July 15 Game Notes vs. Nashville

Iowa Cubs (33-59) vs. Nashville Sounds (44-47)
Sunday, July 15 • 1:08 p.m. CT • Principal Park • Des Moines, IA
RHP Trevor Clifton (0-1, 4.23) vs. RHP James Naile (5-8, 4.30)

TODAY'S GAME: Iowa and Nashville will wrap up their 10-consecutive meetings today, bookending the All-Star Break. After five-straight losses to the Sounds, Iowa has taken back-to-back contests and will look to take the series off the arm of RHP Trevor Clifton. Clifton will face off against RHP James Naile after spending his last two outings coming out of the bullpen. 
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
ORDER IN THE COURT: Court has compiled a season-high nine-game hitting streak after going 2-for-3 with a run, two doubles and an RBI last night. Court is batting .387 (12-for-31) over this stretch with four doubles and four RBI. The bat has heated up for Court in the height of summer. Since May 21, he is batting .315 (34-for-108) with 19 RBI through 33 games after hitting .184 (23-for-125) through his first 35 games with Iowa.
HI-FIVE: The I-Cubs are now 6-3 when scoring five runs, and have a winning record when scoring five or more, for a combined 23-8 mark. The team is now 29-17 when scoring four or more runs, and with last night's equal hit total of seven apiece, they are just 3-4 in the respective category.  
START ANOTHER:Jason Vosler's 16-game hitting streak wrapped up last night. The third baseman has notched a hit in 16 of his 18 games as an I-Cub after being promoted from Double-A Tennessee to Des Moines on June 25. During his streak, he went 19-for-61 with a .311 average while logging the longest hitting streak for an I-Cub this season. Vosler had three doubles, four home runs and 14 RBI on his line, and is one of 14 PCL players to have a 16+ game hitting streak this season. Albuquerque's Daniel Castro claims the league's longest hitting streak of 2018 with 24 games. 
AGAINST NASHVILLE: Nashville holds a 9-6 edge in the season series, and is 4-3 at Principal Park. It's been a pitchers duel in each meeting, as Iowa holds a 3.70 ERA against Nashville's 3.16 ERA. In 13 games, Taylor Davis leads Iowa's offensive production against Nashville. The catcher has put together a 14-for-41 (.341) performance, scoring six runs, with a double, home run, seven RBI and eight walks--including a 2-for-4 game Saturday with two runs, a home run, and two RBI. 
MOVING ON UP: Ten I-Cub arms have made their way up to Chicago this season; including, RHP's Anthony Bass, Luke Farrell, Justin Hancock, Dillon Maples, Cory Mazzoni, James Norwood, Jen-Ho Tseng, Duane Underwood and LHP's Randy Rosario and Rob Zastryzny. Over a combined 81 games at the big-league level, the group has thrown 104.0 innings en-route to a 2.86 ERA. Rosario leads the way in the win column at four victories, while Farrell is just one shy of the mark. The staff has combined for a 9-5 win/loss record-- starting three games and finishing 25. Farrell paces the group with 37 Ks compared to his 11 walks, adding to a group 1.94 K/BB (97K/50BB) and 1.32 WHIP.  
FINDING A WINNING WAY: With back-to-back home wins, the I-Cubs are starting to even out their road-warrior record of 18-27, compared to a 15-32 home mark. Friday's Game 2 marked the first time since June 23 the I-Cubs have won a game at home. Last night's contest was Iowa's first consecutive home win since May 27th and 28th against New Orleans when the I-Cubs won four in a row. 
SHORT HOPS: After scoring the game's first run in the bottom of the third, Iowa is now 23-17 (.575) when scoring first...Ryan Court, Taylor Davis and Mark Zagunis all notched multi-hit efforts in last night's win--accounting for all five of the runs scored (Davis 2, Zagunis 2, Court 1), and three of the four RBI...Davis is now riding a seven-game hitting streak into today's contest...In 17 relief outing for Iowa, Brad Markey holds a 4.96 ERA. He's walked just five while fanning 27.