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PCL1 Memphis Redbirds

Game Notes: Memphis Redbirds (13-11) at New Orleans Baby Cakes (14-10)

April 30, 2019 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Memphis Redbirds News Release


Memphis Redbirds (13-11) at New Orleans Baby Cakes (14-10)

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

Game #25 - Road Game #14 (7-6)

RHP Daniel Ponce de Leon (2-0, 3.24) vs RHP Hector Noesi (2-1, 1.64)

BY THE NUMBERS

7 Number of inherited runners that Jesus Cruz has not allowed to score in six relief appearances.

.433 Andrew Knizner's batting average (13x30) 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 second time at Shrine on Airline during this four-game set. Last night marked the first time that the Redbirds have been shutout this season and they look to avoid being shutout in back-to-back contests for the first time since April 24-25, 2017 at Oklahoma City. 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: Right-hander Daniel Ponce de Leon is scheduled to take the mound in tonight's game and make his first Triple-A start since April 17 and fourth start overall. Ponce de Leon's last outing came with St. Louis on April 23 vs. Milwaukee, where he took no-decision (5.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R/ER, 3 BB, 7 SO, 1 HR) in the Cardinals' 4-3 win over the Brewers. In his first five starts at the big league level, Ponce de Leon has not allowed more than three runs, but has only pitched past the fifth inning only once. In his last start with Memphis, he earned the win in the Redbirds' 7-6 victory over San Antonio, setting season-highs in innings (6.0) and strikeouts (8). He has won eight of his last 10 decisions at the Triple-A level. The 27-year-old made one start against the Baby Cakes in 2018 on May 30, earning the win (6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R/ER, 4 BB, 8 SO) in the Redbirds' 3-2 victory on the road at Shrine on Airline.

The Baby Cakes are scheduled to start right-hander Hector Noesi tonight. The 32-year-old is scheduled to make his fifth start of the season and his third home start. In his first four starts this season, Noesi has gone 2-1, 1.64 (4 ER/22.0 IP) and has tossed at least 5.0 innings and each start. Noesi has allowed one earned run on less in three straight outings. In his last time out on Thursday at Round Rock, Noesi delivered his first quality start of the season, going 7.0 innings and allowing just one run on two hits while striking out 12. The Esperanza, Dominican Republic, native is in his 14th professional season and his first in affiliated baseball since 2015, after spending the past three seasons with the Kia Tigers of the Korean Baseball Organization. This is Noesi's first season with the Miami organization and fifth organization overall.

HISTORY WITH NEW ORLEANS: Memphis has faced off against New Orleans every year since 1998 and trail 165-172 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 80-81.

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 124-135 overall.

THE SEASON

ABOUT THE LAST ONE: The Memphis Redbirds (13-11) left runners on base in six of the nine innings Monday night in New Orleans, Louisiana, and could not push anything across in a 3-0 defeat to the New Orleans Baby Cakes (Marlins).

Memphis finished the game 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on base in the contest.

Andrew Knizner went 2-for-3 with a double and a walk, extending his hitting streak to eight games. He has hits in 14 of his last 15 games and all but three outings on the season. Tommy Edman and Lane Thomas also had doubles for the Redbirds.

Genesis Cabrera worked 4.1 innings in a start, allowing three hits with three walks and two strikeouts, and he surrendered just an unearned run in the fourth inning. Jesus Cruz relieved Cabrera and got a bases-loaded double play to end the fifth before tossing a scoreless sixth.

New Orleans (14-10) picked up some breathing room with two outs in the bottom of the eighth on a two-run home run by Peter O'Brien off Chasen Shreve, who was in his second inning of relief.

Memphis went down in order to finish the ballgame.

Thomas also added an outfield assist.

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-23 (.435) 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 2nd in the Pacific Coast League with 107 walks through the first 24 games of the season. The Redbirds' .355 on-base percentage also ranks T-7th in the PCL. John Nogowski holds the team lead by drawing 18 free passes.

EXTRA! EXTRA!: The Redbirds have recorded at least one extra-base hit in every game this season, collecting 42 doubles, five triples and 28 home runs. Tommy Edman and Adolis Garica share the team lead with 11 extra-base hits each. The pair have combined for 10 doubles, three triples and eight home runs.

TRIPLE THREAT: Through his first 20 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 16 of 20 contests. His 27 hits and eight doubles are most among the current Redbirds roster.

Not to be out-done, Andrew Knizner and Edmundo Sosa have seven multi-hit games each. Knizner is currently has a base hit in eight-straight contest and has hits in 15 of 18 games. He leads the team with a .348 batting average.

In Sosa's first 18 starts, he has two three-hit performances on April 15 at Round Rock and April 17 vs. San Antonio. Sosa ranks 2nd on the team with a .338 batting average.

The trio has combined for 73 hits, which accounts for 35.8 percent of all the Redbirds hits this season, 34 runs (26 percent), 22 extra-base hits and 31 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 surpassed 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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