Iowa Cubs (41-32) vs. Round Rock Express (42-30)Friday, June 21 • 7:08 PM • Principal Park • Des Moines, IARHP Alec Mills (3-2, 5.58) vs. RHP Cy Sneed (5-6, 4.41)
Iowa Cubs (41-32) vs. Round Rock Express (42-30)
Friday, June 21 • 7:08 PM • Principal Park • Des Moines, IA
RHP Alec Mills (3-2, 5.58) vs. RHP Cy Sneed (5-6, 4.41)
TONIGHT'S GAME: Iowa hosts Round Rock for game two of a five-game set and a nine-game homestand. The I-Cubs are looking to extend their winning streak to five games tonight and capture three in a row against the Express.
STREAKING:Jim Adduci extended his hitting streak to 16 games, the longest streak for an I-Cub in 2019. Over the 16-game stretch, Iowa's first baseman is hitting at a .375 clip with five doubles, four home runs and 20 RBI. Trent Giambrone is having a nice hitting streak of his own, reaching in seven-straight games Thursday night against the Express. Giambrone is hitting .417 (10-for-24) with a double, four home runs and eight runs batted in over that stretch. Both Adduci and Giambrone extended their hitting streaks with singles in the bottom of the ninth inning Thursday night.
EXPRESS EATERS: Both Phillip Evans and Robel Garcia have enjoyed facing Round Rock this year. Evans is hitting .353 (6-for-17) with five runs scored, two home runs, and two runs batted in in five games against the Express while Garcia is batting .421 (8-for-19) seven runs scored, two doubles, three home runs, and three runs batted in. Evans is slugging .706 and Garcia is slugging 1.000 against Round Rock pitching. On the other side of the coin, outfielders Donnie Dewees and Ian Happ are struggling against the Express, hitting .083 and .050 respectively. Dewees is 1-for-12, and Happ is 1-for-20 with 10 strikeouts against Round Rock this season.
STAR POWER: Seven-time All-Star closer Craig Kimbrel is expected to make his Principal Park debut in his second appearance for Iowa Friday night. Kimbrel, 31, was signed on June 7 by Chicago and assigned to Iowa to get back in stride after not playing for the first half of the 2019 campaign. The righty was the youngest pitcher in MLB history to 300 saves and has more career saves (333) than hits allowed (285).
GET IT TO THE PEN: In the last two games, Iowa's bullpen has been lights out. Over 5.0 innings pitched, I-Cub relievers have allowed no runs on just two hits. They have combined to walk two batters while striking out eight.
AGAINST ROUND ROCK: After splitting the first four games of the season series with Round Rock in Texas, the I-Cubs took game one of the series Thursday night at Principal Park against the Express.
QUALITY STARTER: Tonight's starting pitcher Alec Mills had a rough start to 2019, but has been lights out in his last few starts to earn PCL Player of the Week honors Monday. Over his last four starts, the righty has three quality starts and is 2-0 over that stretch. In those four games, Mills has limited opponent's batting to just a .171 mark over 23.2 innings pitched. One of the biggest changes for Mills' has been keeping the ball in the park. Over his first seven starts when he had an 8.01 ERA, he allowed 10 home runs. In his last four starts while holding a 1.90 ERA, he has allowed just one home run.
DOUBLE UP: Despite allowing 10 hits to the Express last night, Swarmer was able to get out of multiple jams with using the pitcher's best friend. The I-Cubs defense turned three double plays behind Swarmer to keep Round Rock's offense to just three runs.
DAZZLING DEBUT: Adbert Alzolay made his major league debut as a reliever last night for the Chicago Cubs against the New York Mets. Alzolay was the first I-Cub to make his major league debut this year and became the first Cub to earn the win in his major league debut since Ryan O'Malley in 2006. He also became the first Cubs reliever to win in his debut since Marc Pisciotta in 1997. The righty threw 4.0 innings allowing one run on one hit (a solo home run), walked two and struck out five. Alzolay became the 16th player to suit up for both Iowa and Chicago so far in 2019.
SHORT HOPS: Iowa is 0-3 on Friday home games coming into tonight's matchup against Round Rock...Donnie Dewees set a career high with his 10th home run of the year last night and joined four teammates with double digit home runs on the 2019 campaign...Iowa holds the largest lead of any first-place team up 7.0 games on Omaha, the next largest lead is 4.5 games in both the American and Pacific Southern.
