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September 1 Game Notes: Iowa at Indianapolis

September 1, 2021 - International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (42-61) @ INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS (49-53)

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

LHP Luis Lugo (0-1, 7.00) vs. RHP Tanner Anderson (2-1, 3.86)

TONIGHT'S GAME: Iowa and Indianapolis will play game two of their six-game series tonight, with the Indians leading the series 1-0. Luis Lugo will take the ball for Iowa, looking for his first win with the team since getting called up from Double-A Tennessee on August 18. Lugo has made two starts for the I-Cubs, allowing seven earned runs on 10 hits over 9.0 total innings. The lefty has hit one batter, walked four and struck out nine, allowing opponents to hit just .278 against him. Looking for their sixth win in a row over Iowa, the Indians will send righty Tanner Anderson to the mound. Anderson is set to make his third appearance and second start against the I-Cubs, so far holding them to just three hits over five innings. He has yet to allow a run while walking three and striking out four, with Iowa hitting just .176 against him.

GOOD-BLIGH BASEBALL: Bligh Madris hit another home run last night, making it three games in a row that he has a home run against the I-Cubs dating back to last series. Madris hit a two-run blast on Saturday, August 7, followed by a three-run shot on Sunday, August 8, and now a solo home run last night. He is one home run shy of tying the season long streak of four straight games set by Columbus' Nolan Jones back on June 13-July 22. Madris is now hitting .405 (15-for-37) with four doubles, three home runs and 11 RBI against Iowa. He has taken five walks compared to just six strikeouts, bringing his on-base percentage to .500 over those 13 games.

ON THE MEND: Willson Contreras was added to Iowa's roster last night on major league rehab after hitting the 10-day injured list with a right knee sprain on August 12. Contreras played in 55 games with Iowa in 2016 before getting called up, hitting .353 (72-for-204) with 16 doubles, three triples and nine home runs over that stretch. He also played in three games with Iowa in 2019, rehabbing a right hamstring strain that had the catcher sidelined for nearly a month. In his first game back last night, Contreras caught five innings and went 1-for-3 with a solo home run at the plate. He scored two of Iowa's three runs, reaching on an error in his first at-bat.

GOING THE RIGHT DIRECTION: Outfielder Greg Deichmann recorded two more hits last night, making it three games in a row that the outfielder has produced two hits. He was the only Iowa hitter to record more than one hit last night, with the team tallying just six total knocks. In his last three games, Deichmann is hitting .500 (6-for-12) with two runs scored, a double, a home run and three runs driven in. He recorded an RBI single in the first inning, giving him one RBI in each of those three games, and six over his last six games with the I-Cubs. From July 29 to August 26, he had just three two-hit games with Iowa, a total he has now doubled in his last three games. With hits in each of his last three games, he also marked a new season-high three-game hit streak with Iowa. He had previously recorded streaks of two games three times.

AGAINST INDIANAPOLIS: After giving up a late lead and dropping the series opener by a run last night, Iowa now has a five-game losing streak against Indianapolis dating back to their last series at Principal Park from August 3-8. In that series, the I-cubs took the first three games, but dropped the final four to lose the series. Iowa's lead in the season series got trimmed down to one game with their loss last night, now holding a 10-9 record on the year against Indianapolis, while moving to 4-3 when they play at Victory Field. Their run differential also got trimmed to one, out scoring the Indians 83 runs to 82 runs this season.

RIGHT GUY FOR THE JOB: Hitting out of the leadoff spot, Ian Miller grabbed another hit last night, giving him six hits in his last four games. With the single, the outfielder is riding a four-game hitting streak, hitting .400 (6-for-15) over that span. In those four games, he has two multi-hit games, three runs scored, a double and a home run. Ian Miller leads the team with 34 starts batting out of the top-spot, as well as 13 wins when he is the leadoff hitter for the team.

IT'S HOW YOU FINISH: Though the I-Cubs have lost eight of their last ten games, they've held a lead in five of the eight losses. Heading into the ten-game stretch, the I-Cubs had lost only four games that they'd led after the seventh inning and two that they'd led after the eighth. In the last ten games alone, they've lost two games after leading in the seventh and one after leading in the eighth. The late-game woes have been a new narrative for an I-Cubs team that had struggled more in the early innings through their first three months. Heading into the ten game stretch, Iowa was outscoring their opponents 130-117 in the last three innings. Since then, opponents have outscored Iowa 12-11 in the last three. While the results haven't been good, however, Iowa's bullpen has actually been performing better than season average; over their last ten games, the bullpen has pitched to a 1-4 record but a 3.95 ERA (19ER/43.1IP).

TURN THE PAGE: Yesterday's game was the I-Cubs' final contest of August, officially concluding their fourth month of the season. Iowa played to a 10-18 record in August, making it their third losing month this year. They batted .233 as a team - one point better than their season low of .232 in May - which was the fifth lowest team average in Triple-A baseball. The 26 home runs they hit last month were just one shy of their high for a single month, which they accomplished in July. On the other side, they were hurt by the long ball, too; the 46 home runs Iowa pitchers surrendered were the most in Triple-A baseball last month. The homers contributed to a 5.24 team ERA (140ER/240.1) in August, which is slightly better than the I-Cubs season-worst 5.30 (131ER/222.1IP) mark from June. The pitchers also struck out a combined 239 batters in August, which ties May - which had six less games - for the most in a single month this season.

SHORT HOPS: Iowa has a better winning percentage (.375) when they commit two errors than when they commit just one error (.326)...Joe Biagini threw just 56% (52-of-93) of his pitches for strikes last night, but battled through four innings allowing just one run on five hits and four walks.

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