Missed Opportunities Stall Cubs in Round Rock
Published on July 20, 2013 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Iowa Cubs News Release
Round Rock, TX - The Iowa Cubs (49-52) left 11 men on base, including seven over the final three innings, and lost 5-2 against the Round Rock Express (56-45) at Dell Diamond tonight. The Express lead this series 2-1 and lead the season series 9-6 with one game remaining. The Cubs have lost three of their last four and seven of their last nine to fall to three games under .500 for the first time since June 19. Despite this slide, the Cubs remain tied with Memphis for first place in the American Northern division. The Redbirds lost 8-1 at home against Oklahoma City tonight.
Mike Olt helped lead the Express to the early lead with his glove and his bat. In the top of the second inning, the Cubs had runners on first and second with no outs when Jae-Hoon Ha hit a one-hopper right to Olt at third base. Olt stepped on the bag for one out, fired to second for a second out, and the relay to first beat Ha to complete the triple play. It was the first triple play turned by the Express in their triple-A history dating back to 2005. The Cubs last hit into a triple play on June 3, 2011 at Nashville.
In the bottom of the second, Jim Adduci and Jared Hoying singled in front of Olt, who lined a 3-2 pitch from Cubs' starter Jake Arrieta over the wall in left for a three-run homer that extended the Express' lead to 4-0. It was Olt's 10th homer of the year. Arrieta (0-2) worked through five innings without allowing any more runs, but suffered the loss.
The Cubs got on the board against Express starter Jake Brigham in the third inning on a two-out RBI single by Ty Wright. It was the first run Brigham had allowed at Dell Diamond this season, after 26 scoreless innings. Brigham got more help from his defense in the fourth inning, when Joey Butler jumped at the wall and robbed Edgar Gonzalez of a home run leading off the inning.
The Express added their last run against Yoanner Negrin in the sixth. With two outs, Adduci walked and scored on a triple off the wall by Hoying. Adduci and Hoying combined to reach base six times in the game and score three runs.
The Cubs rallied in the top of the seventh. Josh Vitters led off with a double. With one out, Luis Flores and Darnell McDonald singled to bring Vitters around to score. Brigham walked Logan Watkins to load the bases and the Express turned to Wilmer Font out of the bullpen. On Font's first pitch, Donnie Murphy hit a bouncing ball up the middle that shortstop Leury Garcia turned into an inning-ending double play.
The Cubs loaded the bases with one out against Font in the eighth, but the hard-throwing right-hander got Ha to popout and Flores to flyout to end the inning. The Express brought in side-arming righty Ben Rowen in for the save opportunity in the ninth. Rowen got two quick outs before a walk to Murphy and an infield single by Wright brought Brad Nelson to the plate as the potential tying run. Rowen got Nelson to ground out to end the game and earn his third save of the season. Brigham (4-1) earned the win. Murphy singled in the first, extending his season-best hitting streak to seven games.
The Cubs and Express wrap up this series tomorrow night at 7:05. RH Barret Loux (4-4, 4.52) will start for the Cubs against RH Evan Meek (4-4, 4.13) for the Express. The game will be broadcast live on AM 940, and streamed live at iowacubs.com, with the On-Deck Circle Pre-Game Show starting at 6:45.
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