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August 25 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs at Indianapolis Indians

August 25, 2023 - International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (69-51) @ INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS (57-64)

Friday, August 25 - 6:05 PM CT - Victory Field - Indianapolis, IN

RHP Caleb Kilian (7-1, 3.87) vs. RHP Max Kranick (0-0, -.--)

TONIGHT'S GAME: As they trail the series 2-1, the I-Cubs send Caleb Kilian to the mound tonight. The righty is set for his 19th start of the year and second since returning from Chicago. In his last three Triple-A starts, Kilian has allowed just three earned runs in 16.1 innings. He has struck out 11 hitters and walked four in that stretch. Tonight marks his fourth start against the Indians this season. All three of those contests have resulted in a no-decision for the California native. In his career, Kilian is 0-2 with a 8.22 ERA against Indy. For the Indians, Max Kranick will serve as an opener. He will make his first appearance of the season since being placed on the 60-day Injured List on April 27. Following Kranick is set to be Quinn Priester. Priester was optioned to Indianapolis on August 15 after six starts with Pittsburgh. At Triple-A this season, Priester holds a 7-3 record with a 4.12 ERA. In four starts versus Iowa this year, Priester is 3-0 with an even 3.00 ERA. In his last outing against the I-Cubs, he allowed six runs on eight hits in 5.1 innings on June 24.

CAN'T STOP CANARIO: Alexander Canario has been on a tear at the plate. With a 4-for-5 performance last night, he extended his hitting streak to 12 games and has now hit a home run in three straight. In the 12-game stretch that started on August 8, Canario is 21-for-54 (.389) with 13 runs, seven doubles, six home runs, 21 RBI and three walks. Last night was the outfielder's best performance in his streak. His four hits were all for extra bases: two doubles and two home runs. Canario has recorded four hits five times in his minor league career, but four extra-base hits is a career high. His previous high was three which he's done twice with three home runs on September 20, 2022, and two doubles and a home run on August 3, 2019. Canario's four extra-base hits tie the single game season high for the International League, four other IL players have hit that mark. It's the second most in all of Triple-A and second most in all of baseball. Only Triple-A hitter Jose Iglesias and MLB hitter Adolis García have recorded five extra-base hits in a single game this season. Canario now has 18 extra-base hits on the season, 10 doubles and eight home runs. 13 of those hits have come during his 12-game hitting streak. The streak is the longest in Canario's career, he had a nine-game streak from August 1 to August 11, 2021, when he played for High-A South Bend. He trails only Pete Crow-Armstrong among the I-Cubs this season who hit safely in 15 straight games earlier this month.

TROUBLE IN THE FINAL INNINGS: Iowa suffered another late loss last night as they fell on a walk-off win. While the I-Cubs have only been walked off three times, they've had trouble recently in late innings. In Wednesday's contest, the I-Cubs held the lead after seven innings. They proceeded to give up six runs in the bottom of the eighth which eventually proved to be the winning runs. Last week, the I-Cubs lost three games with their opponent winning in their final inning at-bat. Iowa's run differential is staggering in the eighth inning, they've been outscored 92-60, the largest difference and only one of two innings Iowa has been outscored. In their last 10 games, the I-Cubs have been outscored 23-9 in the eighth inning and beyond.

MONTH OF MERVIS: Infielder Matt Mervis came into last night's game in the fifth inning and provided some clutch offense for the I-Cubs. On the night, Mervis went 1-for-3 at the plate with a run scored, a home run, and two RBI. His first recorded RBI of the game came in the seventh on a ground out, which cut Iowa's deficit down to two at 9-7. In the ninth, with the I-Cubs down to their final out, Mervis got hold of a sweeper on a 2-2 count off Cody Bolton and sent it 421 feet to bring the contest even at 9-9. The 25-year-olds performance last night is just a highlight of what he has done during the month of August at the plate. This month Mervis has slashed numbers of .278/.409/.611 with three doubles, seven home runs, and 18 RBI. He has clearly been seen the ball well too as he has hit safely in 12 of his last 15 games, collecting four multi-hit outings in that span.

MANY MULTIPLES: Despite the loss to Indianapolis last night, the Iowa offense was able to put up some numbers. The I-Cubs totaled 14 hits against the Indians pitching staff last night with nine of those hits going for extra bases. For Iowa, every player that recorded a hit, except for one in Matt Mervis, had a multi-hit game. Outfielder Alexander Canario led the charge collecting four hits on the night with two homers and a pair of doubles. Canario's four hits tied the season-high for the most hits in a game by player and marked the eighth time that has been achieved this season. Darius Hill was next in line and went 3-for-5 and was just a home run shy of the cycle. The outfielder scored three runs, leading the way for Iowa. Rounding things out for Iowa was the trio of Jared Young, Jake Slaughter, and Bryce Windham who each tallied two hits.

AGAINST INDIANAPOLIS: Iowa and Indianapolis will play game four of their final six-game series this year tonight, with Indianapolis currently having the series lead at 2-1. By suffering the loss in last night's contest, the I-Cubs moved to 13-8 this year against Indianapolis, going 9-3 at Principal Park and 4-5 now at Victory Field. Iowa will look to end its two-game skid against the Indians and begin another three-game win streak over the weekend as it did in the last series versus the Indians at Principal Park. Iowa is now 51-64 all-time overall against Indianapolis, going 23-37 all-time on the road against the Indians.

SHORT HOPS: Last night marked Iowa's first loss when scoring nine or more runs, they are 33-1 in those games ... With six walks last night, Iowa has matched last month's total of 113 in six less games and surpassed May's total (112) in eight less games ... Iowa dropped to third place in the International League West second half, it's the lowest position for them since they were in fourth place on August 6, Iowa is now 1.5 games back in the division ... Danis Correa allowed six runs in his 1.0 inning last night which not only sets a season high runs allowed but also a career high ... Iowa is 15-3 when Caleb Kilian is the starting pitcher, two of the losses have come within Kilian's last four starts ... Alexander Canario joins Jake Slaughter as players who have homered in three-straight games in the last five days.

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