IL Iowa Cubs

August 26 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs at Indianapolis Indians

August 26, 2023 - International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (69-52) @ INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS (58-64)

Saturday, August 26 - 6:05 PM CT - Victory Field - Indianapolis, IN

RHP Nick Neidert (5-5, 5.44) vs. RHP Roansy Contreras (0-0, 2.45)

TONIGHT'S GAME: Iowa and Indianapolis are set to play game five of their six-game series tonight, with Nick Neidert squaring off against Roansy Contreras. Neidert is set to take the ball for his team-leading 21st start of the year, looking to improve on his 5-5 record. The righty holds an ERA of 5.44, allowing 57 earned runs on 109 hits and 34 walks while striking out 76 batters over his 94.1 innings pitched. In five games (two starts) against the Indians, Neidert is 1-1 with a 9.60 ERA, allowing 16 earned runs over 15.0 innings pitched. He has allowed 15 hits including three home runs, while walking 10 batters and striking out 12. Indianapolis has hit .263 against him in those five games. On the other side, Contreras is making just his fourth appearance and third start with the Indians tonight. The 23-year-old is 0-0 with a 2.45 ERA through his first three games, allowing three earned runs on four hits including two home runs, six walks and nine strikeouts. Opponents are hitting just .114 against him over that time, as he has allowed two or less hits in all three games. His last time out was August 20 against St. Paul and the righty allowed two earned runs on two hits, both solo home runs, walking two while striking out two over 4.0 innings pitched. Tonight will mark his first game this year against Iowa and first against the I-Cubs since he started against them on April 30 last year at Principal Park.

THE LONE BRIGHT SPOT: Luis Vazquez was the only I-Cubs hitter to look comfortable at the plate last night, going 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI. The shortstop collected two of Iowa's three hits as a team and drove in their lone run from the eight-hole. His two-hit game gave him 11 multi-hit performances this year, including nine two-hit games and two three-hit contests. It snapped an 0-for-6 skid to start the series, as the 23-year-old had yet to register a hit while taking two walks and striking out three times in his first two games this series against the Indians. Vázquez is now hitting .270 (38-for-141) with seven doubles, six home runs and 30 runs batted in this year for Iowa. He has taken 24 walks while striking out 31 times, raising his on-base percentage to .392 in his 42 games played.

DID HIS PART: Caleb Kilian had yet another dominant outing last night, tossing six innings of one-run ball. The righty allowed six hits while walking none and striking out seven batters, good enough to tie his season high from back on July 14. Despite recording a quality start, Kilian didn't get the win, as Iowa trailed 1-0 when he exited the game. That marks the second time in his last three starts and third time overall this season that Kilian has spun a quality start and Iowa has lost the game. Iowa is 5-3 in quality starts this year, with all three losses coming when Kilian starts. Although he didn't get credited with his eighth win of the year, Kilian did move back into the leaderboards among pitchers in the International League. The 26-year-old is now second in ERA (3.73), sixth in batting average against (.257), fourth in WHIP (1.26) and second in winning percentage (.875). He also leads Iowa in wins (7) and innings pitched (99.0) and is second in games started (19) and strikeouts (77). Iowa is 15-4 when Kilian starts, with three of those four losses being quality starts from the right-hander and the fourth coming when he allowed three earned runs over 5.0 innings pitched to Indianapolis back on July 20.

CONTACT PLAYS: Iowa struck out 16 times last night as a team, just one shy of their season-high 17 back on August 1 against Toledo. Six players in Iowa's starting lineup had multi-strikeout games, including Matt Mervis and Jared Young each striking out four times. The top five hitters in Iowa's lineup were held without a hit, as they combined to go 0-for-18 with two walks and 11 strikeouts. The offense also scored just one run on three hits, marking the 12th time all year they've been held to one run or less and the fifth time they have been limited to just three hits, a season low. The low-scoring affair was not expected, as Iowa had scored 23 runs on 35 hits through the first three games against Indianapolis entering last night's game.

ON THE MEND: Brad Boxberger pitched in his third game since joining Iowa on major league rehab back on August 20. The righty signed with Chicago back on December 15, 2022, and was 0-1 with a 5.52 ERA in 17 relief appearances with the Cubs prior to his injury. He was placed on the 15-day injured list and immediately transferred to the 60-day injured list on May 14 with a right forearm strain. The 35-year-old joined the ACL Cubs on a rehab assignment on August 14 prior to joining the I-Cubs. Over his first two games, Boxberger allowed three earned runs on four hits and two walks in 1.1 innings pitched but came back with a scoreless frame last night. The California native spun a perfect seventh inning of relief last night, striking out one of the three batters he faced.

SNAPPED: Alexander Canario had his season-long 12-game hitting streak snapped last night with an 0-for-4 performance. The outfielder hit .389 (21-for-54) over the stretch, clubbing seven doubles and six home runs along the way. He drove in 21 batters over the 12-game span, taking three walks to raise his on-base percentage to .414. The 13 extra-base hits gave him a slugging percentage of .852. Both Canario (12) and Pete Crow-Armstrong (15) have had their hitting streaks snapped this series at Indianapolis.

AGAINST INDIANAPOLIS: After taking the first game of the series back on Tuesday night, Iowa has now dropped three straight games to the Indians and are in danger of losing the series tonight. Despite trailing the series three games to one, Iowa has been outscored by Indianapolis by just one run this series, at 25-24. Iowa enters tonight's game going 13-9 against the Indians overall this year including 4-6 here at Victory Field. They are 51-67 all-time overall against Indianapolis and 23-38 all-time on the road.

SHORT HOPS: Last night marked Iowa's second loss of the season when they allow two runs, moving to 11-2 in that category; it also marked just their second loss when allowing three runs or less this year, going 38-2 in those games...Iowa dropped their first road game of the year when their starter gives them six or more innings, moving to 3-1 in that category and 8-3 overall...the I-Cubs are 5-3 in quality starts this year, with all three losses coming when Caleb Kilian starts; they are 15-4 in his 19 starts this year and he has thrown five-plus innings allowing three runs or less in each of those four losses...2.5 games ties the furthest Iowa has been out of first place in the International League West division all year and is the first time they are there since June 14.

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