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September 16 Game Notes: Iowa at Omaha

September 16, 2021 - International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


TONIGHT'S GAME: Iowa and Omaha will face off for game three of the six-game set tonight, with the I-Cubs leading the series two games to none. They'll send out righty Matt Swarmer tonight to try and keep their winning streak alive. Swarmer is 3-7 on the year and 2-2 against Omaha, but both records are skewed by early struggles. Since July 9, Swarmer is 3-3 for the I-Cubs with a 2.40 ERA (16ER/60IP) and four quality starts. That span includes a 2-0 record against Omaha in four games. Omaha will counter Swarmer with lefty Foster Griffin, who has no record and 3.15 ERA in five starts for the Storm Chasers. Two of those starts have been against Iowa, and both lasted four innings. On August 24, Griffin allowed only one unearned run on three hits against the I-Cubs. Iowa fared a little better the second time around, scoring three earned runs on six hits in the series finale on August 29. Both of Griffin's previous starts against Iowa have been against Swarmer, making this the starters' third meeting in the last month.

SWARM VS. THE STORM: Tonight's Starter, Matt Swarmer, will be facing the Storm Chasers for the seventh time this season when he takes the ball for game three. Swarmer, who made his 2021 I-Cubs debut against Omaha, is 2-2 with a 5.86 ERA (18ER/27.2IP) against them in four starts and two relief appearances. The numbers are split dramatically between his first two starts against them and his most recent four appearances, however. In Swarmer's two June starts against Omaha, he surrendered a combined 15 earned runs in 7.2 innings, good for an ERA of 17.61. He also gave up five home runs against the Storm Chasers in those two starts. Since then, Swarmer has completely turned it around. In two long-relief appearances and two starts against Omaha in August, Swarmer went 2-0 and allowed just three total earned runs in 20 complete innings, earning an ERA of 1.35 in those four games. He surrendered just two more home runs and walked four men, but struck out 22 batters. Both of Swarmer's last two starts against Omaha have been quality starts, with just one earned run crossing the plate in his last twelve innings of work against the Storm Chasers.

CAUGHT IN THE ACT: Taylor Gushue threw out three runners on the base paths last night, doubling the number he has caught stealing this season with Iowa. Going into last night's game, Gushue was just 3-for-43 in throwing out runners, good for a 7% success rate. After his 3-for-3 performance last night, he bumped that up to a 13% success rate. The feat was especially significant against an Omaha club that leads all of Triple-A baseball with 140 stolen bases to date and had been caught just 25 times before last night's game. Gushue currently leads the I-Cubs in innings caught with 339.1, but ranks near the bottom of the list in throwing out runners. Before last night, he was second-to-last among Iowa catchers at throwing out runners (min. 10 innings caught), trailing only Jose Lobaton, who went 0-for-10 before his call-up. This season is a bit of an oddity for Gushue, who threw out 28% of runners (65-for-229) over his previous six seasons of professional ball. This year's numbers would mark a career low for Gushue, whose previous low was 20% (16-for-79), which he logged in 2019 with Triple-A Fresno.

ENCORE: While he didn't quite replicate his two-homer debut, Cubs No. 1 prospect, Brennen Davis, had another multi-hit game in his second game with Iowa. After going 2-for-5 with two homers and three RBI on Tuesday, Davis followed it up with a 2-for-4 performance and a run scored last night. The outfielder is now hitting .444 through his first two Triple-A games with a 1.556 OPS. While those numbers are likely not sustainable, they're part of a season .264 average (80-for-303) and an .878 OPS for Davis, who has now played at three levels in 2021. In just his third year of professional ball, Davis has collected 17 home runs and 22 doubles between Advanced-A, Double-A, and Triple-A. Before his promotion, he was leading Double-A Tennessee with 20 doubles and ranked second behind Christopher Morel in both home runs (13) and RBI (36). Davis' four hits so far in Omaha are the most by any I-Cub this series.

BETTER WITH THREE: With their second consecutive win despite recording three errors last night, Iowa moved to 4-4 when they commit three or more errors in a game. Coming into the series, the I-Cubs had a chance to tie their season long stretch of five consecutive games without an error, but have now made three in consecutive games. Iowa now has a better record this year when they commit three or more errors (.500) than they do with any other number of mistakes in the field. They hold a winning percentage of .400 (4-6) when committing two errors, .333 (16-33) when committing one error, and .490 (24-25) when they do not commit a fielding error.

WINNING WAYS: Iowa's longest winning streak this year was four games, back from May 16-21. One win was against St. Paul and the final three were against Omaha. After those four wins, the I-Cubs went on to lose seven straight followed by nine straight losses with just one win in between. They have won three or more games in a row five times this year, last on August 3-4, including the sweep of a doubleheader on the fourth. With two wins in the first two games of this series, Iowa has now won just two back-to-back games for the fifth time this year and first since August 10 and 11. Both of those games were also wins to start a series against Omaha at Werner Park, the last series the I-Cubs won, taking four of six from the Chasers.

SHOWCASING THE TOOLS: Johneshwy Fargas went 3-for-4 last night, clubbing a double and a home run to help Iowa take a 6-5 win over the Storm Chasers. It was just his second three-hit game of the entire season, with his first coming back on May 9, as a member of the Syracuse Mets. It was his third multi-hit game with Iowa, and first since September 3 against Indianapolis. Fargas raised his average with Iowa to .267 (12-for-45), collecting 25% (3/12) of his total hits with Iowa in last night's game. Not only did he hit a double and a three-run home run to give Iowa the lead, he also showed off his speed to score another crucial run. Fargas was on second after his double and while stealing third, the batter grounded out to shortstop. Once the shortstop threw the ball over to first, Fargas kept running through third and came all the way around to score. Despite the ball never leaving the infield, he beat the throw home from the first baseman, reaching home before the catcher could apply the tag.

AGAINST OMAHA: Despite Iowa taking the first two games of the current series, the Storm Chasers still hold a four-game lead in the season series, up 18-14. The two teams are now an even 7-7 when they play at Werner Park, while Omaha holds an 11-7 lead at Principal Park. In their 31 games this year, the Storm Chasers are out-scoring the I-Cubs 179-168, leading them by 24 home runs (62-38) and 25 stolen bases (47-22). Iowa leads Omaha by six with 49 doubles compared to 43.

SHORT HOPS: Last night was just Iowa's eighth win while facing a left-handed pitcher, moving to 8-21 on the year...the I-Cubs are now 14-18 in one-run games and 14-47 when their opponent scores first...Iowa is 12-12 in quality starts after their win last night.

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