Velazquez, Morel power I-Cubs in sweep over Columbus |
DES MOINES - You couldn't have asked for a much better start if you are the Iowa Cubs as they aimed for the weekend sweep of the Columbus Clippers (0-3). After a rough second half of 2022, all eyes will be on Caleb Kilian this season as he made his first start of the season.
Not only did Kilian struggle, but this was his worst start since joining the Cubs as he allowed eight earned runs in just 2 1/3. Most of those runs came off the long ball, which is not a good sign, but the Cubs offense bailed him out as Iowa rallied to pick up the 12-11 sweep. Usually a pitcher with very little trouble keeping the ball in the yard, Kilian couldn't contain the Clippers bats in the first as he allowed three first-inning homers that accounted for five runs. The first came on a solo shot from Tyler Freeman, while Bo Naylor and Zack Collins connected for two-run shots to give Columbus a 5-0 lead. Knowing they would need to do a ton of work to climb back into the game, Christopher Morel did his part by leading off the bottom of the first with a home run. Christopher Morel gets us on the board with a deep fly to dead center field! pic.twitter.com/WzPJ17bgzT Iowa didn't stop there, with Matt Mervis taking a walk, Nelson Velazquez picking up a single, and Jake Slaughter getting hit by a pitch to load the bases with one down. Jared Young pushed another run across via a sacrifice fly, but the Cubs still trailed 5-2. As if three homers in the first wasn't bad enough, Richie Palacios made it four with a solo shot in the second to extend the lead to 6-2. Throw in a Micah Pries RBI triple, and Columbus was back in front by five 7-2 as Kilian continued to struggle. It was in the bottom of the second when the Cubs offense came to life, and it wasn't in a conventional way. Not only did Dom Nunez reach base on an error to start the inning, but three batters would get hit by a pitch, including Mike Tauchman, who brought in a run to make things 7-3. Slaughter picked up an RBI single shortly after to make things 7-4, while a walk to Young and another by pitch pulled Iowa to within 7-6. The back-and-forth affair continued into the third, with Chris Roller picking up an RBI double to extend the Columbus lead to 8-6. Velazquez tied things up with one swing in the bottom of the third, using his first homer to do it. We're all tied up with this home run from Nelson Velázquez! pic.twitter.com/xYhv2nj614 With the game still tied in the fifth, it was the top of the Clippers order doing the damage again, with Freeman picking up an RBI single to make things 9-8, while the Naylor double pushed things to 11-8. Not only was that the last runs of the game for Columbus, but it was a lead the Clippers would have to try and hold as the Cubs offense had been on fire all weekend long. They began that comeback effort in the bottom of the sixth when Slaughter picked up a two-RBI single to pull the Cubs within 11-10. Young would follow that up with an RBI ground out, and once again, things were tied 11-11. Still in the bottom of the sixth and with two outs, it was Yonathan Perlaza cashing in as his RBI single on the 2-0 count put Iowa in front for good 12-11 as it would be up to their bullpen to finish things off. Your @GreatClips Clip of the Game is Yonathan Perlaza giving us our first lead of the game. We are up 12-11 entering the seventh inning! pic.twitter.com/NZJ5YBAxED Ryan Borucki and Anthony Kay did their parts in the seventh and eighth innings, but Nick Burdi had some issues finishing things off in the ninth. Burdi retired the first hitter he faced before allowing a Collins double to put the tying run at second. That double was followed by the Daniel Schneemann walk, and Columbus had the go-ahead run on first. That would be as close as they would get as Brudi buckled down to strike out the next two hitters to earn the save and give the Cubs the weekend sweep. The Cubs had 11 hits in the game, with Velazquez leading the way with three. Sergio Alcantara and Slaughter added two hits, with Slaughter picking up three RBIs. Your @GreatClips Clip of the Homestand is the final out of yesterday's game to complete our three-game sweep of Columbus! pic.twitter.com/Yc7jmahimv
In his first appearance of the year, Nick Burdi earned a save, Iowa’s first save as a team for the 2023 season. The righty allowed one hit and one walk but struck out two along the way. Nelson Velázquez went 3-for-4 with three runs scored, a double, a home run and two runs batted in out of the three-hole today. The outfielder is hitting .462 through the first three games of the season. Four players had multi-RBI games for Iowa today, driving in 10 of the team’s 12 runs. Iowa will get the day off tomorrow and is scheduled to begin their first road trip of the series on Tuesday against St. Paul at CHS Field. First pitch against the Saints on Tuesday is scheduled for 6:37 PM.
Postgame Notes via I-Cubs:
