Iowa Cubs (41-68) vs. Salt Lake Bees (58-52)Friday, Aug. 3 • 7:08 p.m. CT • Principal Park • Des Moines, IARHP Luke Farrell (0-2, 3.77) vs. RHP Dylan Unsworth (5-3, 6.00)
Iowa Cubs (41-68) vs. Salt Lake Bees (58-52)
Friday, Aug. 3 • 7:08 p.m. CT • Principal Park • Des Moines, IA
RHP Luke Farrell (0-2, 3.77) vs. RHP Dylan Unsworth (5-3, 6.00)
TONIGHT'S GAME: The Iowa Cubs will look to bounce back from a 2-0 shutout off the arm of RHP Luke Farrell (0-2, 3.77). Farrell is set to match up against right-hander Dylan Unsworth (5-3, 6.00), who is making his second road start of the season. The South-African native is coming off his best month yet, holding opposing hitters to a .222 average with a 2.45 ERA (4ER/14.2IP) in July. Across the lines, Farrell will be making his eighth start and fourth at Principal Park, where he owns a 1.98 ERA (3ER/13.2IP) and is holding opposing offenses to a .130 average.
STARTING OFF ON THE RIGHT ARM: Over the past seven games, the Iowa Cubs starting rotation has made six starts of 4.0-plus innings while surrendering no more than two earned runs. Excluding Luke Farrell's start of 4.1 with three hits, three walks and four strikeouts, Duane Underwood Jr., Trevor Clifton, Alec Mills and Jen-Ho Tseng have gone 5.0-plus innings. Tseng bookends the solid stretch with a 6.0-inning performance on July 26, giving up two earned runs on four hits with a walk and four strikeouts. The righty made his first back-to-back quality starts since May 20 and 25 in last night's 7.0 innings, surrendering two earned runs with a walk and eight strikeouts. Overall, Underwood Jr., Mills, Farrell, Clifton and Tseng have combined for 34.1 innings, with seven earned runs on 23 hits with six walks and 26 strikeouts for a 1.83 ERA and 4.33 K/BB.
BUSTING OUT: Stephen Bruno was the only I-Cub to notch a multi-hit effort during last night's 2-0 shutout. He accounted for two of Iowa's three hits on the night with a double and single. Last night tied the I-Cubs season low in hits per nine innings, as the team was held to a trio of hits on back-to-back days, June 23 and 24 vs. Colorado Springs. Over the last 10 games, Bruno is pacing the I-Cub offense in average, hitting .387 (8G) with two runs, a home run, and three RBI. Mark Zagunis (.310) and Bijan Rademacher (.300) round out the trio of I-Cubs hitting .300+--with Zagunis going 9-for-29 with five runs, a home run and four RBI over his last eight games.
TOUCH 'EM ALL: Salt Lake's two runs last night came off solo shots from Jared Walsh and Alberto Triunfel, continuing to further distance themselves on the PCL home run leaderboard. Iowa and Salt Lake bookend the PCL team home-run category, as the Bees have a league-leading 145 homers, with the I-Cubs sitting at the bottom of the category with 60. Jabari Blash sits second only to Tyler O'Neill (26) with 23 homers while seeing stints with Los Angeles (AL).
AGAINST SALT LAKE: Since Iowa's May 15, 2006 shutout, Iowa has been shutout by Salt Lake three times; after the Bees' 2-0 win last night -- once in 2010 and the other in 2016. Iowa was able to take one from the Bees in a four-game match up May 11-14, 2017 in Salt Lake. Both offenses were alive and well, as Iowa totaled 31 runs to Salt Lake's 34.
BULLPEN BRUTES: Through Iowa's last 10 games, the bullpen has a 1.28 ERA (6ER/42.0IP) with 18 walks and 40 strikeouts. Dillon Maples has not allowed an earned run since May 21, while Dakota Mekkes boasts a 1.57 ERA (4ER/23.0 IP) through his first 17 Triple-A games.
CALL IT WRAPS: Ryan Court wrapped up a 25-game on-base streak Thursday, as he went 0-for-4 with a strikeout. Court concluded the stretch with a .424 (37-for-88) average and a .485 on-base percentage. Fifteen PCL players have equaled or matched this streak in 2018. Nashville's Nick Martini is far ahead of the pack with 65-straight games of reaching on base. Although his hitting and on-base streaks have come to a close, Court is now the active team leader in batting average at .279.
SHUTDOWN, SHUTOUT: Iowa was handed its 10th shutout of the season last night. However, the I-Cubs have quietly thrown four shutouts in their last 16 games. Over this span (July 15 to August 3), they were able to spin scoreless games against the Sounds, Redbirds, River Cats and in Wednesday's game against the Bees. The last time the I-Cubs were able to throw four shutouts over a two-week span came in 2014 when the team pitched three shutouts against New Orleans and one against Round Rock from July 17-31.
SPEED KILLS:Jacob Hannemann notched his 21st stolen base of the season last night. Not only does Hannemann double the next I-Cub in steals, he now has five-consecutive seasons with 20 or more stolen bags. Hannemann's highest stolen base total came in 2014 when he stole 37.
SHORT HOPS: Taylor Davis threw out three base runners in last night's game, he is now nabbed 15 of 66 on the base paths...the Iowa Cubs have been involved in 14 shutouts this year (4 thrown, 10 against)...Randy Rosario has been recalled to Chicago in place of LHP Brian Duensing...Rosario threw 1/3 of an inning in the ninth last night after being sent down on Aug.1...over the past eight games, Iowa arms have given up nine home runs.
