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PCL1 Memphis Redbirds

Game Notes: Memphis Redbirds (17-7) vs Oklahoma City Dodgers (17-4)

April 30, 2018 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Memphis Redbirds News Release


Memphis Redbirds (17-7) vs Oklahoma City Dodgers (17-4)

Monday, April 30 - 6:35 p.m. (CT) - AutoZone Park (10,000) - Memphis, Tennessee

Game #25 - Home Game #13 (8-4)

RHP Kevin Herget (1-1, 2.61 ERA) vs. RHP Daniel Corcino (1-0, 5.68 ERA)

THE GAME

TODAY'S GAME: The Memphis Redbirds and Oklahoma City Dodgers will face off for the first time this season in game one of a four-game set, tonight at 6:35 p.m. The 'Birds are coming off their first series loss of the season after dropping three-of-five to Round Rock, while Oklahoma City is coming off a five-game sweep of the Iowa Cubs. The two teams own the two-best records in all of Triple-A baseball, with Memphis sitting at 17-7, and Oklahoma City sitting at 17-4. Today's game will be broadcast live on www.memphisredbirds.com with Steve Selby on the call.

ON THE HILL: Right-hander Kevin Herget will get the ball in a spot-start for Memphis tonight. The righty has made six appearances out of the bullpen this season, spanning 10.1 innings. In those appearances, he is 1-1 with a 2.61 ERA in 10.1 innings, with eight strikeouts. In his last appearance, he pitched 4.0 innings of one-run relief against Round Rock. He started nine games for Memphis last season, marking the first time he had started a game since 2014. In his Game Two start in the PCL Championship Series, he pitched 8.0 scoreless innings, striking out 15 batters, one shy of the franchise record.

The Express will righty Daniel Corcino to the mound to face Herget. The righty has made three appearances for the Dodgers this season, all in relief. In his last appearance against Iowa, he pitched 3.1 innings of two-run ball, striking out five to earn the win. This season, he is 1-0 with a 5.68 ERA and seven strikeouts.

HISTORY WITH OKLAHOMA CITY: The Redbirds and Round Rock Express have played every year dating back to 1998. Oklahoma City owns the all-time series record at 167-151. Memphis owns the all-time record at Memphis at 81-71, while Oklahoma City owns the road series record at 63-96. The Dodgers were the only team to post an above .500 record against the Redbirds in 2017. They narrowly took the season series with eight wins, compared to Memphis' seven wins.

BIRD BITES

AROZARENA: Seven stolen bases is two behind Mercado for PCL lead

BARON: Joins St. Louis organization after spending entire career in Seattle organization; has two hits in seven games so far

GARCIA: Has struggled in last 10 games, going just 7-for-35 after starting season hitting .350 (13-for-37)

KELLY: Has caught 17 of 24 games, is hitting .276 (8-for-29) with six RBI and five walks in last eight games

MEJIA: Recorded a hit yesterday, a solo home run, after going hitless in his previous six games

MERCADO: Nine stolen bases leads the PCL; is currently on his second eight-game hitting streak of the season

MUNOZ: Joins the team after spending the first three weeks of the season with St. Louis; hit first homer on 4/23

O'NEILL: Hit six home runs in 12 games before making MLB debut on April 19 at Chicago

RAVELO: Hit first home run of the season yesterday, and is now hitting .276 on the season

SCHROCK: Has just seven hits in last 31 at-bats after starting season hitting .397 (23-for-58)

TOVAR: Is hitting .480 (12-for-25) in last nine games with one double, two homers, and nine RBI

VOIT: Struggled since coming off disabled list, hitting just .184 (7-for-38) in those 11 games

WISDOM: Has hit three homers this season, all at home, and is currently in a 7-for-36 (.194) slump over last 12 games

BY THE NUMBERS

6 home runs by six different players in the last three games. Mercado, Kelly, Wisdom, Tovar, Mejia, and Ravelo have all gone deep for Memphis in the last three days

THE SEASON

ABOUT THE LAST ONE: The Memphis Redbirds bounced back after losing back-to-back games for the first time all season, to win 6-1 over the Round Rock Express yesterday.

Ryan Helsley, fresh from Double-A, was dominant on the mound for the 'Birds. The righty twirled 7.0 strong innings, allowing just one run on four hits and one walk, while striking out nine batters on the afternoon.

Ryan Sherriff, on Major League rehab, and Preston Guilmet pitched two scoreless innings to close out the game, combining to allow just two baserunners, while striking out two.

On the offensive side, Oscar Mercado continued his recent hot streak, going 3-for-4 at the plate, giving him his second eight-game hitting streak of the season.

