May 19 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs vs. Columbus Clippers

IOWA CUBS (20-17) vs. COLUMBUS CLIPPERS (25-13)

Thursday, May 19, 2022 • 12:08 • Principal Park • Des Moines, IA

RHP Caleb Kilian (1-0, 1.57) vs. LHP Adam Scott (1-0, 5.47)

TODAY’S GAME: With the series tied at one game apiece entering today’s contest, Iowa will send righty Caleb Kilian to the mound looking to extend their winning streak to two games. Kilian is 1-0 with a 1.57 ERA this year through seven starts for Iowa, allowing five earned runs over 28.2 innings pitched. Opposite of Kilian will be Adam Scott taking the ball for Columbus. Scott is also set to make his eighth start of the year, entering the game with a 1-0 record and a 5.47 ERA. The southpaw has allowed 16 earned runs on 24 hits over 26.1 innings pitched, walking 17 batters compared to 29 strikeouts. Scott has had some trouble with control, hitting three batters while walking 17 and throwing two wild pitches this year. He has walked multiple batters in every start this year except for one, including a four-walk game in his first game of the year.

KILIAN IT: Caleb Kilian, the No. 4 overall prospect in the Chicago Cubs’ system as ranked by MLB.com, will take the mound today. He is set to make his eighth start of the year and first of his career against the Columbus Clippers. On the year, Kilian is 1-0 with a 1.57 ERA over 28.2 innings pitched. The righty has spun at least four innings in each of his last six starts, including two five-inning outings. He has allowed six runs, five earned, on 12 hits including one home run, while walking 12 batters compared to fanning 32. Over 107 at-bats, opponents are hitting .215 against Kilian through his first seven outings.

TAKING OVER: Robel Garcia notched three more hits yesterday, driving in three more runs along the way. For Garcia, it put his total to 24 runs batted in this season, giving him three more than Jared Young for the team lead. The two entered yesterday’s game tied in home runs with nine and RBI with 21, but with Garcia’s home run and three RBI, he took the lead in both categories. Garcia is also tied for the team lead with Dixon Machado in free passes, each with 18 entering today’s game.

LEFT A LOT OUT THERE: Despite scoring eight runs on 10 hits in yesterday’s 8-1 victory, Iowa still left a lot of runs on the base paths. The I-Cubs went just 3-for-14 with runners in scoring position yesterday, leaving 10 runners on-base throughout the game.

SEVEN STRAIGHT: Reliever Ben Leeper didn’t have the start to his season that he wanted, going 0-2 with a 7.50 ERA in his first five games. He allowed a run in four of the five games, surrendering five earned runs on 11 hits and four walks while striking out two. Two of those 11 hits were home runs, while opponents hit .367 against the righty. After another scoreless frame in yesterday’s win, Leeper has not allowed a run since April 24 against Louisville. His scoreless streak has now been extended to 9.1 innings over seven games, throwing two innings in three of those contests. He has two saves over that span, allowing just three hits and one walk compared to 12 strikeouts. Opponents are hitting just .100 against him in those seven games.

WHAT MORE CAN YOU SAY: After being named International League Player of the Week by Minor League Baseball on Monday, Robel Garcia has started this week with back-to-back three-hit games. Since Tuesday, when the hot streak began, Garcia has now registered five multi-hit games including three, three-hit efforts. In six games against Omaha last week, Garcia hit .409 (9-for-22) with a double and six home runs, driving in nine runs along the way. 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. In this series against Columbus, the infielder has gone 6-for-9 with three runs scored, two doubles, a home run and four runs batted in. Over his last eight games, he is now hitting .484 (15-for-31) with three doubles, seven home runs and 13 runs batted in. His average on the season is up to .326 (31-for-95) with seven doubles, one triple, 10 home runs and 24 RBI. He leads the team in home runs (10) and runs batted in (24) while being tied for the team lead with 18 walks. Among International League rankings, Garcia sits in eighth for batting average (.326), third in home runs (10), sixth in on-base percentage (.430), first in slugging percentage (.737) and OPS (1.167), tied for sixth with 18 extra-base hits and 10th with 70 total bases. He is tied for fifth in home runs, ninth in on-base percentage and first in slugging percentage and OPS across all of Triple-A.

HE’S A HITTER: In his first start since May 8 against St. Paul, a game in which he went 5-for-5 with a double and an RBI, P.J. Higgins collected two more hits yesterday. Aside from a pinch-hit effort in Tuesday’s game, yesterday marked the first time Higgins played in nine days. The catcher was a key part of Iowa’s win yesterday, going 2-for-4 with a double and three runs batted in.

AGAINST COLUMBUS: Despite losing the first game of the series 9-3, the I-Cubs bounced back yesterday with a resounding 8-1 comeback victory. Iowa scored eight unanswered runs to even the series at one game apiece entering today’s third game of the six-game set. The win brought Iowa’s record to 2-6 all-time when playing at home against the Clippers and moved them to 5-9 all-time against Columbus, just four games below the .500 mark. Today will be game three of the series and the first of 12 they are scheduled to play at Principal Park this season. The teams will also matchup for a series at Columbus this year.

SHORT HOPS: Iowa struck out just three times offensively yesterday, tying their season low set back on April 24th against Louisville… Clint Frazier recorded his first hit of his rehab assignment yesterday, going 1-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI… Luke Farrell has now thrown back-to-back five inning games, getting the win in both; the five innings Farrell has thrown marks the most in a single game for him since he threw five for Iowa back on August 28, 2018, against the Oklahoma City Dodgers.