PCL1 Memphis Redbirds

Game Notes: Memphis Redbirds (5-7) vs. San Antonio Missions (7-5)

Published on April 16, 2019 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Memphis Redbirds News Release


Memphis Redbirds (5-7) vs San Antonio Missions (7-5)

Tuesday, April 16 - 6:35 p.m. (CT) - AutoZone Park (10,000) - Memphis, Tennessee

Game #13 - Home Game #6 (2-3)

LHP Genesis Cabrera (0-0, 13.50 ERA) vs RHP Zack Brown (0-0, 3.00 ERA)

BY THE NUMBERS

8 Number of extra-base hits the Redbirds recorded in yesterday's game, collecting five doubles and launching three home runs

THE GAME

TONIGHT'S GAME: The Memphis Redbirds return home to AutoZone Park to begin a seven-game homestand, starting with a three-game series against the San Antonio Missions. The two clubs met last week for the first time ever in the River City with the Missions taking two of three from the Redbirds, with both victories coming in walk-off fashion. Tonight's game will be broadcast live on www.memphisredbirds.com with Steve Selby on the call.

ON THE HILL: Left-hander Genesis Cabrera is scheduled to take the mound in todays's game and make his third appearance and first start of the season. He will be making his first start as a Rebdbird and his first Triple-A start. Cabrera's last outing was on Wednesday against the Missions, tossing 2.1 innings, giving up four runs on three hits, while striking out three and issuing two walks. In two relief outings this season, the 22-year-old has allowed seven runs on seven hits, yielding a .318 opponent batting average. The Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, native is in his sixth professional season and second with the St. Louis organization. Cabrera entered this season ranked as the No. 6 prospect in the Cardinals system by Baseball America. He spent the bulk of last season at Double-A Montgomery, going 7-6, 4.12 (52 ER/113.2 IP). He was named a Souther League All-Star and ranked 3rd in the league with a .218 batting average.

The Missions are scheduled to start right-hander Zack Brown tonight. The 24-year-old is slated to make his third start of the season, second agains the Redbirds, and his second road start. In his first outing against the Redbirds Brown allowed three runs in 6.0 innings of work, giving up seven hits while striking out five in his quality start. Brown has started his Triple-A career with back-to-back quality starts. He is in his fourth professional season, all with the Milwaukee Brewers organization and is ranked as the No. 5 prospect in the system by Baseball America. The Seymour, Ind., native went 9-1, 2.44 (34 ER/125.2 IP) with Double-A Biloxi in 2018.

HISTORY WITH SAN ANTONIO: April 9 marked the first time that the Redbirds played a game in the Alamo City in their young history. It was also the first meeting between the two cities since 1973 when the Memphis Blues were members of the Texas League. The last time these two teams met prior to last week was in 1973 TL Championship Series, where the Blues won the series 3-2, with all games played in San Antonio, to capture their second TL title before moving to the International League the next year.

This is fifth-straight year that the Redbirds have faced off against Milwaukee's Triple-A affiliate, with the previous four being played against the Colorado Springs Sky Sox. Memphis went 38-26 against the Sky Sox from 2015-18, including an 11-5 record last season. The 'Birds played the Sox for 21-straight seasons prior to this season's realignment, going 104-87 overall, 60-35 at home and 44-52 on the road.

THE SEASON

ABOUT THE LAST ONE: The Memphis Redbirds (5-7) scored in five runs in the second inning and four in the eighth, backing a quality start from Jake Woodford, to cap off their seven-game road trip with a 10-2 win over the Round Rock Express (Astros).

Memphis had four hits and two walks in a five-run second chasing Round Rock starter Forrest Whitley, the No. 7 prospect in all of baseball, after just 1.1 innings pitched. John Nogowski started the inning with a double, Max Schrock walked, and Andrew Knizner drove them both in with a double. Following a walk from Ramon Urias, Edmundo Sosa and Tommy Edman hit back-to-back doubles to cap off the scoring in the frame.

