September 13 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs vs. Memphis Redbirds

IOWA CUBS (61-74) vs. MEMPHIS REDBIRDS (66-69)

Tuesday, September 13, 2022 • 6:38 PM • Principal Park • Des Moines, IA

RHP Anderson Espinoza (0-3, 10.66) vs. RHP Thomas Parsons (10-3, 4.46)

TONIGHT’S GAME: Iowa and Memphis are set to meet for the second time this season and the first at Principal Park. Anderson Espinoza will take the ball for Iowa, set to make his fourth start in his sixth game of the year for the I-Cubs. The righty is still in search of his first win on the year with Iowa, going 0-3 with a 10.66 ERA up to this point. Opposite of Espinoza will be Tommy Parsons toeing the rubber for Memphis, leading the team with 10 wins entering tonight’s game. He is 10-3 with a 4.46 ERA in 34 games this year, starting 13 of those. He has allowed 56 earned runs on 83 hits over 113.0 innings pitched, walking 48 batters compared to striking out 86. Entering tonight, opponents are hitting .201 against him.

GETTING IN THE GROOVE: Anderson Espinoza has worn a lot of hats this season as he’s started and relieved at three different levels of the Cubs’ system. Recently, however, he has held a consistent spot in the I-Cubs rotation, and he seems to be settling into the role. Tonight will be his third straight start for Iowa, and he’ll enter it fresh off his best start as an I-Cub. That last trip to the mound came on Wednesday in Jacksonville and saw Espinoza spin four shutout innings against the Jumbo Shrimp. He allowed four hits during the outing and walked three, but kept the Shrimp off the scoreboard. The start resulted in the I-Cubs’ first win in a game Espinoza had started.

GOIN’ BACK-TO-BACK: For the sixth time this season, Matt Mervis hit home runs in back-to-back games on Saturday and Sunday, entering tonight’s contest with 32 long balls on the year. The first baseman has hit home runs in three straight games three times this year, on April 30 to May 4 with South Bend, June 2 to 4 with Tennessee and September 1 to 4 with Iowa. His other three streaks of back-to-back home runs was June 21 to 22 with Tennessee, August 24 to 25 with Iowa and his current streak of September 10 to 11 with the I-Cubs. His 32 home runs on the year puts him in third among all Minor League players this year, just two behind the leader. He also is tops amongst minor leaguers with 109 RBI (T-2), a slugging percentage of .615 (6), a .992 OPS (T-7), 143 hits (T-8), 38 doubles (T-4), 72 extra-base hits (1) and 281 total bases (2). In 43 games with Iowa, Mervis is hitting .305 (47-for-154) with 13 doubles and 11 home runs, driving in 29 batters along the way. He has also taken 16 walks compared to 25 strikeouts, boosting his on-base percentage to .338.

SNAP THE STREAK: Iowa enters tonight’s game against Memphis on a four-game losing streak, marking the fifth time this year they have lost at least four games in a row. The first was a five-game streak on May 26-May 31 with four games coming against these Memphis Redbirds and one against St. Paul. Next was also a five-game streak from June 5 to June 10 with one game against St. Paul and four against Toledo. Then, their longest losing streak of the year occurred when they dropped six games in a row; five of those were to Columbus and one to Indianapolis from June 29 to July 4. They had a four-game losing streak from June 30 to August 3 and are now on another four-game streak starting back on September eighth, all four games coming against Jacksonville.

HILL KEEPS HITTING: After going 3-for-5 out of the leadoff spot in Sunday’s loss to Jacksonville, Darius Hill now has 94 hits in 75 games with Iowa. He leads the team by four entering tonight’s contest in 32 less games than the runner-up. Hill has hit all year no matter where he has been, starting the year with Double-A Tennessee where he hit .308 (57-for-185) in 44 games with the Smokies. Since joining Iowa’s roster on May 31, he has continued to rake, hitting for a higher average with Iowa than he did with Tennessee. The outfielder is now hitting .329 (94-for-286) with Iowa entering tonight’s game, good for the team-lead. His .321 combined average is good for 14th among all minor league players this year, while his 151 total hits puts him in fourth among all minor leaguers, just six behind the overall hits leader. His 28 multi-hit performances ties him with Dixon Machado for the most of any I-Cubs player this year, six ahead of the next closest player on Iowa’s active roster.

THAT’S MORE LIKE IT: Iowa scored just three runs on 13 total hits in their Thursday, Friday and Saturday games against Jacksonville, losing the three by a combined 19 runs. On Sunday, however, their offense found their stride, scoring nine runs on eight hits with a double and two home runs. A good offensive performance will be necessary this week, as Iowa alls seven or more runs in four of the six games last series against Memphis.

FIRST ONE IN THE BOOKS: Tyler Payne clubbed the first home run of his Triple-A career on Sunday, a three-run home run to tie the game. He also drove in four runs, becoming just the 10th player all year for Iowa to drive in four or more runs in a single game, recording his third multi-RBI game of the year. The catcher has seen limited time with the I-Cubs this year, playing in 42 of their 135 games this year, good for 31%. Despite that share, he has the third-highest batting average on the team, making his time count. Payne is hitting .301 (41-for-136) on the year with Iowa, clubbing nine doubles and driving in 15 runs.

AGAINST MEMPHIS: The I-Cubs and Redbirds are scheduled to play game one of six tonight in their second meeting of the season. In the first meeting between the two teams at AutoZone Park back in May, Memphis took five out of six from Iowa, including the final four games. The I-Cubs were outscored by 18 runs in that series, at 42-24, allowing seven or more runs in four of the six games. The last time the two teams played here at Principal Park was in September of 2019, when Iowa clinched the American Northern Division in the PCL. They went 6-2 that year at home against Memphis, putting them at 90-70 overall at home against the Redbirds. Despite being 20 games over the .500 mark at home against Memphis, Iowa is 34 games below even against them all-time, holding an overall record of 145-179 all-time against the Redbirds since 1998.

SHORT HOPS: If Iowa loses tonight, the best they can finish the season is an even .500, as they would be 14 games under .500 with 14 games left to play on the year…Iowa’s Manager Marty Pevey is just nine wins away from earning 600 wins as Iowa’s manager, entering tonight’s game with a record of 591-662 in his 10 seasons at the helm.