PCL1 Memphis Redbirds

Game Notes: Memphis Redbirds (60-35) vs Iowa Cubs (34-60)

Published on July 17, 2018 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Memphis Redbirds News Release


Memphis Redbirds (60-35) vs Iowa Cubs (34-60)

Tuesday, July 17 - 7:05 p.m. (CT) - AutoZone Park (10,000) - Memphis, Tennessee

Game #96 - Home Game #47 (28-18)

LHP Austin Gomber (6-3, 3.69 ERA) vs. RHP Alec Mills (4-9, 5.06 ERA)

THE GAME

TODAY'S GAME: The Memphis Redbirds and Iowa Cubs will play game two of a four-game set tonight at 7:05 p.m. It is the final series the two teams will play against each other this season. Memphis has won 12 of 13 games against the I-Cubs this season, and recently swept them in a five-game series before the All-Star Break. The Redbirds are coming off a 3-1 series win over the Omaha Storm Chasers, while Iowa is coming off a 3-2 series win over the Nashville Sounds. Earlier this week, Daniel Poncedeleon was also named the PCL Pitcher of the Week. Today's game will be broadcast on www.memphisredbirds.com and KTRS 550 AM in St. Louis with Steve Selby on the call.

ON THE HILL: Left-hander Austin Gomber will take the mound for the Redbirds tonight. It will be the lefty's second appearance against the I-Cubs this season. In his first start against them in Des Moines on April 23, he was phenomenal. He tied the franchise record with 16 strikeouts in the game, and set the regular-season franchise record. For his efforts, he won PCL Pitcher of the Week and Cardinals Minor League Pitcher of the Month honors. Gomber has split time between Memphis and St. Louis this season. In 11 games and 10 starts for the 'Birds this season, Gomber is 6-3 with a 3.69 ERA in 63.1 innings of work. He has 70 strikeouts on the season with Memphis. He was 0-0 with a 3.77 ERA in 15 relief appearances with St. Louis.

The I-Cubs will send right-hander Alec Mills to the mound to face off with Gomber and the Redbirds. In 17 starts with Iowa this season, he is 4-9 with a 5.06 ERA in 90.2 innings of work. He has faced the Redbirds twice this season, taking the loss both times. In his two starts, he has combined to pitch 13.2 innings, allowing 14 hits, and nine earned runs, giving him a 6.14 ERA against Memphis this season.

HISTORY WITH IOWA: Memphis and Iowa have played every year dating back to 1998 when the Redbirds joined the PCL. Memphis leads the all-time series 165-134. Memphis has dominated the series at home, while Iowa has done the same in Des Moines. Memphis leads the series at home 96-51, while Iowa owns the road series 83-69. Memphis has won all three series the two have played this season by marks of 3-1, 3-0, and 5-0. Memphis leads the season-series 12-1. The 'Birds are hitting .297 compared to their .247, and are posting a 2.97 ERA, compared to their 6.16 mark.

BIRD BITES

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

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

GARCIA: Last night, went 1-for-4 with a double, RBI, and run scored in the win; hitting .292 34-for-118 since June 1

KELLY: Is hitting .375 (20-for-56) over last 14 games; has hits in 11 of those games and multiple in eight of them

MEJIA: Last night, hit game-winning 2-run single; 15 RBI in last 25 games after having just eight in his first 46 games

MERCADO: Now has 23 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; Sunday, hit a two-run bloop single in the ninth inning

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

SCHROCK: Sunday, hit fourth home run of the season and his first since June 9 against Reno; it was a two-run shot

SOSA: Is hitting .275 (88-for-320) in 84 games between Double-A Springfield and Triple-A Memphis this season

TOVAR: Is hitting .356 (21-for-59) over last 17 games; recently snapped a season-long nine-game hitting streak

VOIT: Last night, came in as a defensive replacement; walked in both of his at-bats, scoring once in the eighth

WISDOM: Last night, walked three times in the win over Iowa, the second time this season he has walked three times

BY THE NUMBERS

446 calendar days since the 'Birds have been lower than first place (April 27, 2017); Memphis played the last 120 games in first last year, and have played the first 95 in first this season

THE SEASON

ABOUT THE LAST ONE: The Memphis Redbirds won last night's game in comeback fashion, scoring five runs in the eighth inning to top the I-Cubs 6-4.

Memphis starter Luke Weaver threw four innings, allowing three hits and two runs, while striking out seven of the 15 batters he faced.

Four Memphis relievers combined to piece together the last five innings. Tyler Webb threw two innings, and Matt Bowman threw 1.2 innings. Bowman allowed two runs on three hits and a walk.

John Brebbia relieved Bowman with two on in the eighth, getting out of the jam before handing the ball over to Edward Mujica, who earned his 10th save.

Offensively, Edmundo Sosa drove in two runs on two hits, while Alex Mejia came off the bench to provide the game-winning pinch-hit single in the eighth.

DON'T CALL IT A COMEBACK: Last night, the Redbirds trailed 4-1 entering the eighth inning. Patrick Wisdom singled to lead off, and one out later, he scored on a double by Adolis Garcia. The next batter, Edmundo Sosa drove in Garcia with a single to cut the lead to one. After Wilfredo Tovar singled, Luke Voit walked to load the bases. Memphis tied it when Oscar Mercado hit into a fielder's choice error before Alex Mejia came off the bench to provide the winning hit. He smacked a two-run single, giving the 'Birds the lead and some insurance. The Redbirds sent 11 batters to the plate in the inning.