Nogowski reached safely in all five of his plate appearances, going 3-for-3 with two walks and Edman drove in a season-high four runs, extending his hitting streak to a team-high seven games, and collected his sixth multi-hit performance in 10 starts.

Round Rock (7-5) struck first in the contest with a two-out solo home run from Jack Mayfield in the opening inning, but Woodford battled back, retiring seven of the next eight batters faced and picking off the lone baserunner that reached during that stretch. The 22-year-old delivered his first quality start of the season, pitching 6.1 innings and allowing two runs on five hits.

Following Woodford's departure, the trio of Jesus Cruz, Hunter Cervenka and Chasen Shreve combined to not allow a hit in 2.2 innings of bullpen work, while striking out five and issuing two walks.

Redbird bats came alive again in the eighth, with Urias and Rangel Ravelo launching solo shots and Edman slugging a two-run homer for his first of the year as the Redbirds reached double-digit runs for the first time this season.

Seven Redbirds collected hits and reached safely in the contest, with four batters getting at least two hits.

TWO-HIT TOMMY: Through his first 10 starts of the season, INF Tommy Edman has six-multi hit games, including back-to-back three-hit performances, Thursday at San Antonio and Saturday at Round Rock. He is also currently riding a team-high six-game hitting streak and has reached safely in nine of 10 contests. His 16 hits are most among the current Redbirds roster, while he ranks 2nd with a .356 batting average. He also ranks 3rd with a .388 OBP.

EXTRA! EXTRA!: Following yesterday's season-hgih eight extra-base hit performance against Round Rock, the Redbirds have recorded at least one extra-base hit in every game this season, collecting 24 doubles, three triples and 11 home runs. Tommy Edman and Ramon Urias share the team lead with six extra-base hits individually.

WALK IT OFF: The Redbirds walk-off defeat to the Missions on April 9 was the first time since Aug. 5, 2017 that the Redbirds had lost in such fashion. The following night, it marked the first time since June 23-24, 2014 that the Redbirds had lost consecutive games in the last at-bat of the game. The two walk-off defeats this season have already matched last year's total.

CAUGHT IN A STORM: The Redbirds' 11-run defeat on April 8 marked the first time that Redbirds lost by 11 runs or more since June 16, 2018, when the Redbirds fell 13-1 at El Paso. Additionally, Omaha's 12-run second was the first time since May 12, 2016 against the Storm Chasers, that the Redbirds had given up more than 10 runs in an inning.

Elier Hernandez and Nick Dini became the first two opponents to hit back-to-back home runs against the Redbirds since May 8, 2017 and Hernandez became the first player to post a 6 RBI against Memphis since June 9, 2018.

FIRST NO MORE: Following Memphis' defeat on April 6, the Redbirds fell out of first place for the first time since April 28, 2017. It also marked the first time since April 27, 2017 that their record fell below the .500 mark. The Redbirds played the final 120 games of the 2017 season in first place, and played all 140 games of 2018 in first place. They had been in first place for the 708 calendar days, playing 262 regular-season games and 20 playoff games in that span. The Redbirds entered April 7 in T-3rd place in the division, which marked the first time since April 12, 2016, that they had fallen out of the top two spots in the standings.

KINGS OF THE HILL: After setting the franchise record for best ERA in a season at 3.77 in 2017, last year's staff shattered that record, posting a 3.54 mark. It was the second-consecutive season they owned the best ERA in the league. Additionally, they set the franchise record for most strikeouts in a season (1,160), fewest runs allowed (564), fewest hits allowed (1,152), and lowest opponent batting average (.248). Memphis' entire 2018 Opening Night, five-man starting rotation was promoted to St. Louis last season. John Gant, Dakota Hudson, Austin Gomber, Jack Flaherty, and Daniel Ponce de Leon all played large roles in St. Louis' second-half turnaround.

