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August 17 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs vs. Louisville Bats

August 17, 2023 - International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (67-46) vs. LOUISVILLE BATS (60-54)

Thursday, August 17 - 6:38 PM - Principal Park - Des Moines, IA

LHP Jordan Wicks (3-0, 3.81) vs. RHP Lyon Richardson (0-0, 1.42)

TONIGHT'S GAME: With a 2-0 series lead, Iowa gives Jordan Wicks the starting nod as they look to take their eighth straight win. Tonight will be Wicks' seventh start of the year as an I-Cub. He boasts a 3-0 record with a 3.81 ERA through his first six. The lefty has allowed just one earned run in each of his last three outings, good for a 1.80 ERA across those 15.0 innings. Wicks has totaled six strikeouts and two wins across his last three starts, as the I-Cubs are a perfect 6-0 in games where Wicks is the starting pitcher. He will face Louisville for the first time in his career tonight. Opposite of Wicks is set to be Lyon Richardson taking the ball for the Bats. Richardson will make just his third start of the year for Louisville and third start in his Triple-A career. The righty has tossed just 6.1 innings this season where he's only allowed one run and two hits. He has struck out 10 of the 24 hitters he's faced (.417). Tonight is the first time Richardson will face the I-Cubs in his young career. Wicks and Richardson make up an exciting pitching matchup as their organization's No. 10 and No. 15 ranked prospects, respectively.

LIGHTS OUT: Iowa's bullpen has been nearly perfect through two games this week. A collection of eight arms have allowed just two hits and one run, unearned, across 12.1 innings pitched. A reliever has earned the win both nights as well. On Tuesday night, Stephen Gonsalves, Nick Burdi, Brendon Little and Chris Clarke combined for 6.0 shutout, hitless innings. The relievers allowed five walks and struck out five. Clarke earned the win after his shutout ninth and 10th innings and Iowa walked the game off in extras. Yesterday, it was 6.1 innings for the I-Cubs bullpen from Samuel Reyes, Danis Correa, Anthony Kay and Cam Sanders. The four put together eight strikeouts with five walks, while allowing two hits and just one unearned run. The win went to Reyes as he tossed 2.1 hitless, scoreless innings. This series, the I-Cubs bullpen is performing far better than their season average 6.16 ERA. On the year, the bullpen averages 5.74 strikeouts per game, while this week they are averaging 6.5.

STARTING WITH A BANG: Samuel Reyes joined Iowa on August 12 and has made an immediate impact in the I-Cubs bullpen. In two relief appearances, Reyes has yet to allow a run. In his season debut with Iowa on August 12 in Omaha, Reyes went 3.0 innings. He gave up one hit, his lone one allowed this year, walked one hitter and struck out another. Yesterday, Reyes spun 2.1 shutout innings where he walked two and struck out two. The righty earned the win in each of those appearances, giving him a 2-0 record with a 0.00 ERA through two outings. His perfect ERA leads the I-Cubs active roster, along with Jared Young who hasn't allowed a run in his innings pitched as a position player. Reyes' two wins are tied for eighth overall and rank fifth among relievers for the I-Cubs. The Dominican Republic native made one appearance for the I-Cubs last season on May 28, 2022, allowing five runs in 1.2 innings and suffered the loss. With a fresh start in 2023, Reyes has been a completely different pitcher from the tough outing in 2022.

SIX GAME STREAKING: David Bote, Alexander Canario and Miles Mastrobuoni each are riding six-game hitting streaks headed into tonight's game. All three hitters extended their streaks in yesterday afternoon's victory with singles. The hitters have combined to go 26-for-77 (.338) with 19 runs, five doubles, one triple, three home runs and eight RBI across their six-game streaks. In the six-game stretch, Bote is 8-for-25 (.320) with five runs, two doubles, a home run and two RBI. Canario is 9-for-27 (.333) with seven runs, two doubles, one homer and two RBI. Mastrobuoni is 9-for-25 (.360) with seven runs, one double, one triple, one home run and four RBI. Both Canario and Mastrobuoni started their streak on August 8 while Bote began his on August 3.

THE KING OF DOUBLING: Yonathan Perlaza has long been one of the best hitters on Iowa's roster and that's largely due to his extra-base hits. His 54 on the season rank second in the International League. While his 18 home runs account for a big portion of those hits, his doubles that the cake. Perlaza has recorded 33 doubles this season, slugging two in yesterday's game to extend his total. Perlaza's 33 doubles rank first in the International League, second in all of Triple-A, seventh in all of Minor League Baseball and 11th in all of baseball. The switch hitter has a shot at Iowa record books this year. Steve Hammond holds the single-season record with 45 doubles, but Perlaza can break into the top-five with 38 or more doubles.

BACK TO SLAUGHTERING: In a big offensive day for Iowa, Jake Slaughter shined with a three-hit performance out of the nine hole. The infielder went 3-for-4 with two runs scored, a double and an RBI. His single in the bottom of the fifth inning was his first hit since August 5. Slaughter had been hitless for four straight games, going 0-for-20 over that span, his longest slump of the season. The month of August has been a bit of a struggle for Slaughter, going 6-for-34 (.176) with five runs, one double, one home run, two RBI, three walks and nine strikeouts. Before the month started, the Louisiana native held a .249 average, and it has now dropped down to .242. On August 12, it dropped to .235 which is the lowest clip for Slaughter this season. His three hit game yesterday got him back in the right rhythm. It was his second three-hit game of the season and his 20th multi-hit game, his first since July 26.

AGAINST LOUISVILLE: Iowa extended their win streak to four games against the Bats yesterday. They improved to 6-2 on the year and 28-22 all-time versus Louisville. The four-game win streak is the second longest in franchise history against the Bats. The longest is six games which came between 1996 and 2021.

SHORT HOPS: Iowa reached a season-high 21 games over .500 with their win yesterday, they have an overall record of 67-46... Pete Crow-Armstrong extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a two-hit performance yesterday, it is the longest active streak for Iowa and is tied for the second longest of the season, behind only Christopher Morel who hit safely in 11 straight games in April.

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