Rusin, Cubs Shutout River Cats

With a six-run sixth inning, the Iowa Cubs (52-65) broke open what had been a pitcher's duel and went on to blank the Sacramento River Cats (70-47) 8-0 Monday night at Principal Park. The Cubs have won the first two games of this four-game set.

Already leading 1-0 entering the bottom half of the sixth, Bryan LaHair and Lou Montanez connected on back-to-back singles with one out. Matt Spencer pulled a double down the right field line to score LaHair and move Montanez to third base. Ryan Flaherty followed with a high fly ball to center field that Jermaine Mitchell lost in the lights and dropped for an RBI-double. Marwin Gonzalez was intentionally walked to load the bases which put an end to River Cats' starting pitcher Carlos Hernandez's night. After a run-scoring passed ball, Chris Robinson drove in two more runs for Iowa with an opposite field double. A bloop ground-rule double inside the left field line by Brett Jackson scored Robinson and capped the Cubs' scoring with a 7-0 lead.

Iowa plated the first run of the game on an RBI-bloop single by Marwin Gonzalez that scored Spencer in the fifth inning to give starting pitcher Chris Rusin the lead. Rusin (2-1) went on to have his best outing of the season for the I-Cubs. He pitched a season-high seven innings and recorded a new career-high with 11 strikeouts. Rusin's strikeouts also set the season record for most by an individual pitcher. The previous high was nine, reached three different times this season.

Hernandez (6-5) held the Cubs in check until things unraveled for him in the fifth. He completed five and one-third innings and was charged with six runs on 11 hits. He walked one and struck out three.

In the eighth inning, LaHair broke out of his nine-game home run drought with a solo blast for his 30th homer of the season. Eight of the nine Cub starters ended up recording at least one base hit on the night as they combined for 15 hits. Robinson finished the game 3-for-4 with two doubles, a run and two RBI, and Montanez went 3-for-4 with a run scored.

Alberto Cabrera pitched the final two innings to complete the shutout for the Cubs. He allowed two hits and struck out two River Cats.

Game three of this series is scheduled for tomorrow night at 7:05 p.m. Nick Struck (2-3, 3.97) will take the mound for Iowa and face off against Tyson Ross (0-1, 10.95) for Sacramento.