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PCL1 Memphis Redbirds

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

June 6, 2018 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Memphis Redbirds News Release


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

Wednesday, June 6 - 7:05 p.m. (CT) - AutoZone Park (10,000) - Memphis, Tennessee

Game #60 - Home Game #31 (18-12)

RHP Daniel Poncedeleon (4-2, 2.48 ERA) vs. RHP Christian Bergman (4-3, 3.90 ERA)

THE GAME

TODAY'S GAME: The Memphis Redbirds and Tacoma Rainiers will play game two of a three-game set tonight at 7:05 p.m. This will be the only time the two teams will play this season. The Rainiers grabbed the series opener 5-0 last night. Memphis is coming off a 2-3 series loss at New Orleans, while Tacoma is coming off a 1-4 series loss to Salt Lake. The two teams met for four games last year in Tacoma, and Memphis took the series 3-1. Today's game will be broadcast on memphisredbirds.com with Steve Selby on the call.

ON THE HILL: Right-hander Daniel Poncedeleon will get the ball for the 'Birds tonight. Poncedeleon has made 11 appearances and 10 starts for the Redbirds this season. He has been dominant, despite receiving very little run support from the Memphis offense. The righty comes into tonight's game with the best ERA in the league at 2.48. Poncedeleon is also tied for the league-lead with 68 strikeouts, owns the third-lowest batting average against among starters (.223), and owns the second-best strikeouts per nine innings pitched ratio at 11.47. Poncedeleon is coming off one of his finest starts of the season. Last week against New Orleans, the righty pitched 6.0 innings of one-run ball, allowing just four hits and striking out eight batters. Poncedeleon has six starts this season where he has pitched at least five innings, and allowed one earned run or less.

The Rainiers will send right-hander Christian Bergman to the mound to face Poncedeleon tonight. Bergman has made 11 starts this season, and is 4-3 with a 3.90 ERA. In his last start, he allowed five earned runs over 6.2 innings of work. Bergman has made four starts against Memphis in his career. He is 1-1 in 26.0 innings, allowing 27 hits, and 10 earned runs, while striking out 11 for a 3.46 ERA.

HISTORY WITH TACOMA: Memphis and Tacoma have played every year dating back to 1998 when Memphis joined the PCL. Tacoma holds the narrowly lead in the all-time series at 49-47. Before Memphis took the season-series 3-1 last year, the two teams had split the season-series in six-consecutive seasons, dating back to 2011. The Redbirds hold the edge in Memphis, posting a 27-21 record, while posting a 20-28 record in Tacoma. Last season, the 'Birds out-hit Tacoma .299 to .241, and posted a 3.31 ERA compared to their 5.50 ERA.

BIRD BITES

AROZARENA: Is just 3-for-25 in his last eight games after snapping a 15-game on-base streak on May 25

GARCIA: Last Monday, recorded first multi-hit game since May 6; leads PCL with eight outfield assists

KELLY: Recently optioned from St. Louis; hitting .247 with five 2B, two HR and 11 RBI in 24 games with Memphis

KNIZNER: Is hitting .333 (13-for-39) since joining Memphis last month; hitting .333 (48-for-144) on season

MEJIA: Is hitting just .235 (8-for-34) in his last 11 games since snapping a season-high eight-game hitting streak May 22

MERCADO: Is hitting .190 (8-for-42) since ending eight-game hitting streak on May 25; 3rd in PCL with 13 stolen bases

O'NEILL: Has appeared in 16 games with St. Louis; hitting .237 with six runs, nine hits, one double, three homers, and 7RBI

RAVELO: Before going hitless last night, was hitting .435 (10-for-23) with five extra-base hits and seven RBI in last seven

SCHROCK: Hit .269 (25-for-93) in the month of May after hitting .323 (30-for-93) in April; only five multi-hit games in May

TOVAR: Drove in all three runs in Wednesday's 3-2 win; was 2-for-4 with 2B and HR; first multi-hit game since May 9

URIAS: Is hitting just .250 (8-for-32) in eight games since being transferred from Springfield; hitting .297 on season

WISDOM: Recently snapped career-long 16-game hitting streak; hitting .336 (39-for-116) since May 1

BY THE NUMBERS

14.0 straight innings from the bullpen without an earned run allowed. Six different relievers have combined to allow just one unearned run in that span, the longest of the season for the 'Birds

ON THIS DATE

In 2005, Memphis right-handed pitcher Adam Wainwright homered off Iowa left-hander and future Redbird Rich Hill

THE SEASON

ABOUT THE LAST ONE: The Memphis Redbirds dropped last night's series-opener against Tacoma 5-0.

