IL Iowa Cubs

June 24 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs vs. Memphis Redbirds

June 24, 2023 - International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (42-29) vs. MEMPHIS REDBIRDS (38-35)

Saturday - 6:08 PM - Principal Park - Des Moines, IA

RHP Nick Neidert (3-3, 6.23) vs. RHP Michael McGreevy (5-1, 4.00)

TONIGHT'S GAME: Iowa and Memphis take the field for game five of their six-game series tonight, with Iowa going for the series victory. The I-Cubs will send Nick Neidert to the mound in search of his first win since May 12 against Toledo. The righty is 3-3 with a 6.23 ERA in 13 games (12 starts) this year, allowing 36 earned runs on 69 hits and 22 walks. He has struck out 41 batters over his 52.0 innings pitched, allowing opponents to hit .317 against him. Neidert has allowed five or more earned runs in each of his last three outings, dating back to June 7 at St. Paul. Opposite of Neidert will be right-hander Michael McGreevy set to start his 11th game of the year for Memphis. McGreevy enters tonight's game with a 5-1 record and a 4.00 ERA, allowing 24 earned runs on 65 hits and 17 walks. He has struck out 43 batters in his 54.0 innings pitched, allowing opponents to hit .291 against him. He has allowed three earned runs or less in nine of his 10 starts this year and two or less in seven of those starts. The 22-year-old is the No. 5 ranked prospect in the Cardinals system after being selected in the first round (18th overall) in the 2021 draft by St. Louis.

WALK-OFF KING: Yonathan Perlaza finished off last night's win for Iowa with a bang. After trailing 5-2 through seven innings, Iowa went into the bottom of the ninth trailing the Redbirds 5-3. The I-Cubs got each of their first two hitters on and after a failed sacrifice bunt, had runners at first and second with just one out. Bryce Windham knocked in one run with a single, putting Iowa within one. Perlaza stepped up to the plate with the tying run at third and winning run at first. On the third pitch of his at-bat, Perlaza turned on a 95.3 mph fastball, launching it 398 feet over the right field wall. The three-run home run sent 11,268 fans home happy with a 7-5 walk-off win for Iowa. The switch hitter has now walked off two games in the last six days. Last Sunday afternoon, Perlaza plated the winning run with a sacrifice fly to beat Indianapolis. The I-Cubs now have four walk-off wins this season and Perlaza is responsible for half of them after last night. Their previous three walk-off wins came on two sacrifice flies and a fielder's choice.

YOUNG NEVER GETS OLD: Jared Young has quietly been a star for Iowa and a big part of their 8-2 record in their last 10 games. He has been on a tear in the month of June slashing .409/.513/.818, leading Iowa in each of those categories. Last night, he put together his sixth multi-hit game in June and fourth three-hit game. Young was just a double shy of the cycle as he collected a single, triple and home run in his five at-bats last night. He added on two runs and an RBI to round out another impressive night. His home run was his fifth in the last ten games. The utility-man is currently on a five-game hitting streak in which he is hitting .500 (10-for-20) with a double, triple, three home runs and nine runs batted in. He has taken two walks compared to just three strikeouts, growing his on-base percentage to .546. In Sunday's finale against Indianapolis, Young went 4-for-5 with three runs scored a double, home run and five runs batted in. Entering tonight's game, the 27-year-old ranks ninth in the International League in batting average (.327), seventh in on-base percentage (.432), ninth in slugging percentage (.605) and fifth in OPS (1.037) while second for the team in average and tied for first with 12 home runs.

GOING LONG: Iowa's starting pitching staff has been a big piece of the I-Cubs recent success. In their last 10 games, starting pitchers have thrown 47.2 of 90.0 innings. That has included two 6.0 inning outings and two 5.0 inning outings. Last night, Chris Clarke tossed 5.0 innings for his longest outing of the season. Before last night, the most Clarke had thrown was 4.0 innings three different times. On Wednesday, Caleb Kilian matched his season-long 6.0 innings in his start. On June 16, Riley Thompson matched his season-high 5.0 innings. Ben Brown also reached a season high with his 6.0 innings on June 14. The starting pitching staff's elongated starts have helped lead the I-Cubs two eight wins in 10 games.

WHAT A HOMESTAND: In their first 12-game homestand of the season, Iowa has looked comfortable at Principal Park. In the first 10 games of the two-week homestand, the I-Cubs are 8-2. It marks their season-best record in a 10-game stretch. The wins have also helped them to a season-high 13 games over .500 with their 42-29 record. The only faults to Iowa have been the series openers in the last two weeks. The I-Cubs fell in the series opener versus Indianapolis 7-4 and 8-5 against Memphis in their most recent opener. Iowa reached a season-long five game win streak from June 14 to June 20 and are currently on a three-game streak.

WINNER WINNER: Entering the ninth inning with Iowa trailing 5-3, Cam Sanders spun a perfect frame, striking out the side on 11 pitches. The righty spun 10 of those 11 pitches for strikes, making quick work out of the three batters he faced. With Iowa coming back and winning the game in the bottom-half of the ninth, Sanders earned his fourth win of the season, moving to a perfect 4-0 in 23 games this year. He is now tied for second in wins on the active roster and is the only active pitcher to have at least one win and zero losses. Sanders has allowed 17 earned runs on 18 hits and 36 walks in his 30.0 innings pitched this year, striking out 50 batters and limiting opponents to a .165 batting average against him. He has struck out 34% of the 149 total batters he has faced this year.

AGAINST MEMPHIS: The I-Cubs and Redbirds are set to play game five of their six-game series tonight, with Iowa entering the game with a 3-1 series lead. After dropping the opener on Tuesday, Iowa has rattled off three consecutive wins, looking for the series victory tonight. After the 7-5 walk-off win last night, the I-Cubs are now outscoring the Redbirds by 11 runs through the first four games of the series, at 29-18. With three straight wins, they are now 22 games over the .500 mark at home all-time against Memphis, at 96-74, while going 151-183 all-time overall against the Redbirds.

SHORT HOPS: Last night's crowd was the largest home crowd of the season for Iowa, as 11,268 fans packed the seats at Principal Park; this surpasses their last Friday at home when they had 11,098 fans, totaling 22,366 fans in their last two Friday games... Iowa's pitching staff allowed five runs last night on just four hits, walking 12 batters while hitting two, giving Memphis 14 total free passes...Yonathan Perlaza's two-hit night extended his on-base streak to 31 games, tying for the second-best streak in the International League this year and the fourth longest active streak in all of baseball.

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