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PCL1 Memphis Redbirds

Game Notes: Memphis Redbirds (10-9) at Omaha Storm Chasers (9-10)

April 25, 2019 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Memphis Redbirds News Release


Memphis Redbirds (10-9) at Omaha Storm Chasers (9-10)

Thursday, April 25 - 6:35 p.m. (CT) - Werner Park (9,023) - Omaha, Nebraska

Game #20 - Road Game #9 (4-4)

RHP Alex Reyes (1-0, 0.00) vs LHP Foster Griffin (1-1, 5.02)

BY THE NUMBERS

.511 John Nogowski's on-base percentage during his current stretch of reaching safely in 10-straight games.

13 Number of games the Redbirds are scheduled to play on their current road trip. This is the longest such stretch of games played away from home since Aug. 1-14, 2015.

THE GAME

TONIGHT'S GAME: The Memphis Redbirds and the Omaha Storm Chasers are set to meet for the second time during this five-game set. The Redbirds evened up the season series between the two clubs with last night's 7-5 victory, backed by a quality start from Harold Arauz and a three-RBI performance from John Nogowski. Tonight's game will be broadcast live on www.memphisredbirds.com with Steve Selby on the call.

ON THE HILL: Right-hander Alex Reyes is scheduled to take the mound tonight and make his first road start of the season and his fourth appearance overall. In 2019, Reyes has posted a 0.00 ERA in 7.2 innings pitched and has allowed just one hit in 21 at-bats. The Elizabeth, N.J., native enters his seventh professional season and has spent them all in the St. Louis organization. In his last start on Saturday against Round Rock, his first since with Memphis since May 24, 2018, Reyes tossed 3.0 scoreless frames, allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out four. He faced just one batter over the minimum in his outing. The 24-year-old made three appearances with St. Louis, but went 0-1, 15.00 (5 ER/3.0 IP) before being optioned to Memphis on April 7. Reyes entered 2019 ranked as the No. 1 prospect in the Cardinals system by Baseball America for the fourth straight year. He is also ranked as the No.5 right-handed prospect by the same publication.

The Storm Chasers are scheduled to start left-hander Foster Griffin tonight. The 23-year-old is making fourth start of the season and second against the Redbirds. In his first start of the season against Memphis on April 6, Griffin tossed 4.0 innings, allowing three runs on three hits in his Triple-A debut. In his last time out on April 18 at Oklahoma City, Griffin earned his first career Triple-A victory, going 5.1 innings, allowing three runs on four hits, while striking out a season-high nine. The Orlando, Fla., native spent the entirety of 2018 at NW Arkansas, where he went 10-12 with a 5.13 ERA (87 ER/152.2 IP) in 28 G/26 GS. Griffin has appeared in at least 27 games for three-straight years and has made at least 22 starts in four-straight seasons. He enters his sixth professional season, all with the Kansas City organization, as the No. 30 prospect in the Royals' system by Baseball America. The former 2014 1st-round pick was the lone Royals representative during the 2017 All-Star Futures Game in Miami.

HISTORY WITH OMAHA: The Redbirds have winning records in each of the past two seasons at Werner Park in Omaha, going 5-3 in 2018 and 6-2 in 2017. The 'Birds have winning records in only seven of 21 seasons on the road against the Storm Chasers. Memphis holds a 164-143 edge overall, and a very slim 78-73 margin on the road. The Redbirds have not had a losing record against the Storm Chasers since 2011, when they went 6-9.

THE SEASON

ABOUT THE LAST ONE: The Memphis Redbirds (10-9) locked down on the mound in the latter innings and came up with timely hits in a 7-5 win over the Omaha Storm Chasers (Royals) Wednesday night in Omaha, Neb. The Redbirds are at the start of a 13-game road trip, their longest since August 2015.

John Nogowski was 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI, and Drew Robinson walked twice and scored three runs. Andrew Knizner and Edmundo Sosa both had two hits in the game as well. Nogowski now has hits in nine of his last 10 games, and Knizner has three-straight multi-hit games and knocks in nine-of-10 as well.

