PCL1 Memphis Redbirds

Game Notes: Memphis Redbirds (43-61) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (48-55)

Published on July 26, 2019 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Memphis Redbirds News Release


Memphis Redbirds (43-61) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (48-55)

Friday, July 26 - 7:05 p.m. (CT) - Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark (13,066) - Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Game #105 - Road Game #53 (26-26)

RHP Jake Woodford (6-6, 3.47) vs RHP Mitchell White (3-4, 5.92)

BY THE NUMBERS

12 Number of home runs hit by Adolis Garcia with two outs this season. That figure ranks T-1st in the Pacific Coast League. His 29 RBI in similar situations also ranks 8th in the PCL.

0.68 ERA for Redbirds relievers during the three-game series with New Orleans. The bullpen allowed just one earned run in 13.2 innings of work. The relief staff has posted a 2.63 ERA through 21 games in July.

THE GAME

TONIGHT'S GAME: The Memphis Redbirds hit the road for three games against the Oklahoma City Dodgers at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. This is the final series between the two teams this season. The Redbirds earned a win in night's contest by a score of 3-1, backed by a two-out, three-run homer by Adolis Garcia in the eighth. The win gave the Redbirds back-to-back series wins for the first time since April in the final meeting between the two teams at AutoZone Park this season. Garcia's home run was his 23rd of the season, setting a career high. Max Schrock went 1-for-3 with a walk and has hit safely in each game since returning from the injured list on Tuesday. Tonight'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 tonight's game and make his 20th start of the season. He has now made at least 20 starts in each of his four full seasons as a professional. In his last time out on Sunday at Omaha, he twirled a gem (7.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R/ER, 3 BB, 7 SO) in the Redbirds' 13-2 victory over the Storm Chasers. It was his third quality start in his last five and his second start in his last six that he has worked at least 7.0 innings and allowed no earned runs. He matched a season-high with seven strikeouts (4 times) and his seven innings of work also matched a season high (6 times). Overall he has allowed two earned runs or fewer in five of his last eight. He is still holding opponents to a .219 (87x398) average, which ranks 2nd in the Pacific Coast League. Woodford continues to be even stingier against right-handed batters, holding them to just a .189 (46x243) average. That figure is the lowest among Redbirds starters. With the win, he has still won 16 of his last 27 decisions overall at the Triple-A level. Woodford has made one start against Oklahoma City this season on June 22 at this facility. He earned the win (7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R/ER, 3 BB, 4 SO) in the Redbirds' 5-0 shutout victory over the Dodgers. That start helped propel Woodford to earning PCL Pitcher of the Week honors for the week of June 17-23. He held the Dodgers to just two at-bats with runners in scoring position and he faced the minimum in four of his seven frames. He also ranks 3rd in the PCL with a 3.47 ERA and has allowed one earned run or fewer in eight of his 19 outings. The St. Petersburg, Fla., was named to the 2019 Pacific Coast League All-Star Team, and was named starter after receiving the most votes among pitchers. He tossed 2.0 scoreless frames in the game on July 10 and fanned two to earn the win. He entered 2019 ranked as the No. 16 prospect in the Cardinals organization by Baseball America and he is currently ranked as the No. 24 prospect in the organization by MLB.com.

The Dodgers are slated to start right-hander Mitchell White in tonight's contest. The 24-year-old is scheduled to make his tenth start with Oklahoma City and his 19th appearance overall across all levels this season. White has gone 3-4, 5.92 (32 ER/48.2 IP) in 11 games, nine starts at the Triple-A level and is allowing a .289 opponent's average (55x190). In his last time out on Saturday vs. San Antonio, White took no-decision in relief (4.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R/ER, 3 BB, 4 SO, 1 HR) in the Dodgers' 9-8 victory over the Missions. His last two appearances with the Dodgers have both come in relief, where he has gone a combined 0-0, 5.63 (5 ER/8.0 IP), tossing 4.0 innings in each outing. Tonight will be his first start since July 5. As a starter, Mitchell has gone 3-4, 5.98 (27 ER/40.2 IP) and has 41 strikeouts compared to 17 walks. He has made one start against Memphis this season on June 1 at AutoZone Park, where he earned his first-career Triple-A win (5.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R/ER, 1 BB, 3 SO) in the Dodgers' 8-1 victory over the Redbirds. He made his Oklahoma City debut on May 17 vs. Omaha, suffering the loss (4.2 IP, 8 H, 7 R/ER, 1 BB, 1 SO, 1 HR) in the Dodgers' 11-9 defeat to the Storm Chasers. White began the season at Double-A Tulsa, going 1-0, 2.10 (7 ER/30.0 IP) in seven starts for the Drillers. He allowed no runs in four of those starts and allowed no more than three in all seven of those outings. The San Jose, Calif., native is in his fourth professional season and has spent them all with the Los Angeles-NL organization. He entered the season ranked as the No. 9 prospect in the Dodgers system by Baseball America.

