June 17 Game Notes at Tacoma

Iowa Cubs (25-41) at Tacoma Rainiers (35-34)
Sunday, June 17 • 3:35 p.m. CT • Cheney Stadium • Tacoma, WA
RHP Alec Mills (3-5, 3.76) vs. RHP Bryan Evans (first AAA start)

TODAY'S GAME: Iowa and Tacoma play the second game of the set today at Cheney Stadium. The I-Cubs will send RHP Alec Mills to the mound -- their most consistent starter this season. Mills has spun 5.0 or more innings and allowed three or fewer earned runs through his last eight starts for a 2.91 ERA since May 4.
EARLY BIRD DOESN'T GET THE WORM: Iowa has scored first in three of its last four games, going just 1-2 when doing so. The I-Cubs rank last in the PCL with a .559 winning percentage (19-15) when scoring first. 
LATE LOSSES: Iowa let an eighth-inning lead slide for the second time this season, entering last night 19-1 when leading after seven. Last night was the 15th time the Iowa bullpen has allowed multiple runs in the eighth or the ninth innings. 
DEJA VU:Victor Caratini and David Bote mashed back-to-back home runs in the first inning off Christian Bergman last night. They became the first Iowa Cubs to go back-to-back since Mike Freeman and Bijan Rademacher on Aug. 17, 2017 off Colorado Spring's David Goforth at Security Service Field.
ONE AND DONE: Iowa lost another one-run contest last night, falling to 12-11 in one-run games. Iowa is 17-29 in 2018 in games decided by three or fewer runs. 
VICTORY FOR VICTOR: Victor Caratini blasted two home runs last night in his first career multi-home run game. He is the second I-Cub with a multi-homer game this season, joining Mike Freeman who launched three long balls on April 30 against Omaha. Prior to Freeman's power clinic, current Rainier John Andreoli was the last I-Cub to hit a pair of homers in a game, coming on Aug. 1, 2017 at Albuquerque. 
HITTING MACHINE: Reno tagged I-Cubs pitching for a season-high 18 hits Friday. It was the most hits for an opponent since Oklahoma City knocked 19 hits on April 9, 2017 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. 
AGAINST TACOMA: Iowa and Tacoma split the series in 2017 at Principal Park. John Andreoli was just 1-for-15 with nine strikeouts against his future team. Victor Caratini hit .308 (4-for-13) with four RBI in the series and Mark Zagunis was 5-for-16 (.313) with two doubles and one home run. 
CARATINI TIME: Victor Caratini reached base in all five plate appearances last night, going 4-for-4 with one double, two homers and one walk. Caratini is 7-for-9 through his last two games with five of his hits falling for extra bases.  
JUNE GLOOM: Iowa fell to 4-10 in June with last night's loss. Pitching has been a struggle in the month as the staff holds a 6.10 ERA, compared to a 4.10 mark through April and May. I-Cubs starters are 0-6 with a 7.33 ERA (50ER/60.1IP) in June. Trevor Clifton's line of two runs allowing over 5.2 innings pitched was just the third time this month a starter has gone 5.0+ innings and limited opponents to two earned run. 
A MAN OF ALL TRADES: Super utility man Stephen Bruno pitched the eighth for Iowa Friday, becoming the first position player to pitch for the I-Cubs since Chris Dominguez on Aug. 18, 2017 vs. Colorado Springs. Bruno allowed a leadoff single, but induced two groundouts and a fly out to post a scoreless frame. Bruno pitched one other time for Iowa in 2017. 
DOUBLE TROUBLE: Iowa matched a season high with six doubles Friday off the bats of Mike Freeman, David Bote, Victor Caratini (2), Ali Solis and Chesny Young. Adding a triple from Bote, who fell a home run shy of the cycle, Iowa's seven extra-base hits were another season best. The I-Cubs have managed five or more extra-base hits in a game just six times this season, including last night, as they are averaging just two per game. 
SHORT HOPS: Iowa's three home runs last night marked just the fifth game in which the team has more than one homer...Iowa fell to 16-10 last night when out-hitting its opponent.