PCL1 Memphis Redbirds

Game Notes: Memphis Redbirds (74-48) vs New Orleans Baby Cakes (60-61)

Published on August 16, 2018 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Memphis Redbirds News Release


Memphis Redbirds (74-48) vs New Orleans Baby Cakes (60-61)

Thursday, August 16 - 7:05 p.m. (CT) - AutoZone Park (10,000) - Memphis, Tennessee

Game #123 - Home Game #63 (35-27)

LHP Tyler Lyons (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. RHP Jeff Brigham (4-0, 2.62 ERA)

THE GAME

TODAY'S GAME: The Memphis Redbirds and New Orleans Baby Cakes will play the finale of a four-game set tonight at 7:05 p.m. in Memphis. It is the third of four series the two teams will play against one another this season, and the last they will play at AutoZone Park. The fourth and final series will take place next week in New Orleans. New Orleans has won the first three games of the series, giving them the 7-5 lead in the season series. Memphis is looking to avoid its first sweep of any kind since they were swept in four games from July 14-17, 2016 at Albuquerque. The Redbirds are coming off a 3-1 series win over the Oklahoma City Dodgers, while New Orleans is coming off a 3-1 series win over the Iowa Cubs. With the completion of the Oklahoma City series, Memphis has finished playing teams from other divisions. The last 18 games will be played against the three opponents from their own division. Today's game will be broadcast on www.memphisredbirds.com and on WMC-TV's Bounce Channel with Steve Selby on the call.

ON THE HILL: Left-hander Tyler Lyons will take the mound for the Redbirds in tonight's finale against New Orleans. It will be Lyons' fourth appearance with Memphis this season, and his second start. In his first start last week, the lefty threw two scoreless innings in the Memphis win. Usual starter Chris Ellis piggy-backed his start, earning the win by throwing four scoreless innings of relief. With the Redbirds this season, Lyons is 