IL Iowa Cubs

June 7 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs at Toledo Mud Hens

Published on June 7, 2022 under International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (25-28) @ TOLEDO MUD HENS (25-27)

Tuesday - 6:05 CT - Fifth Third Field - Toledo, OH

RHP Robert Gsellman (1-0, 1.17) vs. RHP Nivaldo Rodriguez (2-3, 5.18)

TONIGHT'S GAME: Robert Gsellman will take the ball for Iowa in his first start since April 30 against Indianapolis. The righty had his contract selected by Chicago on May 3 and pitched in eight games for the Cubs, going 0-2 with a save and a 4.70 ERA. All eight appearances were relief outings for Gsellman, who surrendered eight earned runs on 17 hits including two home runs, while walking three and striking out nine. He was designated for assignment on May 30 and sent outright to Iowa on June 2. Tonight will mark his first game since May 30, when he spun a perfect frame against the Milwaukee Brewers, striking out one along the way. Prior to getting his contract selected, the 28-year-old was lights out for Iowa, going 1-0 with a 1.17 ERA over five starts. He allowed just two earned runs on eight hits while walking four and striking out 12. Opponents hit just .157 against him. Opposite of Gsellman will be right-hander Nivaldo Rodriguez taking the ball for Toledo. Rodriguez is 2-3 with a 5.18 ERA over 10 games for the Mud Hens, second on the team with nine starts this year. The 25-year-old has allowed 23 earned runs on 53 hits, surrendering 19 walks compared to just 21 strikeouts. Opponents are hitting .221 against him through his first 10 games this year. It will mark his seconds start of the year against Iowa, after throwing five innings of one-run ball against the I-Cubs his first time out. In that game, he allowed just five hits and two walks while striking out three.

WATCH IT FLY: Iowa allowed a season-high eight home runs in Sunday's game against St. Paul, tying a franchise record set back on July 18, 2019, against Oklahoma City. Each of St. Paul's top three hitters had at least one home run, with their leadoff hitter clubbing three and their second hitter smashing two home runs. Three players in their lineup had multi-home run games, combining for seven of the eight team home runs. The Saints did not have any other extra-base hits aside from their eight home runs. On July 18 for Oklahoma City, five different players hit home runs including two with multi-home run games. Both games were played at Principal Park, an 18-5 loss on July 18 and a 16-7 loss on Sunday.

HEATING UP: Through his first 23 games of the season, Narciso Crook hit just .154 (10-for-65) with two doubles, a triple and two home runs, driving in six runs along the way. Over that stretch, he took nine walks but struck out 28 times, 43% (28-of-65) of his at-bats. Since May 26, the outfielder is hitting .478 (11-for-26) with six runs scored, with four walks and just five strikeouts. Over the six games, Crook has exactly matched his power production from his first 23 games, hitting two doubles, a triple and two home runs while driving in nine. He has at least one hit in each of those six games, including three multi-hit efforts, two of those being three-hit games. He didn't have a three-hit game through his first 25 games, but now has two in his last four games including his last game on Sunday. With his hot stretch, he has raised his average on the year to .239, seventh on Iowa's active roster.

GOING THE WRONG DIRECTION: Nearly all season long, Iowa has been second in ERA among all International League teams. They entered Sunday tied for second in team ERA with a 3.95, but allowed 16 earned runs, pushing them all the way down to fifth at 4.19. They were fourth in runs allowed with 236, and now sit tied for seventh with 252 runs allowed.

TOPPING OUT: Three different pitchers allowed four or more earned runs last night for the first time this season. Starter Matt Dermody surrendered a season-high five earned runs over two innings, giving up three home runs as part of his five total hits allowed. Adrian Sampson tied his season high from his first start of the year, allowing four earned runs on five hits, also allowing three home runs. The third pitcher to allow four earned runs was Cayne Ueckert, tying his season high from May 17 against Columbus. The righty recorded just one out, allowing four earned runs on two hits, two walks and a home run. All three saw a spike in their ERA, with Dermody rising from 4.50 to 5.40, Sampson from 3.32 to 4.28 and Ueckert's ERA went from 5.66 to 7.29. The three combined to allow 13 runs on 12 hits including seven home runs, while the other three pitchers in the game allowed three earned runs on four hits and one home run.

MR. CONSISTENT: Dixon Machado was a mainstay for Iowa's 2019 PCL American Northern Division championship team, hitting .261 (86-for-329) with 19 doubles, a triple and 17 home runs. He drove in 65 runs and walked 54 times compared to 79 walks that season. From there, he played two seasons with the Lotte Giants of the Korean Baseball Organization and is now back with the I-Cubs. Through 46 games, Machado is hitting .289 (50-for-173) with eight doubles, 15 RBI and eight stolen bases. He has walked 29 times compared to 25 strikeouts. The infielder has two three-game hitting streaks, two four-game hitting streaks, a five-game hitting streak and is currently on a seven-game hitting streak. Over his last seven games, Machado is hitting .286 (8-for-28) with four runs scored, two doubles, three runs batted in, five walks and three strikeouts. His five walks bump his on-base percentage up to .394 through the seven games. The 30-year-old leads the team with 29 free passes, sitting tied for 9th in the International League. He hasn't taken a free pass for four straight games, tying his season long done on April 8-12, May 1-5 and May 11-14.

AGAINST TOLEDO: Iowa and Toledo will play for the first time this year at Fifth Third Field, after Iowa took four-of-five from Toledo back on April 12-16 at Principal Park. After taking four from the Mud Hens, Iowa moved to 7-10 all-time against Toledo. They were 3-9 last year against the Mud Hens, including a 2-4 record here at Fifth Third Field. Through their five games at Principal Park this year, Iowa outscored Toledo by seven runs, 25-18. They will look to extend their winning streak to three games against the Mud Hens with a win tonight.

SHORT HOPS: Greg Deichmann had his four-game home run streak and season-long six-game hitting streak snapped on Sunday, going 0-for-3 with two walks and a strikeout...Iowa's pitching staff walked nine batters and hit two to go along with their eight home runs allowed...catcher John Hicks went 1-for-5 on Sunday, extending his hitting streak to a season-long eight games, the longest streak for any I-Cubs player this year...Iowa hadn't lost a game all year when scoring seven or more runs entering their series against St. Paul, and now lost two, 8-7 on Friday and 16-7 on Sunday, falling to 15-2 when scoring seven or more runs this year...after winning 10-of-13 games from May 6-20 and sitting at 22-17 on the year, Iowa has now won just three of their last 14 games from May 21-June 4, falling to 25-28 this season.

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