Sports stats



PCL1 Memphis Redbirds

Game Notes: Memphis Redbirds (71-43) vs Fresno Grizzlies (65-49)

August 7, 2018 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Memphis Redbirds News Release


Memphis Redbirds (71-43) vs Fresno Grizzlies (65-49)

Tuesday, August 7 - 6:35 p.m. (CT) - AutoZone Park (10,000) - Memphis, Tennessee

Game #115 - Home Game #59 (35-23)

RHP Jake Woodford (3-2, 2.73 ERA) vs. RHP Cy Sneed (9-6, 3.59 ERA)

THE GAME

TODAY'S GAME: The Memphis Redbirds and Fresno Grizzlies will play the finale of a four-game set tonight at 6:35 p.m. at AutoZone Park. This is the first and only time the two teams will meet in the regular season this year. The Redbirds are coming off a 2-1 series win over the Sacramento River Cats, while Fresno is coming off a 3-0 series sweep at the hands of the Nashville Sounds. This series is the last half of a seven-game homestand for the 'Birds, marking their final seven regular season games against West Coast teams this season. Earlier today, Wilfredo Tovar and Max Schrock were placed on the Disabled List, retroactive to yesterday. Ramon Urias was transferred to Memphis from Springfield and John Brebbia optioned from St. Louis a corresponding moves. Today's game will be broadcast on www.memphisredbirds.com with Steve Selby on the call.

ON THE HILL: Right-hander Jake Woodford will take the mound for the Redbirds in tonight's series finale. This will be Woodford's seventh start of the season with the Redbirds. After having consistency issues with Double-A Springfield earlier this season, Woodford has been solid for the 'Birds. In his six starts, he is 3-2 with a 2.73 ERA in 33.0 innings of work. Other than his first start with the team, in which he allowed four runs, he has not allowed more than three earned runs in any of his starts. In his last start against Sacramento, he was phenomenal, pitching six innings, allowing just three hits and one walk, while striking out six batters. Woodford has also been phenomenal at home this season. In three starts at AutoZone Park, he is 2-1 with a 1.96 ERA in 18.1 innings, with 14 strikeouts.

The Grizzlies will send right-hander Cy Sneed to the mound to battle Woodford and the Redbirds. In 20 games, including 18 starts, Sneed is 9-6 with a 3.59 ERA in 107.2 innings. So far this season, Sneed has struggled on the road, compared to his home statistics. In 11 road games, nine of them starts, he is 2-4 with a 5.13 ERA in 52.2 innings of work.

HISTORY WITH FRESNO: Memphis and Fresno have played every year dating back to 1998 when Memphis joined the PCL. For most of that time, the Grizzlies were affiliated with the Giants, but have been affiliated with the Astros since the 2015 season. The Redbirds narrowly lead the all-time series between the two teams with a record of 49-46. They own the record in Memphis at 31-24, while narrowly trailing on the road at 18-22. The two teams have split the season series 2-2 each of the last three years.

BIRD BITES

AROZARENA: Has just two hits in five games since rejoining Memphis last week; hitting .396 with Springfield

BARON: Has hit safely in 13 of his last 16 games since June; had a season-long eight-game hitting streak in that stretch

KELLY: Is hitting .333 (34-for-102) over last 28 games; has hits in 19 of those games and multiple in 12 of them

MEJIA: Had two RBI Fri. night; now has 20 RBI in last 42 games after having only eight RBI in first 42 games this year

RAVELO: Currently riding 12-game hitting streak, hitting .405 (17-for-42) in that stretch; hit walk-off single Sunday

SCHROCK: Fri. night, had first multi-RBI game since July 15; hitting just .221 (21-for-95) in 28 games since July started

SOSA: Has just two hits in five games since August began; hitting .118 (2-for-17) with eight strikeouts in that span

THOMAS: Has hit safely in all eight of his games since being promoted to Memphis; nine of his 12 hits are extra-base hits

TOVAR: Is hitting .322 (37-for-115) over last 32 games; recently snapped a season-long nine-game hitting streak

URIAS: Rejoins Memphis for third stint of the season; hitting .300 (67-for-223) between Memphis and Springfield

WILLIAMS: Went 2-for-4 in his first start with the Redbirds on Saturday; hit a home run in the loss as well

WISDOM: Thursday, hit 14th home run of the season; has the fourth-most home runs and RBI in franchise history

BY THE NUMBERS

466 calendar days have passed since the Redbirds were not in first place (April 27, 2017); they have played 234 regular season games since that time.

