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PCL1 Memphis Redbirds

Game Notes: Memphis Redbirds (36-54) vs Oklahoma City Dodgers (38-51)

July 11, 2019 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Memphis Redbirds News Release


Memphis Redbirds (36-54) vs Oklahoma City Dodgers (38-51)

Thursday, July 11 - 7:05 p.m. (CT) - AutoZone Park (10,000) - Memphis, Tennessee

Game #91 - Home Game #46 (14-31)

BY THE NUMBERS

.400 Randy Arozarena's batting average when batting first in the order. Arozarena has gone 38-for-95 and has 11 extra-base hits and 17 RBI. He also has hit safely in each of his last 11 starts.

.478 Irving Lopez's on-base percentage during his 12-game on-base streak. He is also batting .361 (13x36) with hits in 10 games during this stretch.

THE GAME

TONIGHT'S GAME: The Memphis Redbirds open up the second-half of the season by starting a four-game set with the Oklahoma City Dodgers. The Redbirds were swept in four games by the Dodgers in the first meeting between the two teams at AutoZone Park this season, but took four of five at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark at the end of June. The 'Birds fell in their first-half finale on Sunday at Iowa 8-5, but Randy Arozarena has now hit safely in each of his last 11 starts. Tonight's game will be broadcast live on www.memphisredbirds.com with Steve Selby on the call.

ON THE HILL: Right-hander Mike Hauschild is scheduled to take the mound in tonight's game and make his sixth start and seventh appearance overall to begin this series against the Dodgers to open up the second-half of the season. Hauschild has gone 0-2, 9.00 (18 ER/18.0 IP) in his six outings this season. In his last time out on July 4 at Iowa in the series opener, he took no-decision (5.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R/ER, 3 BB, 2 SO) in the Redbirds' 5-4 defeat to the Cubs. It was Hauschild's longest outing of the season, but he matched a season-high with six hits allowed (2 times). He has fanned seven batters in his last 9.0 innings pitched after whiffing just two in his first 9.0 innings pitched this season. It was also his fourth 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 has made two starts against the Dodgers this season in Oklahoma City, going 0-0, 2.90 (2 ER/6.2 IP). The Redbirds went 1-1 in those starts. 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 Dodgers are scheduled to start right-hander Dustin May to open up tonight's series. The 21-year-old is slated to make his second start for Oklahoma City and his 17th start of the season overall across all levels. May made his Triple-A debut on June 30 at Nashville, where he earned the win (5.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R/ER, 2 BB, 3 SO, 2 HBP) in the Dodgers' 13-6 victory over the Sounds. In 15 starts at Double-A Tulsa, May went 3-5, 3.74 (33 ER/79.1 IP) to go along with 86 strikeouts compared to just 20 walks. He made quality starts in his last three starts and has made four such outings this season. In his last start for the Drillers on June 22, May took no-decision, but allowed no runs and just two hits over 7.0 innings of work and fanned a career-high 14 batters. That performance led him to be named Texas League Pitcher of the Week for June 17-23. May entered the season ranked as the No. 4 prospect in the Los Angeles-NL organization by Baseball America and he is currently ranked as the No. 3 prospect in the Dodgers system by MLB.com. He is also ranked as the No. 51 overall prospect by MLB.com as well. He recently participated in the 2019 All-Star Futures Game on Sunday, tossing a one-two-three third inning. The Justin, Texas, native is in his fourth professional season and has spent them all within the Los-Angeles-NL organization.

HISTORY WITH OKLAHOMA CITY: The Redbirds have faced off against the Oklahoma City Triple-A franchise every year since 1998. The Redbirds trail in the all-time series 165-178 but hold a 93-78 advantage at AutoZone Park. The Redbirds have winning records against Oklahoma City in just six of 21 seasons, but only have losing records in 10 seasons. Last year, the teams faced off in the American Conference Finals of the Pacific Coast League playoffs, with the Redbirds winning the series 3-1.

This is 22nd-straight year that the Redbirds have faced off against the Los Angeles Dodgers' Triple-A affiliate. Oklahoma City has been the Dodgers' top affiliate since 2015 and Memphis has a 30-32 record during that span. From 2009-14, the Albuquerque Isotopes was the organization's top affiliate and the Redbirds went 37-49. The Redbirds were also 12-20 against the Albuquerque Dukes from 1998-2000. From 2001-08, the Redbirds went 19-21 against the Las Vegas 51's. Overall, Memphis is 102-127 against the Dodgers' Triple-A club.

THE SEASON

ABOUT THE LAST ONE: The Iowa Cubs (Cubs) used a five-run fourth inning to take a 7-3 lead over the Memphis Redbirds and closed out the series finale Sunday afternoon in Des Moines, Iowa with an 8-5 victory.

Memphis (36-54) led 3-2 after an inning-and-a-half, thanks to a Jose Martinez three-run home run, which was his first-career Triple-A hit.

But the Cubs (52-38) scored five times in the bottom of the fourth and chased Memphis starter Genesis Cabrera from the game, which opened a 7-3 lead.

Randy Arozarena singled home a run in the fifth and John Nogowski had an RBI groundout in the eighth to account for the rest of Memphis' scoring on the day.