Last night's starter John Gant posted one of the oddest stat lines of the season. The righty tossed 6.0 innings, allowing just six hits, and four unearned runs, while striking out six. An error in the third inning led to the bases being loaded, and Gant allowed a grand slam. He took the loss, but posted his fifth quality start of the year.

An error in the eighth inning caused another unearned run to score for Tacoma. Arturo Reyes and Conner Greene combined to pitch the final two innings, allowing an unearned run on two hits and a walk, while striking out one.

The 'Birds notched just three hits on the night. Tyler O'Neill and Oscar Mercado both hit doubles, while Wilfredo Tovar notched a bloop single late.

Tacoma's starter Casey Lawrence threw a complete-game shutout, needing just 97 pitches to accomplish the feat.

STUNG BY THE LONG BALL: For the second-consecutive game, a home run from the opposition has marked the downfall for the 'Birds. Last night, starter John Gant allowed a grand slam in the third inning, and the 'Birds lost 5-0. In Sunday's series-finale against New Orleans, the 'Birds held a 3-1 lead entering the bottom of the fifth inning. Starter Kevin Herget then gave up two solo home runs in the fifth, and one in the sixth to surrender the lead and take the loss. Memphis pitchers have now allowed 52 home runs this season, the eighth highest mark in the league, and the highest for teams not on the west coast. Memphis starters have allowed 27 home runs this season, while relievers have allowed 25 long balls. Albuquerque has allowed a league-high 93 home runs, while Nashville has allowed the fewest home runs with only 35 surrendered. In addition, Memphis has hit the sixth-fewest home runs in the PCL this season. The 'Birds have hit just 49 homers this year. Iowa has hit the fewest at 29, while Salt Lake has hit the most at 94. The 'Birds are also one of just seven teams in the PCL to allow more home runs than they have hit, along with New Orleans, Iowa, Omaha, Reno, Albuquerque, and Las Vegas. Of those teams, Memphis has the lowest differential, having hit just three fewer home runs than those they have allowed, while Las Vegas has the largest differential. The 51s have allowed 28 more home runs than they have hit.

WRONG SIDE OF SHUTOUTS: Last night, the 'Birds dropped their second-consecutive game, and their third in the last five. The 'Birds lost 5-0, allowing five unearned runs to score, thanks to two errors. With last night's loss, Memphis has now been shut out five times this season after being shut out twice all of last season. In 2017, the 'Birds were 5-2 in shutouts, while this season they are 4-5. Memphis and Omaha have been shutout a league-high five times this season. Memphis is also tied with Tacoma and El Paso for the third-most shutout wins this season with four. After Tacoma's Casey Lawrence tossed a complete-game shutout last night, the 'Birds have now fallen victims to complete-game shutouts by an opposing pitcher twice this season. Oklahoma City's Justin DeFratus also accomplished the feat on May 11. Before DeFratus' accomplishment on May 11, the 'Birds had not been shut out by a singular pitcher since April 26, 2014 when Nick Tepesch of Round Rock blanked the 'Birds.

BOUNCING BACK: After snapping his third eight-game hitting streak of the season on May 24, outfielder Oscar Mercado struggled at the plate, but seems to be finding his rhythm again. Mercado went 2-for-4 at the dish the day after snapping his streak, but then fell into a slump, going hitless in his next five games, his longest hitless streak of the year. However, in the last four games, Mercado has recorded a hit in each, and had multiple hits in two of the four games. Over the last four games, Mercado has also scored five times. Mercado leads qualified Memphis hitters with a .313 average. His batting average also puts him just outside the top-10 in the PCL, while his 65 hits on the season puts him just outside the top-five in the league. His 13 stolen bases this season are tied for third-most in the PCL, and the third-most in all of Triple-A baseball. .

