PCL1 Memphis Redbirds

Game Notes: Memphis Redbirds (23-23) at Nashville Sounds (17-28)

May 23, 2019 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Memphis Redbirds News Release


Memphis Redbirds (23-23) at Nashville Sounds (17-28)

Thursday, May 23 - 6:35 p.m. (CT) - First Tennessee Park (10,300) - Nashville, Tennessee

Game #47 - Road Game #28 (13-14)

LHP Evan Kruczynski (0-0, 6.23) vs RHP Seth Maness (2-1, 4.09)

BY THE NUMBERS

17 Rangel Ravelo's current hitting streak. It is his longest such streak at the Triple-A level and it is the longest Redbird streak since Nick Stavinoha also hit in 17 straight games from Aug. 6 - Aug. 27, 2011.

78 Runs scored by the Redbirds in 10 games against the Sounds this season. Memphis is averaging 7.8 runs and 11.5 hits per contest against Nashville.

THE GAME

TONIGHT'S GAME: The Memphis Redbirds scored their most runs in game since May 14 last night in their 10-0 shutout victory over the Sounds. Tyler O'Neill blasted his eighth home run of the season and his hit seven of them against Nashville. Tommy Edman and Kramer Robertson each had a three-run home run as well. For Robertson, it was his first career Triple-A long ball. Rangel Ravelo extended his hitting streak to 17 games and is now just three games shy of matching Adam Kennedy's franchise record set in 1999. Tonight's game will be broadcast live on www.memphisredbirds.com with Steve Selby on the call.

ON THE HILL: Left-hander Evan Kruczynski is scheduled to take the mound in tonight's contest and make his second Triple-A start and his tenth overall in the 2019 season. In his debut on Saturday at San Antonio, Kruczynski took no-decision (4.1 IP, 6 H, 3 R/ER, 0 BB, 5 SO, 1 HBP) in the Redbirds' 6-4 defeat to the Missions. Kruczynski started the year at Double-A Springfield where he went 2-3, 6.64 (29 ER/39.1 IP) in eight starts for the Cardinals. In his last three starts in Springfield, however, Kruczynski allowed two earned runs of fewer in each of those starts. The 24-year-old's last Double-A outing was on May 13 vs. Arkansas, where he earned the victory (7.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R/ER, 3 BB, 9 SO, 1 HR) in the Cardinals' 4-1 victory over the Travelers. It marked his second straight quality start and his second consecutive win, while also setting season-highs in innings pitched and strikeouts. Tonight marks his first appearance against the Texas Triple-A affiliate. The Franklin, Wisc., native split time between Double-A Springfield and Advanced-A Palm Beach in 2018, combining to go 7-6, 3.50 (45 ER/115.2 IP) in 21 G/GS. Kruczynski is in his third professional season and has spent them all with the St. Louis organization.

The Sounds are scheduled to start right-hander Seth Maness in tonight's contest. The 30-year-old is scheduled to make his fifth start overall and second home start of the season. In his last time out on Saturday at Round Rock, Maness earned his second win of the season (5.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R/ER, 0 BB, 3 SO, 1 HBP) in the Sounds' 6-3 victory over the Express. Maness has made one start against the Redbirds this season, taking no-decision (6.0 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 SO, 1 HR) in the Sounds' 5-3 victory on May 13 at AutoZone Park. He initially started the season with the High Point Rockers of the Atlantic League before being signed by the Texas Rangers on May 2. Maness is a former Redbird, making his last appearance for Memphis on June 16, 2016 at Nashville. Overall, Maness went 2-2, 4.00 (12 ER/27.0 IP) in 6/4 GS in a Redbirds uniform. He spent the 2018 season at Triple-A Omaha, going 0-1, 4.63 (6 ER/11.2 IP) in 5 G/1 GS. The Pinehurst, N.C., native is in his 9th professional season and his first with the Texas organization. He has also spent time with the St. Louis and Kansas City organizations.

HISTORY WITH NASHVILLE: Memphis has faced off against Nashville every year since 1998 and trail 163-180 in the all-time series. In those 21 seasons, the Redbirds have a winning record against the Sounds in just six seasons, the most recent coming in 2017. This year marks the first that the Sounds are the Rangers' top-affiliate, after spending the last four seasons as the Athletics' Triple-A club. The Redbirds went 8-8 against the Rangers' Triple-A affiliate (Round Rock) in 2018 and a dominant 14-2 in 2017. Their overall record against the Texas Triple-A affiliate is 161-176.

