PCL1 Memphis Redbirds

Game Notes: Memphis Redbirds (43-29) vs New Orleans Baby Cakes (35-36)

Published on June 21, 2018 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Memphis Redbirds News Release


Memphis Redbirds (43-29) vs New Orleans Baby Cakes (35-36)

Thursday, June 21 - 7:05 p.m. (CT) - AutoZone Park (10,000) - Memphis, Tennessee

Game #73 - Home Game #37 (21-15)

RHP Daniel Poncedeleon (5-3, 2.57 ERA) vs. LHP Jarlin Garcia (0-0, 3.68 ERA)

THE GAME

TODAY'S GAME: The Memphis Redbirds and New Orleans Baby Cakes will kick off a four-game set tonight at 7:05 p.m. This is the second of four series the two teams will play against each other this season. New Orleans won the first series 3-2. The 'Birds are coming off a 2-2 series split with El Paso, while New Orleans is coming off a four-game sweep of Sacramento. Today's game will be broadcast on memphisredbirds.com and on WMC-TV's Bounce Channel with Steve Selby on the call.

ON THE HILL: Right-hander Daniel Poncedeleon will get the ball for the Redbirds tonight. Poncedeleon is coming off his shortest start of the year in his last outing against El Paso. In that game, Poncedeleon lasted just 3.1 innings, allowing eight runs, only two of which were earned. He struck out six and allowed seven hits in the outing. Despite his last game, Poncedeleon has been one of the best starters in the PCL this season. His 2.57 ERA is third in the league, narrowly behind teammate Dakota Hudson, who sits in first with a 2.13 mark. He is also tied for the third-most strikeouts in the league, with 77, owns the fifth-best batting average against at .233, and has the second-best strikeouts per nine innings pitched ratio at 11.18. Poncedeleon has pitched at least 5.0 innings in all but two of his 12 starts, and has yet to allow more than three earned runs this season.

The Baby Cakes will send left-hander Jarlin Garcia to the mound to battle Poncedeleon. Garcia has made two starts for New Orleans this season, posting a 0-0 record, with a 3.68 ERA. So far, he has pitched a total of 7.1 innings, allowing seven hits and three earned runs, while walking three and striking out six batters. This is Garcia's first career stint at the Triple-A level after jumping from Double-A to Miami last year.

HISTORY WITH NEW ORLEANS: Memphis and New Orleans have played every year dating back to 1998 when the 'Birds joined the PCL. New Orleans narrowly owns the all-time series record with a 165-160 record. New Orleans took the first series this season 3-2. The 'Birds have dominated the series at AutoZone Park with an all-time record of 91-69. In five games this season, Memphis is out-hitting New Orleans .246 to .242, but New Orleans has dominated on the mound, posting a 2.74 ERA, compared to a 5.23 mark for Memphis.

BIRD BITES

AROZARENA: Sunday night, hit first home run of the season with Memphis, and first career-Triple-A home run

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

GARCIA: Recently snapped a nine-game hitting streak, his longest of the 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: In Tuesday night's 7-4 loss to El Paso, came off the bench and drove in a run with a pinch-hit single

TOVAR: Hitting just .245 (13-for-53) in 16 games this month; is hitting just .232 (29-for-125) 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 .323 (53-for-164) since May 1

BY THE NUMBERS

99 transactions through the first 72 games for Memphis this season, 1.4 per game. They did not have their 99th transaction until July 22 last season

THE SEASON

ABOUT THE LAST ONE: The Memphis Redbirds dropped the series finale to El Paso 7-4, Tuesday night in El Paso, giving them a 2-2 series tie.

Starter Kevin Herget struggled in the ballgame. He pitched 5.1 innings, allowing seven runs on seven hits and two walks, while also serving up two home runs. It was the second-straight game he had allowed at least five earned runs and two home runs.

The 'Birds scored two runs early, but did not score again to the eighth. Luke Voit and Wilfredo Tovar both went 2-for-4 at the plate, collecting four of the six Memphis hits.

Tyler O'Neill, Patrick Wisdom, and Voit all drove in a run for the 'Birds. Max Schrock came up with a clutch RBI single in the eighth, but Memphis could not complete the comeback.

Hector Mendoza and Conner Greene combined to pitch the final 2.1 innings. The two did not allow a hit, while walking two, and striking out four total batters.

