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PCL1 Memphis Redbirds

Game Notes: Memphis Redbirds (40-27) at El Paso Chihuahuas (33-35)

June 16, 2018 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Memphis Redbirds News Release


Memphis Redbirds (41-27) At El Paso Chihuahuas (33-35)

Saturday, June 16 - 8:05 p.m. (CT) - Southwest University Park (9,000) - El Paso, Texas

Game #69 - Road Game #33 (20-12)

RHP Daniel Poncedeleon (5-2, 2.41 ERA) vs. RHP Luis Perdomo (3-2, 3.55 ERA)

THE GAME

TODAY'S GAME: The Memphis Redbirds and El Paso Chihuahuas will play the series-opener of a four-game set tonight at 8:05 p.m. in El Paso. This is the first time the two teams have met since Memphis defeated El Paso in the PCL Championship Series three games to two last September. Memphis is coming off a 3-0 sweep of the Albuquerque Isotopes, while El Paso is coming off a 2-1 series loss to the Nashville Sounds. Memphis will return to AutoZone Park after this series to begin a four-game series against New Orleans on June 21. 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 Redbirds tonight. Poncedeleon will be making his first appearance since June 6 against Tacoma. The righty was recently purchased by St. Louis, but did not appear in a game. Coming into tonight's game, Poncedeleon has appeared in 12 games for Memphis, making 11 starts and posting a 5-2 record with a 2.41 ERA. His 2.41 ERA puts him third in the PCL, narrowly behind teammate Dakota Hudson, who owns the top spot with a 2.18 mark. Poncedeleon also owns the second-lowest batting average against among starters at .220, and the second-best strikeouts per nine innings pitched ratio at 10.89. His 71 strikeouts on the year lead all Memphis pitchers. This will be his first-career appearance against El Paso.

The Chihuahuas will send right-hander Luis Perdomo to the mound to battle Poncedeleon. Coming into tonight's game, Perdomo has made eight starts for El Paso this season, posting a 3-2 record and a 3.55 ERA. Perdomo began his career in the St. Louis system before being claimed off waivers by Colorado in 2015 and traded to San Diego. This will be his first-career appearance against Memphis.

HISTORY WITH EL PASO: Memphis and El Paso have played every season dating back to 2014 when Tucson moved its team to El Paso and became the Chihuahuas. The two teams have evenly split the all-time series, both winning and losing eight games apiece. Last year, Memphis took the regular-season series 3-1, and then topped El Paso in the Pacific Coast League Championship Series 3-2 to advance to the Triple- A National Championship game.

BIRD BITES

AROZARENA: Thursday night, tied game with two-run single in the ninth; first multi-hit game since May 24

BARON: In Monday's loss, drove in two runs in Memphis' six-run second; first multi-RBI game this season

GARCIA: Now has a six-game hitting streak for the first time this season; leads PCL with 10 outfield assists

KELLY: Hitting .360 (9-for-25) in five games since being optioned from St. Louis; five extra-base hits and five RBI

MEJIA: Drove in game winning runs in last two of last six starts; last Wednesday was first multi-RBI game since April 10

MERCADO: Reached base safely in all five plate appearances Saturday night for the first time in his career; 2-for-2, 3 BB

O'NEILL: Hit two home runs Wed. night for fourth time this season; now has 18 homers between Memphis and St. Louis

RAVELO: Is hitting .370 (20-for-54) with 12 runs scored, a double, triple, six home runs, and 16 RBI in last 14 games

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: Has two multi-hit games in the last week after going 15 games without a multi-hit performance

URIAS: Last night, went 2-for-5 at the plate, scoring two runs, and hitting a home run, his third with Memphis

WISDOM: Drove in game-winning run in 10th inning Thursday night; is hitting .329 (49-for-149) since May 1

BY THE NUMBERS

15-2 in extra-inning games since the start of the 2017 season. That is not only the best mark in the PCL, but also all of Triple-A baseball

ON THIS DATE

In 2007, leftfielder Rick Ankiel went 4-for-5 with three home runs, accumulating 13 total bases in a 7-5 win over the Iowa Cubs

THE SEASON

ABOUT THE LAST ONE: The Memphis Redbirds topped the Albuquerque Isotopes 6-4 in 10 innings for the second-consecutive night.