Harold Arauz started and allowed four runs in his first 4.0 innings, but after a two-run home run tied the game in the bottom of the fourth he settled down and retired the final eight Storm Chasers (9-10) he faced. He picked up the win with 6.0 innings of work, allowing four runs, three earned, on seven hits with four strikeouts.

After Arauz, Tommy Layne retired the side in order in the seventh and Chris Ellis got three-straight outs in the eighth. At that point, Memphis had taken a 7-4 lead as its pitching had put down 14-straight Storm Chasers.

The breathing room proved important, as Omaha plated a run to make it 7-5 in the bottom of the ninth and had the bases loaded with two outs before Ellis got a strikeout to end the ballgame.

Tommy Edman stole his fourth base of the season, and Robinson swiped his third.

MR. APRIL: On Monday, LHP Austin Gomber was named the Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Week for April 15-21 following his complete-game shutout on Saturday in the second game of the doubleheader against Round Rock. Gomber allowed just three hits in his outing and faced the minimum over the final five innings. In his first four starts of the season, Gomber is 2-0, 3.22 (8 ER/22.1 IP) to go along with 22 strikeouts.

In April 2018, Gomber also won PCL Pitcher of the Week for April 23-29 and was also named Cardinals Minor League Pitcher of the Month as well. In his last two Aprils, Gomber is 4-0, 2.81 (15 ER/48.0 IP) in eight starts and has held opponents to a .222 batting average (38x171).

CLUTCH HITTING: Edmundo Sosa delivered the Redbirds first walk-off victory of the season on Sunday vs. Round Rock with his two-run shot in the 10th. With runners in scoring position, Sosa is 9-for-19 (.474) with two doubles, a home run and eight RBI. With runners in scoring position and two outs, Sosa leads the team with a .556 average (5x9) and four RBI.

WALKING IN MEMPHIS: After matching a season-high nine walks in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader, the Memphis Redbirds rank 2nd in the Pacific Coast League with 87 walks through the first 19 games of the season. The Redbirds' .361 on-base percentage also ranks 6th in the PCL. John Nogowski, Drew Robinson and Max Schrock share the team lead by drawing 12 free passes.

EXTRA! EXTRA!: The Redbirds have recorded at least one extra-base hit in every game this season, collecting 32 doubles, three triples and 20 home runs. Tommy Edman and Adolis Garcia share the team with eight extra-base hits.

TWO-HIT TOMMY: Through his first 16 starts of the season, INF Tommy Edman has seven multi-hit games, including three, three-hit performances, April 12 at San Antonio, April 13 at Round Rock and Wednesday vs. San Antonio. His team-high 10-game hitting streak came to end Sunday, but he has reached safely in 13 of 16 contests. His 22 hits and six doubles are most among the current Redbirds roster.

WALK IT OFF: The Redbirds walk-off defeat to the Missions on April 9 was the first time since Aug. 5, 2017 that the Redbirds had lost in such fashion. The following night, it marked the first time since June 23-24, 2014 that the Redbirds had lost consecutive games in the last at-bat of the game. The two walk-off defeats this season have already matched last year's total.

CAUGHT IN A STORM: The Redbirds' 11-run defeat on April 8 marked the first time that Redbirds lost by 11 runs or more since June 16, 2018, when the Redbirds fell 13-1 at El Paso. Additionally, Omaha's 12-run second was the first time since May 12, 2016 against the Storm Chasers, that the Redbirds had given up more than 10 runs in an inning.

Elier Hernandez and Nick Dini became the first two opponents to hit back-to-back home runs against the Redbirds since May 8, 2017 and Hernandez became the first player to post a 6 RBI against Memphis since June 9, 2018.

FIRST NO MORE: Following Memphis' defeat on April 6, the Redbirds fell out of first place for the first time since April 28, 2017. It also marked the first time since April 27, 2017 that their record fell below the .500 mark. The Redbirds played the final 120 games of the 2017 season in first place, and played all 140 games of 2018 in first place. They had been in first place for the 708 calendar days, playing 262 regular-season games and 20 playoff games in that span.

