IL Iowa Cubs

July 31 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs at St. Paul Saints

Published on July 31, 2022 under International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (44-53) @ ST. PAUL SAINTS (46-50)

Sunday - 2:07 PM - CHS Field - Saint Paul, MN

RHP Javier Assad (0-1, 3.77) vs. RHP Ariel Jurado (0-2, 6.65)

TODAY'S GAME: Javier Assad will toe the rubber for the I-Cubs in the sixth and final game of the series against St. Paul today. The righty is 0-1 with a 3.77 ERA in four games with Iowa this year, allowing six earned runs on 17 hits over 14.1 innings. He has walked four batters while striking out 12, allowing opponents to hit .288 against him. Assad pitched out of relief in game one of the series on Tuesday, allowing one earned run on three hits over three innings. He struck out five batters in the outing, the most he has fanned all year with the I-Cubs. Opposite of Assad will be Ariel Jurado taking the ball for the Saints. Jurado is 0-2 with a 6.65 ERA through seven games with St. Paul, allowing 17 earned runs on 22 hits in 23.0 innings pitched. He is set to make his third start of the year and his first since July 2 against Omaha. Today will mark the right-hander's first appearance of the year against Iowa.

GOOD BOUNCE BACK: Last night marked Nicholas Padilla's second game at the Triple-A level, throwing two scoreless innings. In his first outing with Iowa this year in game one of the series back on July 26, the righty allowed one earned run on one hit and one walk in his one inning of work. He followed that up with allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out four in last night's contest. Padilla struck out 25 batters in 22.1 innings with Double-A Tennessee prior to his promotion.

NOT WHAT YOU WANT TO SEE: In Friday's 5-4 extra-inning win, Iowa walked 11 batters, just one shy of their season high set back on June 29 against Columbus. Starter Caleb Kilian walked a career-high six batters over his four innings of work, while Wyatt Short walked two in his two frames. The six walks from Kilian not only set a new career high, but also set a new season high for Iowa. Six walks allowed is the most any single pitcher has allowed for Iowa all year, with the previous high being five done four times. After walking 11 batters in Friday's win, the I-Cubs walked another nine batters in last night's 7-1 defeat. Each pitcher walked at least one batter, with starter Anderson Espinoza allowing four free passes and Eury Ramos surrendering three. The two combined to walk six batters alone in the second inning. Their nine walks last night give them 20 in their last two games and 442 on the season. Their 442 walks this year puts them in 20th in the International League and tied for 27th in the entire Triple-A.

KEEP IT ROLLING: Iowa's leadoff-man continued his impressive season in Friday night's game, collecting his team-leading 28th multi-hit performance of the year. Dixon Machado went 2-for-4 with a run scored, a double, home run, RBI and walk on Friday, growing his team-lead in multiple different categories. His two hits gave him 106 on the year, 31 more than any other I-Cubs player. He collected his 20th double of the year to grow his team-lead to five, while his walk gave him 46 on the year, 21 more than any other Iowa player. He has led off for Iowa in 81% (79-of-97) of their games and has collected at least one hit in 67 of his 85 games with an at-bat. Machado sits in third in the International League in batting average (.312), fourth in on-base percentage (.402) and third in hits (106), one of just six players in the IL with 100 or more hits.

STAY HOT: Narciso Crook entered the All-Star break with a .252 (52-for-206) average with Iowa, while also making his Major League debut with Chicago in the first half of the season. As good as his first half was, the outfielder has had an extremely impressive start to the second half of his season, collecting at least one hit in all eight games he has played. He has also clubbed a home run in four of the eight games, including two long balls on July 23 against Omaha. His two hits last night extended his hitting streak to a season-long 10 games, also setting a career high, surpassing his previous high of nine games set back in 2015 with Single-A Daytona. The outfielder leads the team with both 16 home runs and is tied for the team-lead with 47 runs batted in, hitting .273 (65-for-238) in 67 games with Iowa this year. Crook's recent hot streak moved him onto the leaderboards in the International League, placing him second in slugging percentage (.550) and sixth in OPS (.909).

JUST KEEP THROWING ZEROS: Matt Dermody has filled many roles for Iowa this year, starting a career-high 13 games while throwing seven games in relief. The lefty is one of two pitchers who have been with Iowa all season and has arguably been the most consistent arm the I-Cubs have had this year. He threw four more scoreless innings of relief last night, giving him 12.1 straight scoreless innings. The 32-year-old allowed just two hits and one walk while striking out four last night, giving him 70 strikeouts on the year. His 70 strikeouts are good for second on the team, while he leads the team in innings pitched (79.1) and wins (6). Tonight's game marked the first game he has pitched since July 3 that he did not record a win, winning four of his last five outings including three straight entering last night. With his four scoreless innings last night, Dermody climbed into the International League leaderboard with his ERA of 3.74 (6), WHIP of 1.30 (9) and winning percentage of .667 (4). In his last eight games, Dermody is 4-0 with a 1.21 ERA as opponents are hitting just .206 against him. He has allowed just five earned runs on 28 hits and 10 walks while striking out 36 over his 37.1 innings, allowing one home run and hitting four batters. He has thrown four or more innings in all eight of those games, including five innings in five of the eight.

AGAINST ST. PAUL: Iowa and St. Paul will play the series finale today with St. Paul currently leading the series three games to two. With the loss last night, the I-Cubs fell to 7-10 against the Saints this year including 5-6 at CHS Field. They are now 14 games under .500 against St. Paul all-time, going 19-33, while being six games under the even mark here on the road at 14-20. With their six-run win last night, St. Paul now leads the series scoring by six runs, at 27-21.

SHORT HOPS: Darius Hill (9) and Levi Jordan (7) each extended their hitting streaks in last night's game, with Hill just one game away from his season long with Iowa set back from June 10-24 and Jordan setting his season long with the I-Cubs...last night marked just the third game out of 17 between the two teams that St. Paul has not hit at least one home run against Iowa.

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