ON THIS DATE

In 2004, four Redbirds hit home runs off of future Redbird pitcher Brian Falkenborg. Scott Seabol, Mike Mahoney, Kevin Witt, and Dee Haynes all went deep in the 13-11 win over Las Vegas.

THE SEASON

ABOUT THE LAST ONE: The Memphis Redbirds got behind early and couldn't mount a comeback in yesterday's 12-3 loss to the Fresno Grizzlies.

Memphis starter Chris Ellis struggled for the second-consecutive game. He allowed a season-high eight runs on three home runs in five innings of work. He allowed seven total hits, and one walk, while striking out seven batters.

Four relievers combined to throw the final four innings. Conner Greene allowed four runs, three earned, in the sixth inning on a grand slam. Brett Cecil and Giovanny Gallegos combined for three scoreless innings.

Offensively, Memphis managed just six hits against Fresno. Rangel Ravelo went 1-for-3, walking once and driving in two of Memphis' three runs. Randy Arozarena drove in the other Memphis run.

With Ravelo's hit, he extended his current hitting streak to a season-best 12 games. Lane Thomas also hit a double in the game, extending his hitting streak to eight games.

TALE OF THE TOP TWO TEAMS: This series against Fresno brings the two teams with the best records in all of Triple-A head-to-head for the first and only time this regular season. Memphis sits at 71-43, while Fresno sits at 65-49. The Redbirds hold a 12.5 game lead in their division, while the Grizzlies hold a six game lead in their division. Both teams rank atop of the leaderboards in multiple categories in the league. The 'Birds have the best ERA at 3.45, while Fresno has the fourth-best at 4.10. Fresno's pitching staff has struck out the most batters this season with 1,088 K's, while Memphis is second in that category at 968. Redbird hitters have also struck out the fewest times in the league this season, whiffing only 764 times. Fresno has the fifth-most homers, while Memphis has the sixth-most.

RAVELO ON FIRE: In last night's loss to Fresno, infielder Rangel Ravelo went 1-for-3 at the plate, driving in two of the three Memphis runs, and walking once, while also extending his season-long hitting streak to 12 games. During this stretch, he is hitting .405 (17-for-42), scoring 12 runs, hitting two doubles, three home runs, driving in nine runs, walking seven times, and striking out just six times. Although Adolis Garcia's 14-game hitting streak ended Sunday, Memphis accomplished the rare feat of having two players with at least 10-game hitting streaks at the same. Ravelo, in the midst of one of his finest seasons, is hitting .303 (89-for-294) in 85 games with a career-high 12 home runs. Since he joined Memphis last season, he now has hit safely in at least 10-straight games twice. He hit in 15-straight last season (May 9-June 3). He is now one of five Redbirds to have a hitting streak of at least 10 games this season. Tyler O'Neill (10), Yairo Munoz (10), Adolis Garcia (14), and Patrick Wisdom (16) have also accomplished the feat.

LANE IS PRETTY GOOD: In last night's loss, centerfielder Lane Thomas continued his hot-hitting with the Redbirds. Since being transferred from Springfield eight games ago, Thomas has been a force at the plate. Last night, he went 1-for-4 at the plate, scoring once and hitting a double, his sixth with Memphis. This came one day after he hit a three-run home run and came around to score the winning run in Sunday's comeback win. Sunday, his home run came with two outs in the fifth inning, leading to the first runs of the game for Memphis. With the new pace of play rules, as he made the last out in the ninth inning, he started the 10th inning on second base. He scored the winning run on Rangel Ravelo's bloop single. He has recorded a hit in each game he has played with Memphis, and has notched multiple hits in five of the eight games. In his debut, he went 3-for-6, falling a home run short of the cycle. He hit a home run the next night. With Memphis, he is hitting .378 (14-for-37). Nine of his 12 hits have been for extra bases.

