NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, CFL stats



Memphis Redbirds

Game Notes: Memphis Redbirds (35-51) at Iowa Cubs (49-37)

July 4, 2019 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Memphis Redbirds News Release


Memphis Redbirds (35-51) at Iowa Cubs (49-37)

Thursday, July 4 - 7:08 p.m. (CT) - Principal Park (11,000) - Des Moines, Iowa

Game #87 - Road Game #42 (21-20)

RHP Mike Hauschild (0-2, 10.38) vs RHP Trevor Clifton (3-7, 4.62)

BY THE NUMBERS

.588 Randy Arozarena's batting average during his current eight-game hitting streak (20x34). He is also getting on-base at a .622 clip during that span.

2.57 The Memphis bullpen ERA during the five-game set against New Orleans. They allowed just six earned runs in 21.0 innings of work and ended the series with six scoreless innings.

THE GAME

TONIGHT'S GAME: The Memphis Redbirds begin their final road trip of the first-half of the season with a brief four-game set against the Iowa Cubs at Principal Park in Des, Moines, Iowa. This is the first time these two teams meet in Iowa, after playing a four-game series at AutoZone Park in May, where the Cubs won three of those games. The Redbirds wrapped up a nine-game homestand with a 4-3 defeat to the New Orleans Baby Cakes. The 'Birds finished their homestand with a 2-7 record. It was the third-straight 4-3 game played between the two teams with the Redbirds going 1-2 in those contests. Randy Arozarena extended his hitting streak to eight games by going 3-for-5. He has five games with at least three hits during this stretch. Tonight's game will be broadcast live on www.memphisredbirds.com with Steve Selby on the call.

REDBIRDS ON THE FOURTH: The Memphis Redbirds have gone 15-6 in ballgames played on the Fourth of July in franchise history and have won five of their last six played on this date. Before falling last season vs. Omaha 2-1, the Redbirds had won five-straight Independence Day games. They have not allowed more than two runs scored in six-straight games as well. Tonight will be their first ever Fourth of July contest against the Iowa Cubs.

ON THE HILL: Right-hander Mike Hauschild is scheduled to take the mound in tonight's game and make his fifth start and sixth appearance overall to begin this series against the Cubs. Hauschild has gone 0-2, 10.38 (15 ER/13.0 IP) in his five outings this season. In his last time out on Saturday vs. New Orleans in the series opener, he suffered the loss (4.0 IP, 4 H, 4 R/ER, 2 BB, 5 SO) in the Redbirds' 6-3 defeat to the Baby Cakes. It was Hauschild's longest outing of the season and he set a season-high with five strikeouts. He had entered that start with only two punch-outs in his first 9.0 innings pitched. It was also his third start of the season with at least two walks issued. He is still in search of his first win as a starter since Aug. 14, 2018. Prior to his start on June 20 at Oklahoma City, Hauschild made his first appearance on June 17 vs. Las Vegas after a lengthy stint on the Injured List. In that outing, he tossed 0.2 scoreless, but his outing was cut short due to a 1:20 rain delay following the third inning. Hauschild's first start prior to that night was on April 8 vs. the Omaha Storm Chasers. In that start, he suffered the loss (1.2 IP, 6 H, 9R/ER, 4 BB, 0 K) in the Redbirds' 14-3 defeat to the Storm Chasers. Hauschild matched a career high with nine earned runs allowed in that outing, and did so for the first time since 2017. The 29-year-old made one start against Iowa last season while with Fresno on July 26, taking no-decision (6.0 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO) in the Grizzlies' 5-4 victory over the Cubs at Chukchansi Park. The Dayton, Ohio., native is in his eight professional season and his first within the St. Louis organization. Hauschild also spent time within the Houston, Texas and Toronto organizations.

