Iowa Cubs (7-3) vs. Oklahoma City Dodgers (4-6)Monday, April 15 • 12:08 p.m. • Principal ParkRHP Duncan Robinson (0-0, 2.53) vs. LHP Rob Zastryzny (0-0, 0.00)
Iowa Cubs (7-3) vs. Oklahoma City Dodgers (4-6)
Monday, April 15 • 12:08 p.m. • Principal Park
RHP Duncan Robinson (0-0, 2.53) vs. LHP Rob Zastryzny (0-0, 0.00)
TODAY'S GAME: Iowa and Oklahoma City play the series finale today at Principal Park with RHP Duncan Robinson facing former I-Cub LHP Rob Zastryzny. In eight starts and 27 total appearances for Iowa at Principal Park 2016-18, Zastryzny is 4-2 with a 4.61 ERA (48ER/93.2IP). The I-Cubs are 3-0 against lefties this season.
WINNING WAYS: Iowa is off to a 7-3 start and tops the PCL American North Division. This is the best start to a season for an Iowa team since going 8-2 to begin the 1998 campaign -- the first year of the I-Cubs in the PCL.
GOODBYE GIAMBRONE:Trent Giambrone became the first I-Cub to homer in back-to-back games this season and has long balls in three of his last four contests. The first-year Triple-A player has hit for extra bases in seven-of-nine games this season, the best stretch of his professional career, while hitting in four different spots in the I-Cubs lineup. Giambrone is tied for second in the PCL with eight extra-base hits.
FROM THE MOUND: The I-Cubs are second in the PCL in both ERA (3.71) and opponent batting average (.234). Though the staff has been able to limit the hits and runs scored, Iowa is tied for the third-most walks in the league with 51.
SAVING THE DAY: Dakota Mekkes earned his second save of the season yesterday and is one of only nine PCL players with more than one save on the year. The I-Cubs pace the PCL with five team saves, the others credited to James Norwood, Brian Duensing and Rowan Wick.
AGAINST OKLAHOMA CITY: Iowa went 5-11 against Oklahoma City in 2018 and 4-4 at Principal Park. In four games against the Dodgers last season, Dillon Maples struck out eight without surrendering a single hit in four appearances. He added a perfect frame of work to his line Saturday.
MACHADO MASHES: I-Cubs shortstop Dixon Machado is having a hot start to 2019. His .594 on-base percentage is second in the PCL, he is third in batting with a .435 average and is tied for sixth with eight walks. Machado is joined by Reno's Travis Snider as the only two PCL players to rank in the top-10 in both batting and walks. Machado has reached base in all eight games he has appeared in this season.
REA RETURNS: Iowa native Colin Rea was lights out in his first game at Principal Park. Rea spun a quality start in his second game of the season, going 6.0 innings and allowing one unearned run with five punchouts on Saturday. It was his first quality start since June 23, 2018 against Sacramento, his only outing of 6.0+ innings last season. Rea recorded nine quality starts in Triple-A in 2015 and seven in the big leagues in 2016. A large factor in his success has been his ability to pitch out of trouble, posting a dominant 1.93 ERA while holding opponents to .153 batting average with runners in scoring position.
SHORT HOPS: Iowa has scored first in a game just four times this season, going 3-1 in those contests...Iowa snuck another one-run victory yesterday, marking its sixth of the season. The I-Cubs are 5-1 in those games.
