Aug. 18 Game Notes - Iowa at Memphis

Iowa Cubs (66-58) @ Memphis Redbirds (58-66)
Sunday Aug. 18 • 2:05 PM • AutoZone Park • Memphis, TN
RHP Adbert Alzolay (2-3, 4.61) vs. LHP Austin Warner (2-2, 6.70)

TODAY'S GAME: Iowa looks to salvage the series today in Memphis after dropping the first three games of the set. The I-Cubs have been swept three times this season -- once by Omaha in a four-game series, and once by both El Paso and Round Rock in three-game sets. RHP Adbert Alzolay gets the ball for Iowa today. In one start against the Redbirds on July 6, Alzolay allowed five earned runs through 3.1 innings. 
SCORING DROUGHT: Iowa set a season high with a 17.0-inning scoring skid lasting from the seventh inning Tuesday vs. Salt Lake through the sixth inning Friday. Iowa was batting .139 (12-for-86) as a team was 1-for-16 with runners in scoring position through those three games, before remedying that with 10 hits and a 4-for-9 performance with runners in scoring position last night. 
ROSTER ROTATION: The Iowa Cubs added OF Albert Almora Jr. to the roster Saturday. Almora hit .243 (78-for-321) with 12 home runs and 32 RBI in 114 games with Chicago this season. The outfielder last saw action with the I-Cubs in 2016 and hit .303 (97-for-320) with 43 RBI and 10 stolen bases in 80 games. Iowa also added INF Daniel Descalso to the roster on a Major League Rehab Assignment. Descalso is recovering from a sprained right ankle and has been sidelined since July 27 (retro to July 24). The infielder is batting .181 (29-for-160) with 15 RBI in his first season with the Cubs.
BOUNCING BACK: Iowa has yet to bounce back this season from an 0-2 deficit to open a series. This set marks the seventh time this season that the I-Cubs have fallen in the first two games and Iowa has dropped each series.  
GLOVE WORK: With 77 errors in 124 games, Iowa is on pace to break the franchise record for fewest errors in a season with 87. The fewest, 96, was set in 2016 and matched in 2018.  
AGAINST MEMPHIS: Memphis closed Iowa's lead in the division to eight games, while keeping their elimination number at nine games. The two teams still have five head-to-head games remaining this season. 
THE BIG ONE: Memphis batted around and scored four runs in the fifth inning Friday. Iowa is 3-21 in games when allowing four or more runs in a single frame. Opponents average 10 total runs in these contests. Iowa has allowed the big inning just twice through 15 games in August after July saw this occurrence 10 times in 26 games. 
THE DOG DAYS OF SUMMER: Iowa is 8-7 in August, but fell to 3-5 in road games in the month. The I-Cubs' 3.81 ERA ranks third behind Memphis (3.75) and New Orleans (3.68). Offensively, the I-Cubs' .251 team average is second-to-last. 
SIT 'EM DOWN:Matt Swarmer struck out seven through 5.2 innings Saturday to move into first in the PCL in innings (134.1) and second in strikeouts (121). 121 is the most strikeouts for an Iowa Cub since Eric Jokisch fanned 143 through 158.1 innings in 2014. Swarmer has fanned seven or more batters in a game seven times in 2019. 
UPS AND DOWNS: Albert Almora and Daniel Descalso became the 26th and 27th players to suit up for both Iowa and Chicago this season. Iowa has seen a surplus of Major League rehab assignments, seeing pitchers Tony Barnette, Xavier Cedeño, Cole Hamels, Carl Edwards Jr., Mike Montgomery and Pedro Strop, and position players Addison Russell, Victor Caratini, Ben Zobrist and Descalso. 
SHORT HOPS: Iowa is 4-25 when allowing its opponent to score eight or more runs...Iowa has four players on its roster that were on Chicago's Opening Day squad -- Albert Almora, Randy Rosario, Ben Zobrist (MLR) and Daniel Descalso (MLR).