PCL1 Memphis Redbirds

Game Notes: Memphis Redbirds (24-35) at Tacoma Rainiers (29-30)

Published on June 5, 2019 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Memphis Redbirds News Release


Memphis Redbirds (24-35) at Tacoma Rainiers (29-30)

Wednesday, June 5 - 8:05 p.m. (CT) - Cheney Stadium (7,429) - Tacoma, Washington

Game #60 - Road Game #31 (14-16)

RHP Anthony Shew (1-1, 3.00) vs LHP Jon Niese (3-1, 4.68)

BY THE NUMBERS

6 Number of quality starts by Jake Woodford in 12 outings this season. Woodford leads the Redbirds in that category.

9 Runs scored by the Redbirds in last night's contest. It was the first time since May 22 that the offense scored at least nine times in a game.

4 Number of double plays turned by the Redbirds last night. That matched a season-high and was just one shy of matching the franchise record.

THE GAME

TONIGHT'S GAME: The Memphis Redbirds snapped their season-high 12-game losing skid last night in their first of three games against the Tacoma Rainiers. Adolis Garcia and Rangel Ravelo each homered, while Garcia drove in three more runs to bring his season total to 40 RBI. Five of the nine Redbird starters had multiple hits in the contest. Jake Woodford turned in his sixth quality start of the season, allowing just two runs in 7.0 innings of work, fanning six and issuing just one walk. Tonight's game will be broadcast live on www.memphisredbirds.com with Steve Selby on the call.

ON THE HILL: Right-hander Anthony Shew is scheduled to make his sixth start for the Redbirds and tenth start overall this season across all levels. Tonight will also be his first road start since making his Triple-A debut on May 1 at New Orleans. In his last time out on Thursday vs. Oklahoma City, Shew took no-decision (5.0 IP, 7 H, 4 R 3 ER, 4 BB, 5 SO, 1 HBP) in the Redbirds' 10-8 defeat to the Dodgers. The seven hits marked a season-high while the three earned runs and four walks also matched season-highs. In his first five Triple-A starts, Shew has allowed just eight earned runs in 24.0 innings pitched. Before allowing a then season-high six hits with Memphis on May 12, Shew had allowed just four hits combined in his first two starts with the Redbirds and also struck out 12 batters. He was transferred from Double-A Springfield on April 29 where he went 1-2, 1.93 (6 ER/28.0 IP) over five starts. Shew has three quality starts, including quality starts in his last two Double-A outings. Overall, he has allowed three runs or fewer in every start, including one earned run or less in six. The 25-year-old has fanned 56 and has issued just 17 walks in 52.0 innings across all levels this season. Shew has held opposing hitters to a .251 (50x199) average overall and has stymied hitters to the tune of a .218 average (19x87) with runners on. The University of San Francisco product split time between Double-A Springfield and Advanced-A Palm Beach, going 10-9, 3.85 (67 ER/156.2 IP) in 27 G/GS. The Bookings, Ore., native is in his fourth professional season, spending all of them with the St. Louis organization.

The Rainiers are slated to start left-hander Jon Niese in tonight's contest. The 32-year-old is scheduled to make his seventh start and eighth appearance overall this season. Niese has gone 3-1, 4.68 (17 ER/32.2 IP) to go along with 20 strikeouts and 11 walks, and is allowing a .290 opponent's average (36x124). In his last time out on Thursday at El Paso, Niese earned the win (5.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R/ER, 0 BB, 2 SO) in the Rainiers' 4-0 victory over the Chihuahuas in the first game of the doubleheader between the two clubs. That was Niese's first start of allowing no earned runs in an outing and he has allowed three earned runs or fewer in a start four times. He has yet to make a quality start however. Niese's start on April 28 vs. Sacramento was the first start that he had made at any level since Aug. 23, 2016 at St. Louis while with the New York Mets. He had missed the last two seasons due to injury, but went to Spring Training in each of those two missed seasons. The Lima, Ohio, native is in his 13th professional season and his first with the Seattle organization. He had spent the first 12 years of his career within the Mets system and had a brief stint within the Pirates system in 2016. In his Major League career, Niese has gone 69-68, 4.07 (538 ER/1189.1 IP) in 211 games, 197 starts.