HISTORY WITH OKLAHOMA CITY: The Redbirds have faced off against the Oklahoma City Triple-A franchise every year since 1998. The Redbirds trail in the all-time series 166-181 and trail 72-100 on the road. The 'Birds have just winning records at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in just three seasons (2018, 2013, 2000). The Redbirds have winning records against Oklahoma City in just six of 21 seasons, but only have losing records in 10 seasons. Last year, the teams faced off in the American Conference Finals of the Pacific Coast League playoffs, with the Redbirds winning the series 3-1.

This is 22nd-straight year that the Redbirds have faced off against the Los Angeles Dodgers' Triple-A affiliate. Oklahoma City has been the Dodgers' top affiliate since 2015 and Memphis has a 34-34 record during that span. From 2009-14, the Albuquerque Isotopes was the organization's top affiliate and the Redbirds went 37-49. The Redbirds were also 12-20 against the Albuquerque Dukes from 1998-2000. From 2001-08, the Redbirds went 19-21 against the Las Vegas 51's. Overall, Memphis is 103-130 against the Dodgers' Triple-A club.

THE SEASON

ABOUT THE LAST ONE: Trailing 1-0 with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning, Adolis Garcia stepped to the dish and ripped a three-run home run to the give the Memphis Redbirds a 3-1 lead, and Chris Beck slammed the door in the top of the ninth to secure a series win over the New Orleans Baby Cakes (Marlins) Thursday night at AutoZone Park.

After New Orleans starting pitcher Cody Poteet stymied Memphis (43-61) for seven shutout innings, he got an out in the eighth and then allowed a single to Randy Arozarena and was lifted from the game. Max Schrock walked, and after a flyout Garcia launched a three-run shot to left-center field to bring the Redbirds in front at 3-1.

It was Garcia's 23rd home run of the season and seventh in his last eight games.

Beck then entered and surrendered a two-out single to the Baby Cakes (54-49), but he got a flyout to right field to wrap things up.

Arozarena went 3-for-4 in the game, and he now has reached base in 25-straight starts.

Garcia is currently on a six-game hitting streak with three multi-hit games.

Before Beck, Ryan Helsley started and gave up a run on three hits in 2.1 innings. Chris Ellis was stellar in 3.2 innings of shutout relief, striking out three, and Junior Fernandez then tossed 2.0 scoreless frames of his own, working around leadoff walks in both innings.

Memphis turned three double plays in the game.

ROSTER MOVES: The following roster move was made prior to tonight's game: Matt Carpenter's was transferred to Double-A Springfield as he continues his rehab assignment.

In two games with Redbirds to begin his rehab, Carpenter went 0-for-6 with a run scored, a walk and three strikeouts. It was the first time since 2012 that he had put on a Memphis uniform.

Carpenter continues his rehab assignment as he recovers from a right foot contusion that he suffered after fouling off a pitch on July 15. Carpenter has posted a .215/.321/.372/.693 slash-line in 81 games for the Cardinals this season.

NEW ORLEANS SERIES WRAP: The Memphis Redbirds took two of three games from the New Orleans Baby Cakes in the final meeting between the two teams at AutoZone Park this season. The Redbirds finish 2019 with a 4-4 record at home against the Baby Cakes, making it the seventh-straight season that Redbirds have not dropped the season series at home between the two clubs. The Redbirds have won back-to-back series for the first time since winning series against San Antonio and Round Rock from April 16-22.

