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August 19 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs at Indianapolis Indians

August 19, 2022 - International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (52-62) @ INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS (55-57)

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

RHP Hayden Wesneski (0-2, 19.06) vs. RHP Mike Burrows (1-3, 4.93)

TONIGHT'S GAME: Iowa will send Hayden Wesneski to the mound tonight looking to increase their series lead to two games over Indianapolis. Wesneski has had a difficult first two starts with Iowa, going 0-2 with a 19.06 ERA over 5.2 innings pitched. He has allowed 12 earned runs on 13 hits, walking three compared to striking out eight. The 24-year-old has not yet faced the Indians this year in his 21 combined starts with either Scranton/Wilkes-Barre or Iowa. Opposite of Wesneski will be Michael Burrows taking the ball for Indianapolis, set to pitch in his 10th game for the Indians. Through his first nine games including seven starts, Burrows is 1-3 with a 4.93 ERA, allowing 19 earned runs on 36 hits over 34.2 innings pitched. He has made one start against the I-Cubs this year, allowing five earned runs on eight hits over 4.0 innings. He struck out three and walked none, while Iowa hit .333 against him. On the season with Indianapolis, the right-hander has nine walks compared to 34 strikeouts.

SHUT IT DOWN: Jeremiah Estrada earned his first career Triple-A save yesterday, working around a leadoff single with a fly out and two strikeouts. The scoreless ninth inning gave Estrada three scoreless innings since joining Iowa's roster on August 7, allowing just five hits and one walk compared to six strikeouts through those three frames. His save yesterday put him at 8-for-10 in save opportunities this year, going 5-for-6 with High-A South Bend, 2-for-3 with Double-A Tennessee and now 1-for-1 with Iowa.

ROSTER ROTATION: Iowa had some roster moves prior to last night's game against Indianapolis, filling out their roster at the maximum 33 active players. First baseman Frank Schwindel got placed on the injured list, opening up a spot for catcher Erick Castillo to come off of the developmental list. Castillo is hitting .247 (20-for-81) in 24 games this year and gives Iowa three catchers on their active roster. The I-Cubs also added pitchers Anderson Espinoza from Chicago and CD Pelham from Tennessee's roster. Espinoza has had one stint from July 22 to August 2 on Iowa's roster while Pelham is joining the I-Cubs for the first time this year.

AGAINST INDIANAPOLIS: After a shutout win last night, Iowa now leads the series two games to one entering game four of the series tonight. With their three-run win, Iowa is one game behind Indianapolis this year in the season series at 7-8. They are a game above .500 here at Victory Field this year, going 5-4 while going just 2-4 at Principal Park against the Indians. It marked Iowa's 19th all-time win on the road against Indianapolis, going 19-29 here while going 38-55 all-time against the Indians overall. Despite taking a 3-0 win last night, the I-Cubs still trail the Indians by four runs in the season scoring total, at 55-51.

COMPLETELY IN CONTROL: For his second consecutive start, Javier Assad gave six quality innings in last night's contest, earning the first Triple-A win of his career. In his last outing on August 12 against Louisville, Assad allowed one earned run on five hits over six innings, striking out five along the way. He followed that up with an even better outing last night, throwing six scoreless innings, allowing just four hits and one walk compared to six strikeouts. Since joining Iowa's roster on July 3, he has not allowed more than three earned runs, holding his opponents to two or less earned runs in seven of his eight starts including all three in the month of August. With his first Triple-A win under his belt, Assad is now 1-2 with a 2.95 ERA in eight games (seven starts), allowing 12 earned runs on 31 hits over 36.2 innings pitched. He has controlled the strike zone well over his 36.2 innings, allowing just seven walks while striking out 37 batters.

POWER OUTAGE: John Hicks gave Iowa two runs of breathing room in the fourth inning last night with a two-run home run, bringing their lead to 3-0 over Indianapolis. The home run marked Iowa's first since Darius Hill hit a go-ahead three-run shot back on August 12 against Louisville. Iowa had played four full games without hitting a single home run. The deep fly gave Hicks 13 on the year putting him at third on the active roster, his first home run since August against Toledo.

TRENDING THE RIGHT WAY: In his first start with the organization back on August 7 against Toledo, Hayden Wesneski couldn't get through the second inning before being taken out of the game. He allowed eight earned runs on eight hits walking two while striking out two in just 1.2 innings pitched. He bounced back from that outing with four innings of four-run ball back on Saturday against Louisville. He walked just one batter while striking out six and his line didn't indicate the start Wesneski put forth. The righty allowed the first two batters he faced to reach base, but after that he retired 12 straight batters, not allowing a single run through four innings. Unfortunately for Iowa, he started the fifth inning allowed two singles, a walk and a double to drive in two runs and knock him out of the game. The two men he left on also came around to score, putting four earned runs on his line. The 24-year-old spun 68% of his pitches for strikes that outing, but suffered his second consecutive loss with Iowa and his ninth of the year.

SHORT HOPS: Iowa earned just their sixth win of the year when scoring less than four runs, putting them at 6-34 this year...last night marked Iowa's sixth shutout of the year, two shy of the number of times they have been shutout this year...with two extra-base hits last night, Iowa now has just 20 extra-base hits in 15 games against Indianapolis this year, hitting just .206 as a team with a .563 OPS in those 15 games.

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