August 13 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs vs. Louisville Bats

IOWA CUBS (49-60) vs. LOUISVILLE BATS (45-64)

Saturday, August 13, 2022 • 6:08 PM • Principal Park • Des Moines, IA

RHP Hayden Wesneski (0-1, 43.20) vs. RHP Deck McGuire (2-2, 6.92)

TONIGHT’S GAME: Iowa will send Hayden Wesneski to the mound looking to move their winning streak to two games. Wesneski is making just his second start with Iowa after struggling in his debut back on Sunday against Toledo. In that game, he allowed eight earned runs on eight hits and two walks over just 1.2 innings pitched. Opposite of Wesneski will be righty Deck McGuire, who is 2-2 with a 6.92 ERA in nine starts with Louisville. The righty has allowed 31 earned runs on 41 hits over 40.1 innings pitched, walking 23 batters compared to 37 strikeouts over that span. Opponents are hitting .266 against McGuire in his 12 games this year, with two of those games coming against Iowa. He pitched against the I-Cubs twice in the same series back on June 21 and 26, allowing four earned runs in each start.

MR. CLUTCH: After Louisville stormed back and tied the game with four runs in the top of the eighth inning, Darius Hill stepped to the plate with one out and runners on the corners. As he has done often lately, Hill came through in a big moment, crushing a three-run home run to give Iowa the lead back and eventually win the game. Dating back to Sunday, July 17, Hill hit a three-run walk-off blast to give Iowa the win heading into the All-Star break. Then, last week, on August 5 against Toledo he came through with a clutch two-out, go-ahead RBI single that won Iowa the game and now last night hit his go-ahead three-run shot. The home run was Hill’s second hit of the night, giving him 23 multi-hit games with Iowa this year, good for the team lead among active players. The 24-year-old now has two or more hits in 44% (23-of-52) of the games he has played with Iowa, while going hitless in just 12 games in which he had an at-bat. Despite playing in 38 less games than the team-leader in hits, Hill is now just 12 hits behind the team-lead. If you count his stats with Double-A Tennessee from the start of the year, the outfielder is hitting .323 in 96 games with 124 total hits including 27 doubles, two triples, nine home runs and 41 runs batted in. His .337 (67-for-199) average on the year with Iowa is second among all active players on the I-Cubs roster.

A MAJOR IMPACT: Eight of Iowa’s 15 hits last night came from players who are on the 40-man roster, with David Bote recording two hits, Alfonso Rivas with one, Frank Schwindel with three and Narciso Crook with two. They also combined for four of Iowa’s seven doubles and scored six of the team’s nine runs. For Bote, it marked his third straight game with a hit and second multi-hit game since joining Iowa’s roster. In his 22 games with Iowa this year, the infielder is hitting .289 (24-for-83) with 10 runs scored, eight doubles and 14 runs batted in. Despite going 1-for-4 with a walk, Rivas still leads the team with a .344 (21-for-61) batting average in his 16 games with the I-Cubs. His walk gave him five over that span, bumping his on-base percentage to .394. Schwindel recorded just his fourth three-hit game of the year last night, with two of the three hits going for doubles. Crook has spent the most time of the four on Iowa’s roster this year and is among team and league leaders in multiple categories. He is tied for the team-lead with 17 doubles and holds the top-spot in home runs (18), runs batted in (58) and stolen bases (11) while ranking second in the International League with a .550 slugging percentage and seventh with a .900 OPS.

A LITTLE BIT OF THIS: Despite not getting credited with a save last night as he entered the ninth inning with a four-run lead, Brendon Little spun a scoreless inning for the sixth straight game last night. Little now has not allowed a run over his last 7.1 innings, surrendering just five hits and one walk compared to seven strikeouts over that span. Dating back to July 4, the southpaw has allowed just one earned run on 11 hits over 13.0 innings while striking out 12. He is 1-1 with one save and a 0.69 ERA in those nine games.

MAKE IT THREE: After Caleb Kilian spun six innings of two-run ball on Thursday for Iowa’s second quality start of the year, Javier Assad followed it with six innings of one-run ball last night, making it two straight quality starts for Iowa and three this year. Brandon Leibrandt threw the first quality start of the year for the I-Cubs back on June 21, throwing six innings while allowing just two runs on five hits, walking one and striking out one. On Thursday, Kilian allowed two runs on six hits and two walks while striking out six and last night Assad allowed just one run on five hits, walking none and striking out five. Leibrandt was the only one of the three starters to earn a victory, as each of the last two nights Iowa’s starters have received no-decisions. Assad not only matched Leibrandt and Kilian as the only three pitchers to throw a quality start this year for Iowa, he also tied them with the longest start of the year for any I-Cubs pitcher with his six innings. Hayden Wesneski will look to make it three straight quality starts for Iowa in his second start with the team. The righty should be up to the task, as he spun five quality starts over his 19 starts with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

ROCKY START: Danis Correa made his Triple-A debut with Iowa in the eighth inning last night, entering the game with runners on first and second and nobody out. Unfortunately, the first batter Correa faced hit a three-run blast against him to tie the game and the following batter singled, but the righty locked down from there. The 22-year-old went on to strike out the next three batters he faced to get out of the inning and got credited with the win when the I-Cubs scored four runs in the home half of the frame.

AGAINST LOUISVILLE: Iowa came back to tie the series last night with their 9-5 victory, giving each team two wins entering game five tonight. Iowa not only evened the current series at two games apiece, but brought the season series back to an even .500, at 8-8. Despite the series being tied with the record, Iowa is outscoring Louisville by 14 runs on the year, at 78-64. The I-Cubs moved to 21-19 all-time against the Bats including going 12-7 here at Principal Park all-time.

SHORT HOPS: All three quality starts this year for Iowa have come against the Louisville Bats, first back on June 21 at Louisville Slugger Field and each of the last two games here at Principal Park…Iowa’s 15 hits last night came just two shy of their season-high 17, with five of the top six hitters in their lineup recording two or more hits…despite going 8-8 against Louisville this year, five of their eight losses have come by just one run while five of their eight victories have come by four or more runs.