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PCL1 Memphis Redbirds

Game Notes: Memphis Redbirds (53-65) at Fresno Grizzlies (54-64)

August 11, 2019 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Memphis Redbirds News Release


Memphis Redbirds (53-65) at Fresno Grizzlies (54-64)

Sunday, August 11 - 7:05 p.m. (CT) - Chukchansi Park (12,500) - Fresno, California

Game #119 - Road Game #60 (30-29)

RHP Chris Ellis (3-5, 7.49) vs RHP Will Crowe (0-1, 5.10)

BY THE NUMBERS

91 Number of home runs that the Redbirds have hit on the road this season, more than any other Redbird team in franchise history. Adolis Garcia's solo shot in the sixth broke the previous record of 90, set by the 2004 team.

13 Number of home runs hit by Adolis Garcia with two outs this season. That figure ranks T-2nd in the Pacific Coast League. He also ranks 11th in the PCL with 30 RBI in similar situations.

THE GAME

TONIGHT'S GAME: The Memphis Redbirds continue their seven-game west coast road trip in the second of four games against the Fresno Grizzlies. The two teams met for the first time last night since going head-to-head in the Pacific Coast League Championship last season. The Redbirds won the series opener last night with a 12-3 victory over the Grizzlies. The Redbirds matched a season-high by blasting five home runs in the game, with Harrison Bader going yard twice. Bader also reached base safely five time after drawing a walk and being hit by a pitch twice. Randy Arozarena has reached base safely in 36-straight starts after leading off the game with a home run. It was his third lead-off blast of the season. Jake Woodford also tossed his team-high tenth quality start of the season, allowing two runs over 6.0 innings of work. Tonight's game will be broadcast live on www.memphisredbirds.com with Steve Selby on the call.

ON THE HILL: Right-hander Chris Ellis is scheduled to take the mound in tonight's game and make his 36th appearance and third start for the Redbirds in tonight's game. In his last time out in on Monday at El Paso, Ellis took no-decision in the start (2.0 IP, 1 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 5 BB, 0 SO, 1 HBP) in the Redbirds' 10-4 victory over the Chihuahuas. It was his first start since July 13 vs. Oklahoma City in the second game of a doubleheader, where he suffered the loss (1.2 IP, 7 H, 6 R/ER, 1 BB, 1 SO) in the Redbirds' 8-5 defeat to the Dodgers. His five walks issued set a season high and it was his first outing without recording a strikeout since June 27 vs. Nashville. Ellis has allowed runs in three of his last four outings and has worked at least 2.0 innings in four-straight appearances. He made 14 starts for the 'Birds last season and went 4-4, 4.16 (33 ER/7.1 IP) in 14 starts. He made two starts against Fresno last season, most recently on September 14 at AutoZone Park in Game 3 of the 2018 Pacific Coast League Championship Series. Ellis took no-decision in the start (5.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R/ER, 3 BB, 5 SO, 1 HR, 1 HBP) in the Redbirds' 2-1 walk-off victory over the Grizzlies in 11 innings. During his lone start in the regular season last year on August 6, he suffered the loss (5.0 IP, 7 H, 8 R/ER, 1 BB, 7 SO, 3 HR, 2 HBP) in the Redbirds' 12-3 defeat to the Grizzlies. He made his Major League debut this season on March 31 with the Kansas City Royals vs. the Chicago White Sox at Kauffman Stadium, tossing a scoreless ninth inning. He was later returned to the Cardinals via the Rule 5 process on April 9 after being designated for assignment by the Royals on April 3. The Birmingham, Ala., native is in his sixth professional season and his third within the St. Louis organization. He has also spent time in the Los Angeles-AL, Atlanta and Kansas City organizations.

