PCL1 Memphis Redbirds

Game Notes: Memphis Redbirds (29-20) vs Colorado Springs Sky Sox (27-19)

Published on May 26, 2018 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Memphis Redbirds News Release


Memphis Redbirds (29-20) vs Colorado Springs Sky Sox (27-19)

Saturday, May 26 - 6:35 p.m. (CT) - AutoZone Park (10,000) - Memphis, Tennessee

Game #50 - Home Game #26 (14-11)

RHP Dakota Hudson (5-1, 2.70 ERA) vs. RHP Paolo Espino (1-1, 4.15 ERA)

THE GAME

TODAY'S GAME: The Memphis Redbirds and Colorado Springs Sky Sox will play game two of a five-game set tonight at 6:35 p.m. Colorado Springs grabbed the close 3-1 win last night in the opener. It is the second time the two teams have met in the last 10 days. Memphis took the 3-1 series win last week at Colorado Springs. Memphis is coming off a 3-1 series win over the Oklahoma City Dodgers, while Colorado Springs is coming off a 3-1 series loss to the Nashville Sounds. Today's game will be broadcast on memphisredbirds.com with Steve Selby on the call.

ON THE HILL: Right-hander Dakota Hudson will take the mound for the Redbirds tonight. Hudson comes into tonight's game with a 5-1 record and a 2.70 ERA in eight starts this season. He has been particularly dominant over the last month. In three starts this month, Hudson is 2-1 with a 0.95 ERA. He has allowed just three total runs this month, only two of which are earned. He has also struck out 15 batters in 19.0 innings so far. His 2.70 ERA on the season is fourth-best in the PCL, narrowly behind teammate Daniel Poncedeleon who sits in third with a 2.61 ERA. Hudson faced the Sky Sox in last week's series, taking the win. He threw 6.0 innings of one-run ball, allowing six hits and four runs, while striking out seven as the 'Birds won 6-1.

The Sky Sox will counter with right-hander Paolo Espino. Espino has appeared in two games with the Sky Sox this season, both coming against Memphis. He is 1-1 in those two games, having started one. He has thrown 4.1 innings, allowing two earned runs in those games. He started the season with Round Rock, and also faced the 'Birds once with them. He allowed two runs in 2.2 innings of relief in that game.

HISTORY WITH COLORADO SPRINGS: Memphis and Colorado Springs have faced off once this season. That series was last week, and after dropping the first game, the 'Birds won the final three to take the 3-1 series win. Memphis had been rooted in a deep offensive slump prior to the series last week, but they saw that end with an offensive outburst in the final three games. So far this season, Memphis holds on the mound, while Colorado Springs holds a slight edge at the plate. Memphis' pitching staff is posting a 4.05 ERA against Colorado Springs, and a .304 batting average. Colorado Springs is posting a .306 average, and a 6.80 ERA.

BIRD BITES

AROZARENA: Including last nine Double-A games, has 15-game on-base streak; .396 (21-for-53) in that stretch

BARON: Rejoins team after spending last two weeks with St. Louis; appeared in two games, and recorded one hit

GARCIA: Recorded his league-leading eighth outfield assist Wednesday night, cutting down a runner trying to take second

KNIZNER: Has recorded a hit in 5 of 6 games with Memphis; was hitting .333 in 27 games with Double-A Springfield

MARTINEZ: Recorded first multi-hit game with Memphis with two hits in Wednesday night's win; also recorded an RBI

MEJIA: Recently ended a season-best eight-game hitting streak; was hitting .462 (12-for-26) in that stretch

MERCADO: Last night, snapped 8-game hitting streak; was hitting .583 (21-for-36) with seven multi-hit games

RAVELO: Is hitting just .103 (3-for-29) in last nine games; was hitting .276 (8-for-29) in previous nine games

SCHROCK: Hit a three-run home run in game one Saturday, his first since Opening Day; both his homers have been 3R

TOVAR: Is hitting .171 (6-for-35) over last 10 games; was hitting .438 (14-for-32) in previous nine games

URIAS: Belted first Triple-A homer Saturday, a three-run shot in 10-run first; was hitting .369 in 17 games with Springfield

VOIT: Was ejected for the first time this season after arguing a called strike three to end the eighth inning

WISDOM: Is hitting .432 (16-for-37) over current ten-game hit streak; streak is his longest of season

BY THE NUMBERS

+63 run differential for Memphis in the first through fifth innings this season. They have a -24 run differential after the the fifth inning this season

THE SEASON

ABOUT THE LAST ONE: The Memphis Redbirds dropped last night's game to the Colorado Springs Sky Sox 3-1.

