July 28 Game Notes: Iowa vs. Louisville

IOWA CUBS (30-40) vs. LOUISVILLE BATS (27-45)

Wednesday, July 28, 2021 • 6:38 PM • Principal Park • Des Moines, IA

RHP Joe Biagini (1-4, 5.09) vs. LHP Reiver Sanmartin (1-1, 3.93)

TONIGHT’S GAME: Iowa will face off with Louisville for game two of the six-game series tonight after picking up a victory in last night’s opener. The I-Cubs will send Joe Biagini to the mound still in search of his first win at Principal Park this season. The righty is 1-4 for Iowa this season, but has been effective in his last two outings. He completed five innings in both starts on the road trip, exiting both outings with no decision. He’ll match up with Reiver Sanmartin for Louisville. Sanmartin has gone 1-1 in five starts for the Bats since being promoted from Double-A Chattanooga in late May. The southpaw has pitched to a 3.93 ERA (15ER/34.1IP) while splitting time between the rotation and the bullpen with Louisville

HOMESICK: Tonight’s starter, Joe Biagini, will take the mound for his fifth start of the season at Principal Park in hopes of breaking a four-game home losing streak. Biagini holds a 1-4 record overall for the I-Cubs this season, and all four of his losses have come at home. With the exception of his start in the season opener, when he allowed just two runs in six innings, the righty has struggled mightily in Des Moines. Biagini hasn’t made it past the third inning at Principal Park since May 4, and he has allowed 14 earned runs total at home - good for an ERA of 9.69 (14ER/13IP). That compares to Biagini’s 2.42 mark (6ER/22.1IP) when pitching on the road. Biagini last pitched at home on July 8 and lasted just 2.1 innings against the Saints, earning the loss after surrendering four runs on three hits and three walks.

RELIABLE RIVAS: Alfonso Rivas went 1-for-3 with a single last night, which was just enough to extend his hitting streak to a season-high eight games. He is now just one game away from tying the I-Cubs’ longest hitting streak of the season, which was set by Ian Miller earlier this month. In addition to the hitting streak, Rivas also holds a 26-game on-base streak. That streak began on June 25 and includes all but the first three games Rivas played for Iowa. He has hit safely in 21 out of 26 games in the on-base streak, including six multi-hit performances. Rivas is hitting .304 (28-for-92) with six doubles, four home runs, 18 walks, and 15 runs batted in during the 26-game stretch.

MULTI-HIT MACHINE: Ian Miller registered his team leading fifth three-hit game of the season yesterday, going 3-for-4 with two runs scored and a triple. The outfielder was coming off of a 2-for-3 game on Sunday, and has now had multiple hits in four of his last seven games. He now has 17 on the season, tying him with Abiatal Avelino for the team lead. In the month of July, Miller has recorded a hit in 16 of his 20 games played, batting .324 (24-for-83) over that span. He has two doubles, a triple, a home run and 12 runs batted in, while walking six times and getting hit by a pitch compared to seven strikeouts. After beginning the season hitting .187 (14-for-83) in 22 games from May 4 to June 2, he has caught fire and raised his average to .286 on the season.

CASTILLO FOR THREE: Erick Castillo logged his first three-hit game in Triple-A last night with a 3-for-4 performance. The catcher entered last night’s contest with just two career multi-hit games at Triple-A - both of them two-hit games - in 38 total games played over three seasons. His last game with more than two hits was on August 6, 2017, with Double-A Tennessee, when he went 4-for-4 against Pensacola. Castillo also drove in all three of Iowa’s runs last night, marking his second three-RBI night of the season after he drove in three with Double-A Tennessee on May 26. It was his third career three-RBI game for Iowa, with both of the other two coming in 2019.

SAVE THE DAY: Aside from two consecutive bad games in early June in which he gave up eight earned runs on nine hits in 2.1 innings, Jake Jewell has been nearly impossible to score on. In 10 games before his first bad outing on June 4, Jewell allowed one earned run over 12.1 innings pitched. He allowed just seven hits while striking out 12 in 10 games over that stretch. Since his last rough outing on June 8, the righty held his opponents to a .089 batting average against him. He has allowed five hits while striking out 21 over 17.2 innings in his last 11 games. He earned his team-leading fourth save of the season last night, lowering his ERA to 2.78 on the season with two more scoreless innings. It was his first six-out save of the season, and the sixth time this season he has pitched two or more innings.

WIN/WIN/WIN: Scott Effross was credited with the win in last night’s game, bringing him to 4-2 with the I-Cubs this season. It was the third straight win for Effross, who also picked up the victory after his appearances on July 23 against Columbus and July 17 against Toledo. Despite spending the first month of the season with Double-A Tennessee, Effross has now won more games than any other I-Cubs reliever this season. His four wins are also tied with Adrian Sampson for most by any pitcher on the team.

AGAINST LOUISVILLE: Iowa’s win last night brought them to 11-8 against Louisville all-time and 8-2 at Principal Park. With a four-game sweep the last time the teams met and Iowa’s win in the series opener last night, the I-Cubs now hold a five-game winning streak against the Bats. Louisville has not won a game in Des Moines since June 11, 1996.

DOING THEIR PART: With five scoreless innings last night, Iowa’s bullpen lowered their ERA to 3.67 on the season while striking out 352 batters. Three relievers were used yesterday, each registering at least one strikeout, including Scott Effross, who struck out two over his two innings of work. Effross, Tony Cingrani and Jake Jewell combined to allow just one hit in their five innings of work. They were able to pitch around four walks and a hit batter to keep the Bats off the board and earn a one-run victory.

SHORT HOPS: Last night’s win was Iowa’s first Tuesday win at home this season...Ian Miller and Erick Castillo both went 3-for-4 last night, while the rest of the lineup went a combined 2-for-23...Louisville stranded 12 runners last night, one shy of Iowa’s opponent high for the season...with a .211 team mark, the Bats hold the best pitcher batting average of any team in the Triple-A East (min. five at-bats).