IL Iowa Cubs

June 29 Game Notes: Iowa at Indianapolis

Published on June 29, 2021 under International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (17-28) @ INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS (25-22)

Tuesday - 6:05 PM CT - Victory Field - Indianapolis, IN

RHP Adrian Sampson (2-2, 5.92) vs. LHP Cam Vieaux (0-0, -.--)

TONIGHT'S GAME: Iowa and Indianapolis matchup for game one of the six-game series tonight, with Iowa leading the season record 3-2. Adrian Sampson will take the ball for Iowa, in his seventh start and ninth game of the year with the I-Cubs. Sampson is 2-2 on the year, with a 5.92 ERA, allowing 25 earned runs on 44 hits over 38.0 innings pitched. The righty has struck out 28 batters compared to 15 walks, but has allowed 12 home runs. 27% of the hits he has allowed have left the stadium, including at least one in each of his last four games and four in a single game twice this season. Opposite of Sampson will be Cam Vieaux getting the start for Indianapolis. Vieaux went 4-2 with a 5.05 ERA for Indianapolis in 2019, but is set to make his first appearance at Triple-A of the 2021 season. He started with Double-A Altoona, going 2-1 with a 5.48 ERA in 13 games, including just one start. The lefty has not thrown a full three innings yet this year, with his longest outing being 2.2 innings back on June 19 against the Erie SeaWolves.

BOTTOM OF THE ORDER: In Sunday's game against Omaha, Iowa registered 14 hits as a team. The five through nine hitters in the order accounted for 10 of those hits, each getting a pair. As a unit, they hit .500 (10-for-20) on the day, scoring and driving in five of Iowa's six total runs. They had all three of the team's extra-base hits, with two doubles and a triple, while striking out just four times. The top four hitters had four hits and three walks to add to the stat sheet.

FINAL FOUR: Marty Pevey is in his eighth season as Iowa's manager, the longest any manager has been with the I-Cubs. In 2018, Pevey collected his 1,000th career managerial victory, while also becoming the winningest skipper in Iowa history with his 356th victory as manager. Entering this year, he was 1,123-1,230 overall in 17 seasons as a minor league manager, good for the ninth-most wins among active MiLB skippers. With Iowa's 17 wins this year, Pevey is now 494-541 with Iowa, just four wins away from 500.

WALK THIS WAY: Over the last two series dating back to June 15 against St. Paul, Abiatal Avelino hasn't been hitting the ball the way he would like. The infielder is hitting just .083 (2-for-24) with one RBI. However, he is making contact and drawing walks to still contribute. Over that span of 33 plate appearances, he has struck out just twice and walked nine times. Despite hitting just .083, Avelino still has an on-base percentage of .333.

FELL JUST SHORT: The I-Cubs registered 14 hits in Sunday's 6-1 win over Omaha, falling just one shy of their season-high 15 hits they have accomplished twice this season. All but three starters registered two hits on Sunday, and every batter reached base at least once. On the other side, Iowa was throwing a no-hitter through 6.1 innings, before Emmanuel Rivera hit a solo shot off of Justin Steele with one out in the seventh. The Storm Chasers registered two more hits in the ninth off Trevor Megill, but three was all they would get. Major league rehabber Trevor Williams started the game and Kohl Stewart gave four innings of hitless relief. The pair struck out five and allowed just two base runners, both via a hit by pitch.

GAVE HIM NUMBER ONE: Iowa faced righty Jackson Kowar on Sunday, fresh off of his first stint in the major leagues. His time with Kansas City didn't go as he had hoped, owning an 18.00 ERA, allowing 10 earned runs on 11 hits, including one home run. He walked five compared to striking out just two. He returned to Omaha, where he had been absolutely nasty before his promotion. The righty was 5-0 in six games, with a 0.85 ERA (3ER/31.2IP). He had allowed just 18 hits while walking 10 and striking out 41. Kowar had gone at least five innings in all six of his starts, allowing no more than one run in any of them. On Sunday, Iowa handed Kowar the first loss of his Triple-A career, knocking him out after just 3.2 innings. The I-Cubs registered three runs off of six hits against him, walking twice and striking out six times. Kowar was previously 1-0 against Iowa with 15 strikeouts in 11 innings of work.

DOING THEIR JOB: The pitching staff did an excellent job of trusting their defense to handle their business on Sunday. Iowa's staff allowed just three hits, while walking none and striking out seven. Although they only struck out seven of their 27 outs, they trusted the defense to make plays and they did just that. The I-Cubs didn't make one error, and turned a double play behind their pitchers to help the innings go quickly. As a staff, they threw 75 of their 113 pitches for strikes, good for 66%, attacking the zone and letting the defense work behind them.

AGAINST INDIANAPOLIS: Iowa and Indianapolis have not met since the first week of the season, when Iowa took three of the five games from the Indians at Principal Park. This will be the first time the two teams have met at Victory Field, since 1997, when Iowa went 3-6 on the road and just 5-13 in total against the Indians. One game got postponed between the two teams in the first series of the year, and is set to be made up when the two teams meet at Principal Park in the first week of August. Iowa outscored Indy 18-14 in the first five games they played, thanks in large part to a 8-3 victory in the second game of the series.

ROSTER OF REHABBERS: Iowa currently has four major league rehabbers on their roster for tonight's game. Pitchers Dillon Maples, Trevor Williams and Justin Steele, as well as infielder Nico Hoerner will all be on the I-Cubs roster for the game tonight. Maples pitched a scoreless inning in last Saturday night's game against Omaha, rehabbing from a triceps strain. Williams made a rehab start on Sunday against the Storm Chasers recovering from an appendicitis, and threw two hitless innings, while hitting one batter and striking out two. Steele also pitched in that game, allowing one run on a solo shot in an otherwise clean inning of work. He is recovering from a right hamstring strain, similar to Hoerner, who is recovering from a left hamstring strain. Hoerner led off and played second base, going 1-for-2 in his two at-bats and did not get a defensive play before being pinch-hit for in the fourth inning.

SHORT HOPS: After allowing just one run to Omaha on Sunday, Iowa's team ERA in the month of June lowered from 5.83 to 5.61...the first time the two teams met, the team that scored first won all five of the games, including four out of five games scoring in the first inning.

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