June 20 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs vs. Memphis Redbirds

IOWA CUBS (39-28) vs. MEMPHIS REDBIRDS (37-32)

Tuesday, June 20, 2023 • 6:38 PM • Principal Park • Des Moines, IA

RHP Ben Brown (3-3, 3.52) vs. RHP Dakota Hudson (3-4, 5.84)

TONIGHT’S GAME: Iowa and Memphis are set to meet for game one of their scheduled six-game series tonight, with Ben Brown taking the ball for the I-Cubs. Brown will be making his ninth start with Iowa and first of his career against the Redbirds tonight, entering the game with a 3-3 record and a 3.52 ERA. The righty is coming off one of his better starts this year, when he spun six scoreless innings allowing just six hits and no walks while striking out 11 batters on Wednesday against Indianapolis. On the year, Brown has allowed 15 earned runs on 32 hits and 23 walks compared to 58 strikeouts in 38.1 innings. He has started all eight of his games with Iowa after his promotion from Double-A Tennessee back on April 29. Opposite of the Cubs’ No. 4 ranked prospect will be Dakota Hudson taking the ball for Memphis. The righty enters tonight’s game with a 3-4 record and a 5.84 ERA through his first nine starts with the Redbirds. Hudson has allowed 24 earned runs on 56 hits and 14 walks compared to 27 strikeouts in 37.0 innings pitched, allowing opponents to hit .361 against him. Tonight will be Hudson’s first time facing Iowa this year and his seventh overall start against the I-Cubs. He has made three starts at home and three here at Principal Park, going 4-1 with 17 earned runs on 35 hits and 10 walks compared to 26 strikeouts in 35.1 innings pitched. Over those 35.1 innings, he has allowed just one home run. Prior to tonight, the 28-year-old last faced Iowa on July 19, 2018.

WINNING WAYS: After falling in the series opener versus Indianapolis last week, the I-Cubs rattled off five consecutive victories to win the series and set a new season-long winning streak. The I-Cubs’ previous longest winning streak was four games, which they had done on three separate occasions this season. With the five straight wins over the Indians, Iowa was also able improve its record to 39-28, tying its season-best mark of 11 games over .500. The last time the I-Cubs were 11 games over .500 came earlier this month on June 1 after a victory against Columbus when they moved to 31-20. The current five-game winning streak also matches the longest winning streak from last season, when Iowa won five in-a-row from May 8-13 taking one game against St. Paul and four games versus Omaha.

JARED IN JUNE: It’s been a heck of a month for Jared Young at the plate as he has been on an absolute tear during June. The Canadian national has slashed numbers of .412/.524/.784 with five home runs and 17 RBI to pace the Iowa offense this month. Young also set his season-long hitting streak during this month spanning a total of nine games between June 6-14. Young, who is tied for fourth on the team in multi-hit games with 12, has tallied a trio of three-hit performances as well. Arguably, the 27-year-old had his best game of the month the last time the I-Cubs took the field this past Sunday versus the Indianapolis Indians. Young had himself a day by going 4-for-5 with a double, a home run, five RBI, and three runs scored to help Iowa complete the comeback, walk-off win over the Indians. His outing on Sunday marked his first four-hit performance of the season and was his fifth home run over his past 10 games.

MEMPHIS MEMORIES: Iowa and Memphis hold a special rivalry being the Triple-A Affiliates of the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals. The two teams met last year with six games at each team’s respective park. In those 12 games, Iowa went 1-5 on the road and 3-3 at home, going 4-8 overall. With 2020 canceled and 2021 limited due to Covid-19, prior to last season, the I-Cubs and Redbirds last faced off in a four-game series at Principal Park back in 2019 from August 30-September 2. Iowa won the series three games to one with Duane Underwood Jr., Matt Swarmer, and Jordan Minch being the winning pitchers of record for the I-Cubs. The last time the two ballclubs took the field at Principal Park on Sept. 2, 2019, which was the regular season finale, Iowa won by a score of 9-6. Iowa used a total of seven pitchers in the contest and totaled five doubles from the offensive side of the plate. Charcer Burks and Viamel Machín paced the Iowa offense recording three RBI each and Willson Contreras, who now plays for the St. Louis Cardinals – the Memphis Redbirds Major League affiliate – went 1-for-3 at the plate with a double and two runs scored for Iowa.

SWING AND A MISS: Tonight’s starting pitcher for Iowa, Ben Brown, has been one of the best strikeout pitchers in minor league baseball this season. Brown was promoted to Iowa from Double-A Tennessee on April 29 and since making his Triple-A debut on May 4, the right-hander has racked up 58 strikeouts in 38.1 innings pitched. His 58 strikeouts currently have him ranked 15th in the International League and first on Iowa’s pitching staff. The next highest strikeout mark by an Iowa pitcher is 44, which is held by Cam Sanders. If you include Brown’s strikeout numbers from Tennessee, he has totaled 88 for the 2023 season, which has him ranked third across all levels of minor league baseball. The 23-year-old owns the most strikeouts in a game by an Iowa pitcher this season with 11, which he has achieved twice. Brown first fanned 11 batters on May 27 against Nashville and reached that mark again his last time out on June 14 versus Indianapolis.

EXTRA BASES, MULTIPLE STREAKS: The I-Cubs currently have a trio of players who are on extra-base hitting streaks. Yonathan Perlaza leads the way with four-straight games with an extra-base hit, while David Bote and Dom Nuñez are next in line with three-straight games with an extra-base hit. Perlaza’s streak is currently tied for the longest active extra-base hit streak in the International League with the Bote and Nuñez streaks right behind as the second-longest active extra-base hitting streaks. Perlaza’s streak started on June 15 and his extra-base hits have come by way of four doubles. Bote started his streak on June 16, and he has recorded two home runs and a double. Nuñez’s streak began on June 13, and he has a pair of doubles to go along with a homer.

AGAINST MEMPHIS: Iowa and Memphis are set to play game one of their current six-game series at Principal Park tonight. It also marks the first of 12 games this season between the two teams, with Iowa traveling to Memphis from July 25-30. The I-Cubs enter tonight’s game with a 148-182 record all-time against the Redbirds. Despite being 34 games below .500 against Memphis all-time overall, Iowa has fared better at home against Memphis than they have on the road. They enter tonight’s contest 20 games over the .500 mark here at home against Memphis, going 93-73 against the Redbirds all-time at home. Dating back to last year, Iowa is currently on a two-game losing streak against Memphis.

SHORT HOPS: Yonathan Perlaza enters tonight’s game on a 27-game on-base streak running from May 18 to June 18; over that span, he is hitting .330 (36-for-109) with 18 doubles, four home runs, 21 RBI and 17 walks compared to just 22 strikeouts with at least one hit in all but three of the 27 games…after Sunday’s five-RBI performance, Jared Young became the only I-Cubs player this year to have a five-RBI game, and the only I-Cubs player to have two, three, four and five-RBI games.