July 14 Game Notes vs. Nashville

Saturday, July 14 • 7:08 p.m. CT • Principal Park • Des Moines, IA
Iowa Cubs (32-59) vs. Nashville Sounds (44-46)
RHP Jen-Ho Tseng (2-10, 7.14) vs. RHP Raúl Alcántara (4-1, 4.35)

TONIGHT'S GAME: Iowa and Nashville play the ninth of 10-consecutive meetings, bookending the All-Star Break. After five-straight losses to the Sounds, Iowa bounced back with a win in the nightcap yesterday. RHP Jen-Ho Tseng will toe the rubber for Iowa, as he faces off against RHP Raúl Alcántara. Iowa will look to get on the board quickly, as Alcántara's 4.35 ERA soars to 11.25 in his first inning of work. 
STRONG AND STEADY: Jason Vosler went 2-for-5 to extend his hitting streak to 16 games (19-for-61, .311) -- the longest hitting streak for an I-Cub this season. Vosler adds three doubles, four home runs and 14 RBI to this line. Vosler is one of 14 PCL players to have a 16+ game hitting streak this season and has the second-longest active streak among active PCL players behind Round Rock's Willie Calhoun (17G). Albuquerque's Daniel Castro claims the league's longest hitting streak of 2018 with 24 games. Vosler also launched his fourth homer of the season for the I-Cubs 
THIS DAY IN IOWA CUBS HISTORY: With 2018 bringing the new extra innings rule into effect, on July 14, 2013, the I-Cubs and Albuquerque Isotopes played 18 innings at Principal Park. Up to July 1 of the 2018 season, eight games have gone over three extra innings. A look back at the last two seasons shows: 2017, 162 games went longer than three extra innings...2016, 183 games went longer than three extra innings...in contrast, the longest game of 2018 (to July 1) went six extra frames. In 2017, the longest game of the year went 12 extra frames, while in 2016, the longest game went 14 extra frames. Since July 6, the home team records in extra-inning games are 258-259 (.499)..2017: 551-641 (.462)..2016: 575-620 (.481), leading to no outstanding advantage to the home team with the new rule. 
ORDER IN THE COURT: Court has compiled a season-high eight-game hitting streak after going 3-for-4 between yesterday's two games. Court is batting .357 (10-for-28) over this stretch with two doubles and three RBI. The bat has heated up for Court in the height of summer. Since May 21, he is batting .305 (32-for-105) with 18 RBI through 32 games after hitting .184 (23-for-125) through his first 35 games with Iowa.
AGAINST NASHVILLE: Nashville holds a 9-5 edge in the season series, and is 4-2 at Principal Park. It's been a pitchers duel in each meeting, as Iowa holds a 3.68 ERA against Nashville's 3.07 ERA. In 12 games, Taylor Davis leads Iowa's offensive production against Nashville. The catcher has put together a 12-for-37 (.294) performance, scoring four runs, with a double, five RBI and eight walks--including a 2-for-3 Game 2 on Friday, with a run and RBI. 
BEHIND THE W-L: Despite going 3-for-7 in the last 10 games, five I-Cubs are hitting above the .300 mark, including: Taylor Davis (9-25, .360), Court (10-31, .323) Vosler (12-38, .316), Mark Zagunis (9-28, .321, 4R) and Chesny Young (12-39, .308, 6R, 4RBI). The five have accounted for 25 runs, 24 RBI and three home runs out of the 43 I-Cub runs scored since July 2.
TSENG A DIFFERENT TUNE: Jen-Ho Tseng continues to hang near the top of several PCL standings--including, leading the PCL in earned runs (68) and runs (73), while placing in the top five in home runs (13) and hits (108), owning the second-highest WHIP at 1.66. The righty also ranks 15th in innings pitched (85.2) and 11th in strikeouts, with 79 Ks. 
NEW MANAGER IN TOWN: Skipper Marty Pevey will hand the reigns over to hitting coach Chris Valaika for the series as Pevey takes the series off. Valaika has already managed the I-Cubs during six games in lieu of Pevey's ejections, with the most recent being on July 2
LET'S GET IT STARTED: The first inning has been a struggle for Iowa as the team has allowed 77 runs in the opening frame - 22 more than any other inning this season. In the last eight games against Nashville, the Sounds have scored in the first six times for 14 of their 47 runs. Since June 29, opponents have scored in the first in 10 of 13 games.
SHORT HOPS: After Game 2's 5-3 victory, Iowa is now 9-42 when the opponent scores first--owning a 22-17 record when getting on the board first...Tonight's game could easily become an offensive outpour on both sides, as Alcántara's ERA jumps from 3.42 at home (11G), to 5.40 on the road (10G), with batters hitting .321 when getting ahead in the count (18-56, 11R).