IL Iowa Cubs

May 5 Game Notes: Iowa at St. Paul

May 5, 2022 - International League (IL)
Iowa Cubs News Release


IOWA CUBS (12-13) @ ST. PAUL SAINTS (13-11)

Thursday - 6:37 - CHS Field - Saint Paul, MN

RHP Wade Miley (0-0, -.--) vs. RHP Chi Chi Gonzalez (2-1, 4.70)

TONIGHT'S GAME: With the series tied at one game apiece, Major League rehabber Wade Miley will take the ball for Iowa. Miley is set to make his Cubs organizational debut today, pitching in his first game since September 19, 2021. The southpaw has thrown in 371 games over 14 seasons, including 283 games over 11 seasons in the Major Leagues. Opposite of Miley will be Chi Chi Gonzalez getting the start for the Saints. Gonzalez is 2-1 on the year with a 4.70 ERA in four games with St. Paul, set to make his second start of the season. He has thrown 15.1 innings, allowing eight earned runs on 12 hits including three home runs. The righty has walked six compared to 13 strikeouts, registering 7.6 strikeouts per nine innings.

FIRST TIME OUT: Lefty Wade Miley will take the ball for Iowa today, making his first start for the Cubs' organization. Chicago claimed Miley off waivers from the Cincinnati Reds on November 5, 2021. Miley has pitched for seven different Major League teams, dating all the way back to 2011. He pitched four seasons with Arizona (2011-14), one season with Boston (2015), Seattle (2016), Baltimore (2016-17), Milwaukee (2018), Houston (2019) and Cincinnati (2020-21). Last season with Cincinnati, the southpaw went 12-7 with a 3.37 ERA over 28 starts. He threw 163.0 innings, allowing 61 earned runs on 166 hits including 17 home runs and threw his first career no-hitter on May 7 against Cleveland. Over his 11 seasons in the Major Leagues, Miley has thrown 1,581.0 innings, striking out 1,252 batters. He was placed on the 10-day injured list on April 4 with left elbow inflammation and will be pitching tonight for the first time all year.

PADDING HIS LEAD: Jared Young's solo blast last night was all the offense Iowa would muster, falling 8-1 to the Saints in the second game of the series. It was his team-leading sixth home run of the year and first since he hit two in a game on April 19 against Louisville. Young also leads the team in runs batted in, with 15 now on the board. With his home run last night, he surpassed the number of long balls he hit with Iowa last year in 17 less games. The first baseman played in 37 games with the I-Cubs to end the 2021 season, hitting five home runs with 18 runs batted in. This year, in just 20 games with the team, he already has six home runs and is just three RBI away from his total last year, standing at 15 entering tonight's game.

BASE-TO-BASE: Despite scoring seven runs on Tuesday, Iowa's offense has struggled to register extra-base hits over the last week. In their six-game series against Indianapolis, they recorded just three doubles and two home runs over the entire series. This series, they have hit three doubles and one home run, totaling nine total extra-base hits in their last eight games. Jared Young's home run yesterday marked their first long ball since last Thursday, April 28, against Indianapolis. Iowa has hit just 20 home runs this year as a team, ranking 18th in the International League and tied for 27th in all of Triple-A. Even with three doubles this series, they rank 19th in the International League and 29th in the Triple-A in doubles with 28 this year.

GETTING IN A GROOVE: Nelson Maldonado extended his hitting streak to four games last night with his single in the third inning. Maldonado's four-game hitting streak is the longest current streak for any I-Cubs hitter and his second longest of the year. He started the year with a five-game streak in Double-A Tennessee, hitting .444 over that span. The 25-year-old is hitting .250 (6-for-24) in six games for Iowa, hitting .353 (6-for-17) over his last four games.

FIVE STRAIGHT: James Bourque was the only Iowa pitcher to throw a scoreless frame last night, allowing two hits while striking out one over his lone inning. The scoreless inning marked Bourque's fifth straight outing without allowing a run on his line, throwing 6.0 innings over that span. The righty allowed two earned runs in his first appearance of the year, allowing one hit and three walks over just 0.2 innings on April 6 against Buffalo. Since then, he has surrendered just two hits while striking out 12, striking out at least one batter in all six of his appearances this year.

FIRST OF THE SEASON: Erick Castillo played in his first game of the 2022 season last night, going 2-for-4 with two singles and two strikeouts. The catcher opened the year on Iowa's roster, holding a place on the developmental list. He was activated on Tuesday before game on of the series against St. Paul and got his first start last night. Castillo has been on the I-Cubs roster for four straight years now, spending time in Double-A Tennessee in each of the previous three seasons as well. In all, he has played in 70 games for Iowa, hitting .203 (37-for-182) with seven doubles and 16 runs batted in. He made his Major League debut on September 30 last season, playing in four games with Chicago.

AGAINST ST. PAUL: With the series tied at one game apiece, Iowa and St. Paul are set to meet for game three of their six-game series at CHS Field tonight. After falling by a score of 8-1 last night, Iowa is now 13-24 all-time against the Saints, including 10-15 at CHS Field. The I-Cubs were better at CHS Field last year than they were at Principal Park, going 9-14 on the road compared to 3-9 at home.

SHORT HOPS: Iowa is 0-5 when their opponent scores first on the road...last night marked the first time Iowa has lost this season when Jared Young starts in left field, they are now 4-1 when Young starts in left...after allowing eight runs last night, Iowa has now scored and allowed the same exact amount of runs this year, at 95.

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