PCL1 Memphis Redbirds

GAME NOTES: Memphis Redbirds (22-15) vs Nashville Sounds (18-17) --

Published on May 13, 2018 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Memphis Redbirds News Release


Memphis Redbirds (22-15) vs Nashville Sounds (18-17)

Sunday, May 13 - 2:05 p.m. (CT) - AutoZone Park (10,000) - Memphis, Tennessee

Game #38 - Home Game #18 (10-7)

LHP Sean Gilmartin (2-1, 4.82 ERA) vs. RHP James Naile (3-3, 3.72 ERA)

THE GAME

TODAY'S GAME: The Memphis Redbirds and Nashville Sounds will play game two of their four-game set at 2:05 p.m. for a Mother's Day matinee. It is the second time the two teams have met in the last week. Memphis started their eight-game road trip at Nashville last week, and dropped three of four games in the series. Memphis took the series finale in that game 4-1. Despite jumping out to an early lead yesterday, Memphis fell 8-4 to the Sounds. Today's game will be televised regionally on CW30 and broadcast on memphisredbirds.com with Steve Selby and Pete Pranica on the call.

ON THE HILL: Left-hander Sean Gilmartin will take the mound for the Redbirds this afternoon. This will be Gilmartin's 11th appearance, and his fourth start of the year. Gilmartin initially struggled out of the bullpen this season, allowing seven earned runs in his first four appearances. He pitched just 4.0 total innings in those appearances, giving him an ERA of 15.75 and a record of 0-1. Batters were also hitting .412 off of him. Since making a spot-start in the second game of a doubleheader on April 19 at Omaha, Gilmartin has settled down. Since the 19th, Gilmartin has made six appearances, three of them starts, and is 2-0 in 14.2 innings, having allowed just three earned runs, and striking out eight batters, giving him a 1.84 ERA. Batters have also hit just .268 off him. He earned the win in his last start, throwing 5.0 innings of one-run ball.

The Sounds are scheduled to send righty James Naile to the mound to face Gilmartin. Naile has made seven starts for the Sounds this season. So far, he is 3-3 with a 3.72 ERA in those games. He did not face Memphis in the series last week.

HISTORY WITH NASHVILLE: Memphis and Nashville have played every season dating back to 1998. In that span, Memphis has always been affiliated with St. Louis, and Nashville has changed affiliations twice. For the first seven years of the rivalry, they were Pittsburgh's affiliate before becoming Milwaukee's, and now Oakland's. The two teams met just last week for the first time this season. Nashville won three of four games in that series.

BIRD BITES

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

GARCIA: Recorded his league-leading sixth outfield assist last night, cutting down a runner trying to take third

MARTINEZ: Recorded a ground-rule double and scored in his season-debut with Memphis last night

MEJIA: Before Thursday, had 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 16 games

MUNOZ: Went hitless Friday, snapping 10-game hitting streak .385 (15-39); hit first-career grand slam Thursday

O'NEILL: Is 7-for-20 with five runs scored, three home runs, and four RBI against Nashville this season

RAVELO: Has hits in eight of last 11 appearances and in 17-of-26 games on the season

SCHROCK: Thursday night, ended 3rd 7-game hitting streak; has K'd in just 9.0 percent of career at-bats (113-1254)

TOVAR: Has seven multi-hit games in last 11 games with a hit, including going 3-for-4 with two RBI in Wednesday's win

VOIT: Went hitless last two nights, after recording six hits in previous two games (4-for-5 Wednesday, 2-for-4 Thursday)

WISDOM: Has hit four homers this season, all at home; hit .222 (6-for-27) in seven games on road trip

BY THE NUMBERS

10-11 is the all-time Redbirds record on Mother's Day. The Redbirds topped El Paso 6-5 in 2017 on Mother's Day

THE SEASON

ABOUT THE LAST ONE: The Memphis Redbirds dropped last night's contest to the Nashville Sounds 8-4. Memphis has now lost four of five to the Sounds this season.

The 'Birds got off to a hot-start last night, notching two runs in the first inning. Tyler O'Neill blasted his 10th home run of the season in the inning to give Memphis a 2-0 lead.

Memphis starter Daniel Poncedeleon turned in one of his best performances of the season last night. The righty pitched 5.0 no-hit innings before walking the leadoff man in the sixth and allowing a hit to the next batter, former Redbird Nick Martini.

After the hit, Poncedeleon was pulled in favor of Andrew Morales, and Morales allowed both inherited runners to score, as well as two more in the inning. He allowed two more in the eighth, as well.

Edward Mujica pitched the final 1.1 innings for the 'Birds and allowed both inherited runners to score, as well as two of his own. The bullpen combined to throw 4.0 innings, allowing 11 hits and six earned runs.

O'Neill, Max Schrock (2-for-5, RBI), and Oscar Mercado (1-for-3, RBI, SF) led the offensive charge for Memphis.

