IL Iowa Cubs

September 1 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs at Toledo Mud Hens

Published on September 1, 2023 under International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (72-54) @ TOLEDO MUD HENS (60-68)

Friday, September 1 - 6:05 PM CT - Fifth Third Field - Toledo, OH

RHP Nick Neidert (5-5, 5.35) vs. RHP Spencer Turnbull (0-1, 7.71)

TONIGHT'S GAME: Iowa and Toledo start the weekend with game four of their scheduled six-game series and the I-Cubs leading 2-1. Tonight for Iowa the starting pitcher is slated to be right-hander Nick Neidert. Neidert will be making his 22nd start of the season, which leads the Iowa pitching staff. On the year, the 26-year-old has posted a record of 5-5 with an ERA of 5.35. In 99.1 innings of work, he has tallied 80 strikeouts, which ranks third on Iowa, compared to 35 walks and has allowed 59 earned runs off 114 hits. Opponents are hitting at a clip of .284 against the Atlanta, Georgia native this season, which is his highest mark since he pitched for the Miami Marlins up in the big leagues during the shortened 2020 season with an opponent average of .313. Neidert will be looking for his first win since July 18 with his start tonight and in his career against the Mud Hens he is 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA in two matchups, both of which have come this season. Getting the ball for Toledo will be right-hander Spencer Turnbull. The 30-year-old started the year with Detroit before being placed on the injured list with neck discomfort back in May. The righty started his rehab assignment with the Michigan Whitecaps on July 25 and then was ultimately optioned to Toledo last week on August 23. During his time with the Mud Hens in 2023, Turnbull has a record of 0-1 with a 7.71 ERA. He has spun just 16.1 innings at the Triple-A level this season and has allowed 14 earned runs off 23 hits to go along with 18 strikeouts and seven walks.

WHAT A RELIEF: In last night's win over Toledo, it was the bullpen that kept the I-Cubs in the game and helped to complete the comeback win. The Mud Hens were able to get to starter Caleb Kilian as they tagged him for eight hits, four of which were home runs, and seven earned runs. The four homers hit by Toledo tied the season and career high for Kilian. However, once Kilian's night was finished after 4.1 innings, four I-Cub relievers kept the Mud Hens bats silent. Luke Little, Brad Boxberger, Tyler Duffey, and Michael Rucker combined to toss 4.2 innings with no hits or runs allowed, walked just one, and tallied seven strikeouts. Although Little threw just two-thirds of an inning, as he was the first arm used in relief, he was credited with the win and now has a record of 2-0 with a 1.54 ERA as an I-Cub this season. Boxberger continued with his Major League Rehab assignment and faced just four batters in his inning of work. Duffey spun 2.0 innings in relief and led the way with four punchouts, while Rucker closed the door with a 1-2-3 frame and recorded his second save of the year.

NEVER OUT OF IT: Last night marked another comeback victory for the I-Cubs this season as they fell behind 3-0 over the first two frames in last night's matchup against Toledo only to end up winning by a score of 10-7. It was the 34th time in 2023 that Iowa has come back from a deficit to win a game, which is just one shy of the 35 comeback wins from a season ago. While the comebacks are nothing new to Iowa this year, it was a rare instance in which it did win a game when the opponent scores first. The I-Cubs improved their record in games when their opponent scores first to 24-36 with the win last night. In 2022, the I-Cubs went 26-55 when their opponent scored first for comparison.

LEVI IN THE LINEUP: Infielder Levi Jordan returned to the Iowa lineup for the first time since June 25 in the contest against Toledo last night. Jordan had spent much of the first half of the season with Iowa before he was assigned to Double-A Tennessee on June 28. In his I-Cub return, Jordan went 1-for-4 at the plate and scored a run. The 27-year-old saw limited action in his first stint with Iowa this season as he appeared in just 11 games. Over that time frame he hit at a clip of .207 (6-for-29) with one double, a pair of triples, and three RBI. He also logged an on-base percentage of .361, a slugging percentage of .379, and stole one base. The Puyallup, Washington native saw much more game action during his time with the Tennessee Smokies. While in Double-A this year, Jordan appeared in 45 games and recorded a batting average of .235 (40-for-170) with 32 runs scored, nine doubles, 18 RBI, and 12 stolen bases. His best game with Tennessee came on July 15 against Montgomery when he went 3-for-4 at the dish with a run scored, a double, one RBI, and three bag swipes.

MIDDLE MEN: While every starter recorded at least one hit in Iowa's victory last night, much of the damage was produced from the middle of the order. The two through five hitters of Yonathan Perlaza, P.J. Higgins, Matt Mervis, and David Bote combined to go 5-for-16 (.313) at the plate with three runs scored, four doubles, and six RBI. Perlaza was the lone player from that bunch that recorded a multi-hit performance and did what he has done all season long launching his league leading 36th double of the season. It's no surprise that this group produced over half of the RBIs in last night's contest as three of the four rank in the top-five on Iowa. Perlaza is second on the squad with 72 runs batted in. Mervis is next in line in third with 67 and Bote rounds out the trio in fifth with 53 RBI. Perlaza is now just one RBI shy of his total from last season while playing with Tennessee and Bote has well surpassed his 2022 total of 34 RBI while playing for Iowa and Chicago.

AGAINST TOLEDO: The I-Cubs took the series lead 2-1 with their win last night. They've now won two straight against the Mud Hens, their first consecutive wins since May 11 and 12. Iowa still trails the season series 7-8 and the all-time series 19-29 against Toledo. With three games remaining this series, a series win, series loss and series tie are all still in play for the I-Cubs. Iowa won the first series of the year against Toledo in May and the Mud Hens took the second in August.

SHORT HOPS: Pete Crow-Armstrong recorded his eighth multi-hit game of the year, he has yet to record more than two hits in a game in his young Triple-A career...Iowa finished August with a 13-13 record, it is the I-Cubs' only month without a winning record this year...August showed Iowa's second lowest batting average for any month this season (.257) and third highest ERA (5.28)...The I-Cubs are 11-11 on Fridays this season, along with Sunday's 8-13 record they are the only two days without a positive win percentage...Yonathan Perlaza recorded his 30th multi-hit game which leads Iowa and his 21st multi-RBI game which is behind only Jake Slaughter who has 24...With his double last night, Perlaza has 68 extra-base hits this year, he is now tied for third on the single-season leaderboard for Iowa.

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