Alex Mejia and Rangel Ravelo provided the punch behind Mercado's big day, both launching their first home runs of the year. Mejia's shot gave Memphis an early 1-0 lead in the third, while Ravelo's three-run shot in the sixth provided extra insurance.

BEST START IN FRANCHISE HISTORY: The Redbirds have been on fire to start the 2018 season. After the 5-2 road trip, and three-game sweep over Iowa, Memphis has moved far past the 2000 team that started 10-4 for the best start in franchise history. The 2017 team, which finished 91-50 last season, the best mark in franchise history, started 13-11 through its first 24 games. This year's squad is 17-7 through the first 24 games.

PCL PITCHER OF THE WEEK: Starting pitcher Austin Gomber was named the PCL Pitcher of the Week today after his 16-strikeout performance last Monday. In his last start on Monday, he pitched 8.0 shutout innings, allowing six hits and no walks, while striking out 16 batters. The 16 strikeouts bested his previous career-high of 11 strikeouts, which he set last season. The 16 strikeouts also tied the franchise record for most strikeouts in a game (Lance Lynn 9/10/10), and bested the regular-season strikeout record of 15 set by Anthony Reyes (8/14/05) and Bill Pulsipher (9/3/05). After that performance, he was called up to the Cardinals on Sunday for his MLB debut. Gomber was on a roll since his season-debut on April 7. In three starts since then, Gomber has thrown 21.2 innings of five-run ball, and has struck out 23 batters.

BYE, BYE BASEBALL: The Redbirds have launched six home runs in their last three games. They have notched two homers each of the last three days against Round Rock. After Memphis scored all four of their runs via the long-ball on Friday, they scored three of their five runs Saturday via the long-ball. Patrick Wisdom launched his third homer of the year to the opposite field to leadoff the fourth inning and put the 'Birds ahead 2-1. Wilfredo Tovar followed suit a few batters later, crushing his second homer of the year, a two-run shot to give Memphis a 4-1 lead. Yesterday, they scored four of their six runs via homers. Alex Mejia and Rangel Ravelo both hit their first homers of the year, with Mejia hitting a solo shot, and Ravelo crushing a three-run bomb. The home runs have all come from different players (Mercado, Kelly, Wisdom, Tovar, Mejia, and Ravelo), as well.

CAN'T STOP THE STARTERS: The starting rotation for the Redbirds this season has been outstanding. The starters have a combined record of 13-2, have struck out 125 batters, have allowed just 37 earned runs, surrendered only six homers and 41 walks, all combining for a 2.52 ERA. Through 24 games, Memphis starters have twirled 13 quality starts. Ryan Helsley continued the starting pitching dominance yesterday in his first Triple-A start of the season, tossing 7.0 inning, while striking out nine batters.

SHOW A LITTLE MERCY, MERCADO: Outfielder and No. 13 prospect in the organization, Oscar Mercado, has proven he can field and run the bases, but since the start of the 2017 season, his bat has started to show promise, as well. After a 3-for-4 performance yesterday, Mercado extended his hitting streak to eight games, the second time he has notched an eight-game hitting streak in just 22 games this season. Last season at Double-A Springfield, Mercado hit a career-high .287, 33 points higher than his previous career high of .254. So far this season, Mercado is hitting .341 (28-for-82). In 142 games since the start of 2017, Mercado is hitting .295 (165-for-559), and has stolen 48 bases. A three-time stolen base champion (2014, 2015, 2017) Mercado comes into tonight's game with a PCL-leading nine stolen bases, two ahead of teammate Randy Arozarena.

HELSLEY DOMINANT: Yesterday's starter and Cardinals' No. 8 prospect, Ryan Helsley, was dominant for the Redbirds across 7.0 innings. The righty, making just his second-career regular season Triple-A start, allowed just one run on four hits and one walk, while striking out nine batters on the afternoon. He retired 20 of 25 total batters, including the last eight he faced, and did not allow a hit after a double in the fourth. Helsley made one regular season start for the 'Birds in September of last year, and stayed on the team throughout the PCL Championship run, in which he made two starts.

ON THE BETTER SIDE OF THE STRIKEOUTS: Memphis is among the PCL leaders for strikeouts by the pitching staff, and is towards the bottom of the league in strikeouts by batters. The pitching staff has struck out 212 batters through the first 24 games (8.8/game). The 212 strikeouts ranks fourth among all PCL teams, behind only Fresno and Las Vegas (both 223) and El Paso (220). 'Birds batters are towards the bottom of the league in total strikeouts. Memphis batters have struck out 171 times through the first 24 games. Only three teams have less strikeouts than the 'Birds. Oklahoma City has struck out a league-low 153 times, while Omaha has struck out 164 times, and Fresno 169 times. Of the 16 PCL teams, Memphis is one of just seven teams to have more strikeouts from the pitching staff than strikeouts by hitters, along with Salt Lake, Albuquerque, Oklahoma City, Fresno, Tacoma, and Nashville. Memphis pitchers have 41 more strikeouts than Memphis batters do. Oklahoma City pitchers also have 41 more strikeouts than their batters do, and Fresno pitchers have 54 more strikeouts than their batters do.

