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PCL1 Memphis Redbirds

Game Notes: Memphis Redbirds (33-46) vs Nashville Sounds (33-45)

June 27, 2019 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Memphis Redbirds News Release


Memphis Redbirds (33-46) vs Nashville Sounds (33-45)

Thursday, June 27 - 7:05 p.m. (CT) - AutoZone Park (10,000) - Memphis, Tennessee

Game #80 - Home Game #39 (12-26)

LHP Genesis Cabrera (3-3, 5.84) vs LHP Wes Benjamin (2-5, 6.78)

BY THE NUMBERS

99 Home runs hit by the Redbirds this season. They are just two home runs shy of matching the franchise record of home runs through June, set by the 2005 squad.

4 Number of batters hit by Harold Arauz last night, setting a franchise record. He also became the fourth Redbirds pitcher to hit at least three batters in a game and the first since Carlos Martinez on Aug. 18, 2013.

THE GAME

TONIGHT'S GAME: The Memphis Redbirds continue their nine-game homestand tonight in the third of four games against Nashville Sounds in the final series between the two clubs this season. The Redbirds fell in last night's contest 17-11, with the Sounds erasing a six-run deficit with 12 runs over the final four frames. It was also the third-straight game that the Sounds have scored 10 runs or more against the 'Birds. John Nogowski extended his hitting streak to 11 games and all nine starters had a hit last night. Tonight's game will be broadcast live on www.memphisredbirds.com with Steve Selby on the call.

ON THE HILL: Left-hander Genesis Cabrera is scheduled to take the mound tonight and make his tenth appearance and ninth start with Memphis and his 16th appearance overall across levels in 2019. Cabrera last took the mound on Sunday vs. Los Angeles-AL with St. Louis, tossing 0.2 innings, fanning two batters and walking one in the ninth in the Cardinals' 6-4 defeat to the Angels. During his second Major League stint of the season, he made three relief appearances, allowing two runs on two hits in 3.1 total innings. In his start Memphis on June 9 at Reno, Cabrera earned the win (5.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R/ER, 3 BB, 8 SO) in the Redbirds' 7-4 victory over the Aces. It was his third consecutive start of allowing two earned runs or fewer, lowering his to a season-low 5.84. He fans fanned at least six batters in three of his last four starts in Memphis. It was also the first time in his last five outings that Cabrera did not allow a home run. During his first career Major League stint, Cabrera went 0-2, 6.48 (6 ER/8.1 IP) in two starts. He made his MLB debut on May 29 at Philadelphia, suffering the loss (3.2 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO, 1 HR)in the Cardinals' 11-4 defeat to the Phillies. Cabrera has made two starts against the Sounds this season and tonight will be his first such start at AutoZone Park. He has gone 2-0, 3.27 (4 ER/11.0) in two starts at First Tennessee Park to go along with 11 strikeouts and four walks. His win on May 5 was his first career Triple-A victory and his start on May 21 was a quality start. The Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, native is in his sixth professional season and second with the St. Louis organization. Cabrera entered this season ranked as the No. 6 prospect in the Cardinals system by Baseball America. He spent the bulk of last season at Double-A Montgomery, going 7-6, 4.12 (52 ER/113.2 IP). He was named a Southern League All-Star and ranked 3rd in the league with a .218 batting average.

The Sounds are scheduled to start left-hander Wes Benjamin in tonight's contest. The 25-year-old is scheduled to make his 15th start and 16th appearance overall this season. Benjamin has gone 2-5, 6.78 (51 Er/67.2 IP) and has one save in as many chances (June 9 at Tacoma). In his last time out on Friday at New Orleans, Benjamin took no-decision (5.2 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO, 2 HR) in the Sounds' 6-5 victory over the Baby Cakes. It was his second longest outing of the season and the sixth time that he has worked into the sixth inning. It was also the third time this season that Benjamin has allowed multiple home runs in a start. He has also allowed at least eight hits in a start five times and is yielding an opponent's average of .313 (85x272). In his three starts against the Redbirds this season, Benjamin has gone 0-2, 9.70 (14 ER/13.0 IP) in two home and one road start. In his start on May 3 at First Tennessee Park, Benjamin allowed nine runs on nine hits and was chased after just 1.2 innings, matching his shortest outing of the season. In his start at AutoZone Park on May 14, he suffered the loss (6.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R/ER, 2 BB, 6 SO, 2 HR) in the Sounds' 9-3 defeat to the Redbirds. The Winfield, Ill., native has allowed at least four runs in five outings and opponents currently hold a .307 average (47x153) against. Benjamin spent the whole 2018 at Double-A Frisco, where he went 5-6, 3.62 (32 ER/79.2 IP) in 15 G/GS. The University of Kansas product is in his fifth professional season, spending them all with the Texas organization.