ELLIS STRUGGLES FOR SECOND-STRAIGHT: Last night, Memphis starter Chris Ellis took the loss, struggled in his second-consecutive appearance. In the opener against Sacramento earlier this week, Ellis pitched five innings, allowing six earned runs on nine hits and two walks in the loss. Last night, he allowed eight runs on seven hits, three of them home runs, in five innings of work to take the loss. These struggles come on the heels of four-consecutive dominant starts. In his previous four appearances, he was a combined 2-2 with a 2.52 ERA in 25.0 innings of work. He had allowed just seven runs on 22 hits and nine walks, while striking out 19 in that span, while holding opponents to a .237 batting average. In his two starts since then, he is 0-2 with a 12.60 ERA in 10.0 innings of work.

HI, WHAT'S YOUR NAME?: After all the activity over the last week with the Trade Deadline passing, the Redbirds have almost an entirely different roster than the one they had opening night. Only three of the original 13 pitchers are still with Memphis. John Brebbia, Jack Flaherty, John Gant, Austin Gomber, Dakota Hudson, and Daniel Poncedeleon are all with St. Louis. Meanwhile, Derian Gonzalez is with Springfield, and Sean Gilmartin, Preston Guilmet, and Arturo Reyes are no longer in the organization. Only Kevin Herget, Andrew Morales, and Edward Mujica remain among Opening Day pitchers. Additionally, four Opening Day position players are no longer with the team. Tyler O'Neill and Adolis Garcia have been recalled to St. Louis, while Oscar Mercado was traded to Cleveland, and Luke Voit traded to the Yankees. The Redbirds have had 170 transactions this season, 58 total players, 16 players who have made their Triple-A debuts, and five players who have made their Major League debuts. The 170 transactions this season are already the most in franchise history with over a month left to play.

NEW GUYS NEED TO STEP UP: With Adolis Garcia's contract being purchased by St. Louis yesterday, and Wilfredo Tovar and Max Schrock going on the Disabled List today, the 'Birds are now without many of their offensive weapons. With the trades of Luke Voit and Oscar Mercado, and Tyler O'Neill and Garcia going to St. Louis, Memphis has lost nearly all its power. Voit (9), Mercado (8), O'Neill (26), Tovar (4), Schrock (4) and Garcia (21) have combined for 68 of the Redbirds' 123 home runs this season. Paul DeJong and Yairo Munoz, both with St. Louis, have combined for four home runs as well. With that, Memphis is now missing 75 of its home runs this season (58 percent). With those eight players not on the active roster, the 'Birds are also missing 308 of 571 runs scored, 553 of 1,051 hits, 105 of their 208 doubles, nine of their 15 triples, 299 of their 542 RBI, and 62 of their 96 stolen bases.

ALL GOOD THINGS END: In Sunday's walk-off win, Adolis Garcia went 0-for-4 at the plate, snapping his 14-game hitting streak. His hitting streak also included a stretch of 11-consecutive games with an extra-base hit. For his efforts last month, he was named the Cardinals Minor League Player of the Month, and the PCL Player of the Month. On July 26, the outfielder became the seventh player in Memphis history, and the second in four games, to hit three home runs in a game. Tyler O'Neill hit three home runs against Colorado Springs on July 22. Garcia was the first player to hit a grand slam in a three-home run performance in Memphis history. Last Thursday, Garcia also tied the franchise record with eight RBI in a game. He joins Tagg Bozied (8/1/07) as the only Redbirds to drive in eight runs in a game. Yesterday, Garcia's contract was purchased by St. Louis, and he will make his Major League debut.

MORE HONORS FOR THE 'BIRDS: Earlier this week, outfielder Adolis Garcia was named the PCL Player of the Month for July. Garcia was also named PCL Player of the Week for the week of July 23-29. Garcia and pitcher Daniel Poncedeleon were named the Cardinals Minor League Player and Pitcher of the Month for July earlier this week, as well. It is the fourth time a Redbird has won a Weekly PCL Honor this season. Garcia joins pitchers Daniel Poncedeleon and Austin Gomber to earn the honor. Poncedeleon earned the honor early in July, and Gomber earned the award once in April and once in May. It is one of just many honors that have come this season for the Redbirds. Earlier this season, 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. The Redbirds have had a player or pitcher earn the Cardinals Minor League monthly honors every month, except one dating back to the beginning of the 2017 season.

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

• Discuss this story on the Pacific Coast League message board...

Pacific Coast League Stories from August 7, 2018


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central