The Grizzlies are scheduled to start right-hander Will Crowe in tonight's contest. The 24-year-old has gone 0-1, 5.10 (17 ER/30.0 IP) in five starts for Fresno this season and has yielded an opponent's average of .281 (32x114) during that span. The Grizzlies have gone 3-2 in games that he has pitched. In his last time out on Monday at San Antonio, Crowe took no-decision (4.0 IP, 8 H, 7 R/ER, 4 BB, 3 SO, 3 HR) in the Grizzlies' 9-8 defeat to the Missions. It was his shortest start with the Grizzlies and the first time that he had failed to reach the 6.0 inning mark. The three home runs allowed were the first-three of his Triple-A career and his eight hits and seven earned runs allowed set season-highs with the Grizzlies. He is search of his first-career win at the Triple-A level and his first win since June 28 in his second to last start at Double-A Harrisburg. With Harrisburg to begin the season, Crowe went 7-6, 3.87 (41 ER/95.1 IP) in 16 starts for the Senators. He made his Triple-A debut on July 14 at Sacramento, where he took no-decision (6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R/ER, 5 BB, 6 SO) in the Grizzlies' 5-4 victory over the River Cats. He opened his Triple-A career with three-straight quality starts. Tonight will be his first start against Memphis in his career. His first start as a professional came against the GCL Cardinals on July 19, 2017, but he did not face any current Redbirds in that contest. The Sevierville, Tenn., native is in his third professional season and he has spent them all within various levels of the Washington organization. He entered the season ranked as the No. 5 prospect in the Nationals system by Baseball America and he is currently ranked as the No. 4 prospect in the system by MLB.com.

HISTORY WITH FRESNO: The Redbirds have faced off against the Fresno Grizzlies every year since 1998. Memphis leads in the overall series 50-47 and trails at this facility 19-22. Memphis last came to Fresno in 2017, where the two teams split a four-game set. The teams met last season at AutoZone Park, where the Redbirds dropped three-of-four games, suffering the series loss.

The two teams have squared off in the postseason once, with the Redbirds coming away victorious in in the 2018 Pacific Coast League Championship. The Redbirds captured their second-consecutive PCL title by winning the series 3-1, taking the crown 5-0 at AutoZone Park.

This is the third year that the Redbirds have faced off against the Washington Nationals' Triple-A affiliate and for the first time since 2006. Fresno is entering their first season as the National's top affiliate after four seasons of affiliation with the Houston Astros. From 2005-06, the New Orleans Baby Cakes were the organization's top affiliate, where the Redbirds went 12-20. Overall, Memphis is 13-20 against the Nationals' Triple-A club.

THE SEASON

ABOUT THE LAST ONE: Randy Arozarena led off the game with a home run, and the Memphis Redbirds did not look back from there in a 12-3 win in the series opener at the Fresno Grizzlies (Nationals) Saturday night in Fresno, Calif.

Memphis (53-65) smacked five home runs in the win, with Harrison Bader going deep twice. Ramon Urias and Adolis Garcia also had long balls in addition to Arozarena and Bader. The five home runs matched a season high for the Redbirds.

Bader's home runs were a three-run shot in the fifth inning and a two-run bomb in the sixth. In addition to his five RBI, he also was hit by two pitches, walked, and stole a base. Arozarena finished 3-for-5 with a walk and three runs scored, and Garcia had a double in addition to his 25th homer of the season.

Arozarena has reached base in 36-straight starts.

Along with his first-inning home run, Urias walked twice and finished 2-for-3. Justin Williams had a pinch-hit two-run double, extending his hitting streak to seven games.

Jake Woodford got the victory with a quality start, allowing two runs on five hits in 6.0 innings. He struck out six and walked two. Zac Rosscup, Jesus Cruz, and Kodi Whitley finished the game for the Redbirds, who have scored 27 runs on 29 hits in their last two games.

Jake Noll had three hits for Fresno (54-64).

ROSTER MOVES: The following roster move was made prior to Friday night's game: Yadier Molina's injury rehab was transferred to Springfield. Molina went 2-for-8 with two runs scored, one home run and five RBI during his first appearances with the Redbirds since 2004.

OFFENSE CONTINUES SURGE: After scoring 12 runs on 14 hits in last night's game, the Redbirds offense has posted double-digits in runs and hits in three of their last five games, including combining for 17 runs and 29 hits in their last two games. In August, the offense is batting .308 (93x102) in nine games, which ranks 5th in the Pacific Coast League. They also rank 3rd in the PCL with a .403 on-base percentage during this month.