HEY, BUDDY: Since being optioned by St. Louis a few days ago, Tyler O'Neill has continued his dominance at the plate. After going hitless in his first game back on Friday, O'Neill went 1-for-4 at the plate, scoring a run, and recording two RBI and two walks on Saturday, and in Sunday's loss, he went 3-for-4 with a double and a run scored. In last night's game, O'Neill broke up Tacoma's no-hit bid in the fourth inning, notching a double for his lone hit of the night. Coming into Saturday night's game, O'Neill had walked just four times all season in 47 games between Memphis and St. Louis. Despite spending a good chunk of the season with the Cardinals, O'Neill is second on the team behind Patrick Wisdom with 33 RBI, is tied with Max Schrock with 13 two-out RBI on the season, behind Wisdom (15), and he leads the Redbirds with 11 multi-RBI games. After his three-hit performance Sunday, O'Neill also leads the 'Birds with six three-hit games this season. O'Neill is also tied for third in the PCL with 13 home runs on the season. In 48 games between Memphis and St. Louis, the Cardinals' No. 4 prospect, and top hitting prospect, is hitting .299 (50-for-167), with six doubles, one triple, 16 home runs, and 40 RBI. O'Neill is second amongst Cardinals minor leaguers with 13 home runs in minors and is fifth with 33 RBI.

STRUGGLING STARTERS: After rattling off 11-consecutive quality starts from May 20 to May 30, the Memphis starting pitchers have struggled over the last four games. In that 11-game stretch, Memphis starters were 9-0, and the team itself was 9-2. The starters tossed 73.0 innings, allowing just 42 hits, 10 runs, nine earned runs, 23 walks, and two home runs, while striking out 88 batters. They posted a 1.11 ERA in that dominant stretch. After last night's loss, the 'Birds have dropped to 2-3 in the last five games, and the starters have struggled mightily in that span. They have combined to pitch just 24.1 innings the last five days, allowing 29 hits, 21 runs, 15 earned runs, 17 walks, and four home runs, while striking out just 19 batters, giving them a 5.60 ERA over that span. Last night's starter John Gant allowed four unearned runs to score thanks to an error in the third inning, lowering the team ERA, but still advancing the staff's struggles.

DOMINANCE FROM THE 'PEN: In the last three games, the Memphis bullpen has picked up the slack, making the games close despite struggles from the starting rotation. In Saturday's win over New Orleans, five relievers combined to toss 7.1 shutout innings as the 'Birds stormed back in the late innings to win 6-5 in 10 innings. That performance came after starter Ryan Helsley allowed five runs, three of them earned, to score in 2.2 innings. In Sunday's loss to New Orleans, Memphis starter Kevin Herget allowed four earned runs on three home runs to score in his 5.1 innings of work. The bullpen then came on to shutdown the Baby Cakes with 2.2 innings of shutout ball. Last night, the bullpen pitched the final three innings, and allowed one unearned run to score in the eighth. With their performance last night, the bullpen has allowed just one unearned run to score in the last three games, and they have pitched 14.0 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run. Over that span, six different Memphis relievers have made an appearance. Hector Mendoza (2.1IP), Andrew Morales (2.2IP), Preston Guilmet (2.0IP), Edward Mujica (2.0IP), Conner Greene (1.0IP), and Arturo Reyes (4.0IP, 1UR) have all been lights-out over that stretch.

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 531 batters through the first 59 games (9.0/game), which is only behind Fresno (554) for the best mark in the PCL this season. Memphis and Fresno are two of five teams with 500 strikeouts from their staff in the PCL. 'Birds batters are also towards the bottom of the league in total strikeouts. Memphis batters have struck out just 400 times through the first 59 games (6.8/game), narrowly ahead of Omaha (401) for the lowest mark in the league. Memphis and Omaha are the only teams in the PCL that have struck out under 410 times this season. The Memphis pitching staff has also issued the fourth-fewest walks in the PCL this season (178).

MORE HONORS FOR GOMBER: Memphis starting pitcher Austin Gomber was named the PCL Pitcher of the Week on last Monday for the second time this season. Last week, Gomber went 2-0 in 14.0 innings pitched, allowing just one run on 11 hits and four walks, while striking out 15 batters. Gomber also earned the award for the week of April 23-29 after his 16-strikeout performance April 23, and he was also named the Cardinals Minor League Pitcher of the Month for April. Gomber is 4-3 with a 3.60 ERA and 63 strikeouts on the 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)

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