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PCL1 Memphis Redbirds

Game Notes: Memphis Redbirds (58-35) at Omaha Storm Chasers (41-50)

July 15, 2018 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Memphis Redbirds News Release


Memphis Redbirds (58-35) at Omaha Storm Chasers (41-50)

Sunday, July 15 - 2:05 p.m. (CT) - Werner Park (9,023) - Papillion, Nebraska

Game #94 - Road Game #49 (31-17)

RHP Daniel Poncedeleon (8-3, 2.39 ERA) vs. LHP Jonathan Dziedzic (3-7, 3.83 ERA)

THE GAME

TODAY'S GAME: The Memphis Redbirds and Omaha Storm Chasers will play the finale of a four-game set today at 2:05 p.m. It is the last game 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 loss last night, the Redbirds snapped an eight-game road winning streak. It was their longest streak of the season. The Redbirds now have 58 wins this season, the second-best mark in franchise history through 93 games. Last year's team won 60 through 91 games. Today's game will be broadcast on www.memphisredbirds.com with Steve Selby on the call.

ON THE HILL: Right-hander Daniel Poncedeleon will take the mound today for the Redbirds. Poncedeleon is in the midst of one of his finest pro seasons. The righty is 8-3 with a 2.39 ERA through 16 starts. Poncedeleon was named a PCL All-Star earlier this month, and struck out the side in one inning of work in the game last week. The righty has the second-lowest ERA in the league, and the lowest on the team, narrowly ahead of teammate Dakota Hudson, who sits at third in the league with a 2.42 mark. Poncedeleon owns the third-most strikeouts in the league (98), owns the lowest opponents' batting average at .211, and is tied for the best strikeouts per nine innings pitched ratio at 10.76. In his last start before the All-Star Break, the righty earned the win over Omaha, pitching six innings and allowing one unearned run.

The Storm Chasers will send left-hander Jonathan Dziedzic to the mound to battle Poncedeleon and the Redbirds. Coming into today's game, he is 3-7 with a 3.83 ERA in 16 starts this season. In his last start, he threw seven scoreless innings against the Redbirds.

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 160-140. Memphis owns the all-time records both at home and on the road with 84-67 and 76-73 records, respectively. In 15 games against the Storm Chasers this season, Memphis owns a 10-5 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 .255 average compared to their .218 mark, and a 2.17 ERA compared to their 3.14 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 for the third-straight game; hitting .300 33-for-110 since June 1

KELLY: Is hitting .392 (20-for-51) over last 13 games; has hits in 11 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

O'NEILL: Rejoins Redbirds on Major League rehab; hitting .299 with 19 home runs this season with Memphis

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 (86-for-317) in 83 games between Double-A Springfield and Triple-A Memphis this season

TOVAR: Is hitting .340 (18-for-53) over last 15 games; recently snapped a season-long nine-game hitting streak

VOIT: Now has six home runs in last 16 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

1-0 loss for the Redbirds last night. It was the second time this season they have lost a game 1-0, and first time since 2016 that they have done so. Only team in PCL that has played in multiple 1-0 games and not won one of them

THE SEASON

ABOUT THE LAST ONE: The Memphis Redbirds dropped last night's game to the Omaha Storm Chasers 1-0. The loss snapped the team's five-game winning streak, and its eight-game road winning streak.

Last night's starter Chris Ellis turned in one of his finest performances of the season. The righty tossed seven innings of one-run ball, allowing just five hits and two walks, while striking out five batters.

The Redbirds had just four hits before the ninth inning. They notched two more hits in the ninth, but couldn't bring the runners in.

Carson Kelly (1-for-4), Patrick Wisdom (1-for-3), Adolis Garcia (2-for-4), Wilfredo Tovar (1-for-3), and Edmundo Sosa (1-for-3) recorded the hits for Memphis.

The team went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position and stranded seven runners.

TOUGH-LUCK FOR ELLIS: Last night, Memphis starter Chris Ellis took the loss, despite turning in one of his finest performances of the season. The righty was lights-out over seven innings of work, allowing just one earned run on five hits and two walks, while striking out five batters. It was his first loss at any level this season. Coming into last night's game, Ellis was a perfect 6-0 in 21 games, including 13 starts, this season between Memphis and Springfield. It was the first time Ellis had thrown seven innings this season, and the fifth start in which he had allowed one earned run or less. Despite the tough-luck last night, Ellis lowered his ERA with Memphis to 3.52 and lowered his season ERA to 3.91.

