IL Iowa Cubs

May 20 Game Notes: Iowa vs. Columbus

May 20, 2022 - International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (21-17) vs. COLUMBUS CLIPPERS (25-14)

Friday - 7:08 - Principal Park - Des Moines, IA

RHP Cam Sanders (0-1, 1.59) vs. LHP Konnor Pilkington (0-0, 6.52)

TONIGHT'S GAME: Cam Sanders will take the ball tonight in game four of the series, looking to guarantee at least a series split for the I-Cubs. Sanders is set to make his second start at the Triple-A level, after throwing 5.2 one-run innings in his first start against Omaha. The right-hander allowing just two hits and four walks while striking out nine in his debut with Iowa. Opposite of Sanders will be lefty Konnor Pilkington set to make his fourth start of the year for Columbus. Pilkington enters tonight with an 0-0 record and a 6.52 ERA, allowing seven earned runs on 12 hits over 9.2 innings pitched. Three of the 12 hits he has allowed have left the yard. The 24-year-old has walked five batters compared to seven strikeouts and opponents are hitting .308 against him.

SHOWING OFF: Entering yesterday's start, Caleb Kilian was 1-0 with a 1.57 ERA through his first 28.2 innings pitched. Yesterday, the right-hander showed why he is the No. 4 ranked prospect in Chicago's system, tossing 5.2 innings without allowing an earned run. He gave up two runs on a dropped pop fly, but allowed just six hits and one walk compared to eight strikeouts. The 5.2 innings pitched marked a season long, while he set a season high with eight strikeouts, just two shy of his career high. With the outing, Kilian is now 2-0 with a 1.31 ERA through his first eight starts of the season. His 1.31 ERA is tops in the International League, while his 40 strikeouts lead the way for the I-Cubs. Those 40 strikeouts have come over 34.1 innings pitched, a span in which he has allowed just five earned runs on 29 hits and 13 walks.

SIT'EM DOWN: Eric Stout threw 2.1 innings of relief in yesterday's victory, allowing just one hit and one walk in the outing. The southpaw struck out six of the seven batters he retired, setting a new season high. It marked the first time he has struck out six batters in a single outing since doing so twice in 2019 as a member of the Louisville Bats, back on August 16 and September 2. It marked his eighth scoreless outing this year, compared to just three outings in which he has allowed a run. On the season, Stout is 1-1 with a 2.49 ERA and is tied for the team-lead with two saves. He has allowed just 13 hits and 12 walks compared to 36 strikeouts, limiting opponents to a .167 batting average against him.

ALL HE DOES IS RAKE: After not playing in a game since May 8 against St. Paul, P.J. Higgins made a pinch-hit appearance on Tuesday and got his first start in nine days on Wednesday. In Wednesday's game, the catcher went 2-for-4 with a double and drove in three of Iowa's eight runs. In yesterday's contest, Higgins once again played a factor in Iowa's win, going 2-for-2 with a double, two runs batted in and a walk. The 29-year-old holds the team lead, batting .397 (27-for-68) in 21 games with Iowa.

IT'S GETTING RIDICULOUS: The day off on Monday didn't do anything to cool down Robel Garcia, who has now hit a home run in seven of his last eight games. The infielder was named International League Player of the Week for last week's performance, hitting .409 (9-for-22) with a double and six home runs in six games against Omaha. Last week, the switch-hitter hit five home runs in the first four games of the series, including at least one in each of the first four games. With the six home runs, Garcia hit a home run in 25% of his 24 plate appearances over the series. Through his first three games against Columbus this week, the 29-year-old is hitting .583 (7-for-12) with two doubles, two home runs and five runs batted in. Over his last 12 games dating back to May 6 against St. Paul, Garcia is hitting .419 (18-for-43) with three doubles, a triple, nine home runs and 18 runs batted in. He has recorded at least one extra-base hit in 10 of those 12 games, clubbing home runs in seven of his last nine games. His average on the season is up to .327 (32-for-98) with seven doubles, one triple, 11 home runs and 25 RBI. He leads the team in home runs (11) and runs batted in (25) and walks (19). Among International League rankings, Garcia sits in seventh for batting average (.327), third in home runs (11), fourth in on-base percentage (.432), first in slugging percentage (.755) and OPS (1.187), tied for fifth with 19 extra-base hits and tied for eighth with 74 total bases. He is tied for fourth in home runs while being seventh in on-base percentage and first in slugging percentage and OPS across all of Triple-A.

AGAINST COLUMBUS: Iowa and Columbus are set to play game four of their six-game series tonight, with each of the first three games being decided by six runs or more. The Clippers took game of the series 9-3, then Iowa won 8-1 on Wednesday and repeated with another big 8-2 victory yesterday. With a 2-1 series lead, the I-Cubs will look to guarantee at least a series split with a win tonight. Iowa is now 6-9 all-time against Columbus, while moving their record to 3-6 all-time at Principal Park against the Clippers. Including tonight, the two teams have nine games left to play at Principal Park this year and will also play six at Huntington Park.

SHORT HOPS: Iowa struck out 16 batters yesterday, just one shy of their season high set back on April 30 against Indianapolis; they hit three home runs yesterday which was also just one home run shy of their season high after hitting four on April 19 against Louisville...with their second win of the series yesterday, Iowa now has more wins against Columbus at home this year (2) than they did all of last year (1); the I-Cubs went 1-5 against the Clippers here at Principal Park last year...eight of Iowa's nine starters had a hit last night, including three players with multi-hit efforts...Iowa scored in six of the eight innings they came to bat yesterday including each of their last five, the most individual innings they have scored an any game this year.

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