Game Notes - 6.27.17 vs. New Orleans

Iowa Cubs (33-43) vs. New Orleans Baby Cakes (28-48)
RHP Zach Hedges (0-2, 8.10) vs. LHP Adam Conley (1-3, 6.42)
7:08 p.m. | Principal Park | Des Moines

TONIGHT'S GAME: Iowa and New Orleans meet for the second game of a four-game series at Principal Park. The I-Cubs are looking to string together three consecutive wins for the first time since May 16-19, when they won a season-best four games in a row in Las Vegas (5/16-5/18) and at home against Tacoma (5/19). With last night's 1-0 win, Iowa improves to 8-12 this season in the opening game of a series.
SCHWARBER RETURNS TO IOWA: Kyle Schwarber went 1-for-4 with a single and three strikeouts in his first game with the Iowa Cubs since July 9, 2015. He batted third and played left field in last night's game. In his first at-bat, Schwarber struck out looking on a 2-2 count in the first inning with a runner on first. In the third, he struck out swinging on a 1-2 count with the bases empty to end the inning. He struck out for a third time to end the fifth, whiffing on a 1-2 pitch for the second straight at-bat. In the eighth, Schwarber lined a single off the right field wall that narrowly missed leaving the park for his first hit of the night. All three of Schwarber's strikeouts came against left-handed starter Chris O'Grady, and his single came off right-handed reliever Brian Ellington.
ONE RUN GOT IT DONE: The I-Cubs defeated the Baby Cakes on Monday by a score of 1-0. For Iowa, it's the 13th time (most in the PCL) the team has scored exactly one run in a game, improving to 2-11 in those games. Last night was Iowa's first 1-0 victory since April 6 in Oklahoma City. It was the first time Iowa won 1-0 at Principal Park since April 29, 2016 against Colorado Springs. Interestingly, in that game the I-Cubs' sole RBI came off the bat of a pinch-hitter (a Logan Watkins sacrifice fly) just like last night, when Elliot Soto's pinch-hit RBI single supplied the lone run of the ballgame.
THREE HIT WONDER: New Orleans recorded three hits last night, the fewest number of hits Iowa pitching has allowed in a game this season. Last night marked the first time Iowa held its opponent to three or fewer hits since August 1 last season at Omaha, when Rob Zastryzny, Miguel Mejia, Corey Black and Justin Grimm combined to allow only three hits, no runs or walks and 17 strikeouts. Zastryzny pitch a perfect five innings in that game before exiting due to a pitch-limit restriction.  
CLEAN SHEET: Iowa pitched its fourth shutout as a staff this season, improving to 4-4 in shutout games in 2017. Monday was Iowa's first shutout since June 7 vs. Oklahoma City (7 inn.) and first nine-inning shutout since May 24 vs. Reno. Last season, the I-Cubs went 8-6 (.571) in shutouts, tied for sixth-best winning percentage in the PCL.
AGAINST NEW ORLEANS: Iowa and New Orleans are meeting for their final series of the 2017 season. They have split each of the three previous series they have played this season, each claiming six wins. Including last night, the teams have played 13 games so far this season, with the I-Cubs batting .262 and the Baby Cakes' offense going .251. New Orleans holds a very slight edge in pitching, boasting a 4.30 ERA against Iowa, compared to Iowa's 4.34 ERA.
HITLESS BULLPEN: Relievers Jack Leathersich (1.0IP, 1BB, 3K), David Rollins (1.0IP, 1BB, 1K), Steve Perakslis (1.0IP, 1BB, 2K) and Pierce Johnson (1.0IP, 2K) combined to stymie the Baby Cakes on Monday, keeping New Orleans out of the hit column in the final four innings. All four pitchers struck out the first batter they faced. It marks just the fourth time this season that Iowa relievers did not allow the opposition to record a hit, and the first time since June 3 vs. Nashville (3.1 hitless IP). The four innings matched the most hitless innings pitched in a game by the bullpen this season, also tossing four hitless innings on May 27 (Conor Mullee, Dylan Floro, Justin Grimm) at Memphis in a 2-1 win.
NO JUNE GLOOM: After last night's pitching performance, Iowa's pitching staff lowered its ERA in the month of June to 4.99. It's the first time all month that the staff's ERA has dipped below 5.00. Iowa pitching posted a 5.46 and 5.32 ERA in April and May, respectively. Last season, I-Cubs pitching posted three full months of sub-five ERAs: April (4.33), May (4.49) and August (3.97).
THE NEED FOR SPEED:Stephen Bruno stole his fifth base of the season last night and is now a perfect 5-for-5 swiping bags. Jacob Hannemann is a perfect 8-for-8 stealing bases for Iowa this season, with Reno's Rey Fuentes (9-for-9) being the only PCL player with more stolen bases without getting caught. As a team, the I-Cubs are 38-for-50 in their stolen base attempts, a 76 percent success rate. That ranks third in the PCL, trailing only Sacramento (81.2 SB%) and Albuquerque (77.5 SB%).
SHORT HOPS: Iowa's June batting average of .240 currently ranks last in the PCL…last night marked the second time this season (also 4/22 @RR) where Iowa struck out 12+ times and still won…I-Cubs improved to 14-11 (.560) in one-run games this season…Victor Caratini (.336 batting average) is seventh in the PCL in hitting...Williams Perez threw his first scoreless outing of the season last night and hold a 2.81 ERA (8ER/25.2IP) through his last five starts.