Game Notes for Sunday, August 18

TONIGHT'S GAME: The Iowa Cubs and New Orleans Zephyrs play game three of a five-game series. The Zephyrs are the Pacific Coast League affiliate of the Miami Marlins. This is the only series on this road trip.

CUBS NOT IN WITH FLYNN: LH Brian Flynn set a career-high with eight shutout innings to lead the Zephyrs to a 3-0 win over the Cubs last night. Flynn has pitched 15.2 consecutive scoreless innings in his last two starts against the Cubs. The Zephyrs are second in the league with 10 shutouts, including two against the Cubs. The Cubs have not scored a run in 17 straight innings in this series. The team's longest scoreless streak this year is 19 innings, June 22-24 at Memphis.

SHOOTING BLANKS: The Cubs have been shut out a league-high 14 times this year, tying a franchise record. The Cubs were shut out 14 times in 1972 and again in 1990. This is a high for shutouts since the Cubs joined the PCL in 1998. The Cubs have suffered 12 of their 14 shutout losses on the road this season.

HIBERNATING BATS: In the last eight games, the Cubs' are batting .212 (56-for-258) with 15 runs scored. The team batting average has dropped from .254 to .251 in this stretch and the Cubs are now tied with New Orleans for the lowest batting average in the league. The Cubs had seven hits last night - all singles. It was the 15th time this season that the Cubs had been held without an extra-base hit in a game.

SILVER LINING: RH Justin Grimm was a bright spot in last night's game. He posted his first quality start as a Cub, allowing three runs on four hits in seven innings while striking out eight. He retired the first seven batters he faced before surrendering a home run to Chris Valaika in the third inning that got the Zephyrs on the board. Grimm also singled in his first at-bat. It was just the second plate appearances of his pro career.

MR. CONSISTENT: CF Jae-Hoon Ha was 1-for-4 last night. Ha has hit safely in five straight games and 18 of his last 19, including a career-high 13-game hitting streak from July 28-August 11. In his last 25 games, Ha is batting .307 (31-for-101), raising his average to .213 to .266. Ha is one of nine players tied for the league lead with six doubles in August and is tied for fourth with eight extra-base hits.

VS. NEW ORLEANS: The Zephyrs lead this series 2-0 and lead the season series 9-4. New Orleans won five of eight games played at Principal Park and won two of three in the first series at Zephyr Field, July 8-10. Last year, the Zephyrs won the seasons series 9-3, including a sweep of the only series in New Orleans, July 28-31. The Cubs have lost four straight games at Zephyr Field and 13 of their last 15. The Zephyrs lead the all-time PCL series 108-107 and hold a 58-43 advantage in their home games.

THE CUBS STRIKE BACK: LH Zach Rosscup struck out the side in the eighth inning last night, giving the Cubs 11 strikeouts in the game. Cubs' pitchers have struck out at least 10 batters in six of their last seven games and 79 batters in their last 62.0 innings. The Cubs are sixth in the league with 979 strikeouts this season and are on a pace to finish with 1107. If reached, that would be the team's highest total since the team fanned 1,228 in 2001.

THE BROKEN ROAD: The Cubs have lost 15 of their last 17 road contests and are last in the league with a 20-45 road record. The Cubs have finished with the worst road record in the PCL each of the last two seasons, finishing 24-44 last season and 26-46 in 2011.

HIT THE SHOWERS: Cubs' manager Marty Pevey was ejected in the fourth inning last night when the Cubs claimed Rob Brantley was hit by a pitch, but the umpires ruled a wild pitch that allowed the Zephyrs' third run to score. Pevey has been ejected seven times this season and a Cubs' player of coach has been ejected a total of 19 times. Since 2005, the Cubs high for ejections in a season was 11.

HOMECOMING: OF Brian Bogusevic joins the I-Cubs on Major League rehab today. The former Tulane University star has been on Chicago's disabled list since July 15 with a left hamstring strain. Bogusevic is batting .261 (12-for-46) with three doubles, three RBI, and two steals in 13 games with Chicago. He batted .319 (83-for-260) with 14 doubles, 10 homers, 32 RBI, and 50 runs in 78 games. He still leads the team with 16 stolen bases. Bogusevic was tied for the league lead in games played and was among the league leaders in batting and on-base percentage (.418) when he was called up on June 25. He hit .400 (10-for-25) five RBI in seven games in Arizona to begin his rehab.