TOUGH-LUCK FOR PONCE: Memphis starter Daniel Poncedeleon has had a strong start to the season, but doesn't have much to show for it. The righty has made eight appearances and seven starts so far, and is 2-2 with a 2.41 ERA. After throwing 5.0 no-hit innings last night, Poncedeleon's tough-luck continued. Andrew Morales came in to relieve him and allowed both inherited runners to score, and then gave up the lead, giving Poncedeleon another no-decision. Despite his performances, the Redbirds have scored just 13 (1.9/start) total runs while he has been on the mound this season, by far the lowest for any regular Memphis starter. After last night's performance, Poncedeleon is now sixth in the PCL with a 2.41 ERA, is tied for second with 44 strikeouts, is fifth in batting average against at .219, and is one of three Memphis pitchers in the top-five of strikeouts per nine innings pitched at 10.90.

SOMETHING ABOUT NASHVILLE: So far this season, the Redbirds have struggled mightily against the Nashville Sounds. In five games against the Sounds this season, Memphis is 1-4, and is hitting just .246 against them. They have hit just five homers against the Sounds, and are posting just a .268 on-base percentage, and a 4.93 ERA against them, by far their lowest and highest on-base and ERA marks against any opponents this season. Through 37 games this season, Memphis has faced five opponents and has an above .500 winning percentage against three of them, is notched at exactly .500 with Oklahoma City, but they have just a .200 winning percentage against Nashville. The only team the Redbirds have a lower batting average against is the Omaha Storm Chasers. However, despite their .238 batting average against Omaha, the 'Birds are posting a .306 on-base percentage, and the pitching staff has posted a 2.30 ERA, giving the 'Birds a 5-2 record against the Storm Chasers.

LONG GONE: Slugging outfielder and Cardinals' No. 4 prospect, Tyler O'Neill blasted his 10th home run of the season last night, and his fourth since returning from St. Louis two weeks ago. O'Neill launched a two-run homer in the first inning to give the 'Birds an early 2-0 lead. Three of his four home runs since returning from St. Louis have come against the Sounds. He hit two out in the series at Nashville last week. Coming into today's game, O'Neill is tied for third in the league with 10 homers, is third in slugging percentage at .663, and is second in home runs per at-bat ratio at 1/9.80 at-bats.

MR. CONSISTENT: Outfielder and St. Louis' No. 13 prospect Oscar Mercado is having himself a season so far in his first Triple-A season. After going 1-for-3 with an RBI, walk, strikeout, and sac fly last night, Mercado is now hitting .293 through 33 games this season, all of them starts. Mercado is tied with teammates Max Schrock and Patrick Wisdom for most games played so far for Memphis, and is tied for second in the league with 10 stolen bases so far. The speedy outfielder has already recorded two separate eight-game hitting streaks this season, and is riding a six-game streak coming into today's game. He has also recorded hits in 26 of his 33 games this season, and has recorded eight multi-hit games. Mercado also has five home runs through 33 games. Last season, he hit 13 home runs for Double-A Springfield, topping his previous career-high of four set in 2015. He did not record his fifth home run until his 41st game last season. Mercado also has not made an error this season. He leads all PCL outfielders with a perfect fielding percentage, and has recorded 76 put-outs in 77 total chances.

SURGING EARLY, STRUGGLING LATE: So far this season, the Redbirds have outscored opponents early in games, but have struggled late. Through the first four innings of games this season, Memphis has outscored opponents 92-to-49. After the fourth inning, Memphis is only outscoring opponents in the sixth and seventh innings, and extra innings. After the fourth inning, Memphis is being outscored by a total of 90-to-81. Memphis has particularly struggled in the eighth inning. They are being outscored 23-to-8 in the eighth so far this season, by far their highest deficit in any inning.

GARCIA'S GOT GAME: Despite being in a deep offensive slump, outfielder Adolis Garcia is proving he can still field with the best of them. Last night, Garcia threw out a runner trying to take third, giving him his league-leading sixth outfield assist this season. Garcia also stole his fifth base of the season last night, tying him for second on the team among current players. Max Schrock also has five steals, while Randy Arozarena, who was recently transferred to Springfield, has seven, and Oscar Mercado has 10. Garcia set his career-high with 15 steals between Springfield and Memphis last season.

STRONG STARTERS, SHAKY 'PEN: Through the first 37 games this season, Memphis owns the second-best ERA in the league at 3.50, despite giving up eight earned runs yesterday. The starters for Memphis this season are 17-9 with a 2.97 ERA and 207 strikeouts in 203 innings, while the bullpen is 5-6 with a 4.42 ERA and 133 strikeouts in 118.2 innings, while blowing seven of 21 save chances.

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 339 batters through the first 37 games (9.2/game), which is just behind Fresno (347) for the best mark in the PCL this season. 'Birds batters are also towards the bottom of the league in total strikeouts. Memphis batters have struck out 264 times through the first 36 games, behind only Fresno (263) and Omaha (261) for the lowest mark in the league so far. Through the first 37 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.

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 Thursday 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.

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. 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 13, 2018


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