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June 17 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs vs. Omaha Storm Chasers

June 17, 2022 - International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


TONIGHT'S GAME: After dropping last night's game 8-2, Matt Dermody will take the ball tonight, looking to get Iowa back in the win column. Dermody is 2-3 this year with a 6.00 ERA through 12 games, including seven starts. Over those 12 games, the southpaw has allowed 28 earned runs on 57 hits, while walking 29 and striking out 28 over 42.0 innings pitched. 10 of his 57 hits have left the yard, allowing five of the 10 in his last two games (four innings). He has made one start against Omaha already this year, back on May 11. In that start, he allowed four earned runs on five hits over 4.2 innings pitched while striking out five. Opposite of Dermody will be right-hander Carlos Hernández making an effort to tie the series at two games apiece. Hernández is 1-2 with a 5.06 ERA through four starts with Omaha, allowing 12 earned runs over just 21.1 innings pitched. Opponents are hitting .213 against him over those four starts, as he is set to make his first appearance against the I-Cubs this year. He has faced Iowa before, making two starts against them last year. In those two starts, he went 2-0, allowing just four runs on 10 hits over 10.1 innings. The righty struck out eight compared to just two walks over his two starts.

DON'T BLINK: Iowa played their fastest game in the last 10 seasons last night, playing all nine innings in just one hour and 55 minutes. It is the quickest nine-inning game for Iowa since 2012, when they played a nine-inning game in one hour and 50 minutes against New Orleans on May 7. Prior to 2012, the I-Cubs played nine-inning games in under two hours regularly, with their shortest nine-inning game being one hour and 52 minutes in 2010, one hour and 55 minutes in 2009, one hour and 51 minutes in 2008, one hour and 59 minutes in 2007, one hour and 54 minutes in 2006 and one hour and 54 minutes in 2004. The difference in last night's game was it wasn't a typical quick game that is low scoring with no offense. Iowa and Omaha combined to score 10 runs on 15 hits last night and still played in just one hour and 55 minutes.

QUITE THE DISCREPANCY: Omaha got seven innings of two-run ball from their starter Austin Cox last night, marking the seventh quality start an opponent has thrown against Iowa this year. On the other side, the I-Cubs have not had a single starting pitcher make it to the sixth inning, with the longest start this year being 5.2 innings. Despite going 51-78 last season, Iowa recorded 26 quality starts, including 12 through their first 62 games.

ONE STILL GOING: Despite going 0-for-3 and losing his 14-game hitting streak last night, Dixon Machado still took a walk, extending his on-base streak to 29 games. The infielder now has a team-high 33 walks this year, good for 15% (33-of-222) of all of Iowa's walks as a team. He has taken six more walks (33) than he has strikeouts (27) this year, raising his on-base percentage to .402, good for fourth in the International League.

WAIT FOR TWO: Nelson Maldonado accounted for half of Iowa's offense yesterday with his solo home run in the third inning. It was Maldonado's second home run with Iowa and his first since May 11, when he collected his first Triple-A long ball against Omaha. Combined with the three homers he hit with Double-A Tennessee before his call-up, Maldonado is now just one shy of his career high for a single season, set in 2021.

FLYIN' OUT OF THE PARK: Iowa and Omaha combined to hit seven home runs in last night's game, accounting for nine of the 10 runs scored between the two teams. Iowa used two solo home runs for all of their scoring, while the Storm Chasers got three solo shots and two two-run blasts to bring in seven of their eight runs. Surrendering home runs has been a problem for Iowa in the month of June. Entering the month, the most home runs Iowa had allowed in a single game was two, and they had done that eight times. Since then, they allowed three on June 3, eight on June 5, four on June 12 and now five on June 16. They have surrendered 31 of their 73 home runs allowed all year in June, accounting for 42%. Those 31 home runs allowed this month have come in just 14 games, with 12 left in the month.

RUNNING UP THAT HILL: Darius Hill returns to the I-Cubs lineup today after getting the last two games off, hoping to boost a lineup that collected just three hits yesterday. Since joining the I-Cubs on May 31 from Double-A Tennessee, Hill has hit safely in eight of 11 games, including six multi-hit games. He has collected three or more hits in three of his last four games and knocked three doubles on Sunday alone, setting a team high for doubles in a single game. Hill's 11 hits over his last four games are more than the entire I-Cubs lineup combined for in the last two games, when he was not in the lineup. His .391 average leads the active roster and his 16 hits in June are third on the team behind Narciso Crook (18) and Dixon Machado (17), who have both played at least two more games than Hill this month.

HEAT WAVES: After breaking a four-game home run streak in Wednesday's game, Narciso Crook got right back to work last night, launching his fifth home run in the last six games. The outfielder began the year slowly, hitting just .154 (10-for-65) over his first 23 games with Iowa, but he's turned it on since then. Starting with the series in Memphis, Crook has hit .382 (21-for-55) over his last 14 games. He has three doubles, a triple, seven home runs, 15 runs scored and 16 RBI during that span. During his current six-game hitting streak alone, he has scored nine runs and driven in seven. With his solo blast yesterday, Crook now has nine on the season and trails team leader, Jared Young, by just one. The I-Cubs have played 62 games, meaning he is on pace to finish the year with 21 home runs, which would top his career high of 14, set last season.

AGAINST OMAHA: The I-Cubs and Storm Chasers will play game four of their six-game set tonight, with Iowa up 2-1 in the series after last night's loss. The loss last night snapped a two-game winning streak for Iowa and a three-game winning streak over Omaha, putting their season record against the Storm Chasers at 7-2. They dropped to 175-134 all-time at Principal Park and 316-291 overall all-time against Omaha. The I-80 rivalry will see just three more games including tonight at Principal Park, with the last two series of the year between the two teams scheduled to play at Werner Park from July 22-25 and September 20-24.

SHORT HOPS: The six runs and three home runs Brandon Leibrandt surrendered last night ties the season high for a starting pitcher, while nine hits are the most a starter has given up this year...Iowa allowed their 300th run of the season, allowing 302 while scoring 290 through the first 62 games of the season...47% (7-of-15) of the hits in last night's game were home runs.

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