Sports stats

IL Iowa Cubs

July 6 Game Notes: Iowa vs. St. Paul

July 6, 2021 - International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (21-30) vs. ST. PAUL SAINTS (25-28)

Tuesday - 6:38 PM - Principal Park - Des Moines, IA

RHP Mike Hauschild (0-1, 2.92) vs. LHP Andrew Albers (3-3, 5.53)

TONIGHT'S GAME: Iowa will welcome St. Paul to Principal Park tonight for the opening game of their fourth series of the season. Both teams are coming series victories, with Iowa taking four out of six from Indianapolis and St. Paul besting the Omaha Storm Chasers by the same margin. Righty Mike Hauschild will take the ball for Iowa. He pitched his best outing of the season last time out - a six-inning shutout performance against Indianapolis - and is 0-1 in three starts for the I-Cubs this season. The Saints will answer with lefty Andrew Albers, who is also coming off a quality start. He pitched six innings and earned the win last Wednesday against Omaha.

TONY TIME: With his home run in Sunday's game, Tony Wolters extended his hitting streak to a season-high six games. The streak began on June 24, when Wolters went 1-for-2 with a walk and an RBI against Omaha, and the catcher has provided Iowa with non-stop offense since. He's hitting .429 (9-for-21) over the six games with two doubles, two home runs, seven runs, and seven RBI - good for a slugging percentage of .810. He's also taken five walks during the streak en route to a .538 on-base percentage. Wolters's 1.348 OPS during his hitting streak leads the team, and his marks in batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage are also team-highs over the last ten games.

SIX SLAMS: Alfonso Rivas crushed Iowa's sixth grand slam of the season on Saturday against Indianapolis. Rivas marks the sixth different player to hit a grand slam for Iowa this season, but the third first baseman to do so. He joins Martini, who hit one June 17th, and Wisdom, who hit his on May 21st. Rivas' knock came in the first frame, which means the I-Cubs have hit each of their slams in a different inning. They've now hit one each in the first, third, fourth, fifth, seventh, and eighth innings. Saturday's knock was Rivas' first career grand slam. The I-Cubs are now 5-1 in games where they've hit one.

SO FAR SO GOOD: After being named the Cubs' minor league pitcher of the month for June, Ben Leeper didn't miss a beat in his first outing in July. He pitched a hitless, scoreless eighth inning in Sunday's game, facing just three batters and earning his first hold of the season. The outing was Leeper's ninth of the season for the I-Cubs and he has yet to allow a hit. The righty has tossed 11.1 innings for Iowa and surrendered a run, but hasn't allowed a hit since being promoted from Double-A Tennessee on June 8th. Leeper combined with Tommy Nance and Manuel Rodriguez for three shutout innings from the bullpen on Sunday to secure the 5-2 win over Indianapolis. Nance pitched a hitless inning and struck out one in his first outing since returning to Iowa's roster from Chicago. Rodriguez also struck out a batter in his inning of work, allowing just one hit and earning the first save of his Triple-A career. Iowa's bullpen is now 1-1 in July with a 1.86 ERA (4ER/19.1IP) and two saves in four games so far this month.

THE ROAD TO 500: Manager Marty Pevey recorded his 500th win as manager of the Iowa Cubs in Sunday's 5-2 win over Indianapolis. This is Pevey's eighth season at the helm for the I-Cubs, and now has 144 more wins than any other Iowa manager. The most wins he got in one season came in 2015, when the I-Cubs went 80-64. He won 75 games in 2019 and 74 games in his second year as the manager in 2014. His worst season leading the team was in 2018, when the I-Cubs won just 50 games, holding a record of 50-88. In his career, Pevey has a .497 career winning percentage, sitting at 1,144 wins compared to 1,160 losses. With Iowa, the manager is at a .479 winning percentage, having won 500 of his 1,043 games. He is in his 36th season in professional baseball, having played for 14 and coached for 22.

KEEP IT GOING: The Iowa Cubs won their third straight game on Sunday to take the series after being down two games to one against Indianapolis. For Iowa, it was the first time they have won three games in a row since they took a season-high four in a row from May 16-21 in one game against St. Paul and three against Omaha. It also marked their first official series win since that series against Omaha from May 18-23, when Iowa took four of six from the Storm Chasers.

PLAYERS OF THE MONTH: The Chicago Cubs announced on Sunday their June minor league player and pitcher of the month, and both awards went to Iowa Cubs players. The player of the month was awarded to outfielder Michael Hermosillo and the pitcher of the month went to righty reliever Ben Leeper. Hermosillo hit .324 (24-for-74) with five doubles, four homers and 15 RBI in 22 games in June. The right-handed hitter is batting .419 (13-for-31) with four home runs vs. left-handed pitching, seeing time at all three outfield spots. Hermosillo collected hits in eight of nine games from June 9-17, batting .480 (12-for-25) with two homers and nine RBI during that stretch, including a season-high four RBI game, June 9 vs. Columbus. Leeper went 1-0 with a 1.32 ERA (2 ER/13.2 IP), with five walks, 26 strikeouts and one save in 10 outings between Double-A Tennessee and Iowa in the month of June, holding the opponent to a .089 batting average (4-for-45) and a .285 OPS.

AGAINST ST. PAUL: Iowa and St. Paul will kick off their fourth series of the season and their second at Principal Park tonight. The Saints hold the edge in the season series, winning 11 games to Iowa's six. That mark is largely due to their last visit to Des Moines, when they completed a six-game sweep of the I-Cubs. The two teams split the first series in St. Paul at three games a piece, and Iowa held a 3-2 lead in their last set before the final game was suspended due to rain. The I-Cubs enter tonight in search of their first home win against the Saints.

FOUR STRAIGHT: Adrian Sampson won his fourth straight game on Sunday, the most for any I-Cubs pitcher this season. On Tuesday, the righty spun 5.2 innings, allowing just two earned runs on five hits while walking one and striking out six. The two runs he allowed came on one swing of the bat, a two-run shot in the first inning. On Sunday, he had a similar outing, allowing just two earned runs on seven hits, one walk and four strikeouts over six innings. The two runs scored on a solo home run and a bases loaded walk. Over his last four games, Sampson is 4-0 with a 3.42 ERA (9ER/23.2IP). He has surrendered 23 hits, walked nine, allowed four home runs, and struck out 21 over that span.

SHORT HOPS: Iowa is 0-3 on Tuesdays at Principal Park...their only series-opening win at home came on June 19 - a Wednesday - against Omaha...Iowa and St. Paul are both hitting for a team average of .226 in 17 games against each other this season.

Check out the Iowa Cubs Statistics



International League Stories from July 6, 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.

Other Recent Iowa Cubs Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central