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PCL1 Memphis Redbirds

Game Notes: Memphis Redbirds (26-36) at Reno Aces (26-35)

June 8, 2019 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Memphis Redbirds News Release


Memphis Redbirds (26-36) at Reno Aces (26-35)

Saturday, June 8 - 9:05 p.m. (CT) - Aces Ballpark (9,000) - Reno, Nevada

Game #63 - Road Game #34 (16-17)

RHP Alex Reyes (1-1, 6.00) vs RHP Taylor Widener (3-4, 10.06)

BY THE NUMBERS

4 Number of hits by both John Nogowski and Rangel Ravelo last night. It was the pair's first four-hit game of the season, matching a team-high set by Lane Thomas this year.

2 Number of doubles, triples, home runs and RBI collected by Edmundo Sosa in his last two games.

11 Number of Reno baserunners stranded by Redbirds pitching last night. The Aces were held to going just 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position.

THE GAME

TONIGHT'S GAME: The Memphis Redbirds continue their seven-game road trip in the second game of this four-game set against the Reno Aces. Edmundo Sosa finished just a cycle shy of the cycle in last night's contest, and for the second straight night, as he and Max Schrock wnet a combine 6-for-10 with six runs scored at the top of the order. John Nogowski and Rangel Ravelo each had four-hit games in last night's contest, combining to go 8-for-10 with five RBI in the No. 3 and No.4 spots in the batting order. Evan Kruczynski earned his first career Triple-A victory by tossing 5.0 innings of two-run ball and fanning six. Tonight's game will be broadcast live on www.memphisredbirds.com with Steve Selby on the call.

ON THE HILL: Right-hander Alex Reyes is scheduled to take the mound in tonight's game and make his fourth start and ninth appearance of 2019 across all levels. Reyes has made six appearances, three starts, with the Redbirds this season, going 1-1, 6.00 (10 ER/15.0 IP). In his last time out on Sunday vs. Oklahoma City, he suffered the loss (4.2 IP, 7 H, 7 R/ER, 3 BB, 4 SO, 3 HR) in the Redbirds' 8-2 defeat to the Dodgers. Reyes allowed season-highs in runs and home runs allowed and also matched a season-high with seven hits allowed. However, it was the most innings he has pitched this season as well. It was also his first start in Memphis since April 25, where he was placed on the Injured List following the start. Prior to Sunday, he had made two starts at Palm Beach following his activation and transfer from the 7-Day Injured List on May 23, where Reyes went 0-1, 1.93 (2 ER/9.1 IP) to go along with 11 strikeouts and just three walks. Overall, opponents at the Triple-A level are batting just .220 (11x50). The Elizabeth, N.J., native enters his seventh professional season and has spent them all in the St. Louis organization. The 24-year-old entered 2019 ranked as the No. 1 prospect in the Cardinals system by Baseball America for the fourth straight year. He was also ranked as the No.5 right-handed prospect by the same publication.

The Aces are slated to start right-hander Taylor Widener in tonight's contest. The 24-year-old is scheduled to make his seventh home start and 13th start of the season overall. Widener has gone 3-4, 10.06 (57 ER/51.0 IP) to go along with 54 strikeouts and 25 walks in his 12 outings this season. In his last time out on Sunday at Albuquerque, Widener suffered the loss (4.2 IP, 8 H, 7 R/ER, 2 BB, 4 SO) in the Aces' 16-9 defeat to the Isotopes. That was the third time in his last four starts that Widener has allowed at least seven earned runs. He has also allowed seven hits or more in five starts as he has yielded an opponent's average of .343 (74x216). It also marked back-to-back outings of 4.2 innings pitched. Widener is yet to make a quality start this season and has allowed three earned runs or more in each start. Widener spent all of 2018 at Double-A Jackson, where he went a combined 5-8, 2.75 (42 ER/137.1 IP) in 26 games, 25 starts. His performances last year led him to be named the Arizona Diamondbacks Minor League Pitcher of the Year for 2018. The Aiken, S.C., native is in his fourth professional season and his second with the Arizona organization. He had spent the first two years of his career within the New York-AL system at various levels. He entered this season ranked as the No. 7 prospect in the Diamondbacks system by Baseball America.

HISTORY WITH RENO: The Redbirds have faced off against the Reno Aces every year since 2009, when the Aces were founded. The Aces have been Arizona's Triple-A affiliate the entirety of that span. In their young history, the Redbirds trail in the all-time series 15-26, trailing at Aces Ballpark by a 9-12 margin and trailing at AutoZone Park 6-14. The Redbirds have a just one season with a winning record against the Aces (2009) and have losing records in four of the last five seasons.

Prior to the Aces joining the Pacific Coast League, the Tucson Sidewinders played host to the Diamondbacks' top affiliate from 1998-2008 in the PCL, where the Redbirds went 33-28 during that span. Their overall record against the Arizona Triple-A team is 48-54.

