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June 10 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs at St. Paul Saints

June 10, 2023 - International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (33-26) @ ST. PAUL SAINTS (35-25)

Saturday - 7:07 PM - CHS Field - St. Paul, MN

RHP Riley Thompson (1-4, 7.22) vs. RHP Kenta Maeda (0-0, 3.60)

TONIGHT'S GAME: The I-Cubs and Saints will play game six of their seven-game series tonight, with Riley Thompson set to take the ball for Iowa. Thompson will be making his fourth consecutive start after spending six games coming out of relief. He takes the mound tonight in search of his second win with Iowa and first since back on April 20, when he spun five no-hit innings against Buffalo. In 12 games with Iowa this year, Thompson is 1-4 with a 7.22 ERA, allowing 23 earned runs on 25 hits and 20 walks, striking out 32 batters in his 28.2 innings pitched. His first start of the year came against the Saints, as he went 4.0 innings allowing just one run on one hit and one walk while striking out six. Opposite of Thompson will be major league rehabber Kenta Maeda getting the start for St. Paul. Maeda started the year with Minnesota, going 0-4 with a 9.00 ERA in four starts before landing on the injured list with a right triceps strain on April 29. He was sent on a rehab assignment back on May 30 and is set to make his third start with the Saints. Through his first two games with St. Paul, Maeda has no record and a 3.60 ERA. He has allowed two earned runs on five hits and a walk in his 5.0 innings, striking out eight and limiting opponents to a .250 average against him.

BREAKING OUT OF IT: Sergio Alcántara was Iowa's only hitter to record a multi-hit game in last night's win, going 2-for-4 with two runs batted in. The two runs came on a go-ahead single in the ninth inning to give Iowa the lead, completing the five-run comeback. For Alcántara, the two hits marked his first two hits since May 28, when he went 1-for-4 against Nashville. Since that game, the infielder had gone 0-for-21 with one run scored, one RBI and four walks compared to 11 strikeouts. Over that six-game hitless streak, his batting average dropped 40 points, from .292 to .252.

BIG FLY FOR JY: Jared Young clubbed his seventh home run of the season and second of the series last night, continuing his hot hitting as of late. The home run gave Young at least one hit in five straight games, a streak in which he is hitting .450 (9-for-20) with a double, two home runs, eight runs batted in and the same number of walks (3) and strikeouts. He has two three-hit games over his five-game hitting streak and three such games over his last seven games played. Young's home run last night also made it 14 of his last 19 games in which he has hit safely. The 27-year-old has hit St. Paul particularly well this year, hitting .423 (11-for-26) in nine games against the Saints. He has a double, three home runs, 11 RBI and five walks against St. Paul this year, giving him a .500 on-base percentage and an .808 slugging percentage.

BUILDING BACK UP: Tonight will mark Riley Thompson's fourth straight start after spending April 27 - May 17 coming out of relief for Iowa. He began the year as a starter, allowing four earned runs on five hits over his first 13.0 innings (three starts) including five no-hit innings in his last start. After that, the 26-year-old was moved to the bullpen, and it didn't go very well. In 7.2 innings over six appearances, Thompson allowed 11 earned runs on 10 hits and 10 walks, striking out 11 batters along the way. Two of his 10 hits allowed were home runs, as opponents hit .333 with an on-base percentage of .500 against him. In the six-game span, he went 0-1 with a 12.91 ERA. Since those six games of relief, he has been building back up as a starter, going 1.2, 3.0 and 3.1 innings in his last three starts.

BREAK THE TREND: Caleb Kilian and Cam Sanders combined to allow five earned runs on 11 hits and one walk last night while striking out eight in their 9.0 innings. The five earned runs actually lowered the team's ERA in the month of June from 8.06 to 7.70 through their first nine games of the month. Their 7.70 June ERA is still the worst in the International League and is third worst in all of Triple-A, behind Reno (8.74) and Sugar Land (8.33) of the Pacific Coast League. The two combined to walk just one batter, marking the first time all series Iowa's staff has walked less than four batters and just the second time in the month. It is the lowest number of walks since May 20 in a seven-inning game when Kyle Hendricks and Manuel Rodriguez combined to walk just one at Indianapolis.

AGAINST ST. PAUL: Iowa's comeback victory last night moved their record against St. Paul this year to an even 5-5, while putting them just one game behind in the current series, at 3-2. Despite trailing the current series by a game, the scoring between the two teams has been completely even through the first six games, at 36-36 entering tonight's contest. With the win, the I-Cubs are now 28-41 all-time overall against St. Paul, including a 19-26 mark here at CHS Field.

SHORT HOPS: Cam Sanders' five strikeouts last night tied his season high, improving his record to a perfect 3-0 with the win...last night's comeback victory marked Iowa's 13th comeback of the year, their second win trailing after eight innings (2-20) and their first win trailing after seven innings (1-18) this year...each of the first seven players in Iowa's lineup scored one run last night, accounting for the teams' seven total runs.

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