June 8 Game Notes: Iowa @ Toledo

IOWA CUBS (25-29) @ TOLEDO MUD HENS (26-27)

Wednesday, June 8, 2022 • 6:05 CT • Fifth Third Field • Toledo, OH

RHP Cam Sanders (0-1, 3.63) vs. RHP Garrett Hill (0-1, 7.11)

TONIGHT’S GAME: After losing the opener last night, Iowa will send Cam Sanders to the bump in game two against Toledo. Sanders is 0-1 with a 3.63 ERA through four starts with the I-Cubs after making six starts with Double-A Tennessee. With Iowa, the righty hasn’t allowed more than two earned runs in any of his starts, surrendering no more than four hits along the way. In his last start on June 2, Sanders threw five innings of two-run ball, allowing three hits including a home run while walking two and striking out four. Opponents are hitting .190 against him and he is set to face Toledo for the first time in his career. Getting the nod for Toledo will be righty Garrett Hill. Hill is 0-1 with a 7.11 ERA in three starts for the Mud Hens, allowing 10 earned runs on 13 hits over 12.2 innings. Over that span, he has given up just one home run while hitting two batters, walking nine and striking out 15. Like Sanders, Hill also started the year in Double-A, going 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA through seven starts for the Erie SeaWolves prior to getting assigned to Toledo on May 18.

INNING EATERS: Iowa got just one inning out of their starting pitcher last night, marking the second consecutive game the I-Cubs bullpen has been tasked with picking up seven innings after getting just two innings from their starter on Sunday. Their 14 innings pitched is the most innings the bullpen has had to pitch over a two-game span all year. This has been a common theme over the last 14 games, with Iowa’s starting pitcher throwing five innings just twice over their last 14 games. Tonight’s starter Cam Sanders reached five innings on June 2, while Caleb Kilian spun five innings back on May 25. Including those two five-inning starts, Iowa has had a starting pitcher throw four or more innings just six times over their last 14 games, with the average start over their previous 14 games lasting just 3.2 innings. Through their first 54 games this year, Iowa’s pitching staff has not recorded a single quality start compared to last year’s team who had 10 quality starts in the first 54 games of the season.

DOING IT ALL: Dixon Machado extended his hitting streak to a season-long eight games with his leadoff double in the first inning last night. It marks the second longest streak for any Iowa Cubs player this year, one game behind catcher John Hicks, who is currently riding a nine-game hitting streak. Over his eight-game streak, the shortstop is hitting .313 (10-for-32) with three doubles, three runs batted in and five walks compared to just three strikeouts. Through 47 games with Iowa this year, he is hitting .294 (52-for-177) with nine doubles and 15 runs batted in. With his 2-for-4 game last night, Machado now has 14 multi-hit games this year, good for first on the I-Cubs active roster. His .402 on-base percentage is good for seventh in the International League. A big part of that on-base percentage has been Machado’s ability to take walks, leading the team with 29 free passes, nearly twice as many as the next active player on Iowa’s roster. With no walk last night, the 30-year-old is currently on his longest streak of the season without taking a walk, now at five straight games. His previous long was four games, done three times.

HUGE OUTING: After getting just one inning from starter Robert Gsellman last night, Wyatt Short took the ball for Iowa, tasked with keeping Toledo off the board after six runs in the first inning. He did just that, throwing three innings of near perfection, walking just one batter. The walk was the only base runner Short allowed, not giving up a single hit or run while striking out five. He induced three ground balls and a flyout along the way, keeping the I-Cubs in the game and giving them a chance to come back.

THE HICKS IS IN: John Hicks enters tonight’s game on a nine-game hitting streak, which is not only his season high, but the longest streak by any I-Cub this season. It’s also Hicks’ longest hitting streak since 2019, when he logged a nine-game streak with Detroit from April 17 to May 11. In his career, the catcher has collected eleven hitting streaks of nine or more games, including the current one. Of those, one came in Single-A, four in Advanced-A, two in Double-A, two in Triple-A and two in the Majors. Hicks’ career-high hitting streak is 13, which he logged from May 10 to 20, 2012, with Advanced-A High Desert. The current streak has seen the 32-year-old hit .371 (13-for-35) with two doubles, a triple and four home runs. He has also scored eight runs, driven in seven, walked four times and stolen two bases during the stretch. He now ranks second on the active roster in home runs (7), trailing leader Jared Young by just two.

BACK WITH A BANG: Since returning from Chicago, outfielder Nelson Velazquez has been firing on all cylinders. The Cubs’ No. 16 ranked prospect has collected a hit in each of his five games since being optioned, going 7-for-19 with a double, three home runs and four RBI. Two of the three home runs came in last night’s game in Toledo, making Velazquez the third I-Cub to collect a multi-homer game this year. As the other came in Sunday’s game against St. Paul, he is also the fifth I-Cub to hit home runs in back-to-back games this year. Velazquez now leads the active roster in slugging percentage (.517) and OPS (.830).

AGAINST TOLEDO: The I-Cubs and Mud Hens are set to meet for game two of the six-game series here at Fifth Third Field, where Iowa is now 0-1 this year and 2-5 all-time. With their loss in game one last night, Iowa dropped to 7-11 all-time against Toledo after taking four out of five at Principal Park earlier this year. After their six-run loss yesterday, the I-Cubs enter tonight’s game outscoring Toledo by just one run this year, at 28-27.

SHORT HOPS: Iowa enters tonight game with a 7-2 record on Wednesday’s, the best record they hold on any day of the week this season…the I-Cubs fell to 2-10 this year when recording two errors, marking the 12th game they have had this year with two errors; Iowa was 5-6 last year in two error games, recording two errors just 11 times all season… Brendon Davis took four walks yesterday for Toledo, marking the second time Iowa has walked a batter four times in a single game this year, with the first being Curtis Terry on May 7 at St. Paul.