PCL1 Memphis Redbirds

Game Notes: Memphis Redbirds (22-13) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (23-9)

Published on May 11, 2018 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Memphis Redbirds News Release


Memphis Redbirds (22-13) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (23-9)

Friday, May 11 - 7:05 p.m. (CT) - Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark (13,066) - Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Game #36 - Road Game #20 (11-8)

RHP Kevin Herget (1-3, 4.19 ERA) vs. RHP Justin DeFratus (1-1, 3.80 ERA)

THE GAME

TODAY'S GAME: The Memphis Redbirds and Oklahoma City Dodgers will play the series finale of their four-game set at 7:05 p.m. today. The Redbirds and the Dodgers split four games last week in Memphis, with Memphis winning the middle two and Oklahoma City shutting out the Redbirds in games one and four. This series continues a stretch of the clubs playing 12 times in 24 games from April 30-May 24. Memphis and Oklahoma City are the only two teams in the PCL with at least 22 wins, and the only two teams in all of Triple-A baseball with at least 22 wins. 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 take the mound for the Redbirds in tonight's series finale against the Dodgers. Herget will be making his third-straight start after making his first six appearances of the year out of the bullpen. The righty has struggled in his two starts this season. Between the two of them, he is 0-2 with a 7.88 ERA in just 8.0 innings. As a reliever this season, he is 1-1 with a 2.61 ERA in 10.0 innings. His first start of the season came on April 30 against the Dodgers. In that game, he pitched 3.0 innings, allowing two runs on five hits and one walk, while striking out two to take the loss. The Redbirds were shutout 6-0 in that game.

The Dodgers are scheduled to send right-hander Justin DeFratus to the mound to face Herget. DeFratus also pitched in last week's series and took the loss against the Redbirds. In that game, he pitched 6.0 innings, allowing eight hits and five runs, while walking two and striking out one. So far this season, DeFratus is 1-1 with a 3.80 ERA in four starts.

HISTORY WITH OKLAHOMA CITY: Memphis and Oklahoma City have played every season dating back to when Memphis joined the Pacific Coast League in 1998, with the Oklahoma City franchise also being affiliated with Texas and Houston. In the last six season, only once has one of the teams won more than nine of the meetings (OKC, 2014; 10-6). The Dodgers have won the last five season series dating back to an 8-8 split in 2012.

BIRD BITES

BARON: Recorded second multi-hit game of the season Wednesday; also recorded first three-hit game since 6/27/17

GARCIA: Has struggled in last 17 games, going 11-for-64 (.172); recorded first multi-hit game since 4/21 on Sunday

JENNER: Transferred to Memphis Sunday after not playing yet this season; played five games with MEM in '16 and '17

MEJIA: Recorded hits in four-straight starts after going hitless in his previous four starts

MERCADO: Ten stolen bases are second in the PCL; stole nine through first 16 games, and has one in last 14 games

MUNOZ: Hitting .385 (15-39) on current 10-game hitting streak; hit first-career grand slam last night

O'NEILL: Was 6-for-16 with four runs scored, two home runs, and two RBI in the series with Nashville

RAVELO: Has hits in eight of last 10 appearances and in 17-of-25 games on the season

SCHROCK: Last night, ended third 7-game hitting streak of season; has K'd in just 9.0 percent of career at-bats (112-1249)

TOVAR: Has seven multi-hit games in last 10 games with a hit, including going 3-for-4 with two RBI in Wednesday's win

VOIT: Has six hits in last two games (4-for-5 Wed., 2-for-4 yesterday); Has raised batting average 71 points in 4 games

WISDOM: Has hit four homers this season, all at home; has hits in eight of his last 12 games (12-46, .261)

BY THE NUMBERS

49 transactions for Memphis this season. That is 21 more than they had through May 11 in 2017

THE SEASON

ABOUT THE LAST ONE: The Memphis Redbirds dropped last night's contest to the Oklahoma City Dodger 8-4.

