June 18 Game Notes at Tacoma

Iowa Cubs (25-42) at Tacoma Rainiers (36-34)
Monday, June 18 • 8:05 p.m. CT • Cheney Stadium • Tacoma, WA
LHP Kyle Ryan (0-1, 3.38) vs. LHP Ross Detwiler (0-1, 7.45)

TONIGHT'S GAME: Iowa and Tacoma play game three of the four-game series tonight at Cheney Stadium. LHP Kyle Ryan gets the ball for Iowa. Ryan, activated from the disabled list, will pitch in a game for the first time since June 1. 
ON THE BUMP: Opposing starter LHP Ross Detwiler previously suited up for Iowa in 2017. The lefty was signed as a free agent on June 7 and assigned to Iowa on June 23. Detwiler appeared in just five games, going 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA, before receiving his release on July 17. 
STARTED FROM THE BOTTOM: Iowa hit a season-high 17 games behind in the PCL American North conference. The I-Cubs trail first-place Oklahoma City with a PCL-leading 41-24 record. Iowa has not trailed by 17 games in the division since July 31, 2016 when the team was 46-63. The I-Cubs also hit a season-low 17 games under .500. 
ON THIS DATE IN IOWA HISTORY....Future Hall of Famer Tony La Russa banged six hits against Denver in 1979, setting an Iowa franchise record. The record still stands and has only been matched once by Jeff Small in 1990.
JUNE GLOOM: Iowa fell to 4-11 in June with last night's loss. Pitching has been a struggle in the month as the staff holds a 6.50 ERA, compared to a 4.10 mark through April and May. I-Cubs starters are 0-7 with a 10.13 ERA (56ER/63.0IP) in June. 
OUT OF THE ZONE:Cory Mazzoni was tagged for three earned runs through one inning last night. Since returning from Chicago on June 13 -- where he went 1-0 with a 1.35 ERA (1ER/6.2IP) -- Mazzoni has struggled to find his footing, allowing seven earned runs through 2.0 innings. His ERA with Iowa spiked from 1.25 to 3.80 over his last two games.  
BRUNO BOMB: Stephen Bruno punched his first home run of the season in the fourth inning last night. Bruno set a career high with nine homers in 2017. 
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. 
DEJA VU: Victor Caratini and David Bote mashed back-to-back home runs in the first inning off Christian Bergman Saturday. 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.
GETTING ON: Since getting optioned from Chicago on May 26, Victor Caratini has reached base in 15 of 18 games with Iowa and has already collected 17 RBI. Caratini is leading the roster with a .346 June average. 
OOPS: Iowa logged three errors last night for its fifth game with three or more miscues this season. The I-Cubs are tied with Tacoma in 13th in the PCL with a .979 team fielding percentage. Mike Freeman is an anomaly, pacing PCL shortstops with a .986 clip (3E/209TC).
EARLY BIRD DOESN'T GET THE WORM: Iowa has scored first in four of its last five games, going just 1-3 when doing so. The I-Cubs rank last in the PCL with a .543 winning percentage (19-16) when scoring first. 
HOME RUN HAPPY: Iowa has launched seven homers in its last four games after hitting just three through 15 games prior. David Bote leads the team with 11 homers and is nearing his career high of 14 set in 2017 with Double-A Tennessee. 
SHORT HOPS: David Bote snapped a seven-game hitting streak and a 10-game on-base streak by going 0-for-4 last night...Iowa is 3-9 against the Pacific side of the PCL.