May 17 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs at Indianapolis Indians
May 17, 2023 - International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release
IOWA CUBS (22-15) @ INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS (19-20)
Wednesday, May 17, 2023 - 12:35 PM CT - Victory Field - Indianapolis, IN
RHP Caleb Kilian (2-0, 5.48) vs. RHP Osvaldo Bido (2-2, 3.68)
TODAY'S GAME: Iowa and Indianapolis are back with a matinee for the second game of the scheduled six-game series this week. Taking the mound for the I-Cubs will be right-hander Caleb Kilian. Kilian will be making his sixth start with Iowa in 2023 and will look to improve upon his 2-0 record and 5.48 ERA. In his last outing, Kilian had rough start early as he gave up four runs and two homers versus Toledo but was able to settle things under control and worked five innings to earn a no decision. The California kid will also be looking for his first career win against Indianapolis as he currently holds a record of 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA against the Indians. Right-Hander Osvaldo Bido will be opposite of Kilian and the starting pitcher for Indianapolis. Bido has compiled a record of 2-2 with a 3.68 ERA over seven starts with the Indians in 2023. The Dominican Republic native ranks second on the Indians pitching staff in strikeouts with 35 and is holding opposing batters to a hitting clip of just .205. In Bido's last outing, which came on the road in St. Paul on May 12, he earned a no decision, spun five scoreless innings, allowed four hits, and did not allow a walk compared to four strikeouts, but did hit three batters.
BULLPEN BRIGHT SPOT: While there weren't too many positives in last night's loss to Indianapolis, relief pitchers Codi Heuer and Vinny Nittoli looked sharp. The duo of right-handers silenced the Indianapolis bats with their work during the middle innings of the ballgame. Nittoli came on to pitch first and tossed two scoreless and hitless innings with three strikeouts. Heuer, who is on a Major League Rehab assignment, followed Nittoli and retired the Indians in order with a scoreless and hitless inning of his own to go along with one strikeout.
BASE RUNNING BLUNDERS: The Indianapolis Indians had Jake Slaughter's number on the base paths in last night's contest as they caught Slaughter for a double whammy. The I-Cubs infielder was picked off and caught stealing by Indians starting pitcher Quinn Priester in the top of the third inning. It was the third time this season that Slaughter has been caught stealing, which is the most by any I-Cub in 2023. The failed attempt also pushed Slaughter into a tie for 10th in the International League.
WHERE'D THE OFFENSE GO: Iowa's offense has scored just four runs on 18 hits over their last three games after scoring 10 runs on May 12 in their last victory. Entering last night's game, Iowa's longest scoreless inning streak was 8.0 innings, carrying from Opening Day to their second game of the year. After ending Sunday with 3.2 scoreless innings and starting last night with 6.2 scoreless, Iowa set a new scoreless innings streak, at 10.1 consecutive innings.
GOING THE WRONG DIRECTION: Entering last night's game, Miguel Amaya had allowed nine earned runs over his first 24.0 innings caught with Iowa. Pitchers had an ERA of just 3.38 when throwing to Amaya through the first three games the 24-year-old caught. Last night he matched his previous total in one game, allowing nine earned runs to score in just 8.0 innings caught, bringing his new ERA to 5.06 over his 32.0 innings caught.
DOWN GOES BROWN: After suffering the loss in the series opener last night, Ben Brown recorded the first loss in his Triple-A career. Brown had a rough go in his third outing for the I-Cubs the season with his final line being 4.0 innings pitched, seven hits allowed, seven runs allowed (all earned), three home runs (a new career high), three walks, and just two strikeouts. This comes on the heels of an impressive Principal Park debut last week for Chicago's No. 6 ranked prospect where he earned the win over Toledo after spinning five scoreless innings, allowing just two hits, and striking out 10, which was the most by an Iowa pitcher in 2023. The loss also brings an end to Brown's remarkable undefeated streak. Coming into last night's contest, Brown had not suffered a loss in his last 17 outings. The young righty's last loss came back on June 25, 2022, when he was a member of the Jersey Shore BlueClaws as a part of the Philadelphia Phillies organization. Over that span of being undefeated, Brown had a record of 7-0 with 119 strikeouts.
THREE IN A ROW...AGAIN: For the second time this season and the second time in ten days, the Iowa Cubs are on a three-game losing streak. This current streak started last week on May 13 as the I-Cubs dropped the final two games of the series versus Toledo at Principal Park. Iowa opened the series versus the Mud Hens by taking the first four games of the series, setting their longest winning streak of the year. The first three-game losing skid of the season happened May 6-7 with Iowa falling in both games of a doubleheader on the road in Columbus on May 6 and falling again the next day on May 7 in the finale. Iowa's three-game losing streak against the Clippers was a bit of revenge for Columbus as the I-Cubs opened the season with a three-game sweep of the Clippers.
AGAINST INDIANAPOLIS: Iowa and Indianapolis will play game two of their six-game series today, with Iowa trailing 1-0 after their 9-1 loss last night. Their loss moved their all-time record against Indianapolis to 38-59, going just 19-33 on the road against the Indians. Prior to last night, the teams hadn't played since August of 2022, when Iowa lost the final three games of the six-game series. Dating back to that series and including last night's loss, the I-Cubs have now dropped four straight games to the Indians. The two teams are scheduled to play each other 24 times, with each team getting 12 games at their home ballpark.
SHORT HOPS: Indianapolis went up 1-0 in last night's loss, moving Iowa to 0-4 when their opponent scores first on the road...last night was Manager Marty Pevey's 1,300th career loss as a Skipper, holding a career record of 1,263-1,300 entering today's contest...last night's loss dropped Iowa to 5-3 in the first game of a series this year...Jake Slaughter is second on the team with 10 multi-hit games this year, all 10 games are two-hit performances...after having the third-best team batting average (.292) in all of Triple-A baseball in the month of April, Iowa has the worst team average of any Triple-A team through 13 games in the month of May, at .205.
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