HISTORY WITH TACOMA: The Redbirds have faced off against the Tacoma Rainiers every year since 1998. The Rainiers have been Seattle's Triple-A affiliate the entirety of that span. The Redbirds are Rainiers are tied in the all-time series 50-50 but hold a 29-22 advantage at AutoZone Park. At Cheney Stadium, Memphis trails by a 21-28 margin. The Redbirds have winning records against the Rainiers in each of the last two seasons and have not had a losing record against the Rainiers since 2009. The two teams have faced off in the playoffs once, in the 2010 Pacific Coast League Championship. Tacoma swept Memphis 3-0 to capture their fifth PCL title. All three games were played at AutoZone Park due to ongoing renovations at Cheney Stadium at the time.

THE SEASON

ABOUT THE LAST ONE: The Memphis Redbirds (24-35) jumped on the Tacoma Rainiers (Mariners) early and often Tuesday night in Tacoma, Wash., and captured a 9-3 win in the series opener.

Jake Woodford fired 7.0 strong innings in the win, allowing just two runs on five hits. He struck out six and walked one.

On the offensive side, Adolis Garcia homered and was 3-for-5 with a double, three RBI, and two runs scored, and Rangel Ravelo also went deep for the Redbirds. Ramon Urias doubled twice and was one of four Redbirds to notch two-hit games to help Memphis' 13-hit attack.

The Redbirds scored four times in the top of the first and did not look back, as Tyler O'Neill doubled home a run, Garcia doubled home two, and Lane Thomas singled home a tally to open the scoring.

After Tacoma (29-30) scored two in the bottom of the first, Memphis plated two in both the top of the third and the top of the seventh to open an 8-2 lead. An eighth-inning run then made it 9-2 for Memphis. The Redbirds' third-inning runs came on Ravelo's seventh home run of the season and Garcia's 13th.

Woodford retired eight-straight Rainiers from the end of the second through the beginning of the fifth, and he ended his outing facing the minimum in the sixth and seventh innings after a pair of double plays.

Dominic Leone and Tommy Layne tossed the final two innings for Memphis and allowed only one run.

Garcia also stole his third base of the season in the victory.

The Redbirds turned four double plays Tuesday night.

The win ended Memphis' 12-game losing streak.

OKLAHOMA CITY SERIES WRAP: The Memphis Redbirds were swept in four games by the Oklahoma City Dodgers in the first series of the season between the two clubs. This marked the first time since July 14-17, 2016 at Albuquerque that the Redbirds had been swept in four games by an opponent. The 'Birds also went 0-10 on their homestand, which was the second time in franchise history (2007, 0-7) that they failed to win to record a win during a homestand.

The Redbirds scored just 13 runs in the four games but scored two or fewer in each of the final three games of the series. The offense slugged a total of three homes and collected and nine extra-base hits overall. Against Oklahoma City pitching, Memphis was held to a .192 average (25x130) and only had seven players pick up multi-hit performances.

Rangel Ravelo came just a home run shy of hitting for the cycle in the series opener and recorded his first triple since May 27, 2018. Overall, Ravelo went 7-for-13 (.538) in the four games against the Dodgers and bookended the series with three-hit games. He has raised his average to .302 on the season. Tommy Edman picked up two more multi-hit games during the series and also scored a team-high five runs. He leads the Redbirds with 15 multi-hit games this season. After going 105 at-bats without a home run, Edmundo Sosa homered in back-to-back games to bring his season total to four. Adolis Garcia blasted his team-leading 12th home run of the year in the series opener on Thursday.

The 'Birds starting staff went 0-3, 9.45 (19 ER/18.1 IP) fanning 20 batters while issuing 11 walks. The starters also gave up six home runs in the series, including three by Alex Reyes on Sunday in his return to Memphis. Ryan Helsley whiffed six in his start on Friday, fanning three-straight twice on the night. The Memphis bullpen went 0-1, 5.76 (11 ER/17.2 IP) with 27 strikeouts. Evan Kruczynski made the longest relief outing of the season for the Redbirds, tossing 3.0 innings on Sunday and allowing one run on one hit.