The Cubs are scheduled to start right-hander Trevor Clifton in tonight's series opener. The 24-year-old is scheduled to make his 16th start of the season and his eighth start at Principal Park. Clifton has gone 3-7, 4.62 (33 ER/64.1 IP) in his 15 starts with the Cubs. In his last time out on Saturday at San Antonio, he earned the win (5.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R/ER, 2 BB, 7 SO, 1 HR, 1 HBP) in the Cubs' 12-2 victory over the Missions. It was his second win in his last three after dropping six-straight decisions from May 13 - June 12. It was also the seventh time this season that Clifton had allowed one earned run or fewer in a start. His seven strikeouts were the most in a start since whiffing eight on May 1 vs. San Antonio in the first game of a doubleheader. Clifton has made one start against Memphis this season on May 8 at AutoZone Park, where he took no-decision (6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R/ER, 0 BB, 3 SO, 1 HR) in the Cubs' 2-1 defeat to the Redbirds. That start remains his only quality start of the season. Clifton split 2018 between Triple-A Iowa and Double-A Tennessee, going 7-7, 3.43 (48 ER/126.0 IP). The Maryville, Tenn., native is in his seventh professional season, spending all of them with the Chicago organization. He entered the season ranked at the No. 28 prospect in the Cubs system according to Baseball America.

HISTORY WITH IOWA: Memphis has faced off against Iowa every year since 1998 and lead 168-138 in the all-time series. In those 21 seasons, the Redbirds have a winning record against the Cubs in 11 seasons and have a losing record in just one season (2015) since 2013. The Redbirds posted their best record against the Cubs last season, going 14-2 overall, 6-2 at AutoZone Park and a whopping 8-0 on the road at Principal Park in Des Moines, Iowa.

At this facility, the Redbirds have winning records in each of the last two seasons and in three of the last five overall. They also only have winning records in five of 21 seasons at Principal Park, with this two-year stretch being the most successful in team history.

Memphis has winning records in downtown Memphis in 17 seasons and has lost two home games each year to the Cubs since 2016. They have not had a losing record at home to the Cubs since 2012. Overall, they lead the series in the Bluff City with a 99-55 advantage.

THE SEASON

ABOUT THE LAST ONE: A sellout crowd of 10,076 saw Randy Arozarena and Max Schrock each have three-hit games and Schrock reach base five times, but the Memphis Redbirds lost the series finale to the New Orleans Baby Cakes (Marlins) Wednesday night at AutoZone Park, 4-3.

Arozarena is now on an eight-game hitting streak for Memphis, which includes five games of three hits or more. He is hitting .588 during the stretch (20-34). Schrock was on base all five times he came to the plate with a double, two singles, a fielder's choice, and by reaching on an error.

The Redbirds (35-51) led 3-0 before New Orleans (47-39) tied the game with three runs in the top of the fourth. The Baby Cakes got the go-ahead run in the fifth, and the Redbirds had the potential tying run on base in each of their final five at-bats but could not push a fourth run across the dish.

Jake Woodford started for Memphis and allowed four runs on four hits in 5.0 innings. He walked five, which elevated his pitch count, and struck out four. He was hampered by two New Orleans home runs.

Chris Ellis, Chasen Shreve, and Chris Beck tossed the final 4.0 innings in scoreless fashion for Memphis.

Along with Arozarena's and Schrock's multi-hit games, John Nogowski was 2-for-3 with an RBI double. Adolis Garcia tripled for the fourth time this season.

THE AMAZING RANDY: After slashing .374/.456/.607/1.063 in 28 games between Double-A Springfield and Triple-A Memphis in June, Randy Arozarena was named Cardinals Minor League Player of the Month. He also had five home runs, eight doubles, 20 RBI, and four stolen bases.

After making his Memphis debut on June 12 after arriving from Springfield, Arozarena proceeded to hit in 13-of-18 games in the month with the Redbirds, including a five-game hitting streak to end the month that included a pair of four-hit games. He is currently riding an eight-game hitting streak and has five games with at least three hits during this span.

Among prospects with at least 100 plate-appearances over the last 30 days he ranks 1st in hits (40) and average (.414), 2nd in OBP (.484) and total bases (70), T-3rd in doubles (10) and 5th in OPS (1.115). (Credit: MLB Pipeline)

This is Arozarena's second-career monthly honor from the Cardinals after being honored in June 2017 while playing for Advanced-A Palm Beach.