WELCOME HOME BEN: Hailing from nearby Germantown, Tenn., new Redbirds manager Ben Johnson earned the first win of his managerial career on April 4 with the 'Birds 9-2 victory over the Storm Chasers. Johnson spent last season at Triple-A Durham (Tampa Bay), as part of a staff that captured the International League title before falling to the Redbirds in the 2018 Triple-A National Championship. The 37-year-old is also the youngest manager in team history, a mark that was previously held by Danny Sheaffer, who was 41 years old when he was named manager on June 10, 2003.

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK: The Opening Night roster featured 20 players that were not on the roster for Opening Night last season. Of the five returning players (Adolis Garcia, Austin Gomber, Daniel Ponce de Leon, Rangel Ravelo, Max Schrock) only three (Garcia, Ravelo, Schrock) were starters in the 2018 opener against Round Rock at Dell Diamond. Garcia, Gomber and Ponce de Leon all went on to make their big-leauge debuts last season with St. Louis.

FARM RAISED: Memphis' Opening Night roster featured 11 of St. Louis' top-30 prospects (Baseball America), including three of the top-10. Current prospects on the roster are: Genesis Cabrera (No. 6), Lane Thomas (No. 7), Andrew Knizner (No. 8), Ryan Helsley (No. 11), Tommy Edman (No. 12), Daniel Ponce de Leon (No. 13), Adolis Garcia (No. 15), Jake Woodford (No. 16), Edmundo Sosa (No. 22), Max Schrock (No. 25) and Giovanny Gallegos (No. 29).

BEAK-TO-BEAK-TO-BEAK?: Professional baseball has been played in the city of Memphis since 1877. In that span, only three teams have won back-to-back league championships in that time. The Memphis Egyptians won back-to-back titles in 1903-04, the Memphis Chickasaws won consecutive titles in 1952-53, and now the Redbirds have accomplished the feat with their successive PCL titles in 2017-18. No team in Memphis, however, has been able to capture a third successive title.

WINNING WAYS: After the Redbirds went 91-50 in 2017 and 83-57 last season, they have won 174 games in the last two years. That is the most wins in a two-year span in Memphis history since 1933-34 when the Chickasaws also won 174 games. The 1921-22 Chickasaws set the record for most wins in a two-year span by a Memphis professional team with 198.

THE 2018 SEASON

THE BEST ONCE AGAIN: After a 5-0 victory on Sept. 15, 2018, the Memphis Redbirds were crowned champions of the Pacific Coast League, defeating the Fresno Grizzlies three games to one. It was Memphis' fourth PCL title in franchise history, and their second-straight. Memphis also won titles in 2000 and 2009. In 120 seasons of professional baseball in Memphis, it is the 16th championship all-time. Infielder Tommy Edman and outfielder Randy Arozarena were named co-MVPs of the PCL Playoffs. Arozarena hit two home runs in Game 4, giving Memphis all the offense they needed. Edman hit .469 in eight playoff games, notching a hit in all but the final game of the series. Manager Stubby Clapp has now been part of three of Memphis' four titles since they joined the PCL. He played a crucial role on the 2000 team as a middle infielder, and has now guided the Redbirds to consecutive championships as manager.

NEW FACES, NO PROBLEM: The Redbirds won the PCL Championship for the second-straight season, and advanced to the Triple-A National Championship, despite the fact that the Memphis roster was almost completely different from the playoff roster during the 2017 season. It was also almost completely different from the 2018 Opening Day roster. Of the 13 position players who made an appearance in the 2017 playoffs, only two were still on Memphis' active roster. Wilfredo Tovar and Tommy Edman are those two players. Every other player has either been traded, released, or is at a different level of the organization.

Memphis had a franchise-record 66 players on the roster last season, though two never appeared in a game before being taken off the roster (Jesse Jenner and Michael Wacha). It is the third-consecutive season in which Memphis has used a record number of players. Of the 66 players to be listed on Memphis' roster last year, 22 of them made their Triple-A debuts with the 'Birds, and six others were promoted for their Major League debuts.

Check out the Memphis Redbirds Statistics

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Pacific Coast League Stories from April 16, 2019


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