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June 17 Game Notes: Iowa at St. Paul

June 17, 2021 - International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (12-24) @ ST. PAUL SAINTS (18-20)

Thursday - 7:05 PM - CHS Field - Saint Paul, MN

RHP Adrian Sampson (0-2, 6.92) vs. RHP Rob Whalen (0-2, 3.46)

TONIGHT'S GAME: Iowa and St. Paul face-off tonight in game three of six at CHS Field. The Saints won last night 2-0, tying the series at one game a piece. Adrian Sampson is set to toe the rubber for Iowa for his fifth start of the season. He has pitched twice against St. Paul, including one start. The righty has a 1.17 ERA against the Saints in his 7.2 total innings. Opposite of Sampson will be Rob Whalen taking the ball for the Saints. Whalen is set to make his third start in his sixth appearance of the year, having faced Iowa twice. In his two relief appearances against the I-Cubs, Whalen has spun three total innings and has yet to allow a run. The righty has given up just three hits, two walks and registered four strikeouts against Iowa.

BACK IN THE LINEUP: Trent Giambrone made his first start of the year for Iowa last night, going 1-for-4 with a fourth inning single. Giambrone was a key part of the 2019 Iowa Cubs' success, playing in 126 of the 140 games for the Pacific Coast League American Northern Division champions. He brought a lot to the table for that team, ranking first among Chicago Cubs' farm hands with 50 extra-base hits. He hit 23 home runs, 27 doubles, had 66 RBI, 200 total bases, 66 runs and stole 17 bases. Defensively he was primarily an infielder, but played every position for Iowa besides center field, pitcher and catcher.

DID HIS JOB: In his third start of the year with Iowa, Matt Swarmer had his best outing of the season. Swarmer began the season with Double-A Tennessee, making five starts for the Smokies. He didn't have a record, but held a 3.13 ERA in those five games. With Tennessee, he allowed nine runs (eight earned) on 17 hits, eight walks and 30 strikeouts while allowing just two home runs. In his first two starts with the I-Cubs, he made it just 2.2 innings in each start, allowing five total home runs. He had an 0-2 record with a 21.94 ERA, allowing 13 earned runs on 15 hits while walking four and striking out six. Last night against St. Paul, Swarmer had his second quality start of the season, and his first with Iowa. Swarmer gave up a home run to the second batter he faced in the game, Tomás Telis, putting Iowa down 1-0 early. However, he would not surrender another run, allowing just three more hits over his next 5.2 innings of work. His final line was six innings, allowing one run on four hits, while striking out three and not giving up a single walk.

ON THE BOARD: Dee Gordon got back in the hit column with two hits from the leadoff spot last night. In his first 12 games with Iowa, Strange-Gordon registered at least one hit in 10 of them, hitting .245 (13-for-53) overall. Over that span, he had three doubles, a home run, five runs batted in and three walks. From June 12 through June 15, the infielder reached base just once via a hit by pitch. Over three games, he went 0-for-13 with three strikeouts, lowering his average on the year with Iowa to .197. Last night, he broke his hitless streak with a leadoff single to center field to start the game. In his second at-bat, he registered his fourth double with the I-Cubs, giving him a 2-for-4 night, bringing his average back to .214.

PITCHER'S BEST FRIEND: Iowa pitchers Matt Swarmer and Michael Rucker forced St. Paul to ground into three double plays last night, tying a season high. The last time they induced three double plays was also against St. Paul, back on May 27 in a 4-2 loss. Rucker used a double play in each of the two innings he pitched, limiting the damage from the Saints offense.

AGAINST ST. PAUL: Iowa dropped the second game in the six-game series against St. Paul last night, bringing their overall record against the Saints to 4-10. With the loss, the two teams have an even 4-4 record when playing at CHS Field, compared to Iowa being 0-6 when playing at Principal Park.

THROW STRIKES: Matt Swarmer, who threw six innings last night, and Michael Rucker, who threw two innings, did not allow a walk to a St. Paul batter last night. It is just the second time all year that Iowa's staff hasn't surrendered a single walk, the first came on June 5 against Omaha. In that game, Scott Effross, Dakota Mekkes and Kyle Ryan combined to strike out 10 without allowing a walk. In each game, Iowa has lost on the road so the pitchers have only thrown eight innings. Last night, Swarmer threw 66% (57-of-86) of his pitches for strikes, while Michael Rucker tossed 20 of his 30 pitches for strikes, good for 67%.

ONE AT A TIME: St. Paul registered eight hits in their 2-0 victory over Iowa last night, out-hitting the I-Cubs eight to five. The Saints' eight hits came from eight different players, as each starter in St. Paul's lineup registered one hit aside from the catcher Roberto Peña. Tomás Telis hit a solo home run and Daniel Descalso had a double, but the other six hits were all singles.

SHORT HOPS: After one night in sixth place in the Triple-A East Midwest Division, Iowa fell back into last place with last night's loss, trailing first-place Omaha by 13.5 games...Iowa fell to 1-4 with two no decisions when they receive a quality start from their pitcher, and 2-7 when their pitcher goes six or more innings...as a team, Iowa is hitting .136 (8-for-59) through the first two games against St. Paul.

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