IL Iowa Cubs

May 28 Game Notes: Iowa vs. St. Paul

Published on May 28, 2021 under International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (9-10) vs ST. PAUL SAINTS (10-11)

Friday - 7:08 PM - Principal Park - Des Moines, IA

RHP Alec Mills (0-1, 27.00) vs. RHP Griffin Jax (2-1, 4.29)

TONIGHT'S GAME: The I-Cubs look to break their season-long five game losing streak tonight against St. Paul. The Saints will send out righty Griffin Jax, who already has one win over Iowa this year, while Alec Mills will take the bump for Iowa in his second rehab start with the I-Cubs.

ALL GOOD THINGS MUST END: Despite getting on base twice last night via the free pass, Sergio Alcántara's eight-game hit streak came to an end. The infielder went 0-3 with a strikeout, going hitless for just the sixth time this year, the same amount of multi-hit games he has recorded. Over his eight-game stretch, Alcantara hit .522 (12-for-23) with an on-base percentage of .645. Iowa's leadoff hitter scored 11 runs, while hitting two doubles and two home runs. He took eight walks and struck out just five times. With his two free passes last night, Alcantara has 17 walks on the year compared to just 14 strikeouts. His 17 walks are good enough for second in the entire Triple-A East, one spot behind Gwinnett'sAbraham Almonte with 18.

BEAT JAX: Griffin Jax is 2-1 on the year with a 4.29 ERA. His first win of the season came on May 12 against Iowa, when he tossed five innings of one-run, five-hit ball. Jax walked three and struck out four in that outing, throwing 56 of his 93 pitches for strikes. Since then, the righty has made two starts, both against Indianapolis. In the first start he surrendered seven runs on nine hits and in the second allowed just one run on seven hits. Iowa will look to get their first win against St. Paul at Principal Park this year and get revenge against Jax tonight.

HE'S ALL THAT: Jhoan Duran took the ball for St. Paul last night for just his second-career start at the Triple-A level. Duran threw four innings of one-hit ball, while walking one and striking out eight. In seven innings for the Saints, the righty has struck out 14 batters. The Minnesota Twins No. 5 ranked prospect by MLB.com showed why he has such a high ranking, hitting triple digits multiple times with his fastball in last night's game.

WHAT HAPPENED?: Lefty Adam Morgan was credited with his first loss of 2021 last night after surrendering three runs to the Saints in the ninth inning. The performance marked the second straight multi-run outing for Morgan, with the first coming in the series opener against St. Paul. Before that, Morgan had not allowed a single run in his first five appearances for the I-Cubs this season. He'd pitched six scoreless innings and given up only one hit and two walks while striking out eight. In his last two outings, he's allowed a combined five runs on four hits and two hit batters.

SIX OUT OF SEVEN: Michael Rucker registered his best performance of the season last night, facing seven batters in 2.1 innings and striking out six of them. The six K's marked a season high for Rucker, topping his previous record of four, which he achieved on May 7 against Omaha in his first appearance of 2021. The strikeout numbers aren't a surprise from Rucker, who has punched out 9.4 batters per nine in his minor league career and 11.7 per nine in Triple-A specifically.

WRONG DIRECTION: After achieving their longest winning streak of the season last week against Omaha, Iowa has now extended their longest losing streak of the season to five games against Omaha and St. Paul. The reversal has been due to both offensive and pitching struggles. During the winning streak, Iowa scored 38 total runs, an average of 9.5 runs per game. Since then, they've scored 17 total runs for an average of 3.4 runs per game. On the other side of the ball, the pitching staff allowed 16 runs during the winning streak (four per game) and 39 during the losing streak (7.8 per game). Since their last win, the team batting average has dropped from .245 to .239 and the team ERA has increased from 3.12 to 3.99.

AGAINST ST. PAUL: The I-Cubs and Saints will play game four of the six-game set at Principal Park tonight. With St. Paul's win last night, they now lead the overall series 6-3, and the current series 3-0. The two teams have played nine of their 30 total scheduled games this season.

SHORT HOPS: Iowa's catchers have thrown out one baserunner in 28 stolen base attempts...after last night's loss, Iowa has fallen to 9-10, good for fourth place and 3.5 games out in the Triple-A East Midwest division...Alec Mills gave up five runs in 1.2 innings last time out, good for a 27.00 ERA with Iowa so far.

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