IL Iowa Cubs

July 8 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs vs. St. Paul Saints

Published on July 8, 2023 under International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (50-33) vs. ST. PAUL SAINTS (50-34)

Saturday - 6:08 PM - Principal Park - Des Moines, IA

RHP Nick Neidert (4-3, 5.57) vs. LHP Brent Headrick (3-1, 4.23)

TONIGHT'S GAME: Iowa and St. Paul are set for game five of their six-game set tonight, with the I-Cubs leading the series 3-1. Iowa sends Nick Neidert to make his 15th start this season. The righty is coming off a win in game two of last Sunday's double header. He went 5.0 innings, allowing two runs on five hits while striking out two. The victory was his first since May 12. Neidert will face the Saints for the third time this season and in his career. He's 0-1 with a 12.79 ERA versus St. Paul. Opposite Neidert is Brent Headrick for the Saints. Tonight marks his seventh start of the year and ninth appearance overall for St. Paul. He will make his first Triple-A start since being optioned on July 4. Headrick made five appearances with Minnesota between June 17 and July 3. He went 2-0 with a 8.10 ERA in those Major League outings. As Headrick is expected to throw 2.0 innings tonight, Simeon Woods Richardson is set to piggyback with him. The righty enters tonight with a 7.27 ERA and 1-5 record. Tonight will be his first Triple-A relief appearance, he has made 12 starts previously this season. Two of those starts came against the I-Cubs. In 7.0 innings versus Iowa this year, Woods Richardson has allowed eight runs for a 10.29 ERA. He is 1-1 in three career appearance against Iowa.

ON THE BOARD: Despite losing last night to St. Paul by a score of 4-1, Iowa kept its no-shutout streak alive. Iowa was able to score its lone run of the contest last night when David Bote crossed home plate on a passed ball in the bottom of eighth inning. Iowa has managed to score at least one run in all 83 games they have played this season, which is the longest active streak in the International League. The second-longest runs scored streak in the International League belongs to Rochester at 76 games, which is also active. Iowa has had their fair share of close calls being shutout this season, however. The I-Cubs have scored just one run in game nine times in 2023. In those games where Iowa has scored just one run, they have a record of 2-7. While there is the majority of the second half of the season still yet to play, the I-Cubs are faring much better compared to last season when they were shutout 11 times.

ON-BASE DUO: The I-Cubs currently have a pair of players with on-base streaks going in David Bote and Nelson Velazquez. Bote's on-base streak extended to 20 games and Velázquez's reached 19 games as both were able to get on in last night's contest. Bote kept his streak alive with a pair of walks and Velázquez reached with a single back up the middle in the bottom of the fifth. For Bote, his streak began on June 8 and over that span he has slashed .311/.402/.568 with seven doubles, four home runs, and 21 RBI. Velázquez also saw his streak begin on June 8 and during this time has numbers of .276/.341/.553 with six doubles, five home runs, and 16 RBI. The I-Cubs are no strangers to on-base streaks this season either. Outfielder Yonathan Perlaza recorded the second-longest on-base streak in the International League this season when he reached base in 34 consecutive games from May 18-June 28.

STUCK ON FIVE: With the loss last night to St. Paul the I-Cubs were not able to set a new season-high for a win streak as it came to an end at five games. The I-Cubs have already gone on a five-game winning streak this season when they took five games in-a-row versus Indianapolis June 13-18, but have yet to get to six consecutive wins. It has been a couple of years since Iowa was able to eclipse this seeming five-game win streak threshold. The longest winning streak in the 2022 season was also set at five games between May 8-13 versus Omaha and St. Paul and the longest win streak the I-Cubs had in 2021 was four-games between September 14-17 against Omaha. The last time Iowa was able to win more than five games in-a-row happened in the 2019 season when they won eight consecutive games from May 1-7 over San Antonio, Omaha, and Memphis. Iowa's second-longest winning streak of the 2019 season just so happened to be five-games over Omaha and San Antonio between June 25-29.

SUPERB STARTERS: The starting pitchers in Iowa's staff have had a phenomenal series versus one of the most high-powered offenses in the International League in the St. Paul Saints. The great pitching from the I-Cubs starters continued last night with Hayden Wesneski on the bump. Wesneski, who was recently optioned to Iowa from Chicago, tossed just 3.0 innings in his outing versus the Saints, but did not allow a run and gave up just two hits to go along with six strikeouts and one walk. The other starters who also have put together solid outings this series have been Adrian Sampson, Riley Thompson, and Jordan Wicks. Sampson started the series on Tuesday and over 4.0 innings of work allowed one earned run off one hit and struck out two. Thompson was next up on Wednesday and recorded his first quality start of the season with a final line of 6.0 innings pitched, three hits, one earned run, three walks, and seven strikeouts. Wicks earned the first Triple-A win of his career on Thursday after spinning 5.0 innings with two hits, three earned runs, four walks and five strikeouts. Through four games versus St. Paul, Iowa's starters have a combined stat line of a 2.50 ERA, 20 strikeouts, nine walks, and just eight hits allowed.

AGAINST ST. PAUL: Iowa suffered their first loss of the series last night and seventh of the year against the Saints. The I-Cubs moved to 32-42 all-time and 12-16 at home versus St. Paul. With their win on Thursday night, Iowa secured at least a series split. A win tonight would give them the series victory. In two series earlier this season at St. Paul, the I-Cubs and Saints each earned a series win.

SHORT HOPS: With last night's loss, the I-Cubs are 10-5 at home against left handed starters and will face another tonight ... Yonathan Perlaza has hit safely in 35 of his last 41 games and reached base in 40 of those 41 ... Luis Vazquez continued his hot hitting with another multi-hit performance by going 2-for-3 at the plate last night, which marked his third consecutive multi-hit game.

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