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PCL1 Memphis Redbirds

Game Notes: Memphis Redbirds (13-10) at New Orleans Baby Cakes (13-10)

April 29, 2019 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Memphis Redbirds News Release


Memphis Redbirds (13-10) at New Orleans Baby Cakes (13-10)

Monday, April 29 - 6:30 p.m. (CT) - Shrine on Airline (10,000) - New Orleans, Louisiana

Game #24 - Road Game #13 (7-5)

LHP Genesis Cabrera (0-1, 10.22) vs RHP Ben Meyer (0-2, 8.76)

BY THE NUMBERS

2.61 ERA for Redbirds starters during their five-game series with Omaha. Three of those five starts were quality starts.

.407 Andrew Knizner's batting average (11x27) during his current seven-game hitting streak.

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 New Orleans Baby Cakes meet for the first time this season at Shrine on Airline to open up a four-game set. This series marks the penultimate series between the two teams at New Orleans, as the Baby Cakes will be moving to Wichita, Kan., next season. Tonight's games will be broadcast live on www.memphisredbirds.com with Steve Selby on the call.

ON THE HILL: Left-hander Genesis Cabrera is scheduled to take the mound in tonight's game, making his first start during the road trip, and make his fifth appearance and third start of the season. In his last time out, on April 22 vs. Round Rock, Cabrera tossed a season-high 4.0 innings, allowing four runs on four hits while also giving up a pair of solo home runs. In his first two starts of the season, Cabrera has allowed seven runs on seven hits in 7.2 innings. Tonight marks his first career appearance against New Orleans and first appearance against the Marlins Triple-A affiliate. The Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, native is in his sixth professional season and second with the St. Louis organization. Cabrera entered this season ranked as the No. 6 prospect in the Cardinals system by Baseball America. He spent the bulk of last season at Double-A Montgomery, going 7-6, 4.12 (52 ER/113.2 IP). He was named a Southern League All-Star and ranked 3rd in the league with a .218 batting average.

The Baby Cakes are scheduled to start right-hander Ben Meyer tonight. The 26-year-old is scheduled to make his fourth start of the season and his third home start. Tonight will be his first appearance against the Redbirds since Aug. 14, 2018, where Meyer earned the win in relief, tossing 3.0 scoreless innings and only allowing two hits. In one start against the Memphis in 2018, May 31, Meyer earned the win by tossing 6.1 innings and allowing three runs on nine hits. In his last time out, Wednesday vs. Round Rock, the Minneapolis native took no-decision (3.1 IP, 5 H, 4 R/ER, 5 BB, 2 SO) in the Baby Cakes' 11-8 victory over the Express. Meyer is in his fifth professional season, all with the Miami organization. He made his Major League debut last season on June 7 vs. St. Louis, tossing a scoreless seventh inning. He appeared in 13 games with the Marlins in 2018, going 0-0, 10.42 (22 ER/19.0 IP).

HISTORY WITH NEW ORLEANS: Memphis has faced off against New Orleans every year since 1998 and trail 165-171 in the all-time series. In the 10 years that the Redbirds have faced off against the Miami Triple-A affiliate in New Orleans, the 'Birds have winning records at the Shrine on Airline in just three seasons, 2009 (5-3), 2013 (5-3) and 2017 (6-3). Despite the Redbirds overall dominance in 2018, they went 7-9 against the Baby Cakes, including a 3-5 record on the road. Their overall record against the Miami Triple-A affiliate in New Orleans is 80-80.

Memphis has faced off with Miami's top affiliate every year since 2003. From 2003-08, the Albuquerque Isotopes played host for the Marlins Triple-A club, where the Redbirds had a 44-54 record over six seasons. Over the 16 seasons that the Redbirds have faced off against Miami's Triple-A club, the 'Birds trail 124-134 overall.

THE SEASON

ABOUT THE LAST ONE: The Memphis Redbirds (13-10) split the doubleheader with the Omaha Storm Chasers (Royals) Sunday afternoon in Omaha, Nebraska.

Lane Thomas went 3-for-7 with a home run and two RBI in his return from his first big-league stint and the Redbirds offense scored a total of 15 runs over the two games.

Game 1: Memphis 5, Omaha 1

The two teams entered the fifth tied at 1-1, but the Redbirds rallied with two outs to plate four runs and take a 5-1 lead.

Andrew Knizner singled home Max Schrock to open the scoring in the frame, and then Adolis Garcia and Thomas followed with back-to-back home runs, the former a two-run shot.

Jake Woodford tossed 6.2 innings, allowing just one run on four hits while fanning six. Woodford has allowed one run or less in four of five starts this season.

All five Memphis runs in the game came with two outs.

Game 2: Omaha 11, Memphis 10

The Redbirds jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, with Drew Robinson and Francisco Pena each hitting a two-run home run in the first and second innings respectively.

But despite taking a 9-0 lead into the bottom of the fourth, the Redbirds bullpen allowed 11 runs on 13 hits as Memphis was walked-off for a third time this season, with Erick Mejia delivering a two-run, two-out single in the seventh for the decisive blow.

Ryan Meisinger made his first career minor league start after 134 appearances and delivered 3.0 innings of no-hit ball, fanning five and issuing one walk.

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 five starts of the season, Gomber is 3-0, 2.54 (8 ER/28.1 IP) to go along with 30 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 5-0, 2.50 (15 ER/54.0 IP) in nine starts and has held opponents to a .214 batting average (41x192).

CLUTCH HITTING: Edmundo Sosa delivered the Redbirds first walk-off victory of the season on April 21 vs. Round Rock with his two-run shot in the 10th. With runners in scoring position, Sosa is 10-for-22 (.455) with two doubles, a home run and nine RBI. With runners in scoring position and two outs, Sosa leads the team with a .545 average (6x11) and five RBI.

WALKING IN MEMPHIS: After matching a season-high nine walks in the second game of their doubleheader on April 20, the Memphis Redbirds rank T-2nd in the Pacific Coast League with 103 walks through the first 23 games of the season. The Redbirds' .360 on-base percentage also ranks 6th in the PCL. John Nogowski holds the team lead by drawing 16 free passes.

EXTRA! EXTRA!: The Redbirds have recorded at least one extra-base hit in every game this season, collecting 39 doubles, five triples and 28 home runs. Adolis Garica leads the team with 11 extra-base hits, collecting two doubles, two triples and seven home runs.

DOUBLE TROUBLE: Through his first 19 starts of the season, Tommy Edman has eight multi-hit games, including four, three-hit performances, April 12 at San Antonio, April 13 at Round Rock, April 17 vs. San Antonio and Friday at Omaha. His team-high 10-game hitting streak came to end on April 21, but he has reached safely in 15 of 19 contests. His 26 hits and seven doubles are most among the current Redbirds roster.

Not to be out-done, Edmundo Sosa has seven multi-hit games in his first 17 starts, with two three-hit performances on April 15 at Round Rock and April 17 vs. San Antonio. Sosa leads the team with a .344 batting average.

Between the two, the pair have combined for 46 hits, which accounts for 24.1 percent of all the Redbirds hits this season, 23 runs (17.6 percent), 17 extra-base hits and 23 RBI.

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 three walk-off defeats this season have already passed 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.

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