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September 10 Game Notes: Iowa vs. Toledo

September 10, 2021 - International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (46-65) vs. TOLEDO MUD HENS (64-47)

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

RHP Matt Swarmer (3-6, 5.10) vs. RHP Mark Leiter Jr. (5-3, 4.35)

TONIGHT'S GAME: Iowa will face Toledo for game four of the six-game set tonight, coming off their first win of the series in last night's game. They'll try to keep the momentum going tonight with starter Matt Swarmer, who will face Toledo for the second time this season. In their first meeting, Swarmer took a no-hitter into the sixth inning. It was the start of what has been a very effective second half for the righty, who has brought his ERA down more than 2.5 runs since the last time the Mud Hens saw him. He'll match up with Mark Leiter Jr., who is making his third start against Iowa tonight. Leiter Jr. started both the opener and the finale against the I-Cubs in Toledo and earned the win in both games after allowing only one earned run in ten total innings between the two outings. He is 5-3 overall with Toledo this season, but has gone 0-3 with a 17.18 ERA (42ER/22IP) in his last five games.

SIT 'EM DOWN: Iowa's pitching staff combined to strikeout 14 Toledo batters last night, led by starter Cory Abbott with 10. It marked his third game this year with the I-Cubs that he recorded double-digit strikeouts, including his career-high 13 set back on May 30 against St. Paul. He has struck out eight or more batters nine times this year, including in each of his last three starts, in which he has recorded nine, nine and now 10. The righty now leads all of Triple-A with 121 strikeouts this year, despite spending over a month of the season in the majors with Chicago. Abbott was followed by Erich Uelmen and Juan Gamez, who each struck out two batters in their three combined innings. The three pitchers combined to throw 67% (89-of-133) of their pitches for strikes last night, a welcome sight after 11 total walks in the first two games of the series.

SECOND-HALF SWARMER: Matt Swarmer will make his second career appearance against Toledo tonight after logging the first on July 16 of this year. It will be tough for Swarmer to one-up that performance, during which he struck out six and took a no-hitter into the sixth inning against the Mud Hens. Although Swarmer did eventually allow two hits and two unearned runs, the performance was one of his most dominant of the season. It also came near the start of what has proven to be a very effective second half for Swarmer. In his first five appearances for the I-Cubs this season, Swarmer went 0-4 with a 12.57 ERA (27ER/19.1IP) due in part to nine home runs, including at least one in every start. Since registering his first win of the season on July 9, Swarmer has turned his season around. From that start one, he has gone 3-2 in seven starts and four bullpen appearances and pitched to an ERA of just 2.38 (14ER/53IP). He has allowed just five home runs in those 11 appearances and never more than one in an outing. Of the seven starts, six have lasted at least five innings, and only one of them saw Swarmer allow more than two earned runs. He has allowed no earned runs in three of the seven starts and one of his relief appearances, which earned him his first save since 2017.

STREAKING: Outfielders Greg Deichmann and Trayce Thompson each tied their season long hit streaks yesterday, and will look to break them in tonight's game. Deichmann is currently riding a four-game hitting streak, tying his season long with Iowa set back from August 27-September 2. The 6-foot-2 outfielder is batting .308 over that stretch, with two doubles and two walks. He has a hit in 11 of his last 14 games, including four multi-hit games. Since August 22, Deichmann is hitting .283 (15-for-53) with four doubles, a triple, a home run and six runs batted in. He has also taken four walks to raise his on-base percentage to .333. Thompson has shown off his power lately, with three home runs in his last two games. For the third time this season, he is riding a five-game hitting streak, last done on August 1-7. Getting Thompson going is a key for this I-Cubs lineup, desperately in need of his power. In the six-game set against Omaha from August 24-31, Iowa got swept, losing all six games at Principal Park that series. Over that series, Thompson hit just .100, going 2-for-20 with one home run and 14 strikeouts including two three strikeout games and a four strikeout game. Since then, he has at least one hit in six of his last seven games, batting .304 with two doubles, three home runs and 13 runs driven in over that span. He has made much more contact in his at-bats, striking out just three times in the month of September.

LOOKING SHARP: After not recording a win since May 13, Cory Abbott has now recorded back-to-back wins with two quality starts. The righty spun six innings of two-run ball against Indianapolis on Friday, allowing just five hits while walking five and striking out nine. He followed that with an even better outing, possibly his best of the year, last night against the Mud Hens. Abbott tossed six scoreless frames, allowing just four hits and two walks while striking out 10. It marked his third game with double-digit strikeouts and lowered his ERA to 6.40. He threw 65% (62-of-95) of his pitches for strikes last night, his highest mark since August 4 against Indianapolis when he threw 68% (63-of-92) strikes.

MULTI-HIT MACHINE: Abiatal Avelino went 3-for-3 with a solo home run last night, giving him a team-high 28 multi-hit efforts this season. After recording just two hits over an 11-game stretch, his longest slump of the year in which he hit just .061, the infielder now has a three-game hitting streak. He has recorded two or more hits in two of those three games, hitting .545 (6-for-11) with two home runs and four runs batted in since September 5 against Indianapolis. Avelino now has four three-hit games this year, putting him second on the team behind Ian Miller with five. He is also one of just four members of the 2021 I-Cubs to record a four-hit game this year, doing it back on July 3 against Indianapolis. In 95 games this year, he is hitting .267 for Iowa, walking 43 times compared to 65 strikeouts.

AGAINST TOLEDO: Despite Toledo holding a two-game lead in the Triple-A East Midwest division and Iowa sitting 18.0 games back with a .414 winning percentage, the I-Cubs took it to the Mud Hens last night, cutting their series lead in half. After the first two games, Toledo was up 2-0 in the series and led the season series six games to two, but with Iowa's 5-1 victory last night, they crept back into the series, giving themselves the chance to tie it tonight. It was Toledo's first loss at Principal Park since at least 1998, as the two teams haven't met since the I-Cubs joined the Pacific Coast League. The win marked just Iowa's third all season against Toledo, going 3-6 so far this year against the division leaders. With their four-run victory, Iowa cut their deficit in the season scoring to seven runs, trailing the Mud Hens 36-29 in runs scored over their nine games played.

GOT IT DONE: The I-Cubs got their first win at home last night since August 24, winning the second game of a doubleheader against Omaha. Since that win, Iowa was 0-7 at Principal Park, and they now hold a 5-13 record at home since August 1. They started the month of August 3-1, but since are just 2-12, getting out scored by 41 runs over that span.

SHORT HOPS: Last night's three-run bomb was Trayce's first three-run home run of the season, despite hitting 19 long balls this year with the I-Cubs...Iowa is 11-11 this season when receiving a quality start from their starting pitcher... Trent Giambrone had his five-game hitting streak snapped last night when he went 0-for-3; the infielder was just one game short of tying his season long streak of six games set back on June 16-24...Friday is the only day of the week Iowa has a winning record this year, going 10-8 in Friday games including 5-4 at home.

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