BULLPEN SOLID, AGAIN: After tossing five innings of two-run ball in last night's win, the Memphis bullpen continued its recent dominance. Over the last 15 games, the Memphis bullpen has combined to throw 42.2 innings allowing just five 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 27 hits, and 11 walks, while striking out 52 batters. Dating back to June 28 against Colorado Springs, 12 Redbirds relievers have made at least one appearance out of the bullpen, combining to pitch 47.1 innings, allowing just 31 hits, 11 walks, eight runs, five earned, all while striking out 56 batters. They hold a record of 3-1 with eight saves in that span. In the 13 games Memphis has played this month, the bullpen is posting a 0.92 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 1-for-4 at the plate, driving in a run in Memphis' five-run eighth inning. Since the last day of May, Garcia has appeared in 34 games for the Redbirds, and is hitting a solid .288 (34-for-118) in that stretch. He has now raised his batting average to .239 on the season. Garcia has collected hits in 23 of his 34 games since June began, and has notched multiple hits in nine of those games. In those 34 games, he has scored 18 runs, hit five doubles, a triple, and eight home runs, all while driving in 26 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 80 games this season, he already has 12 home runs and 42 RBI.

SOLID DEFENSE: Last night, the Redbirds did not commit an error in the field, making it a season-high six games that they have not committed an error. They had previously gone five-straight games without an error on three separate occasions this season. Memphis is now tied with El Paso and Reno for the best fielding percentage in the league at .983. They are tied with Reno for a league-low 59 errors this season. Redbird Max Schrock leads all PCL second basemen with a .985 fielding percentage, committing just four errors in 262 chances. He also leads the league in most games at second base (69), total chances (262), most putouts (98), and most double plays (49).

SPEED DEMONS: Last night, the Redbirds stole two bases against Iowa. Through 95 games this season, the 'Birds now have 82 steals, just two less than they had in all 141 games last year. The franchise record for steals in a season is 110. Last night, Edmundo Sosa stole his first base with Memphis, while Oscar Mercado stole his 23rd base of the season. He is now one behind Keon Broxton for the league-lead in steals. Mercado is now in sole possession of the fifth-most steals in a season in franchise history. At this point in the season, the Redbirds have the second-most steals behind only the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, who have 124. The Redbirds have been caught just 26 times this year, giving them a 75.9 percent success rate on the base paths. Additionally, Memphis one of just 10 teams in the league to have multiple players steal at least 10 bases this season. At this point in the season, Mercado has 23, Randy Arozarena has 11, and Patrick Wisdom and Wilfredo Tovar both have 10. Colorado Springs is the only other team in the league to have four separate players notch 10 steals.

MEJIA ON FIRE: In last night's five-run eighth inning, Alex Mejia came off the bench to provide the go-ahead and game-winning hit. The game was tied at 4-4 with one out and the bases loaded. Mejia singled up the middle to drive in Wilfredo Tovar and Luke Voit to put Memphis ahead for good. Mejia also provided the winning RBI in Sunday's win with a solo home run in the second inning, his second of the season. After his clutch hit last night, Mejia now has 15 RBI in his last 25 games after having just eight RBI through his first 46 games this season.

GREAT PITCHING ALL AROUND: After the team effort 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 3.35, 0.59 points lower than the next closest team, Oklahoma City. The 'Birds staff has pitched the most innings this season at 836.2, while allowing the second-fewest hits at 770, and have racked up the second-most strikeouts at 817 through 95 games, 8.6 per game. The pitching staff has also allowed just 361 total runs this season, the fewest in the league. Memphis and Oklahoma City are the only teams in the league that have allowed fewer than 400 runs this season. The Redbirds have allowed just 311 earned runs. They have allowed 34 fewer earned runs than Oklahoma City, the next closest team. Memphis and Fresno are the only two teams in the league that have struck out over 800 batters this season. Additionally, two Memphis pitchers hold the top two spots in the league wins list, Dakota Hudson (12) and Poncedeleon (9). The 'Birds also have three players in the top-10 in ERA this season. Poncedeleon is second at 2.15, Hudson is third at 2.42, and Kevin Herget is eighth at 3.80.

'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. After winning last night, Memphis is 39-15 against the American Northern Division this season. The Redbirds are 12-1 against the Iowa Cubs after last night, 9-4 against Colorado Springs, 7-5 against Oklahoma City, and 11-5 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 19 games against the American Northern Division and will play its next 6 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 6 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.

MORE HONORS FOR THE 'BIRDS: Yesterday, starting pitcher Daniel Poncedeleon was named PCL Pitcher of the Week for the week of July 9-15. It is the third time a Redbird has won a Weekly Honor this season. Fellow starter Austin Gomber earned the honor once in April and once in May. It is one of just many honors that have come in the last couple weeks for the Redbirds. Earlier this month, Poncedeleon, Dakota Hudson, and Patrick Wisdom were all named PCL All-Stars, while Hudson and outfielder Randy Arozarena participated in the MLB Futures Game. Hudson was also named the Cardinals Minor League Pitcher of the Month for June, the second Memphis pitcher to earn that accolade this season after Gomber earned it in April. Infielder/outfielder Rangel Ravelo was also named the Cardinals Minor League Player of the Month for June.

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)

Check out the Memphis Redbirds Statistics

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Pacific Coast League Stories from July 17, 2018


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