Last night's starter Austin Gomber struggled after the fourth inning. He allowed a solo home run in both the first and fourth innings before allowing a solo home run and a three-run home run in the fifth inning.

Gomber tied the franchise record for most home runs surrendered by a single pitcher with four. It was the first time a Redbirds pitcher had allowed four home runs in a game since Corey Baker on July 14, 2016 at Albuquerque.

Arturo Reyes also allowed two solo home runs in relief, bringing the total home runs Memphis pitchers had issued to six. That is one short of the franchise record for most home runs allowed in a game.

Brett Cecil, on Major League Rehab, also made an appearance out of the bullpen. He pitched one shutout inning, surrendering one hit.

On the offensive side, Luke Voit and Yairo Munoz led the charge, both going 2-for-4. Munoz drove in all four Memphis runs with a grand slam in the third inning. It was the first grand slam of his career.

YAIRO IS HAVING A GRAND TIME: Infielder and Cardinals' No. 17 prospect Yairo Munoz initially struggled after being optioned from St. Louis last month, but is riding a 10-game hitting streak, dating back to April 30, coming into today's game. The 10-game hitting streak is the second time a Redbirds player has had a 10-game streak this season. Tyler O'Neill also had a 10-game hitting streak from April 6-16. In his first 11 games with Memphis, Munoz was hitting just .250 (9-for-36) and struck out nine times. In his last 10 games, he is 15-for-39, a .385 batting average. Five of those hits have been for extra-bases, and he has struck out just five times over this period. His .385 average is also tied for the 14th-best average in the PCL in that time frame, and is the best on the Redbirds. Last night, he cranked his third homer of the season, and his first-career grand slam. The 10-game hitting streak is also tied for his third-best career streak. He had an 11-game streak last season, and he set his career mark with a 17-game streak from July 20 to August 6, 2014.

MORE POSITIVE SIGNS: Infielder and Cardinals' No. 16 prospect, Luke Voit, has struggled through the first month of the season. After collecting four hits, three of which were doubles, on Wednesday, Voit continued his hot-streak yesterday by going 2-for-4 at the plate. Before Wednesday, Voit had been struggling at the plate since being injured on Opening Day. In his first 14 games off the disabled list, Voit was hitting just .180 (9-for-50) with three doubles, one home run, five RBI, and six walks, while striking out 13 times. With his back-to-back multi-hit performances, Voit's season average is now up to .262 (17-for-65). He is also riding a four-game hitting streak, his longest of the season. Over that streak, he has gone 8-for-18 (.444) with five extra-base hits (four doubles and a home run), six RBI, and just two strikeouts. Over the last four games, his batting average has risen from .191 to .262, a 71-point difference.

NOT NECESSARILY THE RECORD YOU WANT: After tying the franchise record with 16 strikeouts on April 23 at Iowa, starting pitcher Austin Gomber has struggled to remain consistent. In his last two starts, he has pitched a combined 10.1 innings, allowing 10 earned runs. In his first four starts of the season, he pitched 25.2 innings, and allowed seven earned runs. Last night, Gomber pitched 5.0 innings, tying his career-high with nine hits allowed and six earned runs allowed. He also set his career-high with four home runs allowed, which also tied the franchise record. It was the first time a Memphis pitcher had allowed four home runs in a game since Corey Baker did so on July 14, 2016 at Albuquerque. Arturo Reyes came out of the bullpen for Memphis last night, and allowed two home runs, making the total allowed six. That mark is one shy of the franchise record of seven home runs allowed in a single game.

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 325 batters through the first 35 games (9.3/game), which is tied with Fresno for the best mark in the PCL. 'Birds batters are also towards the bottom of the league in total strikeouts. Memphis batters have struck out 254 times through the first 35 games, tied with Fresno for second-lowest in the PCL, behind only Omaha (247). Through the first 35 games of the season, three Memphis starters have also set their career-highs in strikeouts. Daniel Poncedeleon set a career-high with 12 strikeouts on April 14 against Iowa, Austin Gomber set his career-high and tied the franchise record on April 23 at Iowa with 16 strikeouts, and Jack Flaherty set his career-high with 13 strikeouts Wednesday at Oklahoma City.

