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PCL1 Memphis Redbirds

Game Notes: Memphis Redbirds (42-28) at El Paso Chihuahuas (34-36)

June 18, 2018 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Memphis Redbirds News Release


Memphis Redbirds (42-28) At El Paso Chihuahuas (34-36)

Monday, June 18 - 8:05 p.m. (CT) - Southwest University Park (9,000) - El Paso, Texas

Game #71 - Road Game #35 (21-13)

RHP Dakota Hudson (8-2, 2.18 ERA) vs. RHP Walker Lockett (2-5, 5.12 ERA)

THE GAME

TODAY'S GAME: The Memphis Redbirds and El Paso Chihuahuas will play game three 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. El Paso won the opener 13-1 Saturday, while the Redbirds won 8-6 last night. 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 Dakota Hudson will take the mound for the Redbirds tonight. Hudson has been lights-out for the Redbirds this season. In his last start against Albuquerque, he threw 8.0 shutout innings, allowing four hits and four walks, while striking out six en route to Memphis' 11-0 win. Hudson has made 12 starts for the Redbirds this season, posting an 8-2 record with a 2.18 ERA. The righty has pitched at least 5.0 innings in each of his starts, has twirled seven quality starts on the season, and has allowed more than three earned runs just once. In half of his starts, he has allowed one earned run or less. His 2.18 ERA is tops in the PCL, his eight wins lead the league, and he is fifth in innings pitched at 74.1.

The Chihuahuas will send right-hander Walker Lockett to the mound to battle with Hudson. In 12 starts this season, Lockett is 2-5 with a 5.12 ERA in 70.1 innings, striking out 61 batters. Although he has spent parts of three seasons in the PCL, 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: Last night, hit first home run of the season with Memphis, and first career-Triple-A home run

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

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

KELLY: Hitting .355 (11-for-31) in six games since being optioned from St. Louis; five extra-base hits and six RBI

MEJIA: Despite going hitless last night, drove in two runs with two sacrifice flies, also scored a run

MERCADO: Last night, came off the bench to deliver the go-ahead two-run single in the 8th inning to give Memphis the win

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 .356 (21-for-59) with 12 runs scored, a double, triple, six home runs, and 16 RBI in last 16 games

SCHROCK: Hit just .246 (34-for-138) in 37 games since May 1 after hitting .323 (30-for-93) in April

TOVAR: Hitting just .217 (10-for-46) in 14 games this month; is hitting just .223 (27-for-121) since May 1

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

WISDOM: Last night, had first multi-home run game this season; is hitting .333 (52-for-156) since May 1

BY THE NUMBERS

15 home runs in eight games since June 9 for Memphis. They had previously hit just two home runs in the first seven games of June

ON THIS DATE

In 2011, shortstop Donovan Solano hit a walk-off RBI double in the 10th inning, his third two-bagger of the day. It was the second-consecutive walk-off for Memphis

THE SEASON

ABOUT THE LAST ONE: The Memphis Redbirds mounted a late comeback to top the El Paso Chihuahuas 8-6.

Memphis starter Chris Ellis pitched 5.0 innings in his second appearance with Memphis this season. The righty allowed four runs on four hits and a walk, while striking out seven batters.

The 'Birds got off to a quick start last night, grabbing two runs in the first inning on a two-run home run from Patrick Wisdom.

The Redbirds held a 5-4 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth inning, but the bullpen surrendered the lead, leading up to the comeback.

Trailing 6-5 in the eighth, Wisdom led off the inning with his second homer of the night, before Oscar Mercado came off the bench to deliver a two-run single to give Memphis the win.

Randy Arozarena notched his first homer of the year, and Edward Mujica earned his fifth save in the win.

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. El Paso won the series-opener by a score of 13-1 Saturday night, while Memphis won game two 8-6 last night.

HALFWAY THERE: Last night's game was number 70 on the season for the Redbirds, meaning that we are now halfway through the 2018 season. Through 70 games, the Redbirds are 42-28 and 8.5 games up on the New Orleans Baby Cakes and the Nashville Sounds in the American Southern Division. The 'Birds are tied with the Fresno Grizzlies for the best record in all of Triple-A baseball. Through 70 games, the team is hitting .266, has the second-best ERA in the PCL at 3.51, has the second-most strikeouts by the pitching staff at 622, and has the lowest strikeouts among batters at 450.