THE SEASON

ABOUT THE LAST ONE: An 18-hit barrage blasted the Memphis Redbirds (26-36) to a 10-4 win in the series opener at the Reno Aces (Diamondbacks) Friday night in Reno, Nev.

Memphis has now won three of its last four games.

The first four hitters in Memphis' lineup combined for 14 of the team's 18 hits, with Edmundo Sosa and Max Schrock each having three hits in the one- and two-spots, and John Nogowski and Rangel Ravelo each having four-hit games as the third and fourth hitters in the order.

For the second-straight night Sosa was a single shy of the cycle, as he doubled, tripled, and homered. He has now homered in back-to-back games twice in the past week and has four long balls in his last six games.

Schrock, Nogowski, and Ravelo all set their season highs for hits with their outings, and Schrock scored a season-high three runs.

In addition to Sosa, Nogowski also homered, as did pinch-hitter Drew Robinson. Nogowski and Robinson's shots were two-run blasts, with Robinson's part of a five-run Memphis eighth inning that turned a 5-2 Redbirds lead into a 10-2 advantage.

On the pitching side, Evan Kruczynski earned his first Triple-A victory with 5.0 innings of work, allowing two runs on six hits with six strikeouts. Dominic Leone and Chris Beck followed with 3.0 shutout innings, and Tommy Layne tossed the ninth inning and allowed two unearned runs after a throwing error prolonged Reno's (26-35) frame.

Memphis' 18 hits were its second-most in a game this season, after the club had 24 at Nashville on May 3.

CYCLE WATCH: In his past two games, Edmundo Sosa has come just a single away from hitting for the cycle. He has gone 6-for-10 with two doubles, two triples, two home runs and two RBI in his last two contests. The last Redbird to hit for the cycle was Luke Voit on June 30, 2018 at Iowa. There have only been two players to hit for the cycle in Redbird franchise history.

BATS BREAKING OUT: In last night's game at Reno, the Redbird offense had at least 10 hits in a contest for the third time through four games of their seven-game road trip. Prior to Tuesday's game at Tacoma where the Redbirds collected 13 hits, the offense had gone 12 consecutive games without reaching the 10-hit mark. During this current road swing, the Redbirds are batting .331 (50x151) and have hit eight home runs. John Nogowski and Rangel Ravelo have each picked up their first four-hit game of the season during this span as well, matching a team-high this year.

TACOMA SERIES WRAP: The Memphis Redbirds earned their first series victory since May 11-14 by taking two of three games from the Tacoma Rainiers to open up their seven-game road swing. The Redbirds have won their series against the Rainiers in each of the last three seasons and they have not lost a regular season series to the Rainiers since 2009.

The Redbirds scored just 20 runs in the three games, including two games of scoring at least seven. The offense slugged a total of five homers and collected and 15 extra-base hits overall. Against Tacoma pitching, Memphis slugged their way to a .296 average (32x108) and had 10 players pick up multi-hit performances.

Edmundo Sosa came just a single shy of hitting for the cycle in the series finale and recorded his first three-hit game since May 3 at Nashville. Overall, Ravelo went 3-for-8 (.375) in two games against the Rainiers. Tommy Edman extended his hitting streak to six games and also scored a team-high five runs for the second consecutive series. He added one more multi-hit performance and leads the Redbirds with 16 multi-hit games this season. After going 105 at-bats without a home run, Lane Thomas homered for the first time since April 28 at Omaha in last night's series finale. Thomas led all Cardinals minor leaguers last season by blasting 27 home run. Adolis Garcia drove in five runs to bring team-leading total to 42. That figure ranks 14th in the Pacific Coast League. Jose Godoy made two starts in the series, collecting his first Triple-A hit on Wednesday, a solo home run, and had his first three-hit game at the Triple-A level last night. Two of his five hits overall went for extra bases.

The 'Birds starting staff went 1-1, 6.18 (7 ER/10.2 IP) fanning nine batters while issuing seven walks. The starters did not allow a single home run in the series and the Redbird pitching staff as a whole allowed just one. Jake Woodford turned in his team-leading sixth quality start of the season in the series opener on Tuesday, tossing 7.0 innings of two-run ball while fanning six. Anthony Shew lasted just 0.2 innings in his start on Wednesday, the shortest by a Redbirds starter this season. The Memphis bullpen went 1-0, 2.38 (4 ER/15.1 IP) with 14 strikeouts. Harold Arauz made his first appearance with Memphis since April 24 and tossed 6.0 shutout innings in relief, the longest relief outing of the season for the Redbirds, to earn the win. Arauz has won all three decisions at the Triple-A level this season.

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. In last night's contest at Reno, he had his first four-hit game since June 24, 2018 vs. New Orleans. 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 hitting streak ended, Ravelo has still hit safely in 29 of his last 35 games with an official at-bat. The 27-year-old has raised his batting average to .309 on the season and is getting on base at a .391 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 May 31 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 62 attempts. While throwing out the most baserunners, they also rank 2nd the PCL with a 38.7 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.

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 103 doubles, 17 triples and 72 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.

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