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July 13 Game Notes: Iowa at Toledo

July 13, 2021 - International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (24-33) @ TOLEDO MUD HENS (32-26)

Tuesday - 6:05 PM CT - Fifth Third Field - Toledo, OH

RHP Mike Hauschild (0-2, 5.06) vs. RHP Mark Leiter Jr. (1-0, 3.71)

TONIGHT'S GAME: Iowa and Toledo face off for not only the first time this season, but this will be the first meeting ever between the two teams. For Iowa, Mike Hauschild will take the ball looking for his first win of the season. Since joining the I-Cubs on June 16, Hauschild is 0-2 with a 5.06 ERA (9ER/16.0IP). The righty is coming off of his worst start of the season on July 6 against St. Paul, when he allowed five earned runs on five hits over just 3.2 innings of work. He walked three batters and struck out two, allowing three of his five hits to leave the stadium. Opposite of Hauschild will be Mark Leiter Jr. toeing the rubber for the Mud Hens. Nephew of Al Leiter, Mark is 1-0 with a 3.71 ERA in four games with Toledo this year after beginning the season with Double-A Erie, where he was 2-4 with a 5.26 ERA in eight games. Leiter Jr. has allowed just one earned run in each of his last three games, going four or more innings in all four of his starts with Toledo.

JUST ENOUGH: In Iowa's two wins on Sunday's doubleheader, they scored a total of four runs, winning 1-0 in game one and 3-2 in the second seven-inning matchup. The two wins marked their fourth and fifth wins on the season when scoring under three wins, moving to 5-21 on the year when scoring under three runs. Two of the three wins have been when Iowa no-hit their opponent. Back on May 9, when they no-hit Indianapolis in a 2-0 victory and in game one on Sunday, no-hitting St. Paul and winning 1-0.

DEFENSIVE STRUGGLES: The I-Cubs committed five errors on Sunday, two in their first seven-inning game and three in their second. Iowa moved to 3-2 on the year when committing two errors, and 2-2 when committing three or more. Fielding has been a constant struggle this year for Iowa, having at least one error in 65% of their games this season, 37-of-57. Their longest streak of not making an error this season was five games, done on May 9 to May 14.

NO-NO: Iowa's seven-inning no-hitter in game one of the doubleheader on Sunday was their first since June 14, 1976, when Chris Knapp no-hit Evansville at Evansville. It marked Iowa's second no-hitter of the year, the first coming on May 9 against Indianapolis. On Sunday, Iowa's pitching staff combined to allow just two runs on three hits, while striking out 17 batters over 14 innings of work. They will look to keep that going heading into this series against Toledo, one of the top-hitting teams in the Triple-A East. The Mud Hens rank fifth in runs scored (306) and doubles (105), first in triples (20) and tied for third with 81 home runs on the year.

HE'S HOT: Alfonso Rivas is currently riding a four-game hitting streak for the second time this month. Rivas started July with a hit in his first four games, all at Indianapolis, going 6-for-18 with two home runs and seven runs batted in over that stretch. The first baseman hit .333 and took one walk compared to three strikeouts, good for an on-base percentage of .368. In his first game against St. Paul on July 7, he went 0-for-3 with a walk, breaking the hitting streak. The next day he picked it right back up, and is now back to his season-long four games after registering a hit in each of Sunday's seven inning matchups. Over his current stretch, Rivas is hitting .467 (7-for-15) with two doubles, a home run and five runs batted in. He has also struck out just twice over this span, making contact in most at-bats.

WALK IT OFF: In game one of the doubleheader against St. Paul on Sunday, Iowa was tied 0-0 going into the bottom of the seventh. The I-Cubs pitching staff was throwing a no-hitter, but the offense hadn't scored yet to get them the win. In the seventh frame, Tyler Ladendorf walked followed by an Ian Miller single to get Ladendorf to third with one out. Miller's single was just Iowa's fifth hit of the game. Next up was Trent Giambrone, who delivered a sacrifice fly just deep enough to right field to let Ladendorf score and walk off the Saints to win game one. In game two, the I-Cubs found themselves in a similar situation going into the seventh, this time losing 2-1. Two singles and a hit batter loaded the bases with nobody out and brought up Abiatal Avelino. Avelino singled and two runners scored, once again walking-off St. Paul with a 3-2 victory. The two walk off wins doubled the total for Iowa on the year, who had two coming into Sunday's games.

AGAINST TOLEDO: Iowa and Toledo are set to play their first game in history against each other. Iowa has been better on the road than at home this season, going 11-12 on the road compared to 13-21 at home. They will look to get above .500 on the road with a six-game set at Fifth Third Field set to begin tonight at 6:05 pm CT. Toledo currently sits in second place in the division at 32-26, just five games out of the top-spot. Iowa is 12.5 games behind first place Omaha, holding a record of 24-33.

SOMETHING ABOUT THE LAST THREE: Against Indianapolis from June 29 to July 4, Iowa won the first game and then lost the next two in extra innings. They went into game four of the six-game series down two games to one. The I-Cubs won the next three games of the series, allowing them to earn a series victory, their first since taking four out of six from Omaha from May 18-23. In their most recent series, Iowa started out the series losing the first three games, moving to 0-9 against St. Paul when playing at Principal Park. Like they did against Indianapolis, the I-Cubs turned it around and won the final three games of the series to earn a series split. In each of the last two series, Iowa is 6-0 and has scored 19 runs in each set of three games, outscoring Indianapolis 19-11 and St. Paul 19-4.

SHORT HOPS: Starting today, the Triple-A East will now use smaller bases, going from the 18" bases they have been using for the first half of the season back to the 15" bases they have used in the past...Justin Steele made his first start since June 21, 2019, on Sunday, tossing 3.2 scoreless, hitless innings in game one of the doubleheader. The lefty walked two and struck out five, throwing 37 of his 56 pitches for strikes.

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