IL Iowa Cubs

June 23 Game Notes: Iowa at Louisville

June 23, 2022 - International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (32-35) @ LOUISVILLE BATS (24-43)

Thursday - 6:05 PM CT - Louisville Slugger Field - Louisville, KY

RHP Robert Gsellman (1-3, 5.64) vs. LHP Nick Lodolo (0-0, 9.00)

TONIGHT'S GAME: Iowa and Louisville will meet for game three of their six-game series tonight, with Robert Gsellman getting the start for Iowa. Gsellman has had a strange season, being nearly unhittable with Iowa through his first five games before getting his contract selected by Chicago. The righty threw in eight games for the Cubs, then got designated for assignment and has since started three games for the I-Cubs. In those three games, he is 0-3 with a 15.43 ERA, allowing 12 earned runs on 11 hits over just seven innings. He has also walked five batters, hit two and allowed three home runs compared to striking out seven. Opposite of Gsellman will be major league rehabber Nick Lodolo taking the ball for Louisville. Lodolo made three starts for Cincinnati before being placed on the 10-day injured list on April 28 with a lower back strain. He rehabbed with the ACL Reds and then the Bats prior to being transferred to the 60-day injured list on June 21. He started for Louisville on Saturday, allowing two runs on four hits over two innings. He walked one and struck out all six batters he retired in the outing.

GOOD BOUNCE BACK: Erich Uelmen entered the game in the ninth inning yesterday tasked with holding a one-run lead for Iowa. The I-Cubs were up 4-3 and Uelmen had recorded saves in each of his last two outings against Omaha. With two outs in the inning, Louisville scratched across a run to tie the game, giving Uelmen his fourth blown save of the year. Despite being the team leader in saves with four, he has now also blown four saves, having just a 50% conversion rate. Iowa scored one run in extra-innings and Uelmen went back out there to record the final three outs once again. Even with a runner starting on second base, the righty got the final three outs without allowing the run to score, earning the I-Cubs their third straight win and his third win of the year. With the win, he moved to 3-2 on the year, tied for the most wins among any I-Cubs pitcher.

GOING BACK-TO-BACK: After starting the season 0-9 on the road when their opponent scored first, Iowa has now won each of their last two games when Louisville has opened the scoring in the first inning. With the two wins, they are now 2-9 in road games in which their opponent scores first and have 16 comeback wins this year.

HE'S A HITTER: Darius Hill started the season with Double-A Tennessee, hitting .308 (57-for-185) in 44 games with the Smokies prior to getting called up to Iowa on May 31. Since his promotion, all the outfielder has done is hit, recording eight multi-hit games through his first 15 games with the I-Cubs. Hill is currently on an eight-game hitting streak, with two or more hits in five of the games and three or more hits in four of the games. His eight-game hitting streak stands as the longest active streak on the team right now, as well as setting his longest streak of the season. Back from April 12-21 he had a seven-game hitting streak with Tennessee, going 14-for-29 during that stretch. During his current streak that started back on June 10th, the 24-year-old is hitting an even .500 (18-for-36) with six doubles, one run batted in and two walks compared to three strikeouts. After going 1-for-5 on Tuesday, Hill is currently on the eighth streak of seven or more games in his three-year professional career and is tied with his career-long eight game hitting streak set back on June 5-15 with the Smokies last year. Of Hill's 15 games at Triple-A so far, he has hit safely in 12 of them and did not record an at-bat in one, leaving just two hitless games with the I-Cubs. That compares to eight multi-hit games, including four with three or more hits. The performance is nothing new for Hill, who has collected more multi-hit games than no-hit games in each year of his professional career.

A RARE STATISTIC: Dixon Machado struck out twice in yesterday's game, marking just the fourth time this year the shortstop has struck out at least two times in a game. He has struck out one or more times in just 24 of his 58 games this year, the same number of games in which he has taken a walk. Machado has struck out twice against Louisville yesterday, Buffalo on May 10 and Indianapolis on May 1 while striking out three times against Toledo on May 12. Through his 58 games this year, the 30-year-old has taken 35 walks compared to just 29 strikeouts in 259 plate appearances.

NEW NAME, NEW NUMBERS: Outfielder Clint Frazier recently expressed the interest to change his first name to Jackson, his middle name and a name he has gone by casually with friends and family for years. The 27-year-old made this change prior to yesterday's game against Louisville. In his first professional game being referred to as Jackson Frazier, he went 2-for-4 with a double and three runs batted in. It was his first multi-RBI game since June 23, 2021, when he knocked in two runs for the New York Yankees against the Kansas City Royals. He had four, two-RBI games last year and hasn't had three RBI in a single game since September 19, 2020, with New York. In 2020, he had three games in which he drove in three runs, including a five-RBI game on August 15.

PILING UP THE NUMBERS: David Bote collected two more hits in yesterday's win, his sixth multi-hit game this year with Iowa. The infielder has had a long road of recovery to get to this point, but he appears to be ready to return to Chicago. He was placed on the 60-day injured list on March 19, 2022, after having left shoulder surgery for an injury he got with Chicago last season. He was originally sent on a rehab assignment to Iowa back on May 19, playing in 12 games and hitting just .178 (8-for-45) with four runs scored, two doubles, two runs driven in and six walks compared to 11 strikeouts over that span. After his last game on June 2, he was pulled from his major league rehab assignment to have neurological testing done and eventually was cleared to resume baseball activities. He was then sent back to Iowa on June 17 to restart his rehab assignment and has since been on fire, carrying the I-Cubs' offense. The 29-year-old has made an impact in each game he has played with Iowa since he resumed his rehab on Friday, hitting .500 (10-for-20) with four doubles and 10 runs batted in, recording two or more hits in four of the five games.

AGAINST LOUISVILLE: With back-to-back wins to open the series against Louisville, the I-Cubs are now 5-3 against the Bats this season. Their winning record at Louisville Slugger Park this year puts them just one game shy of the .500 mark all-time against Louisville on the road, sitting at 8-9 entering tonight's game. The I-Cubs are outscoring Louisville by 14 runs through their first eight games this year, 42-28. The three games Louisville has won this year have all been decided by just one run.

SHORT HOPS: Iowa won their first extra-innings road game of the year yesterday, moving to 1-2 on the road and 3-4 overall in extras this season...with the one-run win, the I-Cubs moved to 9-12 in one-run games this year, including 2-8 in one-run games on the road...after averaging just one stolen base per game through their first 65 games, Iowa has stolen three bases in each of the first two games against Louisville this series; they went from tied for ninth in the International League with 65 stolen bases when they entered the series, to sixth in the IL with 71 swiped bags after the first two games...the I-Cubs allowed 10 hits yesterday and won the game, moving to 3-13 on the year when allowing 10 or more hits.

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