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PCL1 Memphis Redbirds

Game Notes: Memphis Redbirds (4-7) at Round Rock Express (7-4)

April 15, 2019 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Memphis Redbirds News Release


Memphis Redbirds (4-7) at Round Rock Express (7-4)

Monday, April 15 - 11:35 a.m. (CT) - Dell Diamond (8,722) - Round Rock, Texas

Game #12 - Road Game #7 (2-4)

RHP Jake Woodford (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs RHP Forrest Whitley (0-1, 3.60 ERA)

BY THE NUMBERS

5 Number of one-run games that the Redbirds have played in the first 11 games of the season. Memphis has a 1-4 record in such contests

THE GAME

TODAY'S GAME: The Memphis Redbirds conclude their seven-game roadtrip today as they wrap up their four-game set with the Round Rock Express at Dell Diamond. The Redbirds are looking to avoid dropping their third straight series to open the season and claim at least a series split. Today'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 todays's game and make his third start of the season and second during the the Redbirds' seven-game roadtrip. Woodford also pitched in the second game of the roadtrip on Wednesday at San Antonio, taking no decision in the Redbirds' 6-5 walk-off defeat. The 22-year-old tossed 5.0 innings in the River City, allowing one hit and one run, no earned runs, while striking out four and issuing four walks. Woodford has not allowed an earned run this season in 10.0 innings pitched, and his 0.90 WHIP is lowest amongst Redbird starters. The St. Petersburg, Fla., native, despite being the youngest pitcher on the roster, is holding opposing batters to a .094 average (3-for-32) including a .056 average (1-for-18) against right-handed hitters. Woodford made one start at Dell Diamond in 2018 on August 28, suffering the loss in the Redbirds' 5-3 defeat, tossing 5.0 innings while being tagged for five runs on six hits. Overall against the Express last season, Woodford went 1-1, 6.00 (8 ER/12.0 IP) in two starts, one home and one on the road.

The Express are scheduled to start right-hander Forrest Whitley today. The 21-year-old is slated to make his second start of the season and his second home start. In his first start of the season, and Triple-A debut, on Tuesday vs. Nashville, Whitley allowed four hits and two runs in 5.0 innings of work, suffering the loss in the Express' 3-1 defeat to the Sounds. The San Antonio native made just eight starts for Double-A Corpus Christi last season due to a 50-game PED suspension and injuries. In those eight starts, Whitley went 0-2, 3.76 (11 ER/26.1 IP). Today will mark his first start against the Redbirds. He entered 2019 ranked as the No.1 prospect in the Astros organization and the No. 5 overall prospect in all of baseball by Baseball America.

HISTORY WITH ROUND ROCK: The two clubs have met every year since 2005, with the Redbirds taking a slight 119-105 edge overall. The 'Birds also hold a slim 58-56 advantage at Dell Diamond, but have gone 11-4 at this facility the past two seasons. The Redbirds and Express finished all-square at 8-8 in 2018, which was only the second time in 14 seasons that the two teams had split the season series. Memphis has not lost a season series to Round Rock since 2015.

After eight years as the Rangers Triple-A affiliate, the Express are the Astros top affilate for the first time since 2010. The Express spent their first six years in the Pacific Coast League as the Astros Triple-A team, where the Redbirds went 55-38 from 2005-10, including 12-4 in each of the last two seasons before the Express switched affiliations.

THE SEASON

ABOUT THE LAST ONE: The Memphis Redbirds (4-7) scored in five-straight innings from the third-through-seventh Sunday afternoon in Round Rock, Texas, but the Round Rock Express (Astros) matched them and scored three runs of their own in the bottom of the sixth to secure a 7-6 win over the Redbirds.

Four of Memphis' eight hits went for extra bases, with three doubles and an Adolis Garcia home run. Garcia also had one of the doubles and drove in three runs on the day. Six different Redbirds scored one of the team's runs in the ballgame.

