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September 8 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs vs. Omaha Storm Chasers

September 8, 2023 - International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (72-60) vs. OMAHA STORM CHASERS (61-69)

Friday, September 8 - 7:08 PM - Principal Park - Des Moines, IA

RHP Riley Thompson (2-8, 5.66) vs. RHP Max Castillo (5-6, 4.93)

TONIGHT'S GAME: Iowa and Omaha get the weekend started with game four of its scheduled six-game series tonight. Right-hander Riley Thompson is slated to take the mound for the I-Cubs. Thompson owns a record of 2-8 so far in 2023 and has an ERA of 5.66. Tonight marks the 17th start of the year for the 27-year-old and his 23rd appearance overall. The 2018 draft pick has logged 68.1 innings this season and has allowed 43 runs off 65 hits to go along with 46 walks and 64 strikeouts with an opponents average of .253. Thompson has faced the Storm Chasers twice this season, the only appearances in his career. He is 0-2 with a 6.75 ERA, allowing six runs in 8.0 innings. Opposite of Thompson on the bump will be Max Castillo. The right-hander has posted a record of 5-6 and an ERA of 4.93 over 18 starts with the Storm Chasers. In 98.2 innings Castillo has given up 61 runs, 54 earned, off 98 hits and has racked up 79 strikeouts compared to 25 walks. Castillo has faced Iowa twice this season and has gone 1-0 with a 3.86 ERA. In his career, Castillo has matched up against the I-Cubs three times and is 1-0 with a 3.55 ERA.

BACK IN THE BULLPEN: The I-Cubs had a pair of pitchers make their returns to the pitching staff last night in left-hander Anthony Kay and right-hander Josh Roberson. Kay was optioned back to Iowa on September 1 after a brief stint with Chicago. It was Kay's second time up in the big leagues with Chicago this season. Roberson was recently activated from the injured list, which he spent nearly the past month on. In last night's contest, Kay was the first arm out of the bullpen and tossed a scoreless inning with one hit allowed, one walk, and two strikeouts. Roberson on the other hand did not have as good an outing. The 27-year-old struggled with his command and failed to record an out. He faced just three batters and proceeded to walk all three, which led to a pair of earned runs. Roberson threw a total of 13 pitchers and only one of them went for a strike. On the year, Kay has appeared in 29 games with Iowa and has a record of 2-1 with a 4.25 ERA. The Stony Brook, New York native has logged 36.0 innings pitched with 46 strikeouts and 22 walks. Meanwhile Roberson, who was acquired via trade with the Tampa Bay Rays on August 1, has just five appearances with Iowa. He has gone 0-1 with a 20.25 ERA in just 4.0 innings of work with nine walks and six strikeouts.

HAVE HIS NUMBER: Outfielder Yonathan Perlaza has no doubt been an offensive catalyst for Iowa this season. He ranks inside the top-ten in nearly every team hitting category and ranks high in some league leader categories. However, one opponent that Perlaza has not fared all that well against in 2023 has been Omaha. In this current series versus the Storm Chasers the switch hitter has gone just 1-for-9 (.111) with four strikeouts. In last night's game he went 0-for-4 at the plate with a pair of strikeouts. On the year, the Venezuelan has recorded a hitting clip of just .200 (12-for-60) with one double, a pair of homers, eight RBI, and six walks drawn compared to 13 strikeouts when playing the Storm Chasers. Perlaza has appeared in a total of 15 games versus Omaha this season and has a slugging percentage of .317 and an on-base percentage of .269. His batting average of .200 ranks as his lowest mark against all the opponents Iowa has faced this season more than three times (Perlaza played in just two games against Buffalo back in April and did not record a hit in either of those outings). Tonight's matchup against Omaha's starter Max Castillo has been tough for Perlaza this season as well. Perlaza has had six at-bats versus the right-hander this year and has gone 0-for-6 with two strikeouts.

