June 24 Game Notes vs. Colorado Springs

Iowa Cubs (26-47) vs. Colorado Springs Sky Sox (40-33) 
Sunday, June 24 • 1:08 • Principal Park • Des Moines, IA
LHP Kyle Ryan (0-1, 2.91) vs. RHP Zach Davies  (0-1, 10.80)

TODAY'S GAME: This will be the final game of a five-game series between the Iowa Cubs and the Colorado Springs Sky Sox. The I-Cubs will feature LHP Kyle Ryan (0-1, 2.91), who is making his second start since coming off the DL last week. RHP Zach Davies (0-1, 10.80) will be on the hill making his second rehab start for Colorado Springs this year. Both starters in today's game have logged over 125+ IP and have pitched in 85+ games at the big league level. Ryan has seen action with the Tigers over the past four years, while the 25-year-old Davies has made 75 career starts posting a career 4.04 ERA with the Brewers.  
DO IT WITH STYLE: Iowa earned its seventh walkoff of the season Friday and its second via walk. With just 26 wins on the year, more than 1/4 of Iowa's victories have come in walkoff fashion. More than half of the I-Cubs 13 home wins have been via walk off. Bijan Rademacher (2), Ryan Court, Efren Navarro, Mike Freeman, David Bote and Victor Caratini have collected the walkoff offense this season. 
HITTING HEARTACHES: Iowa has been held to six total runs through the first four games of this series, though the I-Cubs have out-hit the Sky Sox twice. The I-Cubs have stranded 30 runners and are 4-for-24 with runners in scoring position. In the season as a whole, Iowa is batting .254 (159-for-626) with runners in scoring position. 
FREE ADMISSION: Mark Zagunis has drawn five walks through his last four games and has 38 on the season. The outfielder ranks second among Cubs farmhands, trailing only Double-A Tennessee's Zack Short with 46, and is tied for the seventh-most free passes in the PCL with former I-Cub and current Rainier Daniel Vogelbach.  
AIN'T IT SWEET: Dillon Maples contributed another scoreless frame in game two of the twinbill last night. The righty has been exceptional lately and has not been tagged with an earned run since May 21. Since May 25, Maples is 2-1 with two saves, four hits, one unearned run, seven walks and 20 strikeouts. He has tossed just one wild pitch, a sore spot for the righty early. Among PCL relievers with 20.0 or more innings pitched, Maples paces the pack with 14.92 strikeouts per nine innings.  
AGAINST COLORADO SPRINGS: This is the first time this season the I-Cubs will welcome Colorado Springs to Principal Park in 2018. In seven games between the two teams thus far, Sky Sox batters have rocked Iowa pitching for a 6.12 ERA. Their running game has been even stronger, going 23-for-24 on the bases. Iowa has yet to hit a homer in the match up, getting held without a long ball through five games in Colorado Springs for the first time since at least 2005.
THE K-CORNER: This series matchup features some of the league's biggest K collectors, as Colorado Springs' Keon Broxton and Ryan Court both rank in the PCL top 10 in strikeouts, with Broxton pacing the league with 105. As a team, the Cubs rank seventh in the PCL in strikeouts, but own lower OBP (.325), slugging (.350) and OPS (.876) than the top three teams in the strikeout category. Comparatively PCL strikeout leader El Paso (748SO) has a team .332 OBP, .433 slugging and .765 OPS. David Bote (55) and Mike Freeman (54) join Court in the top 50 PCL strikeout leaders. Yesterday the I-Cubs totaled a 2.4 K/BB over the two games.
SHUTDOWN AND SHUTOUT: The I-Cubs were shutout and only held to three hits in game two of the yesterday's doubleheader. This was already the seventh time this season the I-Cubs have been shutout. Yesterday's shutout also eclipsed last season's total of six and as of June 24 of last season, the I-Cubs were only shutout in four games. 
A TROUBLING PATH: The I-Cubs record has now moved to 26-47 after yesterday's losses in the doubleheader. This puts them one game behind the pace of the 1981 I-Cubs for finishing with the worst record in Iowa Cubs franchise history.
SHORT HOPS: Victor Caratini is now the only I-Cub to have a batting average over .300...Iowa scored fewer than four runs for the 35th time yesterday and now move to 4-31 in games where they don't score over four runs... Today is a travel day for both teams and the I-Cubs post a 7-9 record during travel days... Kyle Ryan has already made a start against Colorado this year giving up six earn runs in 3.0 IP...