July 18 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs vs. Indianapolis Indians

IOWA CUBS (52-36) vs. INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS (42-47)

Tuesday, July 18, 2023 • 6:38 PM • Principal Park • Des Moines, IA

LHP Jordan Wicks (1-0, 5.79) vs. RHP Luis Ortiz (2-2, 2.94)

TONIGHT’S GAME: Iowa and Indianapolis are set to play the first game of their six-game series tonight, with Jordan Wicks taking the ball for Iowa. Wicks enters tonight’s game with a 1-0 record and a 5.79 ERA through his first two starts with Iowa. The southpaw has allowed six earned runs on seven hits and six walks, striking out nine batters in his 9.1 innings pitched. Opposing teams are hitting .212 against him over that span. Wicks was promoted from Double-A on June 29, where he went 4-0 with a 3.39 ERA in 13 starts. Toeing the rubber for the Indians will be Luis Ortiz, pitching in his ninth game and making his eighth start with Indianapolis. The right-hander comes into tonight with a 2-2 record and a 2.94 ERA, allowing just 11 earned runs on 20 hits and 15 walks in 33.2 innings pitched. Over that span, he has fanned 30 batters, limiting opponents to a .167 batting average. Tonight will be the first start for each pitcher against these respective teams.

MERVIS’ MONTH: Infielder Matt Mervis has been a productive bat for Iowa this month and he continued his good stretch of play in his outing against Columbus this past Sunday. Mervis was an offensive leader in the game, going 3-for-4 at the dish with a run scored. It marked his third three-hit game of the 2023 season and his 15th multi-hit game overall, which is tied for the fourth most on Iowa’s current roster. When taking a look at what Mervis has done at the plate this month, the numbers don’t lie. The 25-year-old has slashed .308/.417/.551 with three doubles, two home runs, and six RBI. He is also currently on a four-game hitting streak, which is the second-longest active streak going for the I-Cubs.

TEAM EFFORT: In order to get the win over Columbus this past Sunday, Iowa used six relievers to follow starter Hayden Wesneski, who tossed 3.0 innings. The effort from the bullpen was stellar, as the six arms combined to spin 6.0 scoreless innings with only one hit and one walk allowed. The bullpen also tallied up seven strikeouts to keep the Columbus bats silent through the later innings. After Iowa took the lead in the top of the eighth, Bailey Horn and Manuel Rodriguez secured the win with Horn earning his fifth hold of the year and Rodríguez picking up his league leading 12th save.

GOING, GOING, GONE: The last time the I-Cubs took the field, they were able to defeat Columbus 4-3 by way of the long ball. All four of Iowa’s runs in the contest came off home runs, with solo shots from David Bote and Yonathan Perlaza, while Jake Slaughter launched a two-run homer. Bote’s home run started the scoring in the game on Sunday and put Iowa ahead 1-0, while Perlaza and Slaughter’s homers came in clutch moments, both coming in the eighth inning. Perlaza’s solo blast cut Iowa’s deficit down to one at 3-2 and then Slaughter delivered the go-ahead and winning swing with his home run. The trio also happens to be some of the top long ball hitters on Iowa’s current roster. Slaughter leads the team with 16, Perlaza ranks third with 10, and Bote is tied for fourth with nine. Iowa hasn’t totally relied on the home run to power its offense this season, but they have hit 114 in 2023, which ranks 11th in the entire International League and 5th in the West Division.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES: One of the relievers used in the victory over Columbus on Sunday was right-hander Cam Sanders. It marked his 29th appearance of the season, which is the total number of games he played with Iowa in 2022. When comparing his numbers over 29 games from this year to last year, you can see the improvements Sanders has made. While Sanders has been strictly used as reliever in 2023, as opposed to his 11 starts with Iowa in 2022, his record is vastly better. The 26-year-old went 1-8 in 2022 and in 2023 he is currently undefeated, with a record of 5-0 after he was credited with the win this past Sunday versus Columbus. The ERA’s are similar (5.45 in 2022, 5.40 in 2023), but Sanders is just 16 strikeouts behind this season (59) from his total in 2022 (75) in nearly 40 innings less (74.1 in 2022, 36.2 in 2023). The walk numbers are a bit high, with 45 this season compared to 49 last season, but he is also holding opponents to a lower average, at .159 compared to .207 through 29 games last season.

WELCOME BACK: The Chicago Cubs acquired a familiar name on Saturday, as they sent cash considerations to the Arizona Diamondbacks for catcher P.J. Higgins. Higgins was hitting .317 (71-for-224) in 58 games with Reno, clubbing 15 doubles and six home runs. He drove in 46 batters, taking 33 walks compared to 49 strikeouts. The 30-year-old has played in 69 games with Iowa over the past three seasons, hitting .338 with 18 doubles and seven home runs over that span. Last year, Higgins split the season between Iowa and Chicago, playing in 22 games with Iowa compared to 74 games with Chicago. He is a .210 lifetime hitter in 83 major league games, all coming with Chicago.

AGAINST INDIANAPOLIS: The I-Cubs and Indians are scheduled to play the final six-game series between the two teams at Principal Park this year, marking the third of four six-game meetings. Iowa will look to continue their current streak they have against Indianapolis, winning each of the final five games between the two teams. Iowa went 3-3 at Victory Field against Indianapolis in May, but when the Indians came to Principal Park in June, Iowa took five of the six games played. They dropped the first contest and won the final five games, moving to 8-4 overall this year in their first 12 games against Indy. Their winning record this year has cut into their overall deficit against Indianapolis, as they are 46-62 all-time overall, going 24-27 all-time here at Principal Park against the Indians.

SHORT HOPS: Iowa has not hit a double or triple since they clubbed four doubles in their first game out of the All-Star break on Friday the 14th at Columbus; since then, they have seven singles and three home runs…Nick Neidert, the team leader is starts, is expected to piggy-back Jordan Wicks tonight; the right-hander has one other relief appearance this year which also came against Indianapolis, back on May 18…Iowa’s five-game winning streak against Indianapolis is their longest against the Indians since they won six in a row back on July 2-August 4, 2021; that six-game streak is their longest all-time winning streak against the Indians dating back to at least 1995.