BREAK OUT THE GOLD MEDALS, THESE GUYS CAN RUN: While the Redbirds have proved they can smash the baseball, starting the season by notching at least one extra-base hit in 20 of the first 23 games, they have also proved that they can put runs on the board by dominating on the base paths. Three weeks ago, they stole five bases as a team for the first time since June 13, 2016 at Nashville, and also stole four bases in an inning against Iowa last week. The 'Birds have now stolen 28 bases as a team through the first 24 games of the season, and have been caught 11 times, good for a .718 stolen base percentage.

GIVE ME GUILMET: After spending the 2017 season in Japan trying to get his stuff back, reliever Preston Guilmet is turning heads out of the Memphis bullpen. The veteran righty has been manager Stubby Clapp's most reliable arm out of the 'pen. So far, he has made nine appearances, spanning 14.0 innings, allowing just six hits and two earned runs, while striking out 20 and holding batters to a .133 (6-for-45) average. Guilmet is tied for the PCL lead with five saves, is tied for lead with eight games finished.

PITCHING PROWESS: Memphis' 2017 pitching staff was one of its main reasons for success. The 'Birds led the PCL in ERA (3.77), which was a franchise record (3.89, 1998 and 2003), and Memphis was the only club in the PCL with a team ERA under 4.20. They have gotten off to a hot start this season, as well. Memphis boasts a 3.05 ERA through the first 23 games, including a 2.52 ERA and 13 quality starts from the starting rotation. The 3.05 team ERA is third in the PCL behind Oklahoma City (2.59) and Nashville (2.67). Memphis pitching has also combined to strike out 78 batters in the last seven games.

FINALLY, SOME RUNS IN THE FIRST: After scoring seven-first inning runs in the series against Iowa, and another one Thursday, the Redbirds are now outscoring opponents 13-to-8 in the first inning this season. Last season, the 'Birds dominated the competition in the first, outscoring them 118-to-51. So far this season, Memphis is outscoring opponents 113-to-71, but the majority of those runs have come in the middle innings.

WINNING WAYS: The 2017 Redbirds became the winningest club in the franchise's 20 seasons with their 84th win on Aug. 21 against New Orleans. The previous record was 83 wins, set by the 2000 team. The 'Birds have continued their winning ways to begin the 2018 season. They have started 17-7, and have the best 24-game start in franchise history.

FASTEST TO 100: With a win last week, second-year manager Stubby Clapp secured his 100th regular season win as manager of the Redbirds. The accomplishment made him the fastest manager in Redbird history to reach 100 games. He also sits at sixth on the all-time win list for the Redbirds and has the best winning percentage at .655. Clapp's regular season record now sits at 108-57.

2017 PCL CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON

START THE SLOW CLAPP: In 2017, first-year skipper Stubby Clapp led the Redbirds to their best season in franchise history. The 'Birds soared to a 91-50 record in the 2017 regular season and added six more wins in the PCL playoffs to win 97 total games on the year. Clapp was named the 2017 PCL Manager of the Year for his efforts, and was also named the 2017 Baseball America Minor League Manager of the Year. Clapp became the first minor league manager in the history of the St. Louis organization to win the Baseball America award. Clapp also earned the organization's prestigious George Kissell award.

FOR THE RECORD:

- Memphis' 91 wins in 2017 were the 10th-most in 119 seasons of professional baseball in Memphis dating back to 1877, and the season's .645 winning percentage was fourth-best

- Memphis was one of four teams in MiLB in 2017 with 90+ wins (Trenton Thunder [AA], 92-48; West Michigan Whitecaps [A], 91-45; Chattanooga Lookouts [AA], 91-49; Memphis Redbirds [AAA], 91-50)

- Memphis went 41 games over .500 during the regular season, the most by a PCL club since Albuquerque was 56 games over at 94-38 in 1981

- The Redbirds won the PCL American Southern Division by 22.0 games, and since divisions were established in the PCL in 1963, only two other teams won their division by 20 or more games (1970 Spokane Indians, 26.0 games; 1981 Albuquerque Dukes, 25.0 games)

- Memphis ended the season with its best ERA in franchise history (3.77) (3.89, 1998 and 2003), matched its best fielding percentage (.984) (.984, 2014), and had its third-best batting average (.278) (.284, 1999; .279, 2004)

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