Daniel Poncedeleon got the start for the 'Birds, and threw 6.0 solid innings, taking the no-decision. He allowed one run on three hits and four walks, while striking out six batters.

Four relievers appeared in the final three frames, with Andrew Morales taking the loss for Memphis in the ninth. He pitched 1.0 inning, allowing two runs on two hits. The two runs came via a home run from Colorado Springs first baseman Dylan Moore. He also hit a solo home run off Poncedeleon, driving in all three runs for the Sky Sox.

Offensively, the 'Birds managed just six hits on the night, with three of them coming from catcher Carson Kelly in his final game of his Major League rehab stint.

Patrick Wisdom (1-for-4) extended his hitting streak to 10 games, while Oscar Mercado (0-for-4) and Randy Arozarena (0-for-2) saw their hitting streaks end.

WIZ MAKES IT TEN IN A ROW: After notching a single in the fourth inning yesterday, Patrick Wisdom extended his hitting streak to 10 games. He now has a season-long 10-game hitting streak, and is hitting .432 (16-for-37) over that stretch. In the last five games alone, Wisdom is hitting .440 (11-for-25) with three doubles, a triple, and two home runs, while driving in nine runs, walking four times, and striking out just five times. In the first game of Saturday's doubleheader, Wisdom fell just a home run short of the cycle, but notched a home run in game two, giving him a cycle for the day. Since falling into a deep slump from April 16 to May 6, in which he hit just .220 (13-for-59) with four extra-base hits and eight RBI in 18 games, Wisdom has rebounded significantly. Over his last 16 games, he is hitting .367 (22-for-60) with eight extra-base hits, 11 RBI, and 10 runs scored. He has collected hits in 14 of those 16 games, including six games with multiple hits. The 10-game hitting streak is the third-longest streak of his career. He hit safely in 11-straight in 2015 with Springfield from April 30 to May 25, and hit safely in 14-straight with the Batavia Muckdogs in 2012 from July 19 to August 2.

MORE 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 10 appearances and nine starts so far, and is 3-2 with a 2.61 ERA. After twirling 6.0 innings of one-run ball last night, only allowing three total hits, Poncedeleon had nothing to show for it again. The righty took a no-decision as the bullpen surrendered the game late last night. Poncedeleon is having himself a season. The righty is third in the league with a 2.61 ERA, leads the league with 60 strikeouts, has the fourth lowest opponents' batting average (.228), and owns the second-best strikeouts per nine innings pitched ratio at 11.41 on the season. Despite his dominance on the mound, the Redbirds are just 4-5 when he starts, and are averaging only 2.7 runs per game, by far the lowest margin for any regular Memphis starter.

ALL GOOD THINGS MUST END: After going 0-for-4 at the plate last night, Oscar Mercado saw his third eight-game hitting streak of the year come to an end. Over the eight-game stretch, Mercado was hitting .583 (21-for-36), notching five doubles, a home run, 10 RBI, and scoring 11 runs. Seven of the eight games were multi-hit performances. Mercado got off to a hot start this season, hitting .341 (28-for-82) through his first 22 games before falling into a deep slump. Over his next 13 games, he hit just .167 (8-for-48), going hitless in five of those contests, and not recording a single multi-hit game. Despite going hitless last night, his .525 (21-for-40) is second-best in the PCL, behind only Jacob Hannemann of Iowa. Mercado is still hitting .335 (57-for-170) this season with 34 runs scored, eight doubles, six home runs, 24 RBI, 15 walks, 25 strikeouts, and 11 stolen bases.

