May 25 Game Notes: Iowa vs. St. Paul

IOWA CUBS (9-7) vs ST. PAUL SAINTS (7-11)

Tuesday, May 25, 2021 • 6:38 PM • Principal Park • Des Moines, IA

RHP Cory Abbott (1-1, 5.28) vs. RHP Bailey Ober (0-1, 5.79)

TONIGHT’S GAME: Tonight’s game will be the first meeting between the two teams at Principal Park, and the seventh overall this season. Iowa and St. Paul split the first six games at CHS Field, each winning three games in a hard-fought series. Cory Abbott is set to make his fourth start of the season facing Bailey Ober, making his third start.

CAN’T TOUCH JAKE: Jake Jewell has been a common choice out of the bullpen for manager Marty Pevey. Jewell has pitched in seven of Iowa’s 16 games this season, including back-to-back games against Omaha on Saturday and Sunday. In his first outing of the season on May 5, Jewell had his worst outing of the year, going one inning and allowing one run on two hits while striking out two. The run came on a solo home run and is the only run he has allowed all season. Since that first outing, the righty has been lights out. He has tossed 8.1 innings over six games, owning a 1-0 record over that span. Jewell has not allowed a run, surrendering just two hits and three walks, while striking out seven. Opponents are hitting .083 against him in 24 at-bats with just one double.

HOME RUN HAPPENINGS: Kris Bryant had a record in the Iowa Cubs history books that had been in place since June 19, 2014, and got parts of it broken twice in four days last series against Omaha. Bryant hit a home run for his first five hits as an Iowa Cub, part of his 21 home runs in 70 games that season with the I-Cubs. On Thursday, Patrick Wisdom clobbered two long balls for his first two hits with Iowa. The next night, Wisdom crushed another homer as his third hit, wiping out three of Bryant’s five records. His next hit was a double, so the streak ended at three, but it didn’t take long for someone else to add their name to the list. Jacob Olson made his Triple-A debut as a defensive replacement in the seventh inning of Sunday’s game and registered his first Triple-A at-bat in the bottom of that frame. On the first pitch he saw from Anthony Swarzak, Olson clubbed a two-run homer to put Iowa within a run of Omaha. Not only did Olson start to take Wisdom’s name off of the list, he took Greg Rohan off as well. Rohan had been in the I-Cubs history books since August 1, 2012, when he hit a home run in his first Triple-A at-bat.

OUT OF NOWHERE: Iowa’s pitching staff was the bright spot of the team through the first two weeks of the season. They ranked first in the Triple-A in batting average against (.177), hits allowed (73), runs allowed (38) and WHIP (1.02); while ranking second with a 2.82 ERA and fifth in walks with 44 allowed heading into their matchup with Omaha on Friday night. Since Friday, Iowa pitching has surrendered 22 runs on 30 hits after giving up just 38 runs in the previous 13 games. In those 13 games, Iowa hadn’t given up more than six runs and has now given up more than six in three straight games, allowing eight on Friday and seven on both Saturday and Sunday. Over the last three games, the pitching staff has given up eight home runs and 14 total extra-base hits. The bullpen has also had to throw much more than pitching coach Ron Villone would prefer, with both Saturday and Sunday’s starters coming out of the games early. On Saturday, Joe Biagini tossed three innings and on Sunday, Alec Mills went just 1.2 innings, each giving up five earned runs on seven hits.

GUSHUE RAKING: Taylor Gushue registered his fourth double of the season as part of a 2-for-4 effort Sunday against Omaha. It was Gushue’s seventh multi-hit game of the season, leading the I-Cubs. He also leads Iowa and is tied for fourth in the Triple-A East with 15 runs batted in on the year. Gushue started the year hitting .100 (1-for-10) with one run, one RBI, two walks and four strikeouts in his first five games against Indianapolis. Over the last two series against St. Paul and Omaha, he is hitting .390 (16-for-41) in 11 games. Over that span, he has four doubles, two home runs, 14 RBI and three walks. He has more than doubled his strikeouts (7) with hits (16).

LEAD THE WAY: Sergio Alcántara hit in the leadoff spot in Iowa’s lineup in each of the five games against Omaha last series. Over that series, he registered seven hits and six walks, good for an OBP of .591. Overall, he hit .438 (7-for-16) with two home runs, three runs batted in, six walks and just four strikeouts. With at least one hit in each game, the infielder extended his hitting streak to six games. Six games is the second longest streak of the year for the I-Cubs, trailing fellow infielder Abiatal Avelino, who had an eight-game stretch from May 5-May 14. Alcántara ranks third in the Triple-A with 14 walks and fifth in OBP at .477.

AGAINST ST. PAUL: Iowa and St. Paul will play the first of two series between the two teams at Principal Park this season. The Saints and I-Cubs faced-off for six games from May 11-May 16 at CHS Field, splitting the series at three games a piece. St. Paul is 3-3 with Iowa and 4-8 in their 12 games against different opponents. The Saints hit eight of their 19 total home runs and stole seven of their 13 bases this season against Iowa.

SEVEN FOR RYAN: Kyle Ryan recorded seven outs for Iowa Sunday, tossing 2.1 innings of scoreless ball, allowing just one hit over that span. Ryan threw 26 of his 37 pitches for strikes and registered four strikeouts against the Storm Chasers.

SHORT HOPS: Sunday marked the first day game Iowa has lost this season, it was also the first game the team has lost when Jose Lobaton starts as the I-Cubs’ catcher. In both scenarios, the team was previously 4-0...Iowa is two-for-three on winning the first game of the series this year, including an 11-1 victory over St. Paul in their series-opener at CHS Field on May 11...Iowa is tied for their longest losing streak of the season at two games, the last time they lost two games in a row was against St. Paul on May 14-15.