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July 16 Game Notes: Iowa at Toledo

July 16, 2021 - International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (25-35) @ TOLEDO MUD HENS (34-27)

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

RHP Matt Swarmer (1-4, 9.59) vs. RHP Drew Hutchison (6-3, 3.92)

TONIGHT'S GAME: The I-Cubs and the Mud Hens will meet again tonight for game four of their first six-game series. After coming out on top of a 6-0 shutout last night, Iowa will look to even the series at two games a piece with a second win tonight. They'll hand the ball to righty Matt Swarmer, who is coming off his best start of the season. Swarmer is 1-4 for Iowa with an ERA of 9.59 (27ER/25.1IP) so far this season, but he spun six shutout innings against St. Paul in his last start, limiting the Saints to just four hits. He'll try to continue that success against Toledo starter Drew Hutchison, who will take the mound for Toledo for the 13th time tonight. Hutchison has thrown quality starts in both of his last two outings and now holds an ERA of 3.92 (27ER/62.0IP) for the Mud Hens this season.

CONSISTENT THREAT: Over his last three series, Abiatal Avelino has been a key piece to Iowa's offense, playing in 11 of the I-Cubs' 15 games over that stretch. Avelino is now on his second four-game hitting streak of the 11 game stretch, starting back on June 30. Since that series against Indianapolis started, the infielder is hitting .400 (16-for-40) with two doubles, a triple and seven runs batted in. He has also walked four times, been hit by a pitch twice, struck out six times and stolen three bases. He and Ian Miller have been the only two Iowa position players on the current roster to be with the team since Opening Day and stay active for this entire season. Being with the team and available every single day provides a lot of value to a player, especially when you are hitting .271 (51-for-188) in 52 games like Avelino is. With the victory last night, the team is now 5-1 when Avelino starts at shortstop this year.

NOW FOR NUMBER TWO: Matt Swarmer earned his first win of the year with Iowa in his last outing, tossing six scoreless frames while allowing just four hits and two walks. Swarmer threw 52 of his 87 pitches for strikes and struck out four batters in the game. It took the righty six starts to earn his first win, going 0-4 with a 12.57 ERA in his first five starts for Iowa. His last time out was also the first game with the I-Cubs in which he has not allowed a home run, surrendering a total of nine in his first five starts. Swarmer will look to build off of his quality start tonight against Toledo, going for his second win in as many starts.

GOING FOR THE RECORD: Both Ian Miller and Alfonso Rivas extended their hitting streaks to seven games last night, one game from reaching the longest streak of the season for any I-Cubs hitter at eight. Miller registered his seventh hit in the eighth inning with an RBI single, the first hit for an Iowa leadoff hitter this series. I-Cubs leadoff hitters were 0-for-10 with five strikeouts coming into that at-bat. Miller has had hit streaks of five games twice this year already, from June 6-13 and June 25-30. Over his now seven-game hitting streak, the outfielder is hitting .357 (10-for-28) with three runs batted in, two walks, three strikeouts and two stolen bases. Rivas added two more hits to his seven-game streak last night, marking his third multi-hit game of the stretch. He is now hitting .423 (11-for-26) with three runs, three doubles, a home run and six runs batted in. He is now hitting .284 in 19 games with Iowa this season.

HITS DO MATTER: For the third straight game, Iowa out-hit Toledo last night, but for the first time, it translated into a win. Coming into the game last night, the I-Cubs had out-hit the Mud Hens 6-2 in game one and 11-9 in game two. Unfortunately for Iowa, in the first two games of the series, recording more hits than Toledo did not mean they scored more runs. Despite getting just two hits in the first game, Toledo outscored Iowa 2-1 and in game two 8-4. Last night, they out-hit the Mud Hens 11-5 and it turned into a 6-0 shutout victory for Iowa. It was the team's second straight night registering 11 hits and while hitting three doubles in the game two loss, last night, they hit 10 singles and one home run to get the win. With the win, the I-Cubs moved to 19-8 when out-hitting their opponent this season.

BACK WHERE HE STARTED: In his first three starts of the season, Joe Biagini threw six innings once and five innings twice. He was 1-1 with a 2.81 ERA (5ER/16.0IP) with 14 strikeouts compared to just four walks. Since then, he hadn't thrown more than three innings, including three games in which he went less than two innings. He was 0-3 with a 11.12 ERA (14ER/11.1IP) and he walked 10 batters compared to striking out nine, while allowing 21 hits. Over that stretch, opponents were hitting .396 against him with an on-base percentage of .500. Last night, Biagini finally got back to how he started the season, throwing five scoreless innings of three-hit ball. It was his longest outing since May 18 when he threw five innings against St. Paul. The righty walked two batters and struck out three, but kept them off the board and gave Iowa the chance to win the game.

A GAME OF FIRSTS: Nick Martini recorded a three-hit game last night for the first time all season, breaking a 1-for-19 stretch. Since July 4, Martini had recorded just one hit on July 6 against St. Paul, while recording four walks and striking out five times. He was hitting .053 (1-for-19) over that stretch, carrying an on-base percentage of .217. Martini previously had seven two-hit games this year with Iowa, most recently on July 3 against Indianapolis. Not only did he get his first three-hit game last night, he also recorded his first stolen base of the season, getting into scoring position and later scoring. He was hit by a pitch in the leg to reach first base, stole second base and then scored when Ian Miller knocked an RBI single in the eighth inning, providing an insurance run for the I-Cubs.

AGAINST TOLEDO: Iowa will face Toledo for the fourth game of their first series tonight. Last night's win was Iowa's first against the Mud Hens, moving both the current and the all-time series to 2-1 in Toledo's favor. While Toledo holds the advantage in the win column, the I-Cubs have outscored the Mud Hens 11-10 through the first three games.

GET GOING: Trayce Thompson went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts last night, his 18th multi-strikeout game of the season with Iowa. He has now struck out at least once in 38 of 49 games played this season. In his last seven games, the outfielder is hitting .120 (3-for-25) with nine strikeouts compared to four walks. He has a double and one run batted in since July 7. Iowa needs Thompson to get back on track, as he is a key piece to their lineup when he is right. He leads the team with eight home runs and is second on the team with 26 RBI, but hasn't hit a homer since June 23 against Omaha.

SHORT HOPS: Matt Duffy recorded the first hit of his major league rehab assignment with Iowa last night, going 1-for-4 with his single coming in his second at-bat in the third inning...Michael Rucker earned his second win of the season last night, throwing two scoreless frames of relief while striking out three batters...Iowa's pitching staff combined to throw 70% of their pitches last night for strikes (82-of-117) compared to 63% (126-of-199) for Toledo...despite recording 11 hits, Iowa was 5-for-13 with runners in scoring position and stranded 12 runners on-base, including six through the first three innings.

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