STRUGGLES WITH THE DIVISION: Despite the strong overall record of 43-29, second-best in the PCL, Memphis has struggled significantly against its own division. The Redbirds are just 10-13 against the American Southern Division, while they are 25-10 against the American Northern Division, 3-4 against the Pacific Northern Division, and 5-2 against the Pacific Southern Division. Memphis is 2-6 against Nashville, 2-3 against New Orleans, and 6-4 against Round Rock. While the 'Birds batters hold similar lines against divisional and non-divisional opponents, the biggest difference is pitching. Memphis is hitting .264 (432-for-1636) against opponents in other divisions, and are hitting a slightly lower .262 (201-767) against the division. However, Memphis pitchers are posting a 4.20 ERA (92ER, 197.0IP) against the division, while posting a dazzling 3.24 ERA (156ER, 433.2IP) against everyone else.

ALL GOOD THINGS MUST END: In Tuesday's loss, Adolis Garcia went 0-for-4 at the plate, snapping his season-long nine-game hitting streak. He was the fourth Redbirds hitter to hit in at least nine-straight contests this season. The strong-fielding outfielder leads the PCL with 10 outfield assists, but had struggled at the plate in the last six weeks. However, since the calendar flipped to June, Garcia has recorded hits in 13 of his 15 games. Garcia is posting a .268 average over the last 15 games, a great sign after he saw his average dip to a season-low .203 on May 31. Over his season-best nine-game hitting streak, Garcia was hitting .344 (11-for-32) with seven runs scored, two doubles, three home runs, nine RBI, and just four strikeouts.

WELCOME BACK, LUKE: In Tuesday night's 7-4 loss to El Paso, Luke Voit had a solid performance at the plate. In his first appearance with Memphis since spending time with St. Louis over the last three weeks, Voit went 2-for-4 at the dish, driving in a run. Voit played 10 games between Springfield and St. Louis over the last three weeks, hitting .235 (4-for-17) with two home runs, four RBI, and three walks.

HERGET'S RECENT STRUGGLES: In Tuesday night's loss to El Paso, starter Kevin Herget struggled for his second-consecutive start. Herget tossed three shutout innings before allowing a run in the fourth, two runs in the fifth, and four runs in the sixth inning to take the loss. Herget allowed seven runs, all earned, on seven hits and two walks. He also allowed two home runs for the second-straight start. After starting the season in the bullpen, Herget has now made 10-straight starts, going 2-5 with a 4.82 ERA as a starter. As a starter, he has allowed 30 earned runs in 56.0 innings, while surrendering 11 home runs, and striking out 49 batters. After tossing three quality starts in four tries from May 11-29, Herget has struggled in three of four starts. Across those four starts in May, the righty was 2-1 with a 2.63 ERA in 24.0 innings, allowing just two home runs, and striking out 20. In his last four starts, he is has one quality start, an 0-2 record, and a 6.00 ERA. He has thrown 24.0 innings, allowing 16 earned runs, and seven home runs. He has now allowed 12 home runs this season, tied for third-most in the PCL.

MEMPHIS MASHERS: In Monday 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 its recent seven-game road trip, Memphis 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 10 games. Since May 9, the 'Birds have played 10 games and have gone deep in seven of those games, and have hit multiple home runs in four of those games. In 17 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, the same number the pitching staff has 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 Monday 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 seven 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 Monday night, 'Birds starters have thrown 36 quality starts in 72 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.

BETTER SIDE OF THE STRIKEOUTS: Memphis is among the PCL leaders for strikeouts by the pitching staff, and is towards the bottom of the league in strikeouts by batters. The pitching staff has struck out 635 batters through the first 72 games (8.8/game), which is only behind Fresno (666) for the best mark in the PCL this season. Memphis and Fresno are two of just five PCL teams that have struck out over 600 batters this season. 'Birds batters are also towards the bottom of the league in total strikeouts by hitters. Memphis batters have struck out just 471 times through the first 72 games (6.5/game), not only the lowest mark in the PCL, but also all of Triple-A. Memphis and Omaha are the only two teams in the PCL that have struck out under 500 times this season, and two of just three teams in all of Triple-A that have struck out under 500 times. Memphis is the only team in Triple-A baseball that has struck out under 480 times this season. Memphis also owns the second-best ERA in the PCL at 3.54, behind only Oklahoma City (3.42). They are two of three teams in the PCL with ERAs under 4.00.

CHASING HISTORY: Despite Tuesday night's loss to El Paso, the Redbirds the Redbirds own the second-best record in the PCL this season at 43-29, the second-best start in franchise history, behind the 2000 and 2017 teams, that both were 44-28 through the first 72 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 .629 (134-79).

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

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Pacific Coast League Stories from June 21, 2018


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