Memphis has winning records on the road at Nashville in eight seasons, including two of the last four. Since First Tennessee Park opened in 2015, the Redbirds have a 21-16 record.

THE SEASON

ABOUT THE LAST ONE: Tyler O'Neill, Kramer Robertson, and Tommy Edman all homered and combined for eight hits and all 10 Memphis RBI, and Rangel Ravelo extended his hitting streak to 17 games in a 10-0 Memphis Redbirds (23-23) thumping of the Nashville Sounds (Rangers) Wednesday night in Nashville, Tenn.

Edman finished 3-for-5 with his fifth home run of the season, a walk, and four RBI, and O'Neill cracked his eighth home run in 15 games with the Redbirds. Seven of those home runs have come against Nashville. Robertson added his first Triple-A home run, a three-run shot in the fourth inning after O'Neill's blast in the third. Edman's long ball also plated three.

Ravelo singled in the eighth inning, his final at-bat of the night, to move his hitting streak to 17 games. He is three shy of tying the franchise record. During his streak, Ravelo is hitting .468 (29-62).

Daniel Ponce de Leon moved to 4-2 on the season after tossing 5.0 shutout innings, allowing just three hits. He struck out six and walked three. Chris Ellis, Hunter Cervenka, and Chasen Shreve finished the game with 4.0 shutout innings.

Ponce de Leon has won 10 of his last 14 decisions at the Triple-A level.

John Nogowski was 2-for-5 with a double and two runs scored, and Andrew Knizner, Ramon Urias, and Robertson also scored twice.

O'Neill jumped right on Nashville (17-28) in the top of the first, singling home the game's first run, and he homered in the third. Robertson's three-run blast in the fourth made it 5-0, and Edman's three-run shot ahead of an O'Neill RBI double blew the game open at 9-0.

Edman added his fourth RBI in the seventh with a single to right field that plated Nogowski.

Cervenka got a double play to end the seventh inning, worked a perfect eighth, and then gave the ball to Shreve who tossed a 1-2-3 ninth to dash any hopes of a Nashville comeback.

Three of Memphis' five highest-scoring games of the season have come against the Sounds.

SAN ANTONIO SERIES WRAP: The Redbirds were swept for the first time this season and the first time in a five-game series since July 21-23, 2006 at Iowa, but that series included two doubleheaders.

The Redbirds series record on the road fell to 1-2-3 (W-L-T) with both series losses coming at San Antonio. Memphis won just one of seven games at the Wolff.

Adolis Garica and Rangel Ravelo were the standout performers offensively in the series, combining to go 14-for-33 (.424) with two home runs and four RBI. Garcia homered in back-to-back contests on Thursday and Friday, while Ravelo extended his hitting streak to a season-high 15 games. Ravelo is batting .472 (26x55) during that span.

The 'Birds starting staff went 0-3, 6.14 (15 ER/22.0 IP) fanning 22 batters while issuing eight walks. The starters also only gave up two home runs in the series. Genesis Cabrera turned in the lone quality start. The Memphis bullpen went 0-2, 5.44 (11 ER/18.2 IP) with 22 strikeouts.

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 on May 13 and May 14 and find themselves among Pacific Coast League leaders in multiple categories as a result. Woodford ranks 3rd (2.44) and Gomber ranks 6th (2.98) in the PCL in ERA, as the pair have combined to go 7-1, 2.69 (29 ER/97.0 IP) in 17 starts. Gomber and Woodford rank 4th (52) and 10th (45) respectively in strikeouts, 11th (45.1) and T-4th (51.2) in innings pitched and 9th (1.28) and 5th (1.20) in WHIP. Woodford also ranks T-3rd in opponent average (.197), while Gomber is one of two pitchers in the PCL to have thrown a complete-game shutout.

RAVELO STAYS HOT: After hitting a career-low .173 (13x75) in the month of April at the Triple-A level, Rangel Ravelo has stayed hot all month, going 29-for-66 (.439) in 19 games this 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 17-game hitting streak and has homered three times during that span. The franchise record is 20 games, set by Adam Kennedy from June 28 - Aug. 12, 1999. The 27-year-old has raised his batting average to .298 on the season and is getting on base at a .373 clip.

O'NEILL CONTINUES TO RAKE: 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 eight home runs in just 15 games. Seven of his eight 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 and had another three-hit performance last night. 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. On May 16 in the series opener against San Antonio, 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.

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 80 doubles, 10 triples and 57 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.

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.

Check out the Memphis Redbirds Statistics



Pacific Coast League Stories from May 23, 2019


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