Mercado is in the top three of almost every team offensive category. Mercado leads the team with 34 runs scored, 57 hits, is tied for third with eight doubles, is tied with Patrick Wisdom with the most homers among current Redbirds players, is second with 24 RBI, leads the team with 83 total bases, has the best on-base percentage (.388), and leads all Redbirds players who have appeared in at least 30 games with a .877 OPS. Mercado also has 15 multi-hit games this season, and leads the team with five three-hit games, and two four-hit games. His 11 stolen bases leads the team, and is tied for third in the league, while his 57 hits puts him fifth in the league.

ON BASE ALL THE TIME: Last night, Randy Arozarena saw his 14-game hitting streak between Double-A and Triple-A come to an end, but he was hit by a pitch, reaching base safely. With that, Arozarena has now reached base safely in 15-consecutive games. Arozarena has played 41 games between Springfield and Memphis, and has reached base safely in 38 of those contests. He has reached safely in all but two starts, and also did not reach in his lone pinch-hit appearance this season.

STRONG STARTERS, STRUGGLING 'PEN: The Memphis starting pitching staff has been a force to be reckoned with this season. Memphis starters are 24-10 with a 2.92 ERA through the first 49 games this season. Through the first 49 games, the starters have pitched 274.0 innings, allowing just 100 total runs, only 89 of which have been earned. In addition, they have walked only 87 batters, and have struck out 289 hitters. Four different Memphis starters have also tied or set their career-high strikeout marks. Daniel Poncedeleon struck out 12 (career-high) on April 14, Austin Gomber struck out 16 (career-high and tied franchise record) on April 23, Jack Flaherty struck out 13 (career-high) on May 9, and Alex Reyes struck out 13 (tied career-high) on May 24.

The Memphis bullpen has been a different story so far this season. Through the first 49 games, they have appeared in 48 games, and are 5-10 with a 4.88 ERA. They have pitched 151.2 innings, have allowed 82 earned runs, 20 home runs, and 52 walks. The bullpen has particularly struggled in May. They have combined for a 1-5 record and a 5.81 ERA in 68.2 innings this month. While they have struggled at times this season, the bullpen leads the league with 17 saves. Nine of those saves have come from Preston Guilmet. He is 9-for-10 in save chances this season, while the rest of the bullpen has combined to go 8-for-15 in save chances.

QUALITY STARTS GALORE: Not only have the Memphis starters posted a phenomenal ERA through this point in the season, they also lead the league in quality starts. 'Birds starters have thrown 24 quality starts in 49 games this season. They threw 55 total in 2017. The Redbirds staff has also thrown six-straight quality starts after going seven-straight games without a quality start. Over that seven game stretch, the 'Birds were 3-4. In their last six games, they are 4-2. Of the 10 pitchers that have made a start for Memphis this season, eight of them have thrown at least one quality start. Sam Tuivailala made a one-inning start on Major League rehab, and in his five spot-starts, Sean Gilmartin has not thrown a quality start. Jack Flaherty, John Gant, Austin Gomber, and Dakota Hudson have all thrown four quality starts. Daniel Poncedeleon has thrown three quality starts, and Ryan Helsley and Kevin Herget have both thrown two. Alex Reyes also recorded a quality start in his rehab appearance on Thursday.

SURGING EARLY, STRUGGLING LATE: So far this season, the Redbirds have outscored opponents early in games, but have struggled late. Through the first five innings of games this season, Memphis is outscoring the competition 154-to-91. After the fifth inning, the 'Birds are being outscored 105-to-81. The 'Birds have been particularly dominant in the first, second, third, and fourth innings, outscoring opponents 100-to-66. They are narrowly outscoring opponents in the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings at 82-to-73. In the eighth and ninth, and extra innings this season, has scored half as many runs as their opponents. They are being outscored 57-to-26 after the seventh inning. They are being outscored by 15 in the eighth inning, 10 in the ninth, and six in extras. In their last two losses alone, Memphis has allowed 10 runs after the seventh inning.

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 451 batters through the first 49 games (9.2/game), which is only behind Fresno (463) 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 just 331 times through the first 49 games (6.8/game), the lowest mark in the league. Memphis and the Omaha Storm Chasers (334) are the only two teams in the PCL that have struck out under 340 times this season.

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 26, 2018


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