Iowa Game Notes - July 3 at Round Rock
TONIGHT'S GAME: Iowa and Round Rock meet for the final time of 2016 tonight, playing all 16 games prior to the All-Star break. Iowa snapped an eight game losing streak against the Express with a win in game two last night, but a loss in game one secured the worst season record against Round Rock in franchise history. At best, Iowa will end the season 3-13 against Round Rock, beating the 4-12 record mark set in 2006.
ABOUT LAST NIGHT: Iowa and Round Rock split the double header, Iowa's fourth doubleheader split of the season. In his first game with Iowa since April 26, Tim Federowicz hit a solo shot in the ninth inning of game one - his second homer of the season with Iowa. Federowicz went 2-for-7 between the two games and built his hitting streak to six games dating back to April 23. Iowa stole five bases in game two, its most since the team swiped seven on June 4. John Andreoli stole two, his second multi-steal game of the season, and Mark Zagunis mirrored that effort for his first multi-steal game of the season and fifth of his career.
FOLLOW THE LEADER: Daniel Vogelbach has steadily placed in the Pacific Coast League lead in several categories. He is tied for third in homers with 15 and for fourth in RBI with 56. He also takes fifth in on-base percentage with a .411 mark. He leads Iowa in hits (79) and doubles (16). John Andreoli also finds himself on the leaderboard in several categories. He paces the league in games (80), walks (54) and strikeouts (104) and is tied for fourth in runs scored (56).
SO LONG JUNE: June was a month of ups and downs for the I-Cubs as the team finished 14-15 overall during the month. The pitching staff struggled mightily with an ERA of 5.59 (146ER/241.0IP), a whole point more than May's ERA of 4.49 (132ER/264.2IP). On the bright side, the Iowa bats came alive in June with the team hitting a respectable .291. Iowa's on-base percentage (.369) and slugging percentage (.468) also improved on May's totals.
RETURN OF THE JEDI: Miguel Mejia has been lights out since his return to Iowa from Double-A Tennessee on June 9. The righty has allowed just one earned run through 10.0 innings and seven appearances. He has walked just two while sitting down nine batters on strikes, including a season best four on June 23 against Nashville. Prior to his demotion, Mejia had amassed a 6.57 ERA (9ER/12.1IP) with Iowa.
K COUNTER: John Andreoli, leading the league in strikeouts, has limited his K count lately. In his last 14 games, Andreoli has only whiffed eight times. He has drawn 12 walks over the same span.
AGAINST ROUND ROCK: Round Rock holds the 13-2 advantage over Iowa this season as the I-Cubs were swept by the Express in both series at home for the first time in franchise history. The two clubs were rained out twice earlier in the season at Round Rock so they will play six games this series including two double headers. Iowa has struggled to contain the Round Rock bats as the Express have outscored the I-Cubs 97-63 this season. Iowa has been limited to a .260 average against the Express, .020 points lower than its season mark. Despite going 1-4 so far in the current series, Iowa has actually lowered its ERA from 7.99 to 6.80 versus the Express.
YOU EITHER GOT IT, OR YOU DON'T: Logan Watkins has been on an offensive roller coaster all season. The lefty-handed batter went 3-for-3 last night to record his ninth multi-hit game. He paces the team with three four-hit games and has totaled three hits four times. Thirty of Watkins' 49 hits on the season have come as a part of multi-hit efforts. In his other 46 games in which he hasn't collected multiple hits, he has just 19 hits in 132 at-bats (.143).
CAUGHT RED HANDED: Iowa swiped six bases as a team last night, including five in game two. Up until then, Round Rock had stifled Iowa's running game. Iowa, leading the league with 109 stolen bases, had been limited to three stolen bases through its first 13 games against Round Rock and had been caught seven times.
WELCOME TO THE SHOW: Infielder Jeimer Candelario was recalled from Iowa today by Chicago and made his major league debut with a start at third base in the Cubs game against the Mets. Candelario had been with Iowa just under a month and was hitting .333 (25-for-27) with three homers and 15 RBI. The switch-hitter had just been selected to participate in the SiriusXM 2016 All-Star Futures game last week.
REWRITE HISTORY: Last night's completion of April 18's suspended contest altered Iowa's record books. Iowa now officially ended April with a 9-12 record. According to the now-complete record book, Armando Rivero techincally took his first loss of the season last night. Though he is now with Chicago, Willson Contreras' batting average improved from .350 to .353 as he singled in the first inning back in April. Ryan Williams, who originally started the game, had one-third of an inning added to his season line.
ON THE MEND: Catcher Taylor Davis, on Iowa's disabled list since May 27 with a wrist injury, began a rehab assignment with the Eugene Emeralds Friday. In two games, he is 2-for-6 with one walk and one strikeout.
SHORT HOPS: John Andreoli leads the PCL in walks with 51 while Daniel Vogelbach is tied for third with 47 ... Armando Rivero ranks second in the PCL for the lowest batting average to opposing batters with a .173 mark ... Felix Pena ranks second in fewest walks-per-nine-innings (2.09) and fourth in baserunners per-nine-innings (9.31).