IL Iowa Cubs

August 30 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs at Columbus Clippers

Published on August 30, 2022 under International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (56-67) @ COLUMBUS CLIPPERS (71-50)

Tuesday - 5:15 PM CT - Huntington Park - Columbus, OH

LHP Wyatt Short (3-1, 4.09) vs. LHP Konnor Pilkington (2-3, 5.56)

TONIGHT'S GAME: Iowa and Columbus will play game one of their six-game series tonight, with Wyatt Short taking the ball for Iowa. Short will make his second consecutive start and third of the year for the I-Cubs, set to make his 21st appearance of the year. Through his first 20 games, the southpaw is 3-1 with a 4.09 ERA, allowing 20 earned runs on 39 hits over 44.0 innings pitched. He has walked 24 batters compared to 38 strikeouts while opponents are hitting .232 against him. On the other side, Konnor Pilkington will toe the rubber for the Clippers, set to make his 10th start of the year. He is 2-3 with a 5.56 ERA over 43.2 innings, allowing 27 earned runs on 49 hits over that span. Over those 10 games, he has walked 17 batters while striking out 40. In his lone start against Iowa back on May 20, Pilkington went 4.2 innings, allowing one earned run on six hits. He did not walk a batter while striking out four in the outing.

WELL, WHAT HAPPENED WAS: Iowa went just 1-5 in their last six-game series against Columbus, winning the first game of the series and then dropping the final five contests. Over the six-game set, the Clippers hit .333 as a team against the I-Cubs, registering 77 hits, 40 walks and got hit by five pitches, giving them an on-base percentage as a team of .436. 77 hits, 40 walks and an OBP of .436 were all season highs that Iowa has allowed in a single series this year. Over just the final five games of the series, Iowa allowed 60 runs, including double-digits in four of the five games, allowing nine in the series finale. Iowa used 24 pitchers to get through those five games with only four of them not allowing a run and just two of them not surrendering a free pass. In that series, Iowa had trouble keeping an inning from unraveling. The Clippers scored three or more runs in 11 different innings over the final five games, starting with a 16-3 loss for Iowa back on June 29th. In that game, they allowed a six-run second inning, a three-run sixth inning and a five-run eighth inning. On June 30th, a 12-6 loss, they gave up six in the sixth and three in the seventh. July 1 brought a six-run third inning and a four-run eighth inning as part of a 13-4 loss. On Saturday, they lost 10-6 in extra-innings, giving up three runs in the sixth and five runs in the 10th inning, while in the finale on Sunday, July 3, the Clippers scored five runs in the third and three runs in the eighth to win 9-6.

BIG LEAGUE IMPACT: Michael Hermosillo began his Major League rehab assignment with Iowa last Thursday and has reached base safely in nearly half of his plate appearances since. After going 2-for-4 on Thursday, he went 0-for-2 with two walks Friday, then 3-for-5 with two doubles and a triple on Sunday. He has scored four runs and driven in one while earning a .455 average and a 1.280 OPS through his first three games with Iowa. The outfielder, who spent the majority of last year in Iowa, appeared in just 17 games with Chicago this spring before hitting the injured list on May 8. Including this weekend's stats, he now owns a .316 career average with the I-Cubs (50-for-158).

PATIENCE AND POWER: John Hicks wasn't in Sunday's starting lineup, but he found a way to contribute anyway after entering as a pinch runner for an injured Erick Castillo. Hicks played eight of nine innings and went 1-for-2 with a double and two walks. The double was his 19th of the season and kept him locked in a first-place tie on the active roster with Narciso Crook, who also collected one on Sunday. While the power has been par for the course for Hicks this season, his recent patience at the plate has been a little more unexpected. On top of four extra-base hits in his past three games, the catcher has also taken five walks in that span. Before last week, Hicks had taken two walks in a game just once this season, but he accomplished the feat twice in the series against St. Paul. He has taken a walk in each of his last three games, marking the second time this year that he's done so, and the effort has increased his season total to 18, which is his most in a year since 2018.

SHORT'S STORY: Wyatt Short is set to make his third start of the year today, which will be a career high. In six seasons of professional ball, the lefty has made just four starts compared to 187 relief appearances. In fact, he worked exclusively out of the bullpen until 2021, when he made his debut out of the rotation in two spot starts for Double-A Tennessee. Short returned to relieving with Iowa this season, but was called back to spot-starting duty on June 24 in Louisville, then again last Wednesday against St. Paul. He pitched a career-high five shutout innings against the Saints, good enough to earn him his first win as a starting pitcher. Coupled with his four-inning outing against Louisville, Short has tossed nine innings in two starts for Iowa and allowed just a single earned run. He is now 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA (3ER/15.0IP) across all four of his professional starts.

AGAINST COLUMBUS: The I-Cubs and Clippers are scheduled to play game one of their six-game series tonight, the final six games between the two teams in the 2022 season. Through the first 12 games of the year, Iowa is just 4-8 against Columbus with all 12 games being played at Principal Park. Tonight's game will be the first game of the year between the I-Cubs and Clippers at Huntington Park, where Iowa went 3-3 last year. Iowa is 3-3 at Huntington Park all-time while going 5-13 at Principal Park all-time, holding a record of just 8-16 against the Clippers overall all-time. Over their first 12 games this year, Columbus is outscoring Iowa by 23 runs, at 85-62. They enter tonight's contest with five straight wins against Iowa.

SHORT HOPS: Iowa lost on Sunday by a score of 13-12, marking their first loss of the season when they scored 10 or more runs, moving to 5-1 on the year in those games... Jonathan Holder suffered the loss to St. Paul on Sunday, his first loss since June 28, 2019 against Lehigh Valley...the I-Cubs dropped to 0-13 this year when allowing 10 or more runs with their 13-12 loss on Sunday...Iowa went 7-for-21 with runners in scoring position and stranded 14 men on-base.

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