HISTORY WITH NASHVILLE: Memphis has faced off against Nashville every year since 1998 and trail 163-184 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 161-180.

Memphis a winning record at AutoZone Park in just three seasons against the Sounds, the most recent coming in 2014 (5-3). Prior to that year, the last time the Redbirds had a winning record here in downtown Memphis against their in-state rivals was in 2005 (6-2).

THE SEASON

ABOUT THE LAST ONE: John Nogowski extended his hitting streak to 11 games, Adolis Garcia moved his to eight, Tyler O'Neill upped his to seven, and Edmundo Sosa increased his streak to six, but the Memphis Redbirds dropped a 17-11 decision to the Nashville Sounds (Rangers) Wednesday night at AutoZone Park.

Each Redbird (33-46) had at least one hit in the game as part of a 15-hit attack. Randy Arozarena led the way with three hits, and Andrew Knizner drove in four runs thanks in part to a three-run home run in the first inning. Kramer Robertson also had a three-run home run for the Redbirds.

Irving Lopez was 2-for-4 with a double and a triple, and he has now hit for a cycle spanning his last two games.

Nogowski's fifth-inning single moved his hitting streak to 11 games dating back to June 14. He has seven extra-base hits during the span. In addition to hitting in eight-straight contests, Garcia has swiped four bases in his last three games.

O'Neill has three multi-hit games in his last four on his seven-game hitting streak, and Sosa has scored a run in each of his last six games in addition to having at least one hit.

Harold Arauz got the start Wednesday night and ended up allowing eight runs on five hits in 5.2 innings, but two of the runs scored after he had left the game.

The Redbirds led the game 11-5 before allowing 12 unanswered runs to the Sounds (33-45). Memphis pitching walked six Sounds and hit four more.

PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE ALL-STARS: Memphis Redbirds pitcher Jake Woodford and infielder Rangel Ravelo have been named to the 2019 Pacific Coast League All-Star Team, with the 32nd annual Triple-A All-Star Game against the International League stars on Wednesday, July 10 in El Paso, Texas.

Woodford was the top vote-getter among all pitchers and earns the prestigious starting nod. He is the sixth Redbird, and second-straight, to start an All-Star Game on the mound.

Ravelo leads Redbirds regulars with a .326 batting average, which was highlighted by a 19-game hitting streak earlier this season that ended one game shy of matching the franchise record. He hit .449 (31-69) during the hitting streak, which spanned from May 2-24. He had eight multi-hit games during the stretch.

Ravelo made his Major League debut with the St. Louis Cardinals earlier this season after 838 games in the minor leagues.

OKLAHOMA CITY SERIES WRAP: The Memphis Redbirds took four of five games from the Oklahoma City Dodgers to win their second road series in their last three in their first visit to Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark this season. After dropping the opening game on June 20, the Redbirds rattled off four-straight wins, matching their season-high winning streak. This is the third time this season that the Redbirds have had a winning streak of at least four games and they are one win shy of matching their season-high of five straight road wins. It also marked the second time this season they had won four consecutive games in a single series, the last from April 24-28 at Omaha. One more win against the Dodgers in Oklahoma City will match a season-high for road wins for the 'Birds at OKC (5, 2013, 2000).

