PCL1 Memphis Redbirds

Game Notes: Memphis Redbirds (2-2) vs Omaha Storm Chasers (2-2)

Published on April 8, 2019 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Memphis Redbirds News Release


Memphis Redbirds (2-2) vs Omaha Storm Chasers (2-2)

Monday, April 8 - 11:05 a.m. (CT) - AutoZone Park (10,000) - Memphis, Tennessee

Game #5 - Home Game #5 (2-2)

RHP Mike Hauschild (0-0, -.-- ERA) vs RHP Scott Blewett (0-0, -.-- ERA)

BY THE NUMBERS

0.895 Rebirds starters WHIP through the first four games of the series. The rotation has stymied the Storm Chasers offense, allowing just 13 hits and four walks in 19.0 innings.

THE GAME

TODAY'S GAME: The Memphis Redbirds and the Omaha Storm Chasers are set to square off in the rubber-match of their five-game set, having split the first four games. Mike Hauschild is set to make his Memphis debut and his first start with the St. Louis organizaiton. The Redbirds are looking to avoid their first series loss to the Storm Chasers since May 10 -13, 2016 when the Storm Chasers won three of four games. Tonight's game will be broadcast live on www.memphisredbirds.com with Steve Selby on the call.

ON THE HILL: Right-hander Mike Hauschild will take the mound in today's game and make his Memphis Redbirds and 2019 season debut. The 29-year-old enters his eighth professional season and his first within the St. Louis organization. Despite making 76 career starts with the Fresno Grizzlies, today marks just the second time that he will be facing Omaha and the first since Aug. 27, 2015. The Dayton, Ohio, native began 2018 with the Grizzlies, going 7-6 with a 4.88 ERA (53 ER/97.2 IP) in 19 starts before he was released on July 30. He was then signed by the Toronto Blue Jays on August 2, and would make his debut with the club that night, tossing 6.0 scoreless innings in relief to earn his first-career MLB win.

The Storm Chasers are scheduled to start right-hander Scott Blewett today. The 22-year-old is scheduled to make his first start of the season and his Triple-A debut. He enters his sixth professional season, all with the Kansas City organization, as the No. 15 prospect in the Royals' system by Baseball America. The Baldwinsville, N.Y., native went 8-6, 4.79 (79 ER/148.1 IP) with Double-A NW Arkansas in 2018. He ranked 2nd in the Texas League in innings pitched (148.1), 5th in batting average (.281) and T-6th in ERA (4.79).

HISTORY WITH OMAHA: The Redbirds have finished each of the past two seasons with a 6-2 record against the Storm Chasers at AutoZone Park in downtown Memphis each of the last two seasons. The 'Birds have not had a losing home record against the Storm Chasers since 2013 when they went 3-5. In the 21 seasons the two clubs have battled each other, Memphis has owned a losing record at home against Omaha in just five seasons. Memphis has held the Omaha offense to three runs or fewer in 12 of their last 13 games, including a run of 11-straight games that was snapped on Saturday following the 5-3 loss.

THE SEASON

ABOUT THE LAST ONE: Adolis Garcia hit a three-run home run in the third inning, and Daniel Ponce de Leon got the win with 5.0 innings of work in his season debut as the Memphis Redbirds (2-2) picked up a 3-2 win over the Omaha Storm Chasers (Royals) Sunday at AutoZone Park.

The day started with the resumption of last night's suspended game, which was halted due to rain with the score tied at 3 heading into the top of the eighth. Omaha hit a two-run home run in the top of the eighth inning to take a 5-3 lead and held on to finish the victory.

In the evening's regularly-scheduled game, Omaha (2-2) plated two runs in the top of the third off Ponce de Leon. But the Redbirds came right back in the home-half, with Garcia cranking his first home run of the season with one out. That scored Joe Hudson, who walked to start the inning, and Ramon Urias, who doubled right before Garcia.

Ponce de Leon settled back in for his final two innings of work, allowing just one single but retiring the final five Storm Chasers he faced and seven of the last eight.

Hunter Cervenka, Chasen Shreve, and Chris Beck followed Ponce de Leon with 4.0 innings of scoreless relief, facing the minimum after the lone Storm Chaser to reach base on a single in the seventh was promptly erased on a caught stealing.

Six of the final 10 Omaha hitters struck out, with each reliever taking care of two hitters via strikes in his outing.

WELCOME HOME BEN: Hailing from nearby Germantown, Tenn., new Redbirds manager Ben Johnson earned the first win of his managerial career last night 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.

FIRST NO MORE: Following Saturday's defeat, 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 Sunday's contest 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. That date also marks the last time that Memphis had fallen to two games under .500.

STARTING STRONG: Memphis' pitching has picked up right where the 2018 staff left off, as they enter today's game with a 2.50 team ERA and have limited the Storm Chasers offense to a .202 batting average. Redbirds starters are pitching to the tune of a 1.42 ERA with a 0.895 WHIP, giving up just three earned run in 19.0 innings. The starting rotation has combined for 18 strikeouts and four walks in four starts starts.

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.

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.

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.

NEW FACES, NO PROBLEM: The Redbirds won the PCL Championship for the second-straight season, and advanced to the Triple-A National Championship, despite the fact that the Memphis roster was almost completely different from the playoff roster during the 2017 season. It was also almost completely different from the 2018 Opening Day roster. Of the 13 position players who made an appearance in the 2017 playoffs, only two were still on Memphis' active roster. Wilfredo Tovar and Tommy Edman are those two players. Every other player has either been traded, released, or is at a different level of the organization.

Memphis had a franchise-record 66 players on the roster last season, though two never appeared in a game before being taken off the roster (Jesse Jenner and Michael Wacha). It is the third-consecutive season in which Memphis has used a record number of players. Of the 66 players to be listed on Memphis' roster last year, 22 of them made their Triple-A debuts with the 'Birds, and six others were promoted for their Major League debuts.

TOP NOTCH PERFORMANCES: While Memphis raced to its second-consecutive PCL Championship as a team, they had many outstanding individual performances along the way. On April 23, 2018, left-handed pitcher Austin Gomber tied the franchise record with 16 strikeouts in eight shutout innings against the Iowa Cubs. Lance Lynn also had 16 strikeouts in a playoff game in 2010. Gomber's mark set the regular-season record. On June 30, 2018, infielder Luke Voit hit for the cycle against Iowa. It was just the second cycle in franchise history and the first since 2000. On July 19, 2018, at Omaha, right-handed pitcher Daniel Ponce de Leon threw a one-hit, complete game shutout. It was just the 11th one-hit performance in Memphis history and the 17th complete game shutout. One week later, he made his Major League debut and threw seven no-hit innings. On July 22, 2018, against Colorado Springs, Tyler O'Neill launched three home runs, recording the sixth three-home run performance in franchise history. Four days later on July 26, 2018, at Salt Lake, Adolis Garcia recorded the seventh three-home run performance in franchise history, while also tying the franchise-record with eight RBI. Outfielder Oscar Mercado also had a five-hit, three-steal performance on July 21, 2018, the first such performance in Memphis history.

LAST YEAR'S HONOREES: Along with former manager Stubby Clapp, many Redbird players took home awards last season. While Clapp took home Manager of the Year honors, pitcher Dakota Hudson and outfielder Tyler O'Neill were named to the All-PCL Team. Hudson was also named the PCL Pitcher of the Year. It was the first time in franchise history that Memphis had two players named to the team in the same season, and Hudson is the first Memphis player to win Pitcher of the Year honors. Last season, Hudson, fellow pitcher Daniel Ponce de Leon, and infielder Patrick Wisdom were all named PCL All-Stars. Additionally, Hudson and outfielder Randy Arozarena participated in the MLB Futures Game. Last season, outfielder Adolis Garcia was also named the PCL Player of the Month for July. Four Memphis players also earned Cardinals Minor League Pitcher/Player of the Month honors. Pitcher Austin Gomber took home the award in April, infielder Rangel Ravelo and Hudson doubled up on the awards in June, and Ponce de Leon and Garcia doubled up on the awards in July. Wisdom also became the first Redbird in history to participate in the Triple-A Home Run Derby.

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