YOUNG AND FUN: Jared Young was back at it again last night and had himself a day at the plate versus Omaha. In the game, Young went a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate and continued his recent power surge with another home run. It marked his second four-hit performance of the season as he also collected four hits on June 18 versus Indianapolis. He has now launched a homer in three consecutive games, the first I-Cub to do that since Alexander Canario went deep three games in-a-row August 22-24 against Indianapolis, and has hit a total of six dingers over his last eight games. The utility-man has had a fantastic start in this current series versus the Storm Chasers, going 7-for-12 with five runs scored, four home runs, seven RBI, two walks and three strikeouts through the first three games. The Canadian national has gotten back on track after a little bit of a slump when he saw his average dip below the .300 mark at the Triple-A level for the first time since June 7. Over his last 10 games, Young has slashed .395/.500/.921 with 11 runs scored, two doubles, six home runs, and 16 RBI. When looking at his season stats, Young is back to hitting over .300 at .312 with 13 doubles, 19 home runs, and 68 RBI.

DOUBLE DIGITS: It has been a rough go for the I-Cubs in the current series versus Omaha as the Storm Chasers have put up double-digit runs in each of the first three games. Omaha scored 10 in the series opener, 11 on Wednesday, and another 10 last night. Iowa has lost all three games and it is the only time this season in which an I-Cubs opponent has scored 10 or more runs through the first three games in a series. In total, Iowa is being outscored by Omaha 31-18, which averages out to the Storm Chasers scoring 10.3 runs per game compared to the I-Cubs three runs per game. This is quite the shift from the last time these two ballclubs faced off. In that series, which happened August 8-12, Iowa swept Omaha in five games and outscored the Storm Chasers 54-14.

WAKE ME UP WHEN SEPTEMBER ENDS: The month of September has not gone the I-Cubs' way. Iowa has lost all six games it has played this month, making it six consecutive losses which is the longest losing streak of the season. Iowa has not historically played all that many games in the month of September, but the last time it got off to an equally tough start in this month was when it 0-3 during the 2007 season. Those were the only three games the I-Cubs played in September during that season. The offensive numbers have not been all that bad this month. The team is hitting at a clip of .246 (52-for-211) with 32 runs scored, 12 doubles, a triple, and 10 home runs. As a team, the I-Cubs have a slugging percentage of .455 and an on-base percentage of .347 this month. The pitching numbers on the other hand have not been good. Iowa is the only team in the International League not to win a game this month and it ranks last in ERA at 7.86. Iowa pitching has allowed 51 runs in 52.2 innings with the 51 runs being the most allowed in the league. Opponents are hitting at a clip of .330 against I-Cubs pitching, the highest mark in the league, and have also allowed the most walks with 44.

AGAINST OMAHA: The I-Cubs and Storm Chasers will play game four of their six-game series, with Iowa trailing in the series 3-0. The loss marked the sixth straight overall for Iowa and moved its record on the year to 11-7 against the Storm Chasers. Despite leading the season series by four games, Iowa has not fared well versus the Storm Chasers at Principal Park this season with a losing record against Omaha at 2-5. Comparatively, the I-Cubs went 9-2 on the road against the Storm Chasers in 11 games. They enter tonight's game 334-302 all-time against Omaha, going 179-140 at home all-time.

SHORT HOPS: Iowa went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position in last night's loss to Omaha as it stranded the bases loaded on two separate occasions; the I-Cubs have gone 6-for-24 with runners in scoring position this series...Iowa will be wearing its speciality COPA uniforms for the entire weekend in honor of Spanish Heritage Month, however, the I-Cubs have a record of 3-9 when wearing specialty uniforms this season... Chase Strumpf stole the only base for Iowa in last night's ballgame; it was his first career stolen base at the Triple-A level...Comparatively, the Storm Chasers swiped five bags against Iowa, which is the most stolen bases Iowa has allowed in a game this season.

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