IL Iowa Cubs

June 15 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs vs. Indianapolis Indians

Published on June 15, 2023 under International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (35-28) vs. INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS (29-34)

Thursday - 6:38 PM - Principal Park - Des Moines, IA

RHP Caleb Kilian (3-1, 4.94) vs. LHP Kent Emanuel (4-2, 6.28)

TONIGHT'S GAME: With the series tied at one, Iowa sends Caleb Kilian to make the start tonight. In his last two starts, Kilian has spun 6.0 innings in each, a season-long. The righty suffered his first loss of the year on June 3 and with six no-decisions has a 3-1 record. He started versus Indianapolis on earlier this season on May 17, which was one of his no-decisions. He allowed one run on three hits with three strikeouts in 4.0 innings. Kilian has faced the Indians four times in his career. He is 0-2 with a 9.64 ERA and 15 punchouts in his career against Indy. Kent Emanuel is set to start for the Indians. Tonight will be the lefty's 10th start and 12th appearance this season. He ranks second among the Indians in wins (4), fourth in innings pitched (43.0) and fourth in strikeouts (37). In five games versus Iowa, Emanuel has a 1-0 record with a 4.91 ERA. He started against the I-Cubs on May 18 earlier this season. He allowed three runs on six hits in 5.0 innings, but earned the win.

SIT 'EM DOWN: Iowa's pitching staff combined to strike out 16 batters yesterday, good for a season high. Their previous high mark for a single game was 14 strikeouts, a feat they had accomplished three different times prior to yesterday's contest. Starter Ben Brown led the charge with 11 strikeouts over his six innings pitched, tying a season high for the young right-hander. The No. 6 ranked prospect in the Cubs' system also struck out 11 batters back on May 27 against Nashville. His 11 strikeouts yesterday came just two shy of tying his career-high 13 strikeouts back on April 17 last season. Brown now has 58 strikeouts in 38.1 innings pitched at the Triple-A level, averaging just over 1.5 strikeouts per inning pitched. Following Brown was Keegan Thompson and Manuel Rodriguez, who combined to strike out five over their three innings of work. Thompson fanned three batters in 2.0 innings, allowing one earned run on one hit and one walk, while Rodriguez sat down two in his perfect ninth inning.

SET THE TABLE: After an off day yesterday, Yonathan Perlaza is back at the top of the lineup for Iowa tonight. Entering tonight's game, the switch hitter has led off 14 times this year, accounting for 22% of Iowa's games played. He went 0-for-4 in the series opener on Tuesday night, but the outfielder still kept his on-base streak alive by drawing a walk in the bottom of the seventh inning. Perlaza's walk increased his on- base streak to 23 straight games, which is currently the second-longest active on-base streak in the International League. The Venezuelan's streak of getting on-base is also the longest such streak for an I-Cub this season by a good margin. Christopher Morel owns the second-longest on-base streak of the season at 18 games between March 31 and April 23. Perlaza also owns the third-longest on-base streak by an I-Cub this season when he reached base in 13 straight games from April 20 to May 11. Over his current streak, Perlaza has hardly had to rely on walks to get on base, as he has recorded a hit in 20 of the 23 games. In terms of his on-base percentage, the 24-year-old ranks second on the team with a mark of .402.

ONE THROUGH NINE: It can be tough to get an entire lineup's bats hot, but Iowa accomplished just that yesterday. In yesterday afternoon's victory, every I-Cub in the lineup recorded at least one hit. Nelson Velazquez, Edwin Ríos, Chase Strumpf and Bryce Windham each had a two-hit game. The last time each I-Cub recorded a hit came on June 8 in St. Paul. Yesterday marked just the third time this year that all nine Iowa starters have recorded at least one hit. Iowa has had 11 games this season where eight-of-nine starters have recorded a hit.

PRODUCTIVE AT-BATS: As the I-Cubs scored eight runs yesterday, seven-of-nine Iowa starters recorded at least one RBI. The team totaled eight on the afternoon. They recorded six of those eight in the bottom of the third inning. Jake Slaughter was the only player with a multi-RBI game as he recorded two. Slaughter is Iowa's leader in RBI with 50 and ranks fifth in the league with that mark.

KILIAN'S LENGHTY OUTINGS: In back-to-back games, Caleb Kilian has tossed a season-long 6.0 innings. He recorded his first quality start of the year on June 3 versus Columbus and was his first 6.0 inning outing. The following week on June 9 in St. Paul, Kilian tossed another 6.0 innings. Across the 12 innings combined, the righty allowed eight runs on 14 hits with nine strikeouts and two walks. As the season has progressed, Kilian has increased his innings pitched. In his first start of the season on April 2, he spun just 2.1 innings. Previous to his 6.0 inning outings, Kilian threw 5.0 in back-to-back starts on May 23 and May 28, both in Nashville.

AGAINST INDIANAPOLIS: Entering tonight, the season series is tied at four and this week's series is tied at one between the Indians and I-Cubs. Despite their win yesterday, Iowa still trails the all-time series 42-62 and trails all-time at home 20-17. With a win tonight, Iowa can match their season-high win streak against Indy at two.

SHORT HOPS: With their victory yesterday, Iowa improved to 5-1 when their starter throws 6+ innings this year...Iowa is 4-0 at home on Thursday's entering tonight's game, going 10-2 overall on Thursday's this year...yesterday was just Iowa's second home win in the month of June, moving to 2-4 at home this month and 5-8 overall...Iowa's ERA in the month of June went from 7.24 down to 6.73 after allowing just one run in yesterday's victory.

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