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PCL1 Memphis Redbirds

Game Notes: Memphis Redbirds (58-34) at Omaha Storm Chasers (40-50)

July 14, 2018 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Memphis Redbirds News Release


Memphis Redbirds (58-34) at Omaha Storm Chasers (40-50)

Saturday, July 14 - 7:05 p.m. (CT) - Werner Park (9,023) - Papillion, Nebraska

Game #93 - Road Game #48 (31-16)

RHP Chris Ellis (2-0, 4.02 ERA) vs. RHP Trevor Oaks (5-3, 2.00 ERA)

THE GAME

TODAY'S GAME: The Memphis Redbirds and Omaha Storm Chasers will play game three of a four-game set tonight at 7:05 p.m. It is the last series the two teams will play against each other this season. They played a five-game series right before the All-Star break. In that series, Omaha won the first two games before Memphis closed out the series with three-straight wins. With the win last night, the Redbirds have now won eight-consecutive road games for the first time this season. The Redbirds now have 58 wins this season, the second-best mark in franchise history through 92 games. Last year's team won 59 through 91 games. Earlier today, Dakota Hudson and Randy Arozarena were placed on the Temporary Inactive List, while Arturo Reyes was activated from the Disabled List before being unconditionally released. Today's game will be broadcast on www.memphisredbirds.com with Steve Selby on the call.

ON THE HILL: Right-hander Chris Ellis will take the mound for the Redbirds tonight. This will be his second start against Omaha this season. Last week, he earned the win over the Storm Chasers, throwing six strong innings, allowing just two earned runs on five hits and one walk, while striking out three batters. In six starts since joining Memphis last month, Ellis is 2-0 with a 4.02 ERA in 31.1 innings of work. He has won his last two outings, and has struck out 20 batters. Between Springfield and Memphis this season, Ellis is 6-0 with a 4.13 ERA in 21 games, including 13 starts.

The Storm Chasers will send right-hander Trevor Oaks to the mound to battle Ellis and the Redbirds. Coming into tonight's game, Oaks is 5-3 with a 2.00 ERA, the best mark in the PCL this season. Oaks has faced Memphis once this season. In that game, on April 11, he took the loss, allowing three earned runs over six innings of work.

HISTORY WITH OMAHA: Memphis and Omaha have played every year dating back to 1998 when Memphis joined the PCL. In the all-time series, the Redbirds own the winning record at 160-139. Memphis owns the all-time records both at home and on the road with 84-67 and 76-72 records, respectively. In 14 games against the Storm Chasers this season, Memphis owns a 10-4 record. They swept the first series 3-0 before splitting the second series 2-2, and winning the third one 3-2. So far this season, the 'Birds are out-hitting and out-pitching the Storm Chasers. Memphis has a .259 average compared to their .218 mark, and a 2.24 ERA compared to their 3.38 mark.

BIRD BITES

AROZARENA: Was recently selected as one of two Memphis players to participate in the MLB Futures Game

BARON: Currently has a five-game hitting streak, his longest of year and longest since 6-game streak April 16-May 5, 2017

GARCIA: Last night, went 2-for-4 at the plate, hitting his 12th home run of the season; hitting .292 31-for-106 since June 1

KELLY: Is hitting .404 (19-for-47) over last 12 games; has hits in 10 of those games and multiple in eight of them

MEJIA: After driving in a run in Sunday's win, has 12 RBI in last 23 games after having just eight in his first 46 games

MERCADO: Now has 22 steals this season, the second-most in the PCL and the fifth-most in a season in Redbirds history

RAVELO: Recently won Cardinals Minor League Player of the Month honors after hitting .449 (31-for-69) in 20 June games

SCHROCK: Finished the first-half of the season hitting .281 with 20 multi-hit games in his first Triple-A season

SOSA: Is hitting .271 (85-for-314) in 82 games between Double-A Springfield and Triple-A Memphis this season

TOVAR: Is hitting .340 (17-for-50) over last 14 games; recently snapped a season-long nine-game hitting streak

VOIT: Now has six home runs in last 15 games after having one through first 34 with Memphis; Hit for the cycle on June 30

WISDOM: Was recently named an All-Star for the first time in his career and participated in Triple-A Home Run Derby

BY THE NUMBERS

58 wins for the Redbirds this season are the most in the PCL and all of Triple-A baseball. The 58 wins are the third-most in all of Minor League Baseball, behind only Bowling Green (62) and Corpus Christi (59)

THE SEASON

ABOUT THE LAST ONE: The Memphis Redbirds topped the Omaha Storm Chasers 6-3, last night in Omaha. It was the fifth-straight win for Memphis, and the eighth-straight road win.

