Game Notes: Memphis Redbirds (6-7) vs. San Antonio Missions (7-6)
Published on April 17, 2019 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Memphis Redbirds News Release
Memphis Redbirds (6-7) vs San Antonio Missions (7-6)
Wednesday, April 17 - 6:35 p.m. (CT) - AutoZone Park (10,000) - Memphis, Tennessee
Game #14 - Home Game #7 (3-3)
RHP Daniel Ponce de Leon (1-0, 1.69 ERA) vs RHP Tristan Archer (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
BY THE NUMBERS
6 Runs driven in by Johan Mieses in his first two career Triple-A games
THE GAME
TONIGHT'S GAME: The Memphis Redbirds are aiming to clinch their first series victory tonight at AutoZone Park in the second of their three-game series against the San Antonio Missions. The Redbirds slugged their way to a 8-7 win last night, with Adolis Garcia launching a two-out three-run shot in the sixth and Johan Mieses hitting the 'Birds first grand-slam of the year in the eighth. Tonight's game will be broadcast live on www.memphisredbirds.com with Steve Selby on the call.
ON THE HILL: Right-hander Daniel Ponce de Leon is scheduled to take the mound in tonight's game and make his second home start and third start overall. In his first home outing, Sunday April 7 against Omaha, he tossed 5.0 innings allowing five hits and two runs and took home the win in the Redbirds' 3-2 victory. In his last start on Friday at Round Rock, Ponce de Leon went 5.2 innings, coming just an out shy of a quality start, allowing just one run, no earned, on seven hits. The 27-year-old made three starts against Colorado Springs (Milwaukee Triple-A) last season, going 2-0, 4.24 (8 ER/17.0 IP) in three starts against the Sky Sox. Ponce de Leon last faced the Missions on July 3, 2016 with Springfield at San Antonio, tossing 7.0 innings of one-run ball on four hits, while fanning seven in the Cardinals' 2-1 loss.
The Missions are scheduled to start right-hander Tristan Archer tonight. The 28-year-old is slated to make his second appearance and first start of the season. In his first outing of the season on April 7 at Oklahoma City, Archer tossed 0.2 innings and allowed two hits in the Missions' 4-1 victory over the Dodgers. Archer is in his seventh professional season and has spent them all with the Milwaukee organization. The Kingsport, Tenn., native made 50 appearances with Triple-A Colorado Springs last season, going 4-4, 4.52 (37 ER/73.2 IP) and making one start. Archer last faced the Redbirds on July 20, 2018, tossing 2.0 innings to earn the save in the Sky Sox's 1-0 victory. That date marks the last time that the Redbirds have participated in a 1-0 game.
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 14th-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. Prior to Colorado Springs, Nashville played host to the Brewers' top affiliate, where the Redbirds went 76-84 from 2005-14.
THE SEASON
ABOUT THE LAST ONE: A three-run home run by Adolis Garcia and a grand slam by Johan Mieses powered the Memphis Redbirds (6-7) to an 8-7 win over the San Antonio Missions (Brewers) in the series opener Tuesday night at AutoZone Park.
Also on the offensive side for the Redbirds, Tommy Edman was 1-for-4, extending his hitting streak to eight games. Andrew Knizner was on base four times with three singles and a walk, as was Max Schrock with two singles and two free passes. John Nogowski drove in Memphis' other run with a sixth-inning single.
The game began in auspicious fashion for Memphis, as the Redbirds had runners on base in each of the first four innings but grounded into four inning-ending double plays. During that time, San Antonio (7-6) hit three solo home runs off Memphis starter Genesis Cabrera to open a 3-0 lead after four frames.
The score remained 3-0 until the bottom of the sixth, when Nogowski got the Redbirds on the board ahead of Garcia's three-run home run to deep left field, his third of the season. The Redbirds added to their lead when Mieses, just recalled from Double-A Springfield, hit a grand slam in the bottom of the eighth, and the score shot to 8-3 in favor of Memphis.
But the Missions did not go quietly in the top of the ninth, scoring four times and having the potential tying run on second base, before a groundout induced by John Fasola ended the ballgame.
Cabrera struck out five in 3.2 innings of work, and Tommy Layne followed with 2.1 innings of scoreless relief with one hit allowed to earn the win. Hunter Cervenka pitched a scoreless seventh and Jesus Cruz tossed a scoreless eighth for the Redbirds to follow suit. Chasen Shreve surrendered four runs, three earned, in the ninth, before Fasola entered and finished the ballgame.
TWO-HIT TOMMY: Through his first 11 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 eight-game hitting streak and has reached safely in 10 of 11 contests. His 17 hits are most among the current Redbirds roster, while he ranks 3rd with a .347 batting average. He also ranks 6th with a .389 OBP.
EXTRA! EXTRA!: The Redbirds have recorded at least one extra-base hit in every game this season, collecting 24 doubles, three triples and 13 home runs. Tommy Edman, Adolis Garcia 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.
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