Arozarena has a hit in each of his last 11 starts and has driven in a run in three-straight and six runs in his last four games started.

Irving Lopez was 1-for-2 with a walk and two runs scored, and he has now reached base in 12-straight games and drawn a walk in three-straight.

After Cabrera left the game in the fourth, five Redbirds relievers combined to finish the game and allowed just one Iowa run.

Memphis pitching struck out 12 Cubs on the day.

ROSTER MOVES: The following roster moves were made prior to tonight's game:

Jose Godoy was transferred from Double-A Springfield, Andrew Knizner was recalled by St. Louis, Chasen Shreve had his contract purchased by St. Louis and both Rangel Ravelo and Tyler Webb were optioned to Memphis.

Godoy is in line to make his first appearance for the Redbirds since June 8 with his first game action. He made his Triple-A debut on June 2 vs. Oklahoma City and went 0-for-3. In his next four games, Godoy went 7-for-16 with a double, two home runs and four RBI.

Knizner will be making his second Major League stint of the season. He made his MLB debut on June 2.

Shreve was 2-1 with a 3.80 ERA in 37 games (42.2 IP) for Memphis this season, striking out 50 and walking just 19.

Ravelo returns from his second MLB stint, where he went 0-for-2 in two pinch-hit appearances.

Webb is slated to make his first appearance for the Redbirds since April 5.

IOWA SERIES WRAP: The Memphis Redbirds lost their series to the New Orleans Baby Cakes 3-1 in the first meeting between the two teams at Principal Park this season. It was the first time since May 16-20 that the Redbirds lost a series on the road, snapping a four-series unbeaten run. The loss in the series opener on July 4 was the 'Birds first loss at Principal Park since Aug. 25, 2017, ending a run of 10-straight road wins against the Cubs. The first three games of the series were decided by just one run, with the Redbirds going 1-2 in those contests.

Justin Williams played in just one game in the series before hitting the injured list, but hit a pair of two-run homers in the opening game of the series on July 11. It was his first multi-HR game of the season and his first since Aug. 30, 2017. The four runs driven in also set a season-high. In his two starts with the Redbirds this season, Williams went 2-for-3 in each game. Randy Arozarena had his eight-game hitting streak snapped on July 4 after making one at-bat after entering the game as a defensive replacement, but still has hit safely in each of his last 11 starts. In 25 games with Memphis following the series, he is slashing .388/.445/.561/1.007 and has failed to reach safely when he starts just twice (22 G). Jose Martinez made his Triple-A debut on Saturday and drew two walks, and on Sunday collected his first-career Triple-A hit, a two-out three-run home run in the second that gave the Redbirds the lead. Martinez was the 12th Redbird to make his Triple-A debut this season. Edmundo Sosa's grand slam on Friday was the team's first grand slam since May 7 and third this season. Lane Thomas returned to Memphis on July 5 after being optioned and hit safely in the last three games of the series, including going 2-for-4 in first two games back. Johan Mieses had two hits in the series as he began his third Memphis stint this season. He has 10 hits in his first 10 career Triple-A games. Seven players posted multi-hit performances in the series and two players had four-RBI games. Overall in the series, the Redbirds batted .215 (29x135) against Cubs pitching.

The 'Birds starting staff went 1-1, 8.90 (17 ER/17.2 IP) fanning 11 batters while issuing 11 walks. They allowed six home runs and 15 total extra-base hits. The staff overall yielded an opponent's average of .286 (40x140). Harold Arauz and Mike Hauschild each made starts of 5.0 innings while allowing three earned runs in their respective outings. Hauschild's start was his longest outing of the year and he now has nine strikeouts in his last 9.0 innings pitched. In earning the victory in his start, Arauz's four wins are second most among active Redbirds. Austin Warner made his second Triple-A start of the season and allowed six earned runs on eight hits, with four hits being home runs. Warner has allowed seven long balls in his two starts. Junior Fernandez made one appearance during the series, tossing 1.1 scoreless innings on Friday. In his first four Triple-A appearances, he has allowed four hits and one run in 8.0 innings. Hunter Cervenka tossed 3.1 scoreless innings over two games.

WOODFORD SHINES IN EL PASO: Jake Woodford tossed 2.0 perfect innings to start the 2019 Triple-A All-Star Game and earned the win in the Pacific Coast League All-Stars' 9-3 win over the International League All-Stars. Woodford fanned two batters and three of the other four outs were recorded via ground-outs. He was the sixth Redbirds pitcher to start the All-Star Game and second-straight to earn the honor.

Andrew Knizner, who was added to the PCL All-Star roster on Friday did not make an appearance in the game.

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.

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 had his eight-game hitting streak snapped on July 4, but has hit safely in his last 11 starts. He also has five games with at least three hits during that span.

On July 4, among prospects with at least 100 plate-appearances over the last 30 days he ranked 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.

LET'S GET IT STARTED: After Randy Arozarena went 2-for-4 in Sunday's game, Redbirds players batting first in the order are now hitting .314 overall, which ranks 2nd in the Pacific Coast League. They also rank 3rd in hits (120), 3rd in OBP (.373), 4th in OPS (.870) and 5th in SLG (.497).

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.

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