Sports stats



IL Iowa Cubs

April 15 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs vs. Omaha Storm Chasers

April 15, 2023 - International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (8-4) vs. OMAHA STORM CHASERS (7-6)

Saturday - 3:08 PM - Principal Park - Des Moines, IA

RHP Caleb Kilian (0-0, 12.79) vs. RHP Max Castillo (0-2, 7.27)

TODAY'S GAME: Caleb Kilian will get the ball for Iowa in game five of their six-game series against the Storm Chasers this afternoon. Kilian is set to make his third start of the year, holding a 12.79 ERA through his first two against Columbus and St. Paul. The righty has surrendered nine earned runs on 13 hits over 6.1 innings this year, walking four and striking out two. Opponents are hitting .448 against Kilian through his first two games. Last year against the Storm Chasers, the Cubs' No. 18 ranked prospect went 1-1 with a 3.38 ERA in three games, striking out 18 batters over his 13.1 innings. Opposite of Kilian will be Max Castillo taking the ball for Omaha, in search of his first win of the season. Through two starts this year, Castillo is 0-2 with a 7.27 ERA, allowing seven earned runs on 15 hits including three home runs. The righty faced Iowa once last year, hitting one batter and striking out two in a scoreless inning.

UNFAMILIAR TERRITORY: After losing last night to Omaha, Iowa fell to second place in the International League West Division for the first time all year. The I-Cubs were tied for first place through their first three games of the season, but once they got to 4-0 on April 6 against St. Paul, they went into first place all on their own. They have maintained the top-spot getting a lead as big as 1.5 games after their win against Omaha on April 11. With their loss last night and Toledo going 8-2 in their last 10 games including five straight wins, Iowa is now a half-game back in second place.

A PATIENT APPROACH: Iowa's top two hitters in the lineup last night have shown great patience in their at-bats so far this year. Matt Mervis and Christopher Morel have combined to draw 23 walks in their 24 games played, accounting for 37% of the team's 62 walks. After drawing two more walks last night, Mervis now has 13 free passes on the year while Morel enters tonight's game with 10. Each player is in the top-10 in the IL, with Mervis ranking third and Morel tied for seventh. Mervis has four more walks (13) than strikeouts (9), while Morel is just under that mark with 10 walks and 16 strikeouts.

WHAT HAPPENED: Iowa entered the eighth inning last night against Omaha with a four-run lead, at 7-3. With arguably their best two relievers available in the bullpen in Nick Burdi and Manuel Rodriguez, it seemed like a lock for Iowa to move to 9-3. Instead, the Storm Chasers stormed back with four runs in the eighth using two big errors from Iowa to tie the game 7-7. Despite the I-Cubs re-taking the lead in the home-half of the inning, Omaha scored another four runs in the ninth to shock Iowa and win the game 11-8. Iowa committed three big errors in the two frames allowing Omaha to complete the comeback. Burdi allowed his first runs of the season, giving up three earned runs in just 0.1 innings, while Rodríguez took his first loss and blew the save opportunity, allowing five runs (three earned) on three hits and two walks in 1.0 inning.

LEADING THE WAY: Iowa's leadoff hitter Christopher Morel has been on an absolute tear this year, hitting .378 with six doubles, four home runs, 14 runs batted in, 10 walks and two stolen bases to start the year. His 10 walks bumps his on-base percentage to an even .500 and the utility-man is slugging .822, bringing his OPS to 1.322. Morel leads the team in average, hits, doubles, home runs and RBI while being tied for the team-lead in games played and stolen bases. He is currently riding a six-game hit streak, registering two hits in each of his last four contests. One of those hits has been a home run in three straight games now, becoming the first player for Iowa to homer in three straight games this year. The last player to do so was Matt Mervis last year for Iowa, from Sept. 1-3 against Columbus. Morel could take Narciso Crook out of the record books with a home run today, as Crook homered in four straight games from June 10-14 against Toledo and Omaha last year. Morel is not only leading Iowa in virtually every offensive category, he also ranks in the top-10 of many statistics among all International League players. Morel is tied for fourth in RBI (14), tied for sixth in OBP (.500), fourth in slugging percentage (.822) and OPS (1.322), tied for eighth in hits (17), tied for third in doubles (6), tied for seventh in walks (10), second in extra-base hits (11) and tied for sixth in runs scored (13).

GOING DEEP: Sergio Alcántara blasted his first home run of the season last night, a two-run shot that at the time grew Iowa's lead to three runs in the sixth inning. The shortstop collected his fourth multi-hit game of the year last night, going 2-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBI. He is now hitting .359 (14-for-39) in 10 games this year.

AGAINST OMAHA: Iowa and Omaha will play game five of their six-game series this afternoon, with the series currently tied at two games apiece. With Iowa dropping last night's game by three runs, they now lead the season scoring over Omaha by nine runs, at 37-28. Iowa is 2-2 overall this year through four games against Omaha, while going 179-137 all-time at home and 325-297 all-time overall against the Storm Chasers.

SHORT HOPS: Entering last night's game, Iowa had allowed just three runs in the ninth inning all year; they surrendered four runs in the ninth inning last night alone, more than doubling their previous total...last night was Iowa's first three-error game of the season, with all three being crucial mistakes playing a part in Omaha's eight runs over the final two frames...the I-Cubs dropped to 5-1 this year when recording 10 or more hits with last night's loss, 6-1 with a lead after seven innings and 5-1 with a lead after eight innings...Iowa is now 0-1 when scoring eight runs this year after losing last night, a category in which they were 11-0 last year.

Check out the Iowa Cubs Statistics



International League Stories from April 15, 2023


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Iowa Cubs Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central