%, he has 26% of his season long hits (16/62), 33% (8/24) of his RBI and 36% (4/11) of his stolen bases on the year. In each five game series against the Indians this year, he has multi-hit efforts in three of the five games, including a season-high four hit game on July 3. Avelino has been held hitless in just one of the five games each series.

HE'S BACK: Taylor Davis, the self-proclaimed Mayor of Des Moines, will come back to Principal Park for the first time as a member of the visiting team this series. Davis played in parts of five seasons with the I-Cubs, ranking tied for third with the most seasons played in Iowa. He was in the starting lineup on Opening Day for manager Marty Pevey in each of the last three seasons, playing first base in 2017, while catching in 2018 and 2019. He leads the Iowa Cubs in career grounded into double plays, with 65; the player in second on that list is 26 GIDP behind Davis, with 39.

QUALITY MATTERS?: Adrian Sampson gave Iowa six innings on Sunday, allowing just one earned run on six hits and two walks. It marked the 13th quality start this year for I-Cubs pitchers, the first since Mike Hauschild threw one on July 13 against Toledo. Unfortunately for Iowa, a quality start has not always translated to wins how they would hope, going just 5-8 in their 13 games this season with a quality start.

NO-NO FOR BEAU: Indianapolis' starter tonight, Beau Sulser, has faced Iowa twice this season; in the second game of the year, and most recently, on July 4. In the July 4 matchup, the righty held Iowa hitless through 5.1 innings, while striking out seven of the 19 batters he faced. He pitched out of relief and Iowa had already scored five runs through 3.2 innings when Sulser came in. He stranded the runner that he inherited and only allowed three more men to reach base, all via the free pass.

OUT OF THE WAY: Juan Gamez made his Iowa Cubs debut on Sunday, entering the game in the seventh inning. Before joining Iowa's roster on July 30, the righty played in six games with Advanced-A South Bend and Double-A Tennessee. With the Cubs, he was 0-0 with a 6.23 ERA (6ER/8.2IP) while struggling with control, hitting two batters and walking four compared to seven strikeouts. He allowed just four hits and opponents hit just .143 against him at Advanced-A. With the Smokies, Gamez was 3-0 with a 3.18 ERA, allowing six earned runs over 17.0 innings. On Sunday, the Tucson, AZ native allowed one earned run on two hits and a walk in his one inning of work.

OFFENSIVE WOES: Last series against Louisville, Iowa's offense plummeted, scoring a total of 14 runs on 40 hits in the six-game set. They have scored six runs over their last 35 innings, including just two runs in their last 23 innings. In three of the six games, the Bats' starter made a quality start, while the entire pitching staff combined to walk just 15 batters compared to striking out 50. Iowa's offense went just 8-for-40 with runners in scoring position, stranding 36 men on-base in the series. Sunday marked the second consecutive game that Iowa's offense could muster just four hits.

KEEPING IT CLOSE: With the offense struggling last series, the I-Cubs pitching staff picked it up, helping to keep five of the six games close. They won game one on Tuesday by a score of 3-2, allowing just two earned runs on seven hits. On Wednesday, Louisville put together three multi-run innings, scoring seven in the fifth, two in the sixth and six in the seventh to blow out Iowa 17-5. After allowing 17 runs on 17 hits, the pitchers locked in and allowed just seven runs, six earned, over the next four games of the series. In those four games, Iowa's starting pitchers set the tone, combining to pitch 18.1 innings, allowing just 17 hits and six walks while striking out 11. In their 18.1 innings, the starters allowed just four earned runs, good to the tune of a 1.96 ERA.

AGAINST INDIANAPOLIS: Through 11 games between the two teams so far this season, Iowa has the series lead, going 7-4 overall. The last series win for Iowa this year came against Indianapolis back on June 29-July 4. Iowa won the first game of the series, lost the middle two, both in extra innings, and then won the final three games to take the series. In the opening series of the year at Principal Park, Iowa took three-of-five against the Indians. The I-Cubs are out scoring Indy 53-37 on the year and 18-14 at Principal Park. Besides losing the very first game of the season 3-0, every other loss to the Indians this year has been by just one run.

SOMETHING CLICKED: Ryan Meisinger has not allowed an earned run in his last nine games, surrendering just four hits over that span. Since June 25, the reliever is 1-1 and opponents are hitting just .118 against him. He has walked four and struck out 15, including two or more batters in six of the nine appearances. This success came after a stretch where it was the exact opposite result for Meisinger. From May 23 to June 18, he was 0-1 with a 9.53 ERA (12ER/11.1IP) in eight games. He allowed at least one earned run in all eight of those appearances, and two runs in half of them. Opponents were hitting .348 against him, registering 12 runs on 16 hits including five home runs. He also struck out 15 batters over that stretch, but walked seven, allowing his opponents to have an on-base percentage of .418.

SHORT HOPS: Adrian Sampson and Beau Sulser each pitched the last time Iowa and Indianapolis met on July 4, a game the I-Cubs won 5-2...Iowa didn't get an extra base hit in Sunday's game for the second time in the six-game series against Louisville after getting just one double on Saturday... Alfonso Rivas and Nick Martini combined for 63% (5-of-8) of Iowa's hits in their last two games combined.

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