RAVELO STAYS HOT: After hitting a career-low .173 (13x75) in the month of April at the Triple-A level, Rangel Ravelo stayed hot all of May, going 38-for-99 (.384) in 28 games. Ravelo had five three-hit games last month and already has one in June, compared to just one in 21 games in April. He had his 19-game hitting streak snapped May 25. He had homered four times during that span. He came just one game shy of matching the franchise record is 20 games, set by Adam Kennedy from June 28 - Aug. 12, 1999. Despite having his his hitting streak ended, Ravelo has still hit safely in 27 of his last 32 games with an official at-bat, The 27-year-old has raised his batting average to .301 on the season and is getting on base at a .379 clip.

MAY RECAP: The Redbirds finished May with a 10-21 record, going 4-12 at AutoZone Park and 6-9 on the road. This is the just the second time since 2017, that the Redbirds have posted a losing record in a month, the last being August 2018. It is also the second time during that span that the 'Birds have had losing records at home or away. The 35 home runs slugged by the Redbirds ranks T-2nd for home runs in May, falling just three home runs shy of matching the 1999 franchise record of 38 homers in May.

Rangel Ravelo led the team with a .384 average (38x99), .460 OBP and a 1.066 OPS. This all coming after batting just .173 in the month of April. Tyler O'Neill returned to the Redbirds with a bang, launching eight home runs in 24 games.

GOING TO THE SHOW: Following the contract of Andrew Knizner being purchased on Friday by the St. Louis Cardinals, the Redbirds have now had four members from their Opening Night roster get called up to St. Louis and make their Major League debuts. Knizner joins Lane Thomas as the second Redbirds position player to earn a call up, joining pitchers Genesis Cabrera and Ryan Helsley. The 2018 Redbirds had six players get promoted to St. Louis and they would all make their Major League debuts with the club.

DON'T RUN ON THE REDBIRDS: During the doubleheader against San Antonio on May 27, catchers Joe Hudson and Andrew Knizner each threw out a would-be base stealer in their respective games behind the plate. The Redbirds lead the Pacific Coast League in cutting down baserunners, throwing out 24 runners in 56 attempts. While throwing out the most baserunners, they also lead the PCL with a 42.9 caught-stealing success rate.

Andrew Knizner leads all PCL catchers by throwing out 17 baserunners in 32 attempts. His current caught-stealing rate of 53.1 percent is nearly 30 percentage points higher than his 2018 caught-stealing rate of 26.7 percent (20 CS/75 SB ATT) across all levels.

MEISINGER IN MAY: After tossing a career-high 4.0 innings and allowing just one run in the nightcap of the doubleheader on May 27, Ryan Meisinger brought his season ERA down to 3.34 after ending April with a 5.40 ERA. He has gone 0-1, 1.00 (2 ER/18.0 IP) in May over 11 games and two starts and has allowed earned runs in just two of those outings. His ERA is now down to a season-low 3.12 following his outing last night vs. Oklahoma City. He has fanned 25 batters and issued just four walks as well. Despite not making a start in his Minor League career entering 2019, Meisinger has gone 0-1, 0.90 (1 ER/10.0 IP) in three starts.

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 4th (3.06) and Gomber has posted a 2.98 ERA that would rank 4th in the PCL if he qualified, as the pair have combined to go 8-2, 3.03 (39 ER/116.0 IP) in 20 starts. Gomber and Woodford rank 12th (52) and 4th (63) respectively in strikeouts. Woodford also ranks 4th in opponent average (.199) and 2nd (70.2) in innings pitched, while Gomber is one of two pitchers in the PCL to have thrown a complete-game shutout.

EXTRA! EXTRA!: On May 25 vs. San Antonio, the Redbirds did not have an extra-base hit in a game for the first time all season. Their run of 48 consecutive games with at least one such hit fell just three games short of matching the 2017 Redbirds' streak of 51 games. So far this season, the Redbirds have collected 98 doubles, 14 triples and 66 home runs. Adolis Garcia holds the team lead with 25 extra-base hits with nine doubles, three triples and a team-high 13 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

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Pacific Coast League Stories from June 5, 2019


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