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August 23 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs vs. St. Paul Saints

August 23, 2022 - International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (52-65) vs. ST. PAUL SAINTS (57-58)

Tuesday - 6:38 PM CT - Principal Park - Des Moines, IA

RHP Caleb Kilian (4-2, 4.03) vs. RHP Dereck Rodríguez (6-3, 3.94)

TONIGHT'S GAME: Iowa and St. Paul are set to play game one of their six-game series tonight, with Iowa sending Caleb Kilian to the mound. Kilian will look to end Iowa's three-game losing streak and increase his team lead in wins, innings pitched and strikeouts. The righty is 4-2 with a 4.03 through 19 starts this year with Iowa, allowing 36 earned runs on 81 hits and 37 walks in his 80.1 innings. Over that span, he has struck out a team-leading 100 batters, putting him at fifth in the International League. He had his worst outing of the month last time out against Indianapolis, allowing six earned runs on eight hits and two walks over just three innings. Prior to that start, he had thrown four or more innings allowing two or less earned runs in each of his previous four starts. Opposite of Kilian will be righty Dereck Rodríguez, who is 6-3 with a 3.94 ERA in 18 games including 12 starts for St. Paul this year. Rodriguez has allowed 33 earned runs on 70 hits and 22 walks while striking out 73 batters over his 75.1 innings pitched. He made one start here at Principal Park back on June 4 and allowed six earned runs on seven hits over two innings, while throwing 5.1 innings of one-run ball in relief in his only other outing against Iowa this year on July 29 at CHS Field.

MR. RELIABLE: While Iowa's offense struggled in Indianapolis, the slump didn't seem to reach Darius Hill. The outfielder went 6-for-17 with a double and four walks last week, earning a series average of .353. That average was the highest by any I-Cub in Indianapolis, but it was hardly remarkable for Hill, who has hit .341 through 59 games with Iowa this year. If he qualified for leaderboards, Hill's season mark would lead all of Triple-A baseball by almost twenty points. He has racked up a team-leading 25 multi-hit games compared to just 14 hitless games and has struck out more than once in a game on just four occasions. He'll enter tonight on a nine-game hitting streak, meaning three of Iowa's eight longest hitting streaks this year belong to Hill. If he gets at least one hit in tonight's opener against the Saints, Hill will have logged a hitting streak of ten or more games in all three of the months he's spent on Iowa's roster.

THE PITCHING SITCH: Though the I-Cubs had their usual off day yesterday, they'll still enter tonight's game a little more short-handed than usual on the pitching front. After Anderson Espinoza was recalled to the Major League squad on Saturday, Javier Assad and Nicholas Padilla both joined Chicago's roster ahead of today's doubleheader. That leaves Iowa one starter short with 12 pitchers in the bullpen. Five of those relievers pitched in Sunday's bullpen game, including Dakota Mekkes and Blake Whitney, who both threw more than 30 pitches each, and Cam Sanders, who threw 27. With a rotation spot to fill and several relievers on short rest, the I-Cubs will hope tonight's starter, Caleb Kilian, can get the homestand off to a good start.

COMES IN AT NUMBER NINE: Alexander Canario is set to make his Triple-A debut tonight, entering tonight's game ranked as Chicago's No. 9 overall prospect by MLB.com. In his last game with Double-A Tennessee on Sunday, the outfielder went 2-for-5 with two home runs and four runs batted in. He started the year with High-A South Bend and played in 24 games there before getting promoted to the Smokies on May 9. Since then, he has played in 81 games with Tennessee, hitting .248 (77-for-310) with 18 doubles and 24 home runs.

TURN IT AROUND: Iowa's offense was held to very little production last series against Indianapolis, scoring three runs or less in five of the six games they played. The only game they scored more than three runs they lost by a score of 10-5 in game two of the series. The I-Cubs scored just two runs in each of their last three games and tallied just nine total runs over their last four games. They scored just 16 runs all series against Indianapolis, marking the least amount of runs they have scored in any six-game series all year. Over the six games, Iowa recorded just nine extra-base hits and 40 total hits. As a team, the I-Cubs averaged 2.7 runs per game while averaging just 6.7 hits per game.

DOING HIS PART: Since being assigned to Iowa's roster on August 5, Jeremiah Estrada has done his part, not allowing a single earned run in his four innings pitched. He has allowed five hits and one walk while striking out five batters to keep his opponents off the board. The right-hander was Iowa's only pitcher on Sunday to not allow an earned run in his lone inning of work.

AGAINST ST. PAUL: Iowa and St. Paul are set to play game one of their six-game series tonight with the Saints currently leading the season series by four games, at 11-7. They are 4-2 here at Principal Park this year entering tonight's game and 7-5 at CHS Field against the I-Cubs. Iowa has struggled in the two years they have played St. Paul, going just 19-34 all-time against the Saints including holding a 5-13 record against St. Paul all-time here at Principal Park. This six-game series will be the last series of the year between the two teams. Entering tonight's contest, St. Paul has outscored Iowa by 25 runs through their first 18 games, at 123-98. Over those 18 games, four (22%) of them have gone into extra-innings while St. Paul has scored seven or more runs in nine (50%) of the games.

SHORT HOPS: Iowa's leadoff hitters this year have the best average in the International League and are second-best in all of Triple-A hitting .308 while their 71 strikeouts is the least in Triple-A baseball...Blake Whitney suffered his fifth loss of the year with Iowa on Sunday and his second in Iowa's last three games...both pieces involved in the Kris Bryant trade last year will play for Iowa tonight, with Caleb Kilian making his 20th start of the year for Iowa while Alexander Canario is set to make his Triple-A debut.

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