Redbirds' starter John Gant was solid once again. The righty twirled six one-run innings, allowing just four hits and two walks, while striking out seven batters.

The 'Birds grabbed two runs in the second and one in the third to grab an early 3-0 lead over the Isotopes. The lead held until the seventh inning Albuquerque scored three runs, two earned, to give them the 4-3 lead.

For the second-consecutive night, the 'Birds posted a late comeback to tie the game and send it to extras. The 'Birds scored on a sac fly in the eighth before scoring two runs in the 10th inning to seal the win.

Offensively, Ramon Urias (2-for-5, HR), Patrick Wisdom (2-for-4), and Steven Baron (2-for-4) recorded multi-hit games, while Adolis Garcia drove in three runs.

Arturo Reyes got the win, while Edward Mujica took the save, his fourth of the year.

CHAMPIONSHIP REMATCH: This weekend's four-game series between the Memphis Redbirds and the El Paso Chihuahuas marks the first time the two teams have played since Memphis defeated El Paso in the PCL Championship Series last September. In that series, Memphis defeated El Paso three games to two to advance to the Triple-A National Championship game where they fell to the Durham Bulls 5-3. In the Championship Series, the Redbirds won the first two games, and El Paso won the middle two games, making them play the decisive Game 5 at El Paso. The 'Birds took the lead in Game 5 on a two-run home run off the bat of Patrick Wisdom. Memphis went on to win 3-1. Wisdom was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2017 PCL playoffs due to his heroics throughout the championship run, as well as the home run in Game 5.

DON'T CALL IT A COMEBACK: Last night, Memphis posted another late comeback to stun the Albuquerque Isotopes 6-4 in 10 innings for the second-consecutive night. The 'Birds got off to a quick start, notching two runs in the second inning, and a run in the third to give them the early 3-0 lead. Albuquerque scored a run in the sixth off John Gant, before scoring three runs off reliever Conner Greene in the seventh to take the 4-3 lead. The 'Birds tied the game up with a run on a sac fly from Adolis Garcia in the eighth to send the game to extras for the second-straight night. Rangel Ravelo drove in the winning run with a single in the 10th, and Garcia drove in his third run of the night with a single to give Memphis an insurance run. On Thursday night, Memphis trailed by two entering in the ninth before scoring two and another in extras to steal the win. Last night, Arturo Reyes earned the win, while Edward Mujica slammed the door on the Isotopes to give him the save for the second night in a row. The win gave Memphis a three-game sweep over Albuquerque, its second sweep of the season.

EXTRA, EXTRA: After the 'Birds scored two runs in the ninth inning to send the game to extras last night, they completed the comeback, winning 7-6. With the win, Memphis improved to 3-2 in extra-inning games this season. Last year, Memphis had the best record in the league in extras, going a perfect 11-0. Since Stubby Clapp took over the team last season, Memphis is 14-2 in extra-innings, by far the best winning percentage in the PCL. The 14-2 record in extra innings the last two seasons is also the best record and winning percentage in all of Triple-A baseball.

HERE COMES JOHNNY: Last night's starter John Gant continued his dominance with Memphis this season, twirling six one-run innings. The righty allowed one run on four hits and two walks, while striking out seven batters. His season ERA with Memphis is now 1.65. In eight starts with the 'Birds this season, Gant has tossed seven quality starts, and has yet to allow more than three earned runs in a game. In 49.0 innings with Memphis this season, Gant has allowed just 13 total runs, nine earned, on 45 hits and 16 walks, while striking out 42 batters. Gant does not qualify for any league-leads because he spent a month of the season with St. Louis. Between the Cardinals and the Redbirds, Gant has appeared in a total of 15 games, and has made 10 starts. He is 6-3 with a 2.69 ERA in 73.2 innings, having allowed just 65 hits and 22 earned runs, while walking 25, and striking out 68 batters. Opponents between both levels are hitting just .234 (65-for-278) off him.