Austin Gomber gave up four runs on five hits in 4.1 innings for Memphis, and he fired 53 of 79 pitches for strikes. Ryan Meisinger followed Gomber and allowed one more run to score in the fifth, and he was tagged by Taylor Jones for a three-run home run in the top of the sixth that put Round Rock (7-4) ahead, 7-5.

Memphis got a run back in the top of the seventh with John Nogowski doubling, moving to third on a Garcia sacrifice bunt, and scoring on a groundout by Max Schrock, but the Redbirds would get no closer than the eventual final tally of 7-6 after going down in order in the eighth and ninth innings.

Alex Reyes pitched the final 2.0 innings for Memphis and did not allow a hit with three walks and two strikeouts.

The Redbirds were 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position and committed three errors.

WELCOME HOME BEN: Hailing from nearby Germantown, Tenn., new Redbirds manager Ben Johnson earned the first win of his managerial career on April 4 with the 'Birds 9-2 victory over the Storm Chasers. Johnson spent last season at Triple-A Durham (Tampa Bay), as part of a staff that captured the International League title before falling to the Redbirds in the 2018 Triple-A National Championship. The 37-year-old is also the youngest manager in team history, a mark that was previously held by Danny Sheaffer, who was 41 years old when he was named manager on June 10, 2003.

TWO-HIT TOMMY: Through his first nine starts of the season, INF Tommy Edman has five-multi hit games, including back-to-back three-hit performances, Thursday at San Antonio and Saturday at Round Rock. His .359 batting average and 14 hits are most among the current Redbirds roster, while his .395 OBP ranks third.

WALK IT OFF: Tuesday's walk-off defeat to the Missions was the first time since Aug. 5, 2017 that the Redbirds had lost in such fashion. The following night, it marked the first time since June 23-24, 2014 that the Redbirds had lost consecutive games in the last at-bat of the game. The two walk-off defeats this season have already matched last year's total.

CAUGHT IN A STORM: The Redbirds' 11-run defeat on April 8 marked the first time that Redbirds lost by 11 runs or more since June 16, 2018, when the Redbirds fell 13-1 at El Paso. Additionally, Omaha's 12-run second was the first time since May 12, 2016 against the Storm Chasers, that the Redbirds had given up more than 10 runs in an inning.

Elier Hernandez and Nick Dini became the first two opponents to hit back-to-back home runs against the Redbirds since May 8, 2017 and Hernandez became the first player to post a 6 RBI against Memphis since June 9, 2018.

FIRST NO MORE: Following Memphis' defeat on April 6, the Redbirds fell out of first place for the first time since April 28, 2017. It also marked the first time since April 27, 2017 that their record fell below the .500 mark. The Redbirds played the final 120 games of the 2017 season in first place, and played all 140 games of 2018 in first place. They had been in first place for the 708 calendar days, playing 262 regular-season games and 20 playoff games in that span.

The Redbirds entered April 7 in T-3rd place in the division, which marked the first time since April 12, 2016, that they had fallen out of the top two spots in the standings.

KINGS OF THE HILL: After setting the franchise record for best ERA in a season at 3.77 in 2017, last year's staff shattered that record, posting a 3.54 mark. It was the second-consecutive season they owned the best ERA in the league. Additionally, they set the franchise record for most strikeouts in a season (1,160), fewest runs allowed (564), fewest hits allowed (1,152), and lowest opponent batting average (.248). Memphis' entire 2018 Opening Night, five-man starting rotation was promoted to St. Louis last season. John Gant, Dakota Hudson, Austin Gomber, Jack Flaherty, and Daniel Ponce de Leon all played large roles in St. Louis' second-half turnaround.

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK: The Opening Night roster featured 20 players that were not on the roster for Opening Night last season. Of the five returning players (Adolis Garcia, Austin Gomber, Daniel Ponce de Leon, Rangel Ravelo, Max Schrock) only three (Garcia, Ravelo, Schrock) were starters in the 2018 opener against Round Rock at Dell Diamond. Garcia, Gomber and Ponce de Leon all went on to make their big-leauge debuts last season with St. Louis.