RIDING THE I-55 SHUTTLE: Three Redbirds pitchers, in particular John Brebbia and Mike Mayers, have been burning up the 280 miles between Memphis and St. Louis this season. Brebbia and Mayers have already made four separate appearances with the Cardinals, with Mayers being recalled again yesterday. Gant has made two different trips to St. Louis. Through 35 games this season, the Redbirds have already seen 49 transactions (1.4/gm) after 159 in 152 total games in 2017 (1.0/gm).

MAYERS' WHACKY SEASON: Mike Mayers was recalled to join the St. Louis Cardinals again yesterday. It is the fourth time he has been recalled this season, and the second time in the last five days. After starting the season on the St. Louis roster, he spent the first 12 days of the season with them, traveling to New York and Milwaukee before going to St. Louis. On April 9, he was optioned to Memphis, but did not appear in a game before being recalled on April 12 to join the Cardinals in Cincinnati. He was optioned again on April 16 when the Cardinals' game with the Cubs was postponed due to weather. He then joined the Redbirds in Omaha and Iowa before being recalled again on April 27 to join the Cardinals in Pittsburgh. He was optioned again on May 1 and traveled with the team to Nashville before being recalled on May 6 and joining the Cardinals in St. Louis. He was optioned again the very next day and joined the Redbirds in Oklahoma City before being recalled again yesterday and joining St. Louis in San Diego. Despite his never-ending travel, Mayers is having a solid season. He has appeared in nine games so far, five with St. Louis and four with Memphis, and is 1-0 with three saves in 16.1 innings. He owns a 1.10 ERA between the two clubs and has allowed just 15 hits and two earned runs, while striking out 13 batters. He is also holding opponents to a .234 (15-for-64) batting average.

CAN'T TOUCH THIS: Wednesday, Memphis pitcher and Cardinals' No. 2 prospect Jack Flaherty dominated the Oklahoma City Dodgers. Flaherty pitched 6.2 innings, allowing just two runs without a walk, while striking out a career-high 13 batters. Flaherty allowed a solo home run in the first, and a run with two outs in the third. After the run crossed in the third inning, Flaherty sent down 11-straight Oklahoma City batters, the first seven of which were by strikeout. Of the final 16 batters he faced, he retired 13 of them, 10 of which were by strikeout. So far this season, Flaherty has dominated the competition. For Memphis, he is 4-1 in five starts, posting a 2.27 ERA with 41 strikeouts, second-best in the PCL. Flaherty also owns the fifth-best ERA in the league, the third-best WHIP (0.92), the second-best batting average against (.190), the third-best strikeouts per nine innings pitched ratio (11.65), and the fourth-best baserunners per nine innings ratio at just 9.09. The 41 K's are third in the league, as well.

SETTLING DOWN: After getting off to a shaky start this season, veteran Sean Gilmartin has been nothing but consistent in his last six appearances. In his first four relief appearances of the season, he gave up seven earned runs in just 4.0 innings, giving him a 15.57 ERA. However, since making a spot-start in game two of a doubleheader at Omaha on April 19, Gilmartin has been lights-out. Including his April 19 start, Gilmartin has appeared in six games since his rough start to the season, making spot-starts in three of them. In his last 14.2 innings, Gilmartin has allowed just five runs, only three of them earned, while striking out eight batters. After Tuesday's five inning, one-run performance, Gilmartin now has a 1-0 record and 2.53 ERA in three starts this season.

MORE HONORS FOR GOMBER: Starting pitcher Austin Gomber was named the PCL Pitcher of the Week last Monday after his 16-strikeout performance April 23, and he was also named the Cardinals Minor League Pitcher of the Month for April. In that, 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).

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)

Check out the Memphis Redbirds Statistics

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Pacific Coast League Stories from May 11, 2018


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