The Redbirds entered April 7 in T-3rd place in the division, which marked the first time since April 12, 2016, that they had fallen out of the top two spots in the standings.

WELCOME HOME BEN: Hailing from nearby Germantown, Tenn., new Redbirds manager Ben Johnson earned the first win of his managerial career on April 4 with the 'Birds 9-2 victory over the Storm Chasers. Johnson spent last season at Triple-A Durham (Tampa Bay), as part of a staff that captured the International League title before falling to the Redbirds in the 2018 Triple-A National Championship. The 37-year-old is also the youngest manager in team history, a mark that was previously held by Danny Sheaffer, who was 41 years old when he was named manager on June 10, 2003.

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK: The Opening Night roster featured 20 players that were not on the roster for Opening Night last season. Of the five returning players (Adolis Garcia, Austin Gomber, Daniel Ponce de Leon, Rangel Ravelo, Max Schrock) only three (Garcia, Ravelo, Schrock) were starters in the 2018 opener against Round Rock at Dell Diamond. Garcia, Gomber and Ponce de Leon all went on to make their big-leauge debuts last season with St. Louis.

FARM RAISED: Memphis' Opening Night roster featured 11 of St. Louis' top-30 prospects (Baseball America), including three of the top-10. Current prospects on the roster are: Genesis Cabrera (No. 6), Lane Thomas (No. 7), Andrew Knizner (No. 8), Ryan Helsley (No. 11), Tommy Edman (No. 12), Daniel Ponce de Leon (No. 13), Adolis Garcia (No. 15), Jake Woodford (No. 16), Edmundo Sosa (No. 22), Max Schrock (No. 25) and Giovanny Gallegos (No. 29).

BEAK-TO-BEAK-TO-BEAK?: Professional baseball has been played in the city of Memphis since 1877. In that span, only three teams have won back-to-back league championships in that time. The Memphis Egyptians won back-to-back titles in 1903-04, the Memphis Chickasaws won consecutive titles in 1952-53, and now the Redbirds have accomplished the feat with their successive PCL titles in 2017-18. No team in Memphis, however, has been able to capture a third successive title.

WINNING WAYS: After the Redbirds went 91-50 in 2017 and 83-57 last season, they have won 174 games in the last two years. That is the most wins in a two-year span in Memphis history since 1933-34 when the Chickasaws also won 174 games. The 1921-22 Chickasaws set the record for most wins in a two-year span by a Memphis professional team with 198.

KINGS OF THE HILL: After setting the franchise record for best ERA in a season at 3.77 in 2017, last year's staff shattered that record, posting a 3.54 mark. It was the second-consecutive season they owned the best ERA in the league. Additionally, they set the franchise record for most strikeouts in a season (1,160), fewest runs allowed (564), fewest hits allowed (1,152), and lowest opponent batting average (.248). Memphis' entire 2018 Opening Night, five-man starting rotation was promoted to St. Louis last season. John Gant, Dakota Hudson, Austin Gomber, Jack Flaherty, and Daniel Ponce de Leon all played large roles in St. Louis' second-half turnaround.

THE 2018 SEASON

THE BEST ONCE AGAIN: After a 5-0 victory on Sept. 15, 2018, the Memphis Redbirds were crowned champions of the Pacific Coast League, defeating the Fresno Grizzlies three games to one. It was Memphis' fourth PCL title in franchise history, and their second-straight. Memphis also won titles in 2000 and 2009. In 120 seasons of professional baseball in Memphis, it is the 16th championship all-time. Infielder Tommy Edman and outfielder Randy Arozarena were named co-MVPs of the PCL Playoffs. Arozarena hit two home runs in Game 4, giving Memphis all the offense they needed. Edman hit .469 in eight playoff games, notching a hit in all but the final game of the series. Manager Stubby Clapp has now been part of three of Memphis' four titles since they joined the PCL. He played a crucial role on the 2000 team as a middle infielder, and has now guided the Redbirds to consecutive championships as manager.

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