September 16 Game Notes: Iowa Cubs vs. Memphis Redbirds
September 16, 2022 – International League (IL) – Iowa Cubs News Release
IOWA CUBS (63-75) vs. MEMPHIS REDBIRDS (67-71)
Friday – 7:08 PM – Principal Park – Des Moines, IA
RHP Keegan Thompson (0-0, -.–) vs. LHP Matthew Liberatore (6-7, 5.10)
TONIGHT’S GAME: Iowa and Memphis will play game four of their six-game series tonight, with two Major League arms set to take the hill. For Iowa, Keegan Thompson is expected to get his first start on Major League rehab with Iowa. Thompson was placed on the 15-day injured list back on August 20 with low back tightness, set to make his first start since August 19 against Milwaukee. The righty has done a little bit of everything for Chicago this year, holding a 9-5 record with a 3.97 ERA in 25 games. He has started 17 of those games, pitching out of relief eight times this year. Over the season, he has allowed 46 earned runs on 100 hits in 104.1 innings pitched, striking out 91 batters compared to 37 walks. On the other side it will be Matthew Liberatore taking the ball for the Redbirds, set to make his 20th start. Liberatore is 6-7 with a 5.10 ERA through his first 19 starts with Memphis, going up-and-down between the Redbirds and Cardinals. He has pitched in eight games for St. Louis including six starts, going 2-1 with a 5.46 ERA over that span. With Memphis, he has allowed 58 earned runs on 104 hits over 102.1 innings pitched, striking out 102 batters compared to 38 walks.
PUT IT IN THE BOOKS: Outfielder Alexander Canario was in Iowa’s starting lineup last night for the first time since September 1 against Columbus. He left that game after just one at-bat, coming up lame after making a play in the outfield. Chicago’s No. 9 ranked prospect started the year with High-A South Bend where he played 24 games prior to his promotion to Double-A Tennessee. He played in 81 games with the Smokies and joined Iowa’s roster on August 22. Canario got a hit in his very first Triple-A at-bat, but then went hitless over his next seven games, starting his Triple-A career hitting just .050 (1-for-20) with five walks and nine strikeouts. In his first game back last night, he ended the hitless streak, getting Iowa’s lone single in last night’s 8-5 win. He also took another walk against the Redbirds last night, giving him six walked compared to nine strikeouts through his first nine games.
CLUBBING THE LONG BALL: After going 1-for-4 with a solo home run last night, John Hicks improved his home run total on the year to 18. His 18 home runs is now tied for most on Iowa’s active roster, while also marking a career high in any single season for the catcher. His previous single season career high was 15, done all the ways back in 2012 with Advanced-A High Desert. He more recently hit 13 with the Detroit Tigers in 2019 and 13 with Triple-A Round Rock last year. Hicks had a rough first month of the season with Iowa, hitting just .130 (7-for-54) with one double, one home run and four runs batted in while walking once compared to 17 strikeouts over his first 14 games from April 8 to May 3. Since then, he is hitting .279 (75-for-269) with 20 doubles, 17 home runs, 42 RBI and 20 walks compared to 84 strikeouts in his last 73 games from May 5 to September 15. He is five games shy of the team-lead for games played, second in runs (45), third in hits (82), leads the team in doubles (21), is tied for the lead in home runs (18) and is second in RBI (46).
EXTRA, EXTRA: Iowa was out-hit eight to seven in their three-run victory last night, using the extra-base hit to make up the difference. Six of Iowa’s seven hits yesterday went for extra bases, including five doubles and one home run. Darius Hill led the way with two doubles, putting him just one shy of tying for the team-lead. Brennen Davis, Esteban Quiroz and Trent Giambrone also added doubles, while John Hicks clubbed his 18th home run of the year. The five players with extra-base hits accounted for six of Iowa’s eight runs scored.
KEPT IT ROLLING: In his fifth straight start for Iowa last night, Wyatt Short kept doing his thing, throwing five innings of three-run ball. The three runs were the most he had allowed since surrendering six back on June 30 and the most he has given up in any start this year for the I-Cubs. For Short, it was his fifth straight start of going four or more innings and his first start allowing more than one earned run. Despite allowing three runs on four hits and two walks, he still struck out four batters over his five innings of work, good enough to earn his fifth win of the year. His five wins is now tied for the team-lead on the active roster, tying starter Caleb Kilian, who has had five wins since August 23 and made 23 starts for Iowa. His 63.0 innings is good for fourth on the active roster and is a single-season career high for the southpaw.
SAVE THE DAY: With his scoreless ninth inning last night, Ben Leeper earned his team-leading 10th save of the season. He is now 10-for-13 in save opportunities and the only player on Iowa’s active roster with more than one save. His 10 saves this year is the most for any I-Cubs pitcher in a single season since 2018, when Dillon Maples went 10-for-12 in save opportunities. Prior to that, Spencer Patton went 11-for-12 in save opportunities for the 2016 Iowa Cubs. Leeper is 3-3 with a 4.89 ERA this year, allowing 23 earned runs on 34 hits over 42.1 innings pitched. He has walked 19 batters compared to 56 strikeouts and opponents are hitting just .218 against him.
AGAINST MEMPHIS: The I-Cubs and Redbirds will play game four of their six-game series at Principal Park tonight, where Iowa currently leads the series two games to one. They lost the series opener but have won each of the last two games to go up in the series and grow their all-time record against Memphis here at Principal Park to 92-71, 21 games above the .500 mark. The two wins have brought Iowa’s record this year to 3-6 against Memphis, moving it to 147-180 overall since 1998. The I-Cubs cut into their deficit in the season scoring, being outscored by the Redbirds now by 14 runs this year, at 57-43.
SHORT HOPS: Iowa won their eighth game of the year when they are out-hit by their opponent last night, moving to 8-50 on the year when their opponent has more hits than them…the I-Cubs are tied for first among all International League teams in wild pitches with 101, 50 more than Buffalo who has the least amount of wild pitches this year.
• Discuss this story on the International League message board…
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
