Sports stats



IL Iowa Cubs

July 7 Game Notes: Iowa vs. St. Paul

July 7, 2021 - International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (21-31) vs. ST. PAUL SAINTS (26-28)

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

LHP Ryan Kellogg (1-1, 4.82) vs. RHP Josh Winder (1-0, 1.59)

TONIGHT'S GAME: Iowa and St. Paul will face off tonight in game two of the six-game series, their 19th game against one another this season. The I-Cubs, still in search of their first home win against the Saints, will send Ryan Kellogg out for his second start for Iowa. The southpaw impressed in his first go on June 11, earning the win on a five-inning, one-run performance against the Columbus Clippers in his Triple-A debut. He'll match up with righty Josh Winder for the Saints, who will also be making just his second start at Triple-A. Winder opened the season with a 3-0 record in ten starts for Double-A Wichita, and continued to impress in his first outing with St. Paul. He pitched 5.2 innings and allowed one run on just one hit en route to a win over first-place Omaha last Friday.

ROSTER ROTATION: Dee Gordon played in 28 games with Iowa, batting .235 (28-for-119) with six doubles, a home run and 10 runs batted in. The infielder signed a minor league contract with Chicago and was optioned to Iowa on May 29, one week after being released by Milwaukee. Strange-Gordon started the year on a minor league contract with the Cincinnati Reds, then went to the Milwaukee Brewers and then the Chicago Cubs. He elected free agency yesterday, July 6, opting out of his minor league contract with the Cubs. Another infielder, Sergio Alcántara, who hit .328 (20-for-61) in 20 games was optioned back to Iowa from Chicago on Sunday, July 4. However, due to an injury to an infielder on Chicago's roster, Alcantara was recalled, leaving the I-Cubs short two infielders going into this series against St. Paul.

POWER STRUGGLE: The Saints have owned the series at Principal Park so far this season, winning the first seven games against the I-Cubs in Des Moines. Their success has come on the back of some dominant offensive performances, including a 17-6 win in the first series opener and an 11-1 victory in the second opener last night. Overall, the Saints have outscored the I-Cubs 53-20 through their first seven matchups at Principal Park. The results aren't surprising, as St. Paul has displayed impressive power against Iowa. They've notched 12 doubles, a triple, and 14 home runs in their first seven games in Iowa, good for a slugging percentage of .486 at Principal Park. That compares to a .414 mark on the season as a whole. On the other side, the I-Cubs have been stumped by the Saints at home. Through their first seven games, Iowa has hit 14 doubles and a triple, but no home runs. They're slugging just .287 against St. Paul at Principal Park, a substantial departure from their overall season mark of .383.

A WELCOME SIGHT: Ryan Meisinger threw the final two innings of the game last night for Iowa with the team trailing 11-0. The three pitchers before him had allowed 11 runs on 11 hits, six walks and three home runs. Despite entering the game in mop-up duty, Meisinger threw well, ending as the only I-Cub pitcher to not allow a run in last night's game. He spun two scoreless frames, allowing just one hit and one walk compared to striking out three. In his last three outings dating back to June 25, the righty hasn't allowed an earned run, tossing 3.0 innings of four-hit ball. Before that June 25 outing against Omaha, Meisinger was struggling, allowing at least one earned run in eight straight games from May 23-June 18, including two runs in half of those games. From May 4 to May 21, he was one of the better bullpen arms for Iowa, going 1-0 with two saves and a 1.69 ERA over five games.

WAITING FOR HIS PITCH: Abiatal Avelino took three free passes last night, tying his season high mark set on June 19, also against St. Paul. Avelino has four multi-walk games this season, and three of them have now come against St. Paul. Of his 21 walks this season, 12 have come when playing the Saints, good for 57%. The infielder has taken six against Omaha, two against Indianapolis and one against Columbus.

SPREADING THE LOVE: All but two batters in Iowa's lineup registered a knock last night, including two with multi-hit games. Both Michael Hermosillo and Trent Giambrone had two hits, each doubles for Giambrone. Hermosillo raised his batting average with Iowa to .344 with his 2-for-5 night. The outfielder is now tied for third on the team for hits (31) having played in just 25 games. The other three have played in 31, 44 and 46 games respectively. Hermosillo is also tied for second in doubles (7), home runs (4) and stolen bases (5), ranks second in runs batted in (19) and is tied for fifth on the team in walks with 13. Last night marked Giambrone's second two-hit game of the year, and he collected his first and second doubles of the season as well. Giambrone has reached base safely in 11 of his 14 games with Iowa this season.

REHAB WATCH: Dillon Maples made his fourth rehab appearance for Iowa in last night's game and struggled in his second inning out. In his first inning, a runner reached on an error and a walk, but Maples got out of the inning with a fly out, a strikeout and a ground out. He came back out for his second inning of work and did not retire a batter, giving up a walk and three consecutive singles before being taken out of the game. Maples' final line was 1.0 innings pitched, three earned runs on three hits, two walks and a strikeouts. The righty has struck out at least one batter in each outing, but has also walked at least one batter in three straight outings now as well, struggling with command on his rehab assignment.

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.

AGAINST ST. PAUL: With last night's game ending in favor of St. Paul, Iowa fell to 0-7 against the Saints at home. Iowa is still looking for their first home win against the Saints, as St. Paul opened the season series at Principal Park with a six-game sweep of the I-Cubs from May 25-30. While Iowa has held the edge in their half of the road series too, their 6-5 advantage at CHS Field is not enough to overcome their home deficit. St. Paul leads the season series 12 games to Iowa's six.

SHORT HOPS: Iowa fell to 0-4 in Tuesday games at Principal Park...Iowa walked six times and had nine hits, but scored just one run due to going 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position and leaving 14 men on base.

Check out the Iowa Cubs Statistics



International League Stories from July 7, 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