Iowa Cubs Game Notes - July 14 vs. Las Vegas

TONIGHT'S GAME: Iowa and Las Vegas will meet for the first game of the four game series tonight at Principal Park. This will be the only series played between the two ball clubs this season. Iowa is 3-7 in its last 10 contests and has fallen to 12.0 games behind first-place Oklahoma City in the American North Division. Las Vegas currently sits 6.5 games back of first place in the Pacific Southern Division behind El Paso.

ABOUT LAST GAME: Iowa dropped the series finale to Colorado 7-4 and also lost the series, 3-1. Drew Rucinski (5-8) posted a quality outing, allowing two runs - one earned - on four hits through six innings while walking three and striking out two. Matt Murton and John Andreoli each collected a pair of hits and scored a run for Iowa. Iowa and Colorado Springs were limited to two and one hits, respectively, through the first four frames. Both sides sparked their offense in the fifth, but Colorado Springs was first on the board. The Sky Sox mad it 4-0 before Iowa was able to break the shutout in the eighth. Iowa fought back with a run in the ninth off a sacrifice fly from Zagunis, but couldn't complete the comeback.

IN A PINCH: Tim Federowicz cracked a two-run, pinch-hit, go-ahead homer in the eighth inning last Saturday. It was Iowa's first pinch-hit homer since July 24, 2014 when Josh Vitters cracked a two-run shot off New Orlean's Donnie Joseph in the seventh inning. Iowa went on to win the game 11-2 with Eric Jokisch taking the victory and former Iowa Cub Alex Sanabia getting tagged with the loss for the Zephyrs.

READY, BREAK: In 2015, Iowa was 47-43 coming out of the All-Star break. The team ranked third in the PCL American North Division and was 10 games out of first place. The I-Cubs won five games in a row coming out of the All-Star break last season. 

UP THERE, OUT THERE, GONE!: Iowa drilled three homers as a team Saturday night for the first time since June 27 in game one of a double-header against Oklahoma City. Iowa has tabbed three homers in a game five times this season and has exceeded that mark once, hitting a season-high five long balls on June 14 in game two of a double-header at Colorado Springs.

IT WAS A GOOD RUN!: Since being sent back to Iowa on June 27 after playing in 13 games with Chicago, Tim Federowicz continued his hitting streak from April 21 and extended it to 13 before going 0-5 in Sunday's game against Colorado Springs. Federowicz finished with a .380 average (19-for-50) during the streak.

TROPHY CASE: Dan Vogelbach and Armando Rivero both played in the Triple-A All-Star game last night. Vogelbach got the start at first base based on fan voting and went 0-2 with a strikeout. Rivero pitched 0.1 innings in relief and was tagged with one run off a solo homer from Pawtucket's Chris Marrero.

AGAINST LAS VEGAS: Iowa holds the narrow 44-42 advantage over Las Vegas all-time. The two teams meet for the first and only time this series beginning tonight. Although the I-Cubs hold the advantage all-time, Las Vegas is ahead at Principal Park with a 24-22 record. Iowa dropped its final two contests of the season to Las Vegas in 2015, both in walk-off fashion. On August 17, Danny Muno crushed a walk-off homer in the 12th inning to give the 51s a 5-4 win. The next night, Dan Rohlfing was hit by a pitch with bases loaded in the ninth by Blake Cooper to bring in the scoring run.

A BUNCH OF THIEVES: Iowa leads the PCL for stolen bases this season with 117, and John Andreoli leads the team with 21 of his own.

HITTING IS THEIR SPECIALTY: Coming out of the All-Star break, the I-Cubs and the 51's are both in the top three for team batting average. Las Vegas currently sits in second place behind El Paso (.313) with a .294 average while the I-Cubs are in third with a .283 team batting average. The league average for batting at the All-Star break is .270, with Iowa being one of the seven teams who are posting a higher average.

WE LIKE TO MOVE IT: The Iowa Cubs made numerous roster moves in conjunction with the Chicago Cubs Thursday. Infielders Munenori Kawasaki and Jemier Candelario were both sent back to Iowa after making stints in Chicago. Candelario saw his first major league action in the five games he played. Veteran reliever Joe Nathan was also added to the roster today. Nathan ranks eighth all-time with 377 career saves and trails Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersly by just 13 for seventh place. Iowa also added veteran lefty Brian Matusz to the roster. Michael Wagner and David Freitas were both sent to Double-A Tennessee, while Tommy Nance was moved to Single-A South Bend.

LEAGUE LEADERS: The I-Cubs boast many top individual performances coming out of the All-Star break. Both John Andreoli and Daniel Vogelbach sit in the top five of multiple categories in the PCL. Andreoli is in the top spot for games played (89), base on balls (58), and strikeouts (113). Andreoli is also in fifth place for runs scored (60) and stolen bases (21). Vogelbach is in the lead for on-base percentage (.426) while he is in second behind Andreoli for base on balls with 55. Drew Rucinski is tied for first for the most runs allowed (70) and is in first for the most earned runs allowed (65) and most sacrifice flies allowed (8). Rob Zastrysny ranks first for the most sacrifice hits allowed (9).

SHORT HOPS: Armando Rivero ranks second in the PCL for the lowest batting average to opposing batters with a .185 mark and he is in fourth place for the highest SO/9IP ratio with a 12.31... Felix Pena ranks fourth in the PCL for the lowest BB-IBB/9IP ratio with a 2.22 while he sits in second for the fewest baserunners/9IP ratio with a 8.87.