IL Iowa Cubs

July 30 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs at Memphis Redbirds

Published on July 30, 2023 under International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (59-40) @ MEMPHIS REDBIRDS (51-50)

Sunday - 2:05 PM - AutoZone Park - Memphis, TN

RHP Ben Brown (6-6, 5.10) vs. RHP Michael McGreevy (6-2, 4.15)

TODAY'S GAME: Iowa and Memphis will play the sixth and final game of their series this afternoon, with a rematch of Tuesday's contest in store. Two top-five prospects for their respective organizations are set to square off again, with Ben Brown going for Iowa and Michael McGreevy taking the ball for Memphis. Brown earned the victory on Tuesday, tossing five innings of two-run ball. He allowed two hits and two walks while striking out three. On the season, the No. 3 ranked prospect for Chicago is 6-6 with a 5.10 ERA, allowing 34 earned runs on 48 hits and 36 walks in 60.0 innings pitched. In those 60 frames he has fanned 86 batters, currently sitting at sixth in the IL. McGreevy will look to avenge just his second loss of the season suffered on Tuesday, as the righty allowed five earned runs on nine hits and one walk, striking out three in 5.0 innings. On the season, the No. 5 prospect in St. Louis' system is 6-2 with a 4.15 ERA, allowing 38 earned runs on 103 hits and 23 walks in 82.1 innings pitched. He has struck out 61 batters over that span, allowing opponents to hit .303 against him.

FIRST FOR EVERYTHING: Last night's game had a little bit of everything, including a career-first for Chris Clarke. The righty earned his first career Triple-A win last night, tossing 1.1 perfect innings of relief. He stranded the lone runner he inherited, striking out three batters in the outing. Clarke has recently moved to a reliever role for Iowa, making 10 starts in 19 total appearances for the I-Cubs. The 25-year-old moved to 1-4 with a 3.72 ERA in those 19 games, allowing 20 earned runs on 46 hits and 18 walks in his 48.1 innings pitched. He has struck out 40 batters over that span, allowing opponents to hit just .257 against him. The victory was his first since September 6, 2022, with Double-A Tennessee against Pensacola.

COMEBACK KIDS: The 2023 Iowa Cubs have shown they are a special team time after time and last night was yet another example. In a back-and-forth affair that saw both teams lose multiple leads, Iowa entered the eighth inning trailing Memphis 9-6 after blowing a 6-5 lead by allowing four runs in the bottom of the seventh. Although it was deflating giving up four runs and their lead, the I-Cubs did what they did all year and turned the disappointment into positive momentum. They scored three runs in the eighth to tie it and four more in the ninth to go up 13. Manuel Rodriguez entered the game and spun a scoreless ninth inning to secure their 59th victory of the year, moving them to 19 games over the .500 mark. It marked their 26th comeback win of the year as they moved to 6-29 when trailing after seven innings and 4-1 when they are tied after eight.

BOUNCE BACK: Keegan Thompson was one of Iowa's most affective pitchers last night, tossing 2.0 scoreless frames. The righty allowed just one hit while striking out four of the seven batters he faced. It was just Thompson's second appearance since spending over a month on the injured list. The 28-year-old has had an up-and-down season, starting the year with Chicago before getting optioned to Iowa. In 10 games with the I-Cubs, Thompson is 2-0 with a 12.51 ERA, allowing 19 earned runs on 19 hits and 17 walks in just 13.2 innings pitched, striking out 22 batters over that span. Last night marked just his third scoreless outing with Iowa, but it came at a huge time. He was one of three pitchers for Iowa who didn't allow a run, while he threw the second-most innings of any pitcher.

CLUTCH TIME: Starting off the ninth inning tied 9-9, Manager Marty Pevey summoned Darius Hill to come off the bench and pinch-hit for Chase Strumpf. Hill made sure it was the right move, setting the tone by starting the frame with a double. He later came around to score on Yonathan Perlaza's second home run of the game, sparking a four-run ninth inning. The outfielder has played sparingly this season but is hitting .269 with 17 doubles in his 64 games. The double marked the first pinch-hit double for Iowa this season and just their third hit from a pinch-hitter all year. Hill has two of the three hits, as Iowa is hitting just .188 (3-for-16) in pinch-hit opportunities this year.

DID HIS PART: Brendon Little was asked to do something that he hadn't done all year last night, which was being Iowa's starting pitcher. It was his first career start at the Triple-A level, last starting on August 8, 2019, for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. Little had previously made 32 relief appearances for Iowa this year, going 2-2 with a 5.02 ERA in those 32 outings. Although he allowed three runs on five hits in last night's start, the 26-year-old ate up 2.2 innings for Iowa, marking his longest outing of the year. He struck out two of the 13 batters he faced, keeping Iowa in the game at the start and giving his fellow relievers a blow.

SET THE TABLE: Yonathan Perlaza went off for Iowa last night, going 4-for-6 with four runs scored, a double, two home runs and four runs batted in out of the leadoff spot. His four hits raised his batting average to .301 in his 78 games with Iowa this year, raising his hit total to 91 this year. 47 of those hits have gone for extra bases, as the switch hitter now has 29 doubles, three triples and 15 home runs. He has also taken 47 walks compared to 76 strikeouts, swiping 10 bags along the way. Perlaza became the sixth player for Iowa this year to record a four-hit game, the fifth to hit two home runs in a single game and the fourth to score four times in one game. He sparked the comeback with a solo home run to start the eighth and put Iowa ahead with a two-run shot in the ninth, what eventually proved to be the game winning hit. The 24-year-old has been productive all season long for Iowa, as last night was his team-leading 24th multi-hit effort of the year; he now has five more multi-hit games than the second player on the team, as Jake Slaughter has 19.

AGAINST MEMPHIS: The I-Cubs and Redbirds are set to play the sixth and final game of their series today, while also meeting for the 12th and final time this year. Iowa currently holds the series lead at three games to two after their comeback victory last night. They also lead the season series 7-4 after going 4-2 in their first six-game set at Principal Park earlier this season. With a win today, Iowa could take both series against the Redbirds 4-2. They enter today's game with a 155-186 record all-time overall against Memphis, going 58-111 on the road against the Redbirds.

SHORT HOPS: All six of Iowa's pitchers retired the first batter they faced last night...the I-Cubs moved to 4-1 in games that they enter the ninth inning tied...Iowa improved to 18-0 this year when scoring 10 or more runs in a game, it was just their second win when allowing nine runs, moving to 2-4 in such games...Iowa's 20 hits as a team last night fell one short of their season-high 21 hits recorded back on April 27 against Louisville... Carlos Guzman and Jeremiah Estrada combined to allow six earned runs on eight walks and a grand slam last night.

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