FARM RAISED: Memphis' Opening Night roster featured 11 of St. Louis' top-30 prospects (Baseball America), including three of the top-10. Current prospects on the roster are: Genesis Cabrera (No. 6), Lane Thomas (No. 7), Andrew Knizner (No. 8), Ryan Helsley (No. 11), Tommy Edman (No. 12), Daniel Ponce de Leon (No. 13), Adolis Garcia (No. 15), Jake Woodford (No. 16), Edmundo Sosa (No. 22), Max Schrock (No. 25) and Giovanny Gallegos (No. 29).

BEAK-TO-BEAK-TO-BEAK?: Professional baseball has been played in the city of Memphis since 1877. In that span, only three teams have won back-to-back league championships in that time. The Memphis Egyptians won back-to-back titles in 1903-04, the Memphis Chickasaws won consecutive titles in 1952-53, and now the Redbirds have accomplished the feat with their successive PCL titles in 2017-18. No team in Memphis, however, has been able to capture a third successive title.

WINNING WAYS: After the Redbirds went 91-50 in 2017 and 83-57 last season, they have won 174 games in the last two years. That is the most wins in a two-year span in Memphis history since 1933-34 when the Chickasaws also won 174 games. The 1921-22 Chickasaws set the record for most wins in a two-year span by a Memphis professional team with 198.

THE 2018 SEASON

THE BEST ONCE AGAIN: After a 5-0 victory on Sept. 15, 2018, the Memphis Redbirds were crowned champions of the Pacific Coast League, defeating the Fresno Grizzlies three games to one. It was Memphis' fourth PCL title in franchise history, and their second-straight. Memphis also won titles in 2000 and 2009. In 120 seasons of professional baseball in Memphis, it is the 16th championship all-time. Infielder Tommy Edman and outfielder Randy Arozarena were named co-MVPs of the PCL Playoffs. Arozarena hit two home runs in Game 4, giving Memphis all the offense they needed. Edman hit .469 in eight playoff games, notching a hit in all but the final game of the series. Manager Stubby Clapp has now been part of three of Memphis' four titles since they joined the PCL. He played a crucial role on the 2000 team as a middle infielder, and has now guided the Redbirds to consecutive championships as manager.

NEW FACES, NO PROBLEM: The Redbirds won the PCL Championship for the second-straight season, and advanced to the Triple-A National Championship, despite the fact that the Memphis roster was almost completely different from the playoff roster during the 2017 season. It was also almost completely different from the 2018 Opening Day roster. Of the 13 position players who made an appearance in the 2017 playoffs, only two were still on Memphis' active roster. Wilfredo Tovar and Tommy Edman are those two players. Every other player has either been traded, released, or is at a different level of the organization.

Memphis had a franchise-record 66 players on the roster last season, though two never appeared in a game before being taken off the roster (Jesse Jenner and Michael Wacha). It is the third-consecutive season in which Memphis has used a record number of players. Of the 66 players to be listed on Memphis' roster last year, 22 of them made their Triple-A debuts with the 'Birds, and six others were promoted for their Major League debuts.

TOP NOTCH PERFORMANCES: While Memphis raced to its second-consecutive PCL Championship as a team, they had many outstanding individual performances along the way. On April 23, 2018, left-handed pitcher Austin Gomber tied the franchise record with 16 strikeouts in eight shutout innings against the Iowa Cubs. Lance Lynn also had 16 strikeouts in a playoff game in 2010. Gomber's mark set the regular-season record. On June 30, 2018, infielder Luke Voit hit for the cycle against Iowa. It was just the second cycle in franchise history and the first since 2000. On July 19, 2018, at Omaha, right-handed pitcher Daniel Ponce de Leon threw a one-hit, complete game shutout. It was just the 11th one-hit performance in Memphis history and the 17th complete game shutout. One week later, he made his Major League debut and threw seven no-hit innings.

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