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PCL1 Memphis Redbirds

Game Notes: Memphis Redbirds (21-21) at San Antonio Missions (25-17)

May 19, 2019 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Memphis Redbirds News Release


Memphis Redbirds (21-21) at San Antonio Missions (25-17)

Sunday, May 19 - 2:05 p.m. (CT) - Nelson W. Wolff Municipal Stadium (9,200) - San Antonio, Texas

Game #43 - Road Game #24 (11-12)

RHP Jake Woodford (3-0, 1.74) vs RHP Aaron Wilkerson (1-0, 0.87)

BY THE NUMBERS

.510 Rangel Ravelo's batting average during his current 13-game hitting streak. He has raised his batting average to .298 after batting .173 in April.

2 Runs driven in by Evan Kruczynski in his first ever Triple-A plate appearance. It was also his first hit since July 30, 2018.

THE GAME

TODAY'S GAME: The Memphis Redbirds look to snap their three-game losing skid today in the fourth game of this five-game set against the Missions. Evan Kruczynski took the mound last night in his Triple-A debut, taking no-decision after 4.1 innings of three-run ball. Kruczynski fanned five and walked none. Rangel Ravelo extended his hitting streak to 13 games yesterday and is batting .510 (24x47) during that span. Today's game will be broadcast live on www.memphisredbirds.com with Steve Selby on the call.

ON THE HILL: Right-hander Jake Woodford is scheduled to take the mound in today's game and make his ninth start and fifth road start of the season. Woodford last took the mound on Tuesday vs. Nashville, earning the win by twirling a gem, tossing 7.0 scoreless innings, allowing five hits and fanning six, while issuing six walks. He has allowed two earned runs or fewer in seven of his eight starts. Woodford has won all three of his decisions this season and has won eight of his last 11 decisions at the Triple-A level. He has one start against the Missions this season on April 10, taking no-decision (5.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 4 SO) in the Redbirds' 6-5 walk-off defeat. He is currently holding opposing batters to a .176 (28x159) average, which ranks 3rd in the Pacific Coast League among qualifiers. Woodford is even stingier against right-handed batters, holding them to just a .155 (15x97) average. He also ranks 3rd in the PCL with a 1.74 ERA and has allowed one earned run or fewer in six of his eight outings. The St. Petersburg, Fla., is currently ranked as the No. 24 prospect in the Cardinals organization by MLB.com.

The Missions are scheduled to start right-hander Aaron Wilkerson today. The 28-year-old is slated to make his fifth Triple-A start of the season and his eighth appearance overall. In his last time out on Tuesday at New Orleans, Wilkerson took no-decision (4.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R/ER, 2 BB, 2 SO, 1 HR) in the Missions' 5-2 victory over the Baby Cakes. The 4.1 innings pitched was a Triple-A season-low and the home run allowed has his first allowed this season across all levels. Wilkerson has allowed one earned run or less in all of his starts, but after striking out a season-high 10 in his first start, he has only fanned two batters in each start since. He has made one Major League stint this season, going 0-0, 7.36 (6 ER/7.1 IP) in three relief appearances. Wilkerson last faced the Redbirds on July 20, 2018 in Memphis, earning the victory (5.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R/ER, 2 BB, 4 SO) in the Sky Sox's 1-0 victory. He went 1-0, 0.84 (1 ER/10.2 IP) in the three starts against the Redbirds that season. The Fort Worth, Texas, native is in his seventh professional season and his fourth in the Milwaukee organization. He also spent time in the Boston organization after being signed by the Red Sox from the Florence Freedom of the Frontier League.

HISTORY WITH SAN ANTONIO: April 9 marked the first time that the Redbirds played a game in the Alamo City in their young history. It was also the first meeting between the two cities since 1973 when the Memphis Blues were members of the Texas League. The last time these two teams met prior to last week was in 1973 TL Championship Series, where the Blues won the series 3-2, with all games played in San Antonio, to capture their second TL title before moving to the International League the next year.

This is 14th-straight year that the Redbirds have faced off against Milwaukee's Triple-A affiliate, with the previous four being played against the Colorado Springs Sky Sox. Memphis went 38-26 against the Sky Sox from 2015-18, including an 11-5 record last season. The 'Birds played the Sox for 21-straight seasons prior to this season's realignment, going 104-87 overall, 60-35 at home and 44-52 on the road. Prior to Colorado Springs, Nashville played host to the Brewers' top affiliate, where the Redbirds went 76-84 from 2005-14.

THE SEASON

ABOUT THE LAST ONE: The San Antonio Missions (Brewers) scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth and two more in the bottom of the eighth to spring past the Memphis Redbirds (21-21) and pick up a 6-4 win Saturday night in San Antonio, Texas.

The eight games in the Memphis-San Antonio series this season have been decided by a total of 12 runs.

Memphis led 4-1 until the Missions (25-17) tied the game with three runs in the fifth. San Antonio's Troy Stokes hit a leadoff home run in the eighth to give San Antonio a lead it would not relinquish.

Evan Kruczynski made his Triple-A debut and tossed 4.1 innings, allowing three runs on six hits with five strikeouts and a walk. He helped himself at the plate with a two-run single in the second that erased a 1-0 San Antonio lead.

The Redbirds scored two more in the top of the third and led 4-1 until the fifth, when San Antonio plated three runs and chased Kruczynski from the game.

Chasen Shreve tossed a scoreless seventh, before San Antonio scored twice off Jesus Cruz in the eighth.

Rangel Ravelo walked with two outs in the ninth to bring the tying run to the plate, but Tommy Edman lined out to end the ballgame.

