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July 8 Game Notes: Iowa at Indianapolis

July 8, 2022 - International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


TONIGHT'S GAME: Caleb Kilian will take the ball for Iowa in game four against Indianapolis tonight, looking to give Iowa their third consecutive win. The 25-year-old is set to make his 13th start of the year for the I-Cubs, holding a 2-0 record with a 2.82 ERA through his first 12 starts. He will face Indianapolis for the second time in his career tonight, after facing them back on April 27. Opposite of Kilian will be right-hander Miguel Yajure toeing the rubber for the Indians. Yajure enters the game tonight with a 1-1 record and a 7.47 ERA through seven games with Indianapolis, allowing 13 earned runs on 21 hits over 15.2 innings pitched. In those 15.2 innings, the 24-year-old has walked 10 batters while striking out 14. He started the year in Pittsburgh, going 1-0 with an 8.16 ERA in seven games with the Pirates. Tonight will mark his first start of the year against Iowa after pitching against the I-Cubs three times last year.

LEADING THE WAY: Dixon Machado has been Iowa's leadoff hitter in 64 of their 80 games played this year, setting the table for the rest of the lineup. Last night, he did just that, going 4-for-5 with a run scored and a run batted in. The shortstop's four-hit performance marked his first of the year and his team-leading 19th multi-hit game this season. Not only does he lead the team in multi-hit efforts, but he is also the team leader in games played (70), hits (80), doubles (14) and walks (41). He is among the International League leaders in batting average at .293 (9), his on-base percentage of .391 (6) and his 80 hits (9). He has more walks (41) than he does strikeouts (33), getting on base with both base hits and free passes. In his 70 games this year, Machado has not reached base in just six games, reaching base via a base hit, walk or hit by pitch in 91% of his games.

START A NEW STREAK: After ending their season-long six-game losing streak with Wednesday's win, Iowa has now won back-to-back games against Indianapolis. It marks just the second time all year that Iowa has won back-to-back games on the road, with the first coming on June 21 and 22 against the Louisville Bats. A win tonight would set the longest road winning streak of the year for Iowa.

GETTING IT DONE: Blake Whitney began the year with Double-A Tennessee, making 17 relief appearances with the Smokies prior to getting assigned to Iowa on June 24. In those 17 games, he held a 3-2 record with a 2.79 ERA, allowing just 13 earned runs on 30 hits over 42.0 innings pitched. More impressively, he walked 10 and struck out 49 in those 42.0 innings. Last night marked his third game with the I-Cubs and he has been impressive in the short time he has been on the roster. He suffered the loss in his first game against Louisville, allowing just one hit, a solo home run, over 2.0 innings. His next outing was even better, throwing 3.2 innings while once again allowing just one run. A perfect inning last night brought his ERA with Iowa down to 2.70 and his two strikeouts in the frame put him at five so far with the I-Cubs.

EARNED THE WIN: In his 10th Triple-A game last night, Cam Sanders earned his first win of the year with Iowa, throwing five innings of two-run ball. Sanders allowed just three hits while walking three and striking out three, inducing 10 groundouts compared to just one fly out. It marked the fourth time this year he has thrown five or more innings, but the first time he has earned a win. He is now 1-4 with a 5.36 ERA at the Triple-A level.

K DAY: Caleb Kilian has made three starts in the big leagues for Chicago, but still remains in the top spot for Iowa in ERA and strikeouts. Among pitchers with at least seven innings pitched, Kilian leads the way with a 2.82 ERA while also leading the team with 61 strikeouts. His 51.0 innings pitched is good for second on Iowa's active roster. He has made the most starts among any I-Cubs pitcher with 12 entering tonight's game. He is the only pitcher on Iowa's roster, not including Major League rehabbers, that is currently on the 40-man roster.

ROSTER OF REHABBERS: Iowa added two Major League rehabbers to their roster yesterday, with left-hander Daniel Norris and infielder Nick Madrigal starting their return to the big leagues. Tonight, the team is expected to add first baseman Frank Schwindel to the mix, putting four Major League rehabber on Iowa's roster for tonight's game. Norris spun a scoreless inning of relief for Iowa in his first appearance since landing on the injured list on June 23 with a left index finger strain. He allowed a leadoff single to start the sixth, but worked around it with a strikeout to keep Indianapolis off the board. In his second stint with Iowa this year, Madrigal went 1-for-3 with a run scored and a run batted in hitting out of the two-hole last night. He hit the injured list on June 15 with a groin strain and played five innings last night. Schwindel, expected to join the I-Cubs tonight, was placed on the 10-day injured list back on June 18 with a lower back strain. He has hit .237 (54-for-228) in 62 games with Chicago so far this year.

AGAINST INDIANAPOLIS: Iowa and Indianapolis will play game four of their six-game series tonight, with Iowa now leading the series two games to one. The I-Cubs are now just one game back in the season series, sitting at 4-5 against the Indians entering tonight's contest. They are now 35-52 against Indianapolis all-time, and 10 games below .500 at 16-26 all-time against Indianapolis on the road. Iowa is chipping away at the run differential between the two teams through their first nine games, trailing in that department by just four runs, at 33-29.

SHORT HOPS: Iowa's win last night marked their first road win on a Thursday, they were previously 0-6 on Thursday's on the road entering last night's contest...just one of Iowa's 12 hits last night went for extra bases, a double by Trent Giambrone; the I-Cubs got 11 singles and took one walk in their 6-3 victory.

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