June 12 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs @ Toledo Mud Hens

IOWA CUBS (26-32) @ TOLEDO MUD HENS (29-28)

Sunday, June 12, 2022 • 1:05 CT • Fifth Third Field • Toledo, OH

RHP Robert Gsellman (1-1, 3.86) vs. RHP Drew Hutchison (1-0, 2.79)

TODAY’S GAME: Robert Gsellman will take the ball for Iowa in the series finale today, looking for redemption after his first start of the series. Gsellman suffered his first loss of the season on Tuesday, allowing five earned runs on five hits in just one inning of work. Toledo got to him early and often, knocking him out of the game after just the one inning, marking his shortest start of the season for the I-Cubs. On the year, Gsellman is 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA through six games (five starts), allowing seven earned runs on 13 hits through 16.1 innings pitched. He has allowed just the one home run from Tuesday, while walking six and striking out 13. Opponents are hitting .220 against the righty through his six games with Iowa this season. Opposite of Gsellman will be Drew Hutchison toeing the rubber for the Mud Hens. Hutchison is 1-0 with a 2.79 ERA this year, allowing just three earned runs on six hits through 9.2 innings pitched. The righty has worked more out of the bullpen than he has a starter, set to pitch in his sixth game of the year and make his third start. He has walked just three batters while striking out 13 so far this season, including four in his last game against Columbus last Sunday.

CLIMBING THE STANDINGS: With 33 hits in their last two games, Iowa has brought their team average all the way up to .254. Entering Friday night’s game, they were tied for 11th in the International League with a .248 team average. After 16 hits on Friday, those numbers climbed to hitting .251 as a team, good for seventh in the International League. Their 17 hits last night now brought them all the way up to sixth in the IL. Entering Friday night, they were also ranked 11th in the IL with 460 hits as a team and are now seventh in the league with 493 hits.

BRINGING THE JUICE: Outfielder Narciso Crook has caught fire lately for Iowa, recording at least one hit in eight of his last 10 games. Over that stretch, Crook has hit .410, notching 16 hits over 39 at-bats. He has three doubles, a triple and four home runs while driving in 12 runs along the way. Last night, he became the fourth player this year for Iowa to register a home run in back-to-back games, hitting a solo shot on Friday night and a two-run blast last night. In his last 10 games, he has five multi-hit efforts, including three, three-hit games. Prior to May 26 when this hot streak started, the 26-year-old had just one multi-hit game over his first 23 games.

HITTING MACHINE: After three hits in Friday night’s game, Darius Hill notched four more hits last night, going a perfect 4-for-4 with two runs scored, a double and a walk. The outfielder reached in all five of his plate appearances last night with his four hits and free pass, raising his on-base percentage to .436 through his first nine games with Iowa. It also brought his batting average to a team-leading .389 (14-for-36) mark, scoring six runs in his nine games. Through those nine games, Hill already has five multi-hit efforts, with more multi-hit games (5) than one or no-hit games (4). He recorded two-hit efforts in three of his first four games with the I-Cubs, while recording his first three-hit game on Friday and now his first four-hit effort in last night’s win.

FINDING HIS COMFORT ZONE: After making two starts in his first two appearances for Iowa this year, Brandon Leibrandt came out of relief yesterday and had his best outing as an I-Cub. The lefty tossed 3.1 scoreless frames, allowing just three hits and two walks while striking out one. He was efficient, throwing 65% (40-of-62) of his pitches for strikes. He also earned his first win with Iowa, moving to 1-0 on the year. His 3.1 scoreless innings lowered his ERA with the I-Cubs to 6.17 through his first three outings after going 2-2 with a 3.64 ERA through 10 games with Double-A Tennessee to start the year.

BACK LIKE THEY NEVER LEFT: On June 9, Iowa got both Ben Leeper and Conner Menez added back to their roster. Leeper had been on the injured list since May 21, in the midst of a 10.1 inning, eight game scoreless streak while Menez had been designated for assignment by Chicago on June 4. Last night, the two threw the eighth and ninth inning in Iowa’s 8-0 win, each doing their part to maintain the shutout. In the eighth, after not pitching since May 20, Leeper struck out the first batter he faced, followed by a walk and a double play to get out of the inning. Menez shut down the ninth also starting the inning with a strikeout followed by a ground out, a single and a fly out. For Leeper, it marked his ninth straight game without allowing a run, moving his scoreless inning streak to 11.1 while Menez joined reliever Bryan Hudson as the only two arms on the active roster to hold an ERA below 2.00, with a 1.96 after his scoreless frame.

ANY WAY YOU CAN: Once again, Dixon Machado led off the game with a hit, wasting no time extending his hitting streak to 11 games. This time, however, Machado did it a different way than we are used to seeing, leading the game off with a solo home run. It marked the first home run of the season for Machado, and first in affiliated ball since August 28, 2019, with Iowa against Oklahoma City. The shortstop is just the second player to lead off a game with a home run for Iowa after Dixon Machado did so on May 31 against St. Paul. The 30-year-old went 3-for-5 with a run scored, a home run and two runs batted in last night, raising his average on the year to .305 (58-for-190) through his first 50 games, moving him to eighth in the International League for batting average. His 11-game hitting streak is the longest streak of the year for an I-Cubs player and just one hit away from tying the longest streak set by an Iowa hitter in the last two seasons. He is also one hit away from tying the longest streak of his career, a 12-game hitting streak set back on August 15-29, 2014, with Double-A Erie. Machado has an on-base percentage of .408 this year, good for third in the International League.

DID HIS PART: In his first start since May 1 against Indianapolis, Adrian Sampson did all Iowa could ask. He spun 3.2 scoreless innings, allowing just three hits while striking out five along the way. For Sampson, it marked his longest outing since that May 1 start and tied for his most strikeouts in a game. The righty faced 14 batters, retiring 11 of those 14 using five strikeouts and six fly outs. Sampson did not induce a ground ball out over his entire outing.

AGAINST TOLEDO: Iowa took their first game of the series last night in dominant fashion, winning 8-0 over the Mud Hens to move to 1-4 in the series. Although they already lost the series to Toledo, the I-Cubs evened the season series at 5-5, taking the lead in the season scoring between the two teams. They have now outscored the Mud Hens by six runs, at 44-38 through their first 10 games. It marked Iowa’s first win of the season and just their third win all-time here at Fifth Third Field, moving their record to 3-8 all-time against Toledo here at Fifth Third Field. In all, Iowa is 8-14 against Toledo, going 5-6 in games against the Mud Hens at Principal Park over the two seasons the teams have matched up.

SHORT HOPS: Iowa’s victory last night marked their 10th road win of the year, moving them to 10-19 this year when playing away from Principal Park…last night was the 1,200th victory for Manager Marty Pevey in his managerial career, moving him to 1,200-1,237 in his 18th season being a manager…the I-Cubs moved to 20-20 against American League affiliates this year with their win last night…Iowa’s top two hitters Dixon Machado (5) and Darius Hill (7) have recorded 36% of Iowa’s 33 hits the last two nights.