REDBIRDS RAKE ON THE ROAD: Not only did the Memphis Redbirds match a season-high by launching five home runs in last night's game, but they also broke the franchise record for most home runs hit on the road in a single season. Adolis Garcia's solo blast in the sixth inning was the team's 91st home run hit on the road this season, breaking the record of 90 set by the 2004 Redbirds.

CLIMBING THE LEADERBOARDS: As Adolis Garcia continues his power surge at the plate, he has entered and climbed into the Top-10 in several batting categories on the Redbirds all-time lists. His home run last night was his 50th in his Redbirds career and he is now just one shy of matching Patrick Wisdom or T-4th in franchise history. He ranks 8th with 159 RBI, five shy of matching Pete Kozma for T-8th. He also ranks T-5th in triples (11), 7th in strikeouts (264), T-7th in hit by pitches (17) and he also moved in to 7th in extra-base hits (117) after doubling last night as well.

PONCE DE LEON DOMINANT AGAIN: After setting the pace with 4.0 no-hit innings on August 4 in Memphis' 2-0 win over El Paso, Daniel Ponce de Leon dazzled again on the mound Friday, holding the Sacramento River Cats to just two hits in 7.0 innings of work, fanning 11 batters and issuing no walks. In his last three starts with the Redbirds dating back to June 6 at Tacoma, Ponce de Leon has allowed just three hits in his last 14.0 innings with the Redbirds and has whiffed 21 batters during that span. Through 13 starts with Memphis this season, he has held opponents to a .211 average (51x242), a figure that would lead the Pacific Coast League if he qualified.

'BIRDS SILENCE BATS: Memphis Redbird pitchers held the El Paso Chihuahuas, one of the most potent offenses in the Pacific Coast League, to just one hit on August 4 in a 2-0 shut-out win. Daniel Ponce de Leon began the game with four hitless frames and fanned eight. Seth Elledge followed and allowed a single to the second batter he faced to end the no-hit bid, but he, Chasen Shreve and Junior Fernandez retired 13 of the next 14 batters to end the game. It was the 12th one-hitter in franchise history and first since Ponce de Leon's solo effort on July 15, 2018 at Omaha.

RANDY REPEATS: After slashing .374/.456/.607/1.063 in 28 games between Double-A Springfield and Triple-A Memphis in June en route to being named Cardinals Minor League Player of the Month, Randy Arozarena won the award for the second-straight month after posting a slash of .378/.455/.592/1.047 in 26 games in July. Arozarena became the third Redbird in franchise history to hit for the cycle on July 26 at Oklahoma City and accomplished that feat in his first four at-bats and had 12 total multi-hit games in July. He has also reached base safely in his last 36 starts and has 15 multi-hit games during that span.

PULLING AN ALL-NIGHTER: On August 1, the Redbirds' game against the Albuquerque Isotopes lasted four hours and seven minutes, making it the longest game of the season for the Redbirds. It also became the second-longest nine-inning game in franchise history, falling just two minutes short of matching the record of 4:09, set on June 15, 2013 against the Isotopes at Isotopes Park. It was also the first four-hour game the Redbirds have played in since June 11, 2017 vs. Nashville in a 12-inning affair.

AROZARENA HITS FOR THE CYCLE: On June 26 at Oklahoma City, Randy Arozarena became the third Redbird in franchise history to hit for the cycle. He opened up the game with a bunt single, doubled in the third, homered in the fourth and completed the cycle with a triple in the fifth. After an 18-year gap between the first two cycles in franchise history (Mark Little, June 23, 2000; Luke Voit, June 30, 2018), the Redbirds have now had a player hit for the cycle in consecutive years. Arozarena's four-hit game that night was his third such game for the Redbirds this season, which leads the team.

ADOLIS' BIG DAY: On June 21, 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 five that he had homered twice. Garcia ranks 3rd in the Pacific Coast League with 12 dingers with two outs and T-10th with 29 RBI in similar situations.

LET'S GET IT STARTED: Redbirds players batting first in the order this season are hitting .320 overall, which ranks 2nd in the Pacific Coast League. They also rank 2nd in hits (158), 4th in OBP (.386), 5th in OPS (.893) and 5th in SLG (.507). Randy Arozarena leads the Redbirds with a .381 average when batting first in the order. That figure is the highest in the PCL among players that have batted first in the order in at least 40 games.

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