Adolis Garcia continued his July power surge by homering last night and driving in four total runs during the series. His home run in last night's finale was his 23rd of the season, setting a career-high and it is also the 18th-highest season total in Redbirds franchise history. He leads the team with 23 long balls and 74 RBI this season. Randy Arozarena reached safely in all three games and has now reached safely in each of his last 25 starts. He posted multi-hit games in the final two games of the series and now has 17 such games this season in just 39 games with the Redbirds. Max Schrock returned to the lineup after missing 14 games while on the injured list and went 4-for-8 with two runs scored and two RBI, hitting safely in all three games. Four different players posted multi-hit performances and there were five total multi-hit games. Overall in the series, the Redbirds batted .255 (24x94) against Baby Cakes pitching and launched one home run.

The 'Birds starting staff went 1-1, 6.18 (9 ER/13.1 IP) fanning 15 batters while issuing seven walks. They allowed three home runs and just five total extra-base hits. Mike Hauschild earned his first win of the season and his first win as a starter since Aug. 14, 2018 while pitching at Triple-A Buffalo. He had the longest outing of any Redbird starter during the series (6.2 IP) and the most strikeouts (7). Redbird relievers went 1-0, 0.68 (1 ER/13.2 IP) in the series and whiffed 14 batters. They also converted both of their save opportunities. Kodi Whitley made his AutoZone Park debut on Wednesday, allowing three hits and one run in 1.2 innings of work to go along with three strikeouts. Junior Fernandez earned his first-career Triple-A victory last night by tossing 2.0 scoreless frames to bring his season-ERA to 0.59. The staff overall yielded an opponent's average of .248 (25x101).

ADOLIS' BIG DAY: On Sunday, Adolis Garcia put on an impressive display of power at Werner Park by homering twice and driving in eight runs. His eight RBI matched a franchise record that he also matched last season on July 26 at Salt Lake. In the third inning with two outs, he launched his second grand slam of the season. After homering again in the eighth inning, it was his third game in his last eight that he has homered twice. Garcia ranks T-1st in the Pacific Coast League with 12 dingers with two outs and 8th with 29 RBI in such situations.

CLIMBING THE LEADERBOARDS: In 19 games in July, Adolis Garcia has launched eight home runs and driven in 22 runs while posting a slash-line of .280/.333/.693/1.027. As result, he has entered and climbed into the Top-10 in several batting categories on the Redbirds all-time lists. His first home run on Friday moved him into 5th with 44 and his second blast that day moved him just six long balls away from matching Patrick Wisdom for 4th. His three RBI last night moved him to 10th place at 155. He also ranks T-5th in triples (11), 8th in strikeouts (259), 8th in hit by pitches (16) and 8th in extra-base hits (111).

DON'T MESS WITH THE JOHAN: After going 10-for-26 with six runs scored, three home runs and six RBI during the Redbirds' seven-game road trip from July 15-21. Johan Mieses had posted a .350/.426/.700/1.126 slash-line in his first 20 career Triple-A games.

He has collected 21 hits, six home runs and 17 RBI over three stints with the Redbirds this season. He had a season-high five game hitting streak snapped on Sunday and had three-hit performances in two of those games. He also became the first Redbird this season to homer in three-straight games after his home run in the eighth inning on July 19 at Omaha.

THE AMAZING RANDY: Reigning Cardinals Minor League Player of the Month Randy Arozarena has continued his form all throughout July and is slashing .342/.435/.506/.941 in 21 games. He has hit safely in 14 of those games and has also reached base safely in 25-straight starts. He has nine multi-hit games during that span as well.

LET'S GET IT STARTED: Redbirds players batting first in the order this season are hitting .312 overall, which ranks 2nd in the Pacific Coast League. They also rank 4th in hits (136), T-3rd in OBP (.377), 6th in OPS (.872) and 6th in SLG (.495).

WOODFORD SHINES IN EL PASO: Jake Woodford tossed 2.0 perfect innings to start the 2019 Triple-A All-Star Game and earned the win in the Pacific Coast League All-Stars' 9-3 win over the International League All-Stars on July 10. Woodford fanned two batters and three of the other four outs were recorded via ground-outs. He was the sixth Redbirds pitcher to start the All-Star Game and second-straight to earn the honor.

Check out the Memphis Redbirds Statistics

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Pacific Coast League Stories from July 26, 2019


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