WIZ GOES DEEP TWICE: In last night's late, 8-6 comeback win over the El Paso Chihuahuas, slugging infielder Patrick Wisdom demolished two home runs, his first multi-home run game of the season. With Tyler O'Neill on base in the first inning, Wisdom hit his first shot of the night with two outs to give Memphis an early 2-0 lead. With Memphis trailing 6-5 in the eighth inning, Wisdom led off the frame with his second homer, tying the game and giving Memphis the momentum to complete the comeback. Wisdom now has three home runs in his last five games after going 15-straight games without a homer. Since May 1, Wisdom has been on fire at the plate. He is hitting .333 (52-for-156) in 43 games since the start of May. In that span, he has recorded a career-long 16-game hitting streak, has hit 10 doubles, one triple, and seven home runs, while scoring 31 runs, recording 25 RBI, and walking 18 times. With his two home runs last night, Wisdom now has 46 career homers with the Redbirds, putting him fourth all-time in franchise history. He also sits in eighth-all time with 161 RBI, and is tied for eighth with 107 career extra-base hits.

MERCADO COMES UP CLUTCH: Last night, usual starting centerfielder Oscar Mercado got a night off, but came off the bench late to provide heroics for Memphis. Patrick Wisdom led off the eighth inning with his second homer of the night to tie the game at six. With two outs and two runners on, Mercado was called upon to pinch-hit for pitcher Sean Gilmartin. Mercado wasted no time, singling on the second pitch of the at-bat to drive in both runners and put the 'Birds ahead for good.

KEEP IT GOING, ADOLIS: In last night's win over El Paso, Adolis Garcia went 2-for-4 at the plate,, scoring two runs, and extending his season-long hitting streak to eight games. In Friday's win, 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 eight-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 12 of his 13 games. Garcia is posting a .292 average over the last 13 games, a great sign after he saw his average dip to a season-low .203 on May 31. Over his current seven-game hitting streak, Garcia is hitting .357 (10-for-28).

SOLID WEEKEND FOR RANDY: With last night's 1-for-5 performance at the plate, outfielder Randy Arozarena continued his dominance at the plate this weekend. After going just 1-for-18 (.056) in last week's homestand, Arozarena has been on fire. He has recorded hits in each of the last four games, including two multi-hit games, good for a .385 (6-for-18) average since Thursday. Last night, Arozarena went deep in the fifth inning for his first-career Triple-A home run. In Thursday's comeback win over Albuquerque, Arozarena drove in the tying two runs in the ninth inning to send the game to extras, where the Redbirds completed the comeback, winning 7-6. Arozarena now has two multi-hit games in his last four contests. He had just two multi-hit games over his previous 20 contests since returning from Springfield in May.

MEMPHIS MASHERS: In last night's 8-6 win over El Paso, the Redbirds smoked three home runs. Two of them came off the bat of Patrick Wisdom, while the other came off the bat of Randy Arozarena. It was the first multi-homer game of the year for Wisdom, and the fifth overall for Memphis. Tyler O'Neill has the other four such games. Arozarena's home run was his first with Memphis, and the first of his Triple-A career. After going a season-long five games without a longball from June 3 to June 8, Memphis has hit 15 homers in the last eight games. Since May 9, the 'Birds have played eight games and have gone deep in six games, and have hit multiple home runs in four of those games. In 15 games since the start of June, Memphis has hit 17 home runs. They hit just 23 in 25 games in April, and hit just 24 in 30 games in May. With its recent power surge, Memphis has now hit 64 homers, one more than its pitchers have allowed.

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 eight appearances since that time, Mujica is 1-0 with four saves. The righty has tossed 9.1 innings, allowing just four hits, one run, earned, and one walk, while striking out six batters. In that stretch, opponents are hitting just .138 (4-for-29) off him, and he is posting a 0.96 ERA.

KELLY PLAYING WELL: Catcher and Cardinals No. 2 prospect, Carson Kelly has been on fire at the plate since being optioned to Memphis from St. Louis a few weeks ago. In last night's win over El Paso, Kelly was 0-for-2 at the plate, but notched two walks. Since being optioned, Kelly has started eight games and has recorded at least one hit in all but the first and last ones, but has reached base safely in seven of eight. Since being optioned, Kelly is hitting .379 (11-for-29) with three doubles, a triple, a home run, six RBI, and four walks, while striking out just twice. With his recent hot streak, Kelly is now hitting .288 (32-for-111) in 31 games with the Redbirds this season.

CHASING HISTORY: With last night's win over El Paso, the Redbirds continued their winning ways, putting them at 42-28 this season, tying them with the 2000 team for the second-best 70-game start in franchise history, just one game behind the pace of the 2017 team that was 43-27 through 70 games. The Redbirds also won their 1,400th game in franchise history last season on July 14 last season. Since that time, they have won 75 games, putting them just 25 wins from the 1,500th in franchise history. With 91 wins last season, and 42 so far this season, Memphis manager Stubby Clapp now has 133 wins in his career as Redbirds' manager, putting him five 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 .630 (133-78).

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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