MATCHING HISTORY: With Thursday night's win over Albuquerque, the Redbirds matched the 2000 and 2017 Memphis teams as the only teams in franchise history to reach 40 wins by June 14. With the win last night, Memphis continued to keep pace with the 2017 and 2000 teams with a 41-27 record through 68 games, the best mark in franchise history. The earliest any Memphis team has reached 50 wins was June 30. That feat was accomplished by the 2000 team. The Redbirds also won their 1,400th game in franchise history last season on July 14 last season. Since that time, they have won 74 games, putting them just 26 wins from the 1,500th in franchise history. With 91 wins last season, and 41 so far this season, Memphis manager Stubby Clapp now has 132 wins in his career as Redbirds' manager, putting him six behind former Memphis manager Mike Shildt for fifth on the all-time managerial win list. Clapp also owns the best winning percentage among Memphis managers at .632 (132-77).

RAVELO CAN'T BE STOPPED: After homering in three-straight games for the first time in his career, Rangel Ravelo has gone 3-for-8 at the plate the last two nights. Last night, Ravelo extended his hitting streak to five with a 10th inning single to score the winning run for Memphis. Monday, Ravelo hit a grand slam in the second inning to give Memphis a 6-0 lead, and in Sunday's 6-0 win, Ravelo hit a two-run shot in the first inning, as well. His grand slam in Monday's game was the first of his 10-year career. With four RBI on the day, Ravelo also fell just one RBI short of his career-high of five, which he accomplished on August 30, 2011 with the Kannapolis Intimidators. He has now recorded exactly four RBI in a game six times in his career. It was also the second time this season that Ravelo had homered in consecutive games. Before this season, he had only homered in consecutive games twice in his career, July 31 and August 4, 2014 while with the Birmingham Barons, and July 17 and 18, 2013 while with the Winston-Salem Dash. Since going hitless in back-to-back games on May 21 and 22, Ravelo has been a force at the plate. In that 14-game span, Ravelo is hitting .370 (20-for-54) with 12 runs scored, a double, a triple, six home runs, and 16 RBI.

POSITIVE SIGNS: In last night's win over the Isotopes, Adolis Garcia went 1-for-4 at the plate, recording a sac fly and a season-high three RBI to provide half of the runs Memphis scored. Garcia has now recorded a hit in six-straight games for the first time this season. The strong-fielding outfielder leads the PCL with 10 outfield assists, but has struggled at the plate in the last six weeks. However, since the calendar flipped to June, Garcia has recorded hits in 10 of his 11 games. While it is just a .250 average over those 11 games, it is a good sign after he saw his average dip to a season-low .203 on May 31.

MUJICA SETTLING IN: After going through a rough, three-game stretch in mid-May, Memphis reliever Edward Mujica seems to be settling in. In three appearances from May 17-22, Mujica went 0-2. The righty allowed 11 hits, 13 runs, nine earned runs, a walk and a home run in just 3.0 innings of work, giving him a 27.00 ERA in that stretch. Opponents hit .500, with an on-base percentage of .522. Since those three outings, Mujica has been lights-out. In seven appearances since that time, Mujica is 1-0 with three saves. The righty has tossed 8.1 innings, allowing just three hits, one run, earned, and one walk, while striking out six batters. In that stretch, opponents are hitting just .115 (3-for-26) off him, and he is posting a 1.08 ERA.

WISDOM STILL HITTING: Last night, Patrick Wisdom went 2-for-4 with a run scored and a walk. In Memphis' comeback Thursday night, Wisdom went 2-for-4 with a double, and two RBI, including the game-winning RBI in the top of the 10th inning. Since May 1, Wisdom is hitting .329 (49-for-149) with 28 runs scored, 10 doubles, a triple, five home runs, 22 RBI, and 16 walks. In his 41 games since May 1, he has recorded multiple hits in 15 of them, and has gone hitless in just eight games with an official at-bat. His .329 batting average in that span is 12th-best in the PCL.

FINALLY, A FRIDAY WIN: With last night's comeback victory over the Albuquerque Isotopes, Memphis improved to 3-7 on Friday's this season, and 16-17 on Friday's under Stubby Clapp. Friday is the only day of the week that the Redbirds are under .500 this season, and the only day of the week they are under .500 under Stubby Clapp. It snapped a seven-week losing streak on Friday dating back to April 13.

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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