Starter Kevin Herget threw six strong innings last night, allowing three earned runs on six hits and a walk, while striking out five batters.

The 'Birds loaded the bases with no outs in the second inning before Max Schrock drove in the first run with a sacrifice fly. Randy Arozarena, the next batter, doubled to drive in the other two runners, giving Memphis a 3-0 lead.

In the third, Carson Kelly and Luke Voit both singled with one out before Adolis Garcia drove them in with his 12th home run of the season.

Tommy Layne, Conner Greene, and Edward Mujica pitched the final three innings for Memphis.

KEEP IT GOING, KEVIN: Last night, Memphis starter Kevin Herget turned in another solid start. Herget was steady through six innings, allowing just three earned runs on six hits and one walk, while striking out five batters. Herget has been lights-out in his last four starts after struggling through three of his previous four starts dating back to the beginning of June. In four starts from June 3-19, Herget was 0-2 with a 6.00 ERA in 24.0 innings. Excluding his second start in that span, in which he pitched seven scoreless innings while striking out 10, he allowed 16 runs over 17.0 innings of work. On June 3, he allowed four earned runs in 5.1 innings of work on nine hits, on June 14, he allowed five earned runs in 6.0 innings, and on June 19, he allowed seven earned runs in 5.2 innings. Since that rough, four-game stretch, Herget is posting a 2.08 ERA in four starts. He has posted four-consecutive quality starts, throwing 26.0 innings, allowing just 21 hits and two walks, while striking out 23 batters. Last night was the first time he had given up more than one run since June 19 at El Paso. In his last four starts, opponents are hitting just .219 (21-for-96) off him, and his 3.80 season ERA is ninth-best in the league.

BULLPEN SOLID, AGAIN: After tossing 3.0 shutout innings in last night's win, the Memphis bullpen continued its recent dominance. Over the last 12 games, the Memphis bullpen has combined to throw 36.2 innings allowing just three earned runs. Before last Friday night's ninth inning homer, the last earned run they allowed was on June 30 in the fifth inning of their game at Iowa. Since the fifth inning on June 30, they have allowed just 23 hits, and nine walks, while striking out 47 batters. Dating back to June 28 against Colorado Springs, 11 Redbirds relievers have made at least one appearance out of the bullpen, combining to pitch 41.1 innings, allowing just 27 hits, nine walks, six runs, three earned, all while striking out 51 batters. They hold a record of 2-1 with seven saves in that span. In 10 July games, the bullpen has a 0.54 ERA.

ADOLIS SURGING FORWARD: After seeing his batting average drop to a season-low .203 on May 31, Adolis Garcia has steadily been improving that mark. Last night, Garcia went 2-for-4 at the plate, launching a three-run home run, his 12th of the season. Since the last day of May, Garcia has appeared in 31 games for the Redbirds, and is hitting a solid .292 (31-for-106) in that stretch. He has now raised his batting average to .239 on the season. Garcia has collected hits in 21 of his 31 games since June began, and has notched multiple hits in eight of those games. In those 31 games, he has scored 17 runs, hit four doubles, a triple, and eight home runs, all while driving in 25 runners. After his three-run bomb last night and his two-run shot Thursday, he is tied with Patrick Wisdom for the second-most home runs on the team, behind only Tyler O'Neill (19). Between Springfield and Memphis last season, his first in America, he hit 15 home runs and drove in 65 runners in 124 games. Through 77 games this season, he already has 12 home runs and 42 RBI.