After the Redbirds scored just 19 runs in the four games in their previous series vs. Las Vegas, the offense exploded for 39 runs and 57 hits in five games, collecting double-digits in the hit column in the final four games. The offense slugged a total of 10 home runs, including a season-high five on Friday, and collected 29 extra-base hits overall. Against Oklahoma City pitching, Memphis mashed their way to a .311 average (57x183) and had 17 players pick up multi-hit performances. The Redbirds averaged 11.4 hits per game and went 13-for-47 (.277) with runners in scoring position. Among Pacific Coast League American Conference teams, the Redbirds rank 3rd with a .293 average with runners in scoring position.

John Nogowski led the way for the Redbirds offensively in the series, going 8-for-16 (.500) with seven RBI. Six of his eight hits went for extra-bases and he had back-to-back games with three RBI on Saturday and Sunday. Nogowski extended his current hitting streak to a season-high nine games in the process. He had multi-hit games in three games of the series and he ranks T-2nd on the Redbirds with 16 multi-hit performances overall. Tyler O'Neill and Drew Robinson had immediate impacts in their return from the Injured List last night, going a combined 4-for-7 with two runs scored, two runs driven in and three walks. O'Neill launched his tenth home run of the year, a solo shot in the 9th, and now ranks 2nd on the team in that category after just 35 games played with the Redbirds this season. Robinson reached safely in four of his five plate appearances. In the Redbirds five-HR barrage on Friday, Yariel Gonzalez and Joe Hudson each hit a pinch-hit solo home run and would both homer in Saturday's contest as well. Hudson's eight long balls this season match his career high, set in 2014. Lane Thomas homered in consecutive at-bats in the sixth and seventh innings of Sunday's game for his first multi-HR game of the season. Thomas led all Cardinals minor leaguers in 2018 with 27 home runs. Before getting transferred back to Double-A Springfield Monday, Conner Capel extended his hitting streak to eight games. He hit safely in each game he played during his first career Triple-A stint.

The 'Birds starting staff went 1-0, 3.91 (7 ER/16.1 IP) fanning 11 batters while issuing nine walks. Three of the five starters allowed no earned runs in their outing, but just one starter pitched past the 5.0 inning mark. They also allowed seven home runs and yielded an opponent's average of .241 (41x170). Jake Woodford snapped a stretch of three straight series without a quality start by tossing 7.0 scoreless frames, allowing just two hits in the Redbirds 5-0 shut-out victory on Saturday. That outing earned him PCL Pitcher of the Week honors for the first time in his career. Mike Hauschild made his first two starts since April 8, bookending the series. He allowed two earned runs in 6.2 innings of work and six hits. Alex Reyes continued where he left off from his start on June 18 by fanning two in the first, but departed through injury after one batter in the 2nd. He had recorded seven of his last nine outs via strikeout. The Memphis bullpen went 3-1, 4.09 (11 ER/24.2 IP) with 30 strikeouts. Chasen Shreve tossed 3.0 scoreless innings during the series, lowering his season ERA to 3.99. Jesus Cruz made his longest outing of the season on Sunday, tossing 3.0 scoreless innings, allowing just one batter to reach via hit by pitch.

WOODFORD PCL PITCHER OF THE WEEK: Memphis Redbirds starting pitcher Jake Woodford has been named the Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Week for June 17-23, the league announced Monday.

Woodford earned the honor after throwing seven scoreless frames and allowing just two hits on Saturday's 5-0 Memphis win over the Oklahoma City Dodgers (Dodgers) in Oklahoma City. He held the Dodgers to just two at-bats with runners in scoring position and he faced the minimum in four of his seven frames. It was also his seventh quality start of the season and his third in his last five outings.

In 15 starts for the Redbirds this season, Woodford is 5-3 with a 3.39 ERA and 74 strikeouts in 87.2 innings. He has held opponents to just a .212 average against. Among PCL league leaders, he ranks 3rd in innings pitched, 3rd in ERA, 2nd in opponent's average and 6th in strikeouts.

NOGOWSKI ON A ROLL: After his base hit in the fifth inning last night, John Nogowski extended his season-high hitting streak to 11 games. At the beginning of this stretch, Nogowski was batting .272 to go along with a .394 OBP and is now posting a .305 average and a .412 OBP. He has six multi-hit games during this span and has drove in at least one run in nine of the 11 games.

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