IL Iowa Cubs

August 18 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs at Indianapolis Indians

Published on August 18, 2022 under International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (51-62) @ INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS (55-56)

Thursday - 6:05 PM CT - Victory Field - Indianapolis, IN

RHP Javier Assad (0-2, 3.52) vs. RHP Jerad Eickhoff (5-4, 4.39)

TONIGHT'S GAME: With the series tied at one game apiece, Javier Assad will take the ball for Iowa looking to get them back on the winning track. Assad is 0-2 with a 3.52 ERA in seven games with Iowa, but is coming off of his best two starts of the year. The righty threw 5.1 innings of two-run ball on August 6 followed by a quality start on August 12, allowing just one earned run on five hits over six innings pitched. In that quality start against Louisville on Friday, Assad did not walk a single batter while striking out five. Opposite of Assad will be right-hander Jerad Eickhoff toeing the rubber for the Indians, set to pitch in his 22nd game for Indianapolis. Eickhoff is 5-4 with a 4.39 ERA, allowing 40 earned runs on 68 hits over 82.0 innings pitched. In those 82 innings he has walked just 19 batters while striking out 85 and holding opponents to a batting average of just .221. He has pitched in two games already this year against Iowa, allowing just three earned runs over 11.0 innings while striking out seven batters in each outing.

GOOD START: Tonight's starter, Javier Assad, has been a solid addition to Iowa's rotation in the second half. After going 4-1 with a 2.51 ERA in Double-A Tennessee, he was promoted to Iowa on July 3 and hasn't stopped improving since. Assad pitched 4.1 innings and allowed three runs - two of them earned - in his Triple-A debut on July 4, and since then, has limited opponents to three runs or less in all six of his appearances. All of his last three starts have lasted at least five innings, and he has limited opponents to a combined ten hits and two walks in those outings. His most recent start, on August 12, was the best yet, serving as his first quality start at Triple-A. Despite his reliability over the past month, Assad has yet to earn a win for his efforts; the right-hander is 0-2 with Iowa.

DOING HIS PART: With Iowa trailing 10-1 and a runner on first base in the eighth inning, Danis Correa entered the game with just one out. The righty was making just his second Triple-A appearance after earning the win on August 12 against Louisville. In that game, he allowed a home run to the first batter he faced and followed that with a single, but then struck out three batters to get out of the inning. Yesterday, Correa entered the game and needed just one pitch to record a double play and get out of the inning. He was the only pitcher for Iowa yesterday that did not allowed a run.

TYLER FOR TWO: Tyler Payne went 2-for-4 with two runs scored, two doubles and a run batted in in yesterday's loss to Indianapolis. The catcher was the only player in Iowa's lineup to record a multi-hit game and had the only two extra-base hits for the I-Cubs as well. With the two-hit game, Payne moved his average on the year with Iowa to .324 (35-for-108) with eight of those hits being doubles. The 29-year-old has played in just 33 games for the I-Cubs this year, but has made his playing time count. With the multi-hit game yesterday, he now has 11 two-hit games and 13 games with two or more hits, good for 39% (13-of-33) of his games played.

FIRST FOR EVERYTHING: Dakota Mekkes allowed one earned run on two hits and two walks in his 1.1 innings of work yesterday, marking the first earned run he has allowed since June 12 against Toledo. The righty started the year with Iowa on the injured list, getting activated on May 12. He had a rocky start to the year, throwing just two scoreless outings over his first eight games, going 0-2 with a 9.64 ERA in 9.1 innings over that span. He was placed on the developmental list back on June 14 and spent nearly a month on the list, getting activated on July 6. Since returning to Iowa's active roster, the 27-year-old is 1-0 with a 0.90 ERA in nine games spanning over 10.0 innings. He has allowed just the one earned run that came via a solo home run in yesterday's game while surrendering just nine hits and four walks compared to nine strikeouts.

A-KILIAN'S HEEL: For the second time this season, Caleb Kilian struggled in a start against Indianapolis. He pitched three innings in yesterday's game and allowed six earned runs on eight hits, which tied his season high. His previous eight-hit outing was also at Victory Field; on July 8, Kilian surrendered seven earned runs to the Indians in another three-inning outing. Indianapolis is now responsible for both of Kilian's Triple-A losses and over a third of the earned runs he has allowed all season with Iowa. In three starts, totaling 10.0 innings, the Indians have tagged Kilian for 14 runs on 19 hits and five walks. That's good for an 0-2 record and an ERA of 12.60 against the team. Indianapolis seems to be the only squad that has his number, however; Kilian has only allowed more than three earned runs in a start once outside of Indy, and owns a 2.82 ERA (22ER/70.1IP) against the rest of the league this year.

AGAINST INDIANAPOLIS: Iowa and Indianapolis will play game three of their six-game set at Victory Field tonight with the series tied at one game apiece. After losing by five runs yesterday, Iowa dropped back down to two games under .500 against Indianapolis this season, going 6-8 through their first 14 games. With their loss, they are an even 4-4 at Victory Field this year while going 2-4 at home against the Indians. Iowa fell to 18-29 all-time on the road against Indianapolis while going 37-55 all-time against the Indians. The Indians grew their lead over the I-Cubs in season scoring to seven, at 55-48.

SHORT HOPS: Iowa was out-hit by Indianapolis by eight hits yesterday, making them 5-41 on the year when getting out-hit by their opponent...with yesterday's 10-5 loss, Iowa fell to 0-12 this year when they allow 10 or more runs...Levi Jordan had his six-game hitting streak snapped yesterday after going 0-for-2 with a walk; he was just one game shy of his season-long seven game streak with Iowa set back from July 17-30.

Check out the Iowa Cubs Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



International League Stories from August 18, 2022


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