IL Iowa Cubs

April 19 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs at Buffalo Bisons

April 19, 2023 - International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (8-4) @ BUFFALO BISONS (6-8)

Wednesday - 5:05 PM CT - Sahlen Field - Buffalo, NY

RHP Caleb Kilian (0-0, 12.79) vs. RHP Casey Lawrence (0-2, 5.54)

TONIGHT'S GAME: Iowa and Buffalo are set to play game one of a six-game series tonight, marking Iowa's first game since an 11-8 loss to Omaha on Friday night. After getting Saturday, Sunday and last night's games postponed due to bad weather, Saturday's projected starter Caleb Kilian will get the nod tonight. 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. Casey Lawrence will toe the rubber for the Bisons, looking for his first victory of the year in his fourth start. Through his first three starts, the righty is 0-2 with a 5.54 ERA, allowing eight earned runs on 14 hits including four home runs. He has not walked a single batter while striking out 17. In two starts against Iowa last year, Lawrence went 1-0 with a 0.90 ERA, allowing just one earned run on four hits while striking out nine in 10.0 innings.

MISSED SOME TIME: Iowa has not played a game since Friday night in an 11-8 loss to Omaha. Saturday's game was postponed and rescheduled for a doubleheader on Sunday, but inclement weather on Sunday resulted in both weekend games getting canceled. After missing both Saturday and Sunday, Iowa traveled to Buffalo, where last night's game one got postponed for a doubleheader tomorrow. With a Monday travel day, it has now been four full days that Iowa has not played a game. They had two games postponed in the St. Paul series, two in their last homestand and now one in Buffalo, currently four games short of their original schedule. The last time three straight games were postponed for the I-Cubs dates back to July 13-15, 2017, when the first three games out of the All-Star break were postponed at Colorado Springs.

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 puts 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 tonight, 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, but he also ranks in the top-10 of many statistics among all International League players. Even after Iowa's two weekend games being canceled and yesterday postponed, Morel is sixth in batting average (.378), tied for ninth in RBI (14), tied for second in OBP (.500), third in slugging percentage (.822), first in OPS (1.322), tied for sixth in doubles (6), tied for second in extra-base hits (11) and tied for tenth in runs scored (13).

LET'S PLAY SIX: With each of their scheduled weekend games against Omaha getting postponed, Iowa has still yet to play a six-game series this year. They opened, like all Triple-A teams did, with a three-game series to start the year. From there, they went to play a scheduled six-game series at St. Paul, but had each of the first two games postponed. They played a doubleheader on Saturday to make it a five-game series, but still have one to make up. Last week, Iowa then played each of the first four games against Omaha and ran into bad weather in the weekend, forcing each of those games to be postponed. Entering their fourth series of the year, the I-Cubs have played a three-game, four-game and five-game series. Last series against the Storm Chasers was the first series Iowa has not won this year, as they split the first four games evenly, at 2-2.

UNFAMILIAR TERRITORY: After losing on Friday 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 maintained the top-spot getting a lead as big as 1.5 games after their win against Omaha on April 11 until their loss on Friday. Between Saturday and Sunday's games being canceled, yesterday's postponed contest and Memphis going 8-2 in their last 10 games including winning eight straight, Iowa is now a game back of the Redbirds in the standings. The I-Cubs sit in third place, also being a half-game back of Toledo.

A PATIENT APPROACH: Iowa's top two hitters in the lineup in Friday's game 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 in their last game on Friday night, Mervis now has 13 free passes on the year while Morel enters tonight's game with 10. Mervis' 13 walks is tied for fourth in the International League despite missing three straight games. Mervis has four more walks (13) than strikeouts (9), while Morel is just under that mark with 10 walks and 16 strikeouts.

AGAINST BUFFALO: Iowa and Buffalo will open a six-game series with game one tonight. The I-Cubs went 5-7 last year against the Bisons, including a 2-4 record here at Sahlen Field. Last year was the first time the two teams had played since 1997. Iowa is 113-107 against Buffalo all-time overall, while going 50-61 on the road against the Bisons.

SHORT HOPS: Entering Friday night's game, Iowa had allowed just three runs in the ninth inning all year; they surrendered four runs in the ninth inning Friday night alone, more than doubling their previous total...Friday 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 Friday 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 Friday night, a category in which they were 11-0 last year.

Check out the Iowa Cubs Statistics



International League Stories from April 19, 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.

OurSports Central