BULLPEN SOLID, AGAIN: After tossing one shutout inning in last night's loss, the Memphis bullpen continued its recent dominance. Over the last 13 games, the Memphis bullpen has combined to throw 37.2 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 24 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 42.1 innings, allowing just 28 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 11 July games, the bullpen has a 0.53 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 for the third-consecutive night. In the first two games of the series with Omaha, he went a combined 4-for-8 with two home runs and five RBI. Since the last day of May, Garcia has appeared in 32 games for the Redbirds, and is hitting a solid .300 (33-for-110) in that stretch. He has now raised his batting average to .243 on the season. Garcia has collected hits in 22 of his 32 games since June began, and has notched multiple hits in nine of those games. In those 32 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 Friday 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 78 games this season, he already has 12 home runs and 42 RBI.

QUALITY STARTS GALORE: After Chris Ellis' performance last night, 'Birds starters have thrown 47 quality starts in 93 games this season. They threw 55 total in 2017. Earlier this season, the Redbirds staff had a streak of 11-straight quality starts, and are currently riding a streak of two-straight, and six in the last eight games. Of the 12 pitchers that have made a start for Memphis this season, 10 of them have thrown at least one quality start. Sam Tuivailala and Sean Gilmartin combined for seven starts, and did not throw a quality start. Dakota Hudson has 10 in 17 starts, Kevin Herget has eight, John Gant has seven, Austin Gomber and Poncedeleon have five, Jack Flaherty has four, Ryan Helsley and Chris Ellis have three apiece, and Alex Reyes and Jake Woodford have one apiece. The 47 quality starts are the most in the PCL.

NOT SOMETHING YOU SEE OFTEN: Last night, the Redbirds fell to the Omaha Storm Chasers by a score of 1-0. It was the second time the Redbirds had lost 1-0 this season after dropping a game to Oklahoma City on May 3 in the same way. Before May 3, the last time the Redbirds had played in a 1-0 game was on June 16 last season when they topped Colorado Springs. The last time they had lost a 1-0 game before May 3 was August 8 and 9, 2016 when they dropped two seven-inning games 1-0 at New Orleans. The played three 1-0 games in 2016, going 1-2. Memphis is one of just four PCL teams that has played in multiple 1-0 games.

KELLY ON FIRE AT THE PLATE: After going 1-for-4 at the plate last night, catcher Carson Kelly is now hitting .294 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 13 games and is hitting .392 (20-for-51) in that span. He has recorded hits in 11 of those 13 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 .446 on-base percentage in that span, and a .549 slugging percentage. He has also now hit in five-straight games, the third time this season he has recorded at least a five-game hitting streak.

GREAT PITCHING ALL AROUND: After allowing just one 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 3.38, 0.57 points lower than the next closest team, Fresno. The 'Birds staff has pitched the most innings this season at 818.2, while allowing the second-fewest hits at 763, and have racked up the second-most strikeouts at 800 through 93 games, 8.6 per game. The pitching staff has also allowed just 357 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 307 earned runs, becoming the final team in the league to allow 300 earned runs. They have allowed 34 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. Despite their loss last night, Memphis is still 37-15 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 10-5 against Omaha. They have secured season series wins against Iowa, Omaha, and Colorado Springs. They would have to win two of the last four games against Oklahoma City this season to secure the season series win. 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 17 games against the American Northern Division and will play its next 8 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 8 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.

ONE FROM 150: With a win today, manager Stubby Clapp will have won his 150th regular season game with the Redbirds, becoming the fifth manager in Redbirds' history to accomplish the feat. Chris Maloney (367), Gaylen Pitts (364), Danny Sheaffer (244), and Ron Warner (205) are the only managers ahead of him on the win list. Through one and a half seasons at the helm of the Redbirds, Clapp has led the team to a 149-85 record, a .637 winning-percentage, the best in franchise history. With the win, he would become the fastest Memphis manager to reach 150 wins.

TWO IN THE FUTURES GAME: Today, two Redbirds players, pitcher Dakota Hudson and outfielder Randy Arozarena, will take part in the MLB Futures Game in Washington D.C. The two will be joined by fellow prospect, catcher Andrew Knizner, who has spent some time with Memphis this season. Hudson and Knizner will be participants on the U.S. Team, while Arozarena will be on the World Team.

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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