Sports stats

PCL1 Memphis Redbirds

Game Notes: Memphis Redbirds (33-47) vs Nashville Sounds (34-45)

June 28, 2019 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Memphis Redbirds News Release


Memphis Redbirds (33-47) vs Nashville Sounds (34-45)

Friday, June 28 - 7:05 p.m. (CT) - AutoZone Park (10,000) - Memphis, Tennessee

Game #81 - Home Game #40 (12-27)

RHP Jake Woodford (5-3, 3.39) vs RHP Pedro Payano (1-2, 4.19)

BY THE NUMBERS

6 Number of earned runs allowed by Genesis Cabrera in his last four starts with the Redbirds (22.0 IP). He has lowered his season-ERA from 6.95 to 5.44 during that span.

0 Number of extra-base hits allowed by Memphis pitching last night. It was the fourth time this season that the Redbirds did not allow an extra-base hit in a game.

THE GAME

TONIGHT'S GAME: The Memphis Redbirds continue their nine-game homestand tonight in the fourth and final game against Nashville Sounds in the final series between the two clubs this season. The Redbirds fell in last night's contest in a narrow 3-2 defeat and can only claim a season-series split with a victory tonight. Tyler O'Neill launched the Redbirds 100th home run of the season with a solo-shot in the fifth. He has 11 home runs in 37 games with Memphis this season. John Nogowski extended his hitting streak to 12 games last night, and Adolis Garcia, O'Neill and Edmundo Sosa extended their own hitting streaks to nine, eight and seven games respectively. Tonight's game will be broadcast live on www.memphisredbirds.com with Steve Selby on the call.

ON THE HILL: Right-hander Jake Woodford is scheduled to take the mound in today's game and make his 16th start of the season in as many games and his fourth start against the Nashville Sounds this season. Woodford last took the mound on Saturday at Oklahoma City, earning the win (7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R/ER, 3 BB, 4 SO) in the Redbirds' 5-0 victory over the Dodgers. It was his third quality start in his last five outings and it was the fourth time this season that Woodford has allowed no earned runs. He dropped his opponent's average to .212 (65x307), which ranks 3rd in the Pacific Coast League, on the season after allowing just two hits. Woodford is even stingier against right-handed batters, holding them to just a .184 (34x185) average. It was the sixth time this season that he has allowed three hits or fewer. It was also the eighth time this season that Woodford has tossed at least 6.0 innings and the fifth time he has worked at least 7.0 innings in a start and the third time in his last five. Woodford has allowed three earned runs or fewer in 11 of his 15 starts. In earning the win, he has won 15 of his last 22 decisions overall at the Triple-A level. In three starts against the Sounds this season, Woodford has gone 1-0, 3.33 (6 ER/16.2 IP) in one home start and two road starts. He also ranks 3rd in the PCL with a 3.39 ERA and has allowed one earned run or fewer in seven of his 15 outings. The St. Petersburg, Fla., native was recently 2019 Pacific Coast League All-Star Team, and will start the game on the mound after receiving the most votes among pitchers. He entered 2019 ranked as the No. 16 prospect in the Cardinals organization by Baseball America and he is currently ranked as the No. 24 prospect in the organization by MLB.com.

The Sounds are scheduled to start right-hander Pedro Payano in tonight's contest and series finale. The 24-year-old is scheduled to make his fifth start with Nashville and his 13th start overall across all levels this season. Payano has gone 1-2, 4.19 (9 ER/19.1 IP) in five games, four starts with the Sounds in his first career Triple-A stint. In his last time out on Saturday at New Orleans, Payano earned the win (5.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R/ER, 4 BB, 6 SO, 1 HBP) in the Sounds' 10-3 victory over the Baby Cakes. It was his longest Triple-A start of the season and the second time that he had worked into the fifth inning of a start. Payano has allowed three earned runs or less in all five of his outings with the Sounds and has also allowed five hits or fewer in each appearance. The New York native began the season at Double-A Frisco where he went 3-1, 4.43 (21 ER/42.2 IP) in eight starts. He made two quality starts during that span. Overall in 2019, Payano is yielding an opponent's average of .209 (47x225), including a .158 (22x139) opponent's average on the road. Tonight will be Payano's first start against the Redbirds in his career. He spent the whole 2018 at Double-A Frisco, where he went 5-10, 5.54 (73 ER/118.2 IP) in 25 games, 22 starts. Payano is in his eighth professional season, spending them all with the Texas organization.

HISTORY WITH NASHVILLE: Memphis has faced off against Nashville every year since 1998 and trail 163-185 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 161-181.

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: A tight game did not break the Memphis Redbirds' way Thursday night at AutoZone Park, as the Nashville Sounds (Rangers) took a 3-2 victory in the third game of the series between the two rivals.

Memphis led 2-1 before Nashville scored two in the top of the sixth to take a 3-2 lead, and the Redbirds (33-47) had runners on base in each of the last four innings but could not push a third run across. In the bottom of the ninth, the potential tying run was erased at third trying to stretch on a single to left field.

John Nogowski extended his hitting streak to a career-high 12 games with a single in the fourth. Adolis Garcia was 1-for-4 to move his streak to nine-straight, and Tyler O'Neill was 2-for-4 with a home run to increase his own streak to eight.

Kramer Robertson was on base three times with two hits and a walk, and he has only not reached base once in 18 games since returning from Double-A Springfield.

Genesis Cabrera made the start and worked 5.0 solid innings, allowing one run on four hits. He did not walk a batter, and the southpaw whiffed four. He threw 52 of 78 pitches for strikes.

After Chris Ellis allowed two Nashville runs in the sixth inning, Chris Beck, Seth Elledge, and Tommy Layne faced the minimum in the final three frames to set up Memphis' chance for a comeback.

But even with the potential tying run still being on second base after Randy Arozarena was thrown out at third in the bottom of the ninth, Andrew Knizner flew out to end the ballgame.

Memphis was 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position on the night and left 10 men on base.

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.

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 June 21, 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 following the series, the Redbirds ranked 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 Sunday, 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 June 21, 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 12 games. At the beginning of this stretch, Nogowski was batting .272 to go along with a .394 OBP and is now posting a .306 average and a .414 OBP. He has six multi-hit games during this span and has drove in at least one run in nine of the 12 games.

Check out the Memphis Redbirds Statistics



Pacific Coast League Stories from June 28, 2019


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Memphis Redbirds Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central