LOOK OUT, LUKE'S HEATING UP: After going 1-for-4 with a run scored last night, Luke Voit continued his recent hot stretch at the plate. Last night's performance came after he went 3-for-5 with a home run Thursday. In 20 games since returning from St. Louis in mid-June, Voit is hitting .380 (30-for-79). In that span, he has scored 15 runs, hit four doubles, one triple, and six home runs, all while driving in 16 runners. On June 30, Voit became the first Memphis player to hit for the cycle since 2000. Since June 19, Voit has a .432 on-base percentage, a .684 slugging percentage, and a 1.115 OPS. He has now hit six home runs in the last 20 games after hitting just one through his first 34 games with Memphis. Voit is now hitting .294 (58-for-197) in 54 games with Memphis this season. Since returning from the Cardinals, Voit has hits in 16 of 20 games, and multiple hits in seven of those games. His batting average has also jumped 57 points from .237, which was his mark before he went to St. Louis.

KELLY ON FIRE AT THE PLATE: After going 2-for-3 at the plate last night, and scoring two runs, catcher Carson Kelly is now hitting .295 on the season with Memphis. Kelly has been particularly strong at the plate as of late. After going six-straight games without a hit from June 17-25, Kelly has appeared in 12 games and is hitting .404 (19-for-47) in that span. He has recorded hits in 10 of those 12 games, and multiple hits in eight of them. Since June 26, Kelly has scored nine times, has hit two doubles and two home runs, while driving in eight runners. He has a .462 on-base percentage in that span, and a .574 slugging percentage.

NEW GUYS RACKING UP THE K'S: Last night, Memphis reliever Tommy Layne pitched one inning of relief after Kevin Herget exited the game. He allowed two hits and his first walk of the season, while striking out two batters. Thursday night, reliever Tyler Webb struck out five batters in 2.2 innings of work. Since joining the team at the beginning of the month, Webb has made two outings, spanning 4.2 innings. In that span, he has struck out eight of the 15 batters he has faced. Layne has posted a similar line. Layne has made eight appearances spanning 6.2 innings. In those games, he has struck out 15 of the 28 total batters he has faced.

GREAT PITCHING ALL AROUND: After allowing just three runs last night, the Redbirds' pitching staff continued its season-long dominance on the mound. The entire pitching staff owns the best ERA in the league at 3.40, 0.57 points lower than the next closest team, Oklahoma City. The 'Birds staff has pitched the most innings this season at 810.2, while allowing the second-fewest hits at 757, and have racked up the second-most strikeouts at 795 through 92 games, 8.6 per game. The pitching staff has also allowed just 356 total runs this season, the fewest in the league. Memphis, Oklahoma City, and Fresno are the only three teams in the league that have allowed fewer than 400 runs this season. The Redbirds have now allowed 306 earned runs, becoming the final team in the league to allow 300 earned runs. They have allowed 30 fewer earned runs than Oklahoma City, the next closest team.

'BIRDS LIKE THE AMERICAN NORTH: In its last three series before the All-Star Break, Memphis split a series 2-2 with Colorado Springs, swept Iowa 5-0, and topped Omaha in a series 3-2. With their win last night, Memphis is now 37-14 against the American Northern Division this season. The Redbirds are 11-1 against the Iowa Cubs after the most recent series, 9-4 against Colorado Springs, 7-5 against Oklahoma City, and 10-4 against Omaha. Memphis is just 13-14 against its own division, 3-4 against the Pacific Northern Division, and 5-2 against the Pacific Southern Division. Memphis has now played its last 16 games against the American Northern Division and will play its next 9 against the division, making it 25-straight games against the American North. They don't play a team from a different division until the end of July when they travel west to play Salt Lake and Las Vegas. After the next 9 games, Memphis will play just four more against the American North this season when they travel to Oklahoma City for four games in mid-August.

CHASING HISTORY: After winning last night, the Redbirds now have the most wins in the PCL this season, six more than Fresno. Their 59-34 record through 92 games this season is one game behind the 2017 team for the best record through 92 games in franchise history. The Redbirds also won their 1,400th game in franchise history last season on July 14 last season. Since that time, they have won 91 games, putting them just 9 wins from the 1,500th in franchise history. With 91 wins last season, and 58 so far this season, Memphis manager Stubby Clapp now has 149 wins in his career as Redbirds' manager, putting him fifth on the all-time Memphis managerial win list. Clapp also owns the best winning percentage among Memphis managers at .639 (149-84).

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)

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