'Birds Fight Back in Extras to Grab Win
April 22, 2018 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Memphis Redbirds News Release
DES MOINES, Iowa - The Memphis Redbirds (14-4) fought back to top the Iowa Cubs (4-11) 8-6 in 12 innings, Sunday afternoon at Principal Park in Des Moines, Iowa. The 'Birds are now 1-1 in extra innings this season.
After Iowa scored a run in the first and third to take an early 2-0 lead, the 'Birds scored two runs in the top of the fourth to tie the game before snagging another two in the fifth to capture a 4-2 lead.
In the fourth, Luke Voit led off with a walk, and moved to third on back-to-back groundouts from Rangel Ravelo and Carson Kelly and scored on a single from Adolis Garcia. Patrick Wisdom then walked to keep the line moving before Wilfredo Tovar singled home Garcia to tie the game.
The 'Birds kept the offense going in the fifth inning. Oscar Mercado led off the inning by slugging his third homer of the year to put Memphis ahead 3-2. Two batters later, Ravelo singled and then scored on a double from Kelly to make the score 4-2 in favor of the Redbirds.
Iowa grabbed a run in the bottom of the fifth to cut the lead to one. The I-Cubs and 'Birds exchanged zeros for three innings before Iowa's Bijan Rademacher hit a home run off Preston Guilmet in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game and send it to extras.
With the new extra inning rule that allows a runner to start on second for each team in their half of the inning, the 'Birds and Cubs exchanged a run apiece in both the 10th and 11th innings before Memphis broke it open by scoring two runs in the 12th.
Pitcher Edward Mujica started the 12th on second and Mercado walked to leadoff to put two men on. Mujica and Mercado then had a double steal to move into scoring position, and Iowa intentionally walked Max Schrock to load the bags. Voit then worked a walk to knock in the winning run, and Ravelo knocked in another insurance run with a single.
Dakota Hudson started for Memphis, lasting 5.1 innings, and allowed three runs while striking out six. Derian Gonzalez, Guilmet, Sean Gilmartin, and Edward Mujica combined to toss the final 6.2 innings, with Mujica earning the win.
Memphis and Iowa will battle in the series finale tomorrow at 12:08 p.m. The 'Birds will return to AutoZone Park after this series for nine games from April 25-May 3. For more information on single-game tickets and ticket mini-memberships, visit www.memphisredbirds.com/tickets.
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