NEW ORLEANS SERIES WRAP: The Memphis Redbirds lost their series to the New Orleans Baby Cakes 3-2 in the first meeting between the two teams at AutoZone Park this season. The Redbirds have now dropped five of their last six series at home and have not posted a winning homestand since May 7-14. The Redbirds have not posted a losing record at home against the Baby Cakes since 2012.Both clubs scored 23 runs in the series, with the last three games being decided by one-run contests. The 'Birds went 1-2 in those games and have a 6-14 record on the season in one-run ball games. The Redbirds set a season-high for their largest comeback of the season on Sunday after falling behind 5-0 to win 10-6.

Randy Arozarena led the way once again for the Redbirds offensively in the series, going 12-for-20 (.600) with five runs, two doubles, a home run and four RBI. Arozarena had at least three hits in three games and posted a four-hit performance on Sunday. Through 21 games with Memphis following the series, Arozarena is slashing .405/.463/.595/1.058 and has failed to reach safely when he starts just twice (19 G). John Nogowski had his 15-game hitting streak ended during the completion of Monday's suspended contest, but he went 8-for-18 (.444) in the series overall to boost his season average to .316, which ranks 2nd among Redbird regulars. In last night's series finale, Max Schrock collected just his second three-hit game of the season by going 3-for-5 with a double. Since returning from the Injured List on June 27, Schrock has gone 8-for-22 (.364) with two doubles and a home run. His two-run shot on Tuesday during the completion of Monday's suspended game was his first home run since July 15, 2018. Overall in the series, the Redbirds batted .314 (51x162) against Baby Cakes pitching.

The 'Birds starting staff went 0-3, 6.95 (17 ER/22.0 IP) fanning 18 batters while issuing 11 walks. They allowed seven home runs and yielded an opponent's average of .218 (34x156). Genesis Cabrera turned in the lone quality start of the series by allowing three runs over 6.0 innings of work in Tuesday's seven-inning contest. It was his third quality start in his last five outings with Memphis and he has allowed three earned runs or fewer in each of those starts. He has lowered his season ERA from 7.81 to a season-low 5.34 during that span. Austin Warner made his 2019 Memphis debut on Sunday by tossing 6.0 innings. Despite allowing back-to-back home runs to begin th game, Warner settled in and had three, one-two-three innings over his next five. Junior Fernandez tossed 3.1 innings in two games this series, allowing one run and two hits. In his first three Triple-A appearances, he has allowed four hits and one run in 6.2 innings. Seth Elledge earned his first career Triple-A win by tossing a scoreless seventh in Tuesday's game.

ROSTER MOVES: Prior to yesterday's game with New Orleans, the following roster moves were made;

Tommy Layne was released unconditionally and Ryan Helsley was optioned to Memphis following the completion of his Major League rehab assignment.

Layne ranked 2nd on the Redbirds this season with 34 relief appearances and went 3-1, 6.45 (27 ER/37.2 IP). On last year's Triple-A National Champion team, Layne went 2-1, 1.35 (4 ER/26.2 IP) in 27 games including 0-0, 3.18 (2 ER/5.2 IP) in five games during the playoffs.

JUNE RECAP: The Redbirds finished June with a 11-16 record, going 3-12 at AutoZone Park and 8-4 on the road. This is the just the third time since 2017, that the Redbirds have posted a losing record in a month, adding to May 2019 and August 2018. The 39 home runs slugged by the Redbirds ranks 2nd for home runs in June, falling just one home run shy of joining the 2005 squad (44) of being the only two teams in Redbird history to hit at least 40 home runs in June. The 102 total home runs launched this season through June are the most by any Redbirds team. The team's .296 average in June was nearly 50 points higher than May's average of .247.

John Nogowski led the regulars with a .410 average (34x83), and also posted a .479 OBP and a 1.081 OPS. He also ended the month riding a career-high 15-game hitting streak. Edmundo Sosa led the team with five home runs and also finished a single shy of the cycle in back-to-back games on June 6 and 7.

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 .325 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.

Check out the Memphis Redbirds Statistics

• Discuss this story on the Pacific Coast League message board...

Pacific Coast League Stories from July 4, 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.

OurSports Central