PCL1 Memphis Redbirds

Game Notes: Memphis Redbirds (43-28) at El Paso Chihuahuas (34-37)

Published on June 19, 2018 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Memphis Redbirds News Release


Memphis Redbirds (43-28) At El Paso Chihuahuas (34-37)

Tuesday, June 19 - 8:05 p.m. (CT) - Southwest University Park (9,000) - El Paso, Texas

Game #72 - Road Game #36 (22-13)

RHP Kevin Herget (3-5, 3.86 ERA) vs. RHP Brett Kennedy (3-0, 3.00 ERA)

THE GAME

TODAY'S GAME: The Memphis Redbirds and El Paso Chihuahuas will play the finale 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 Sunday night, and 5-2 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 Kevin Herget will get the ball for the Redbirds tonight. Coming into tonight's contest, Herget has appeared in 15 games for the 'Birds, making nine starts. He has an overall record of 3-5 with a 3.86 ERA, and as a starter, has a record of 2-4 with a 4.11 ERA. In his last start against Albuquerque, Herget allowed five earned runs on nine hits and one walk in six innings, while striking out three batters. In his last appearance against El Paso in the PCL Championship Series last fall, Herget struck out a career-high 15 batters. In that ballgame, he pitched eight shutout innings, allowing just one walk and four hits, and the 'Birds won 2-0 in 11 innings.

The Chihuahuas will send right-hander Brett Kennedy to the mound to battle Herget. Kennedy has made eight starts for El Paso this season, his first at the Triple-A level. Kennedy is 3-0 with a 3.00 ERA in those starts, spanning 42.0 innings. He has allowed just 14 earned runs and 13 walks, while striking out 45 batters. He is also holding opponents to a .239 batting average.

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: Sunday 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 a nine-game hitting streak for the first time this season; leads PCL with 10 outfield assists

KELLY: Hitting .324 (11-for-34) in six games since being optioned from St. Louis; five extra-base hits and seven RBI

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

MERCADO: Sun. 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: Hitting just .243 (35-for-144) in 38 games since May 1 after hitting .323 (30-for-93) in April

TOVAR: Hitting just .224 (11-for-49) in 15 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

VOIT: Recently appeared in eight games with St. Louis, hitting .183 with a home run and three RBI in 11 at-bats

WISDOM: Sunday night, had first multi-home run game this season; is hitting .331 (53-for-160) since May 1

BY THE NUMBERS

16 home runs in nine 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 2017, Memphis scored three runs in the eighth inning to top the Round Rock Express 5-4. Jack Flaherty allowed three runs on five hits in 5.2 innings in his fourth Triple-A start

THE SEASON

ABOUT THE LAST ONE: The Memphis Redbirds posted a five-run first inning en route to a 5-2 win over El Paso last night.

Memphis starter Dakota Hudson continued his dominance on the mound last night. The righty tossed six innings, allowing just one run on eight hits, while striking out four for his league-leading ninth win.

In the first, the 'Birds capitalized on an error, scoring five unearned runs to garner the only offense they needed. In the inning, Patrick Wisdom hit an RBI double, Alex Mejia hit an RBI single, Carson Kelly hit a sacrifice fly, and Adolis Garcia topped of the scoring with a two-run bomb.

Andrew Morales and Edward Mujica combined to throw the final two innings, allowing one run on two hits and five walks, while striking out three batters. Mujica threw the final 1.1 innings, earning his sixth save of the season.

Memphis had just five hits on the night, while El Paso had 10, stranded 15 runners, and went just 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position.

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 has won games two and three, 8-6 and 5-2, respectively.

DOMINANT DAKOTA: Last night's starter Dakota Hudson was dominant once again, earning his ninth win of the season. After Hudson allowed a season-high four earned runs on May 31, taking his second loss of the season, he has been lights-out. Last night, the righty twirled 6.0 one-run innings, allowing eight hits and two walks, while striking out four batters. Hudson has now pitched at least 6.0 innings in seven of his 13 starts this season. He also has thrown three games where he has allowed no earned runs over 8.0 innings. Hudson now leads all PCL pitchers with nine wins on the season, and also owns the most wins in all of Triple-A baseball. Hudson now owns a 2.13 ERA, the best in the PCL. Hudson is also second in the league in innings pitched at 80.1, which also puts him third in all of Triple-A baseball. Since May 1, Hudson has been particularly dominant. Among qualified pitchers, Hudson's 1.20 ERA in eight starts since the beginning of May is the best mark in the PCL. In that time frame, he is 6-2 in 52.2 innings pitched, having allowed just seven earned runs, while striking out 42 batters. He is also holding opponents to a .214 batting average in that span. His 1.20 ERA since May 1 is also the best mark in all of Triple-A baseball.