Entering as a defensive replacement, Ravelo singled leading off the seventh which extended his hitting streak to 13 games.

Thomas also stole his sixth base of the season.

NASHVILLE SERIES WRAP: The Redbirds won their first series since April 24-28 at Omaha after taking three of four from the Sounds at AutoZone Park. Memphis has not lost a series to Nashville since May 12-15, 2018.

The Redbirds homered eight times in the series, with Tyler O'Neill leading the way with three long balls. All six of O'Neill's home runs have come against the Sounds. The four home runs launched on Tuesday set a season-high. Rangel Ravelo went 7-for-15 (.467) with one home run and five RBI, bringing his season average up to .265. Tommy Edman hit the team's first lead-off home run on the season in Monday's contest.

The 'Birds starting staff allowed just six earned runs in 21.1 innings (2.56 ERA) and fanned 20 batters while issuing nine walks. Austin Gomber and Jake Woodford turned in back-to-back seven-inning quality starts to close out the series.

PAIR OF ACES: Austin Gomber and Jake Woodford turned in back-to-back seven-inning quality starts to close out the series against the Sounds and find themselves among Pacific Coast League leaders in multiple categories as a result. Woodford ranks 3rd (1.74) and Gomber ranks 7th (2.98) in the PCL in ERA, as the pair have combined to go 7-0, 2.35 (24 ER/92.0 IP) in 16 starts. Gomber and Woodford rank 2nd (52) and 13th (42) respectively in strikeouts, 7th (45.1) and T-5th (46.2) in innings pitched and 9th (1.28) and 4th (1.09) in WHIP. Woodford also ranks 2nd in opponent average (.176), while Gomber is one of two pitchers in the PCL to have thrown a complete-game shutout.

RAVELO HEATING UP: After hitting a career-low .173 (13x75) in the month of April at the Triple-A level, Rangel Ravelo has gotten off to a hot start in May, going 24-for-51 (.471) in his first 15 games of the month. Ravelo already has four three-hit games this month, compared to just one in 21 games in April. He is currently riding a season-high 13-game hitting streak and has homered three times during that span. The 27-year-old has raised his batting average to .294 on the season and is getting on base at a .369 clip.

O'NEILL RETURNS: In his first Triple-A appearance of the season on May 5, Tyler O'Neill launched two, two-run home runs in the first game of the doubleheader. It was his first multi-HR game of the year and was the second Redbird to homer twice in a game this season. O'Neill ranks 2nd on the team with seven home runs in just 14 games. Six of his seven long balls have come against Nashville. On May 8 in the series opener against Iowa, O'Neill collected his first three-hit game of the season. The 23-year-old led the Redbirds in 2018 with 26 HR and six multi-HR games.

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. In Thursday's series opener, Memphis was walked off by the Missions for a third time this season. The Redbirds also suffered a walk-off defeat on April 28 at Omaha The four last-at-bat defeats this season have already surpassed last year's total of two and have matched 2017's total. The Redbirds have not been walked-off more than four times in a season since 2016 when it occurred six times.

SHEW SHINES: In his first two career Triple-A starts, Anthony Shew did not allow a run in 11.2 innings and allowed just four hits in 39 at-bats (.103). On May 8 in the series opener against Iowa, Shew delivered his first quality start at the Triple-A level, tossing 6.0 scoreless frames and yielding a season-low one hit while fanning a season-high eight. The Bookings, Ore., native did not allowed a run in 17.2 innings across all levels and has allowed one earned run or fewer in seven of eight of his outings in 2019 overall.

OFFENSIVE OUTBURST: In their series opener against Nashville on May 2, the Memphis Redbirds set numerous season-highs, and matched a couple of franchise records in their 17-2 rout of the Sounds. The 24 hits matched a franchise record and was also the most hits in a Pacific Coast League game this season. Their 10 hits in the second inning matched a franchise record for most in a single frame. The 'Birds set season-highs in, runs, hits and total bases and matched a season-high with eight extra-base hits.

APRIL RECAP: The Redbirds finished April with a 13-12 record, going 6-5 at AutoZone Park and 7-7 on the road. Since 2017, the Redbirds have posted a losing record in a month just once, August 2018, going 13-16 overall, 8-10 at home and 5-6 away. That is also the only time during that span that the 'Birds had losing records at home or away.

The 28 home runs slugged by the Redbirds ranks T-3rd for home runs in April, matching the 2014 team in that category. They fell just one home run shy of matching the 2017 Redbirds for 2nd most home runs in April. The franchise record is 34, held by the 2000 club.

MR. APRIL: On April 22, LHP Austin Gomber was named the Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Week for April 15-21 following his complete-game shutout on April 20 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 eight starts of the season, Gomber is 4-0, 2.98 (15 ER/45.1 IP) to go along with 52 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 16-for-34 (.471) with three doubles, a home run and 17 RBI. With runners in scoring position and two outs, Sosa leads the team with a .563 average (9x16) and nine RBI.

Sosa has the second-highest batting average in the Pacific Coast League with runners in scoring position (min. 34 AB).

On May 2 against Nashville, Sosa set a career-high with five RBI, four of which came with two outs.

EXTRA! EXTRA!: The Redbirds have recorded at least one extra-base hit in every game this season, collecting 72 doubles, 10 triples and 53 home runs. Adolis Garcia holds the team lead with 18 extra-base hits with five doubles, two triples and a team-high 11 home runs.

After Garcia's home run May 2, the Redbirds 27-game run of having at least one extra-base hit surpassed the 2018 Redbirds mark of 26 consecutive games with at least one extra-base hit.

Check out the Memphis Redbirds Statistics



Pacific Coast League Stories from May 19, 2019


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