KEEP IT GOING, ADOLIS: In last night's win over El Paso, Adolis Garcia went 1-for-4 at the plate, launching a two-run homer in the first inning, his eighth of the year, extending his season-long hitting streak to nine games. Garcia has now recorded a hit in nine-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 13 of his 14 games. Garcia is posting a .288 average over the last 14 games, a great sign after he saw his average dip to a season-low .203 on May 31. Over his current nine-game hitting streak, Garcia is hitting .344 (11-for-32) with seven runs scored, two doubles, three home runs, nine RBI, and just four strikeouts.

WIZ STILL ON FIRE: In last night's 5-2 win over El Paso, slugging infielder Patrick Wisdom continued crushing the ball, notching an RBI double in the first inning. On Sunday's win, 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 six games after going 15-straight games without a homer. Since May 1, Wisdom has been on fire at the plate. He is hitting .331 (53-for-160) in 44 games since the start of May. In that span, he has recorded a career-long 16-game hitting streak, has hit 11 doubles, one triple, and seven home runs, while scoring 32 runs, recording 26 RBI, and walking 18 times. With his two home runs Sunday 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 162 RBI, and is eighth with 108 career extra-base hits.

MEMPHIS MASHERS: In last night's 5-2 win over El Paso, Adolis Garcia hit his eighth bomb of the year in the first inning. The Redbirds smoked three home runs in Sunday's win, with two of them coming 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. In the first six games of its current seven-game road trip, Memphis has hit 10 home runs. After going a season-long five games without a longball from June 3 to June 8, Memphis has hit 16 homers in the last nine games. Since May 9, the 'Birds have played nine games and have gone deep in seven of those games, and have hit multiple home runs in four of those games. In 16 games since the start of June, Memphis has hit 18 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 65 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 nine appearances since that time, Mujica is 1-0 with five saves. The righty has tossed 10.2 innings, allowing just four hits, one run, earned, and two walks, while striking out seven batters. In that stretch, opponents are hitting just .121 (4-for-33) off him, and he is posting a 0.84 ERA.

FIRST INNING FUN: After scoring five runs in the first inning last night, Memphis has now scored 56 runs in the first inning this season, compared to just 20 runs scored by opponents. In the record-setting 2017 season, Memphis also dominated opponents in the first inning. In 2017, they outscored opponents 118-to-51 in the first inning. After winning five of the last six games, Memphis is now outscoring opponents in the first, second, third, fourth, and sixth innings, while being narrowly outscored in the other innings and extra innings.

QUALITY STARTS GALORE: After Dakota Hudson's performance last night, 'Birds starters have thrown 36 quality starts in 71 games this season. They threw 55 total in 2017. Earlier this season, the Redbirds staff had a streak of 11-straight quality starts. Of the 11 pitchers that have made a start for Memphis this season, eight of them have thrown at least one quality start. Sam Tuivailala, Sean Gilmartin, and Chris Ellis have combined for nine starts, and have not thrown a quality start. Dakota Hudson has eight, John Gant has seven, Austin Gomber has five, Jack Flaherty, Kevin Herget, and Daniel Poncedeleon have four, Ryan Helsley has three, and Alex Reyes had one. The 36 quality starts are the most in the PCL this season.

CHASING HISTORY: With last night's win over El Paso, the Redbirds continued their winning ways, putting them at 43-28 this season, tying them with the 2000 team for the second-best 71-game start in franchise history, just one game behind the pace of the 2017 team that was 44-27 through 71 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 76 games, putting them just 24 wins from the 1,500th in franchise history. With 91 wins last season, and 43 so far this season, Memphis manager Stubby Clapp now has 134 wins in his career as Redbirds' manager, putting him four 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 (134-78).

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)

Check out the Memphis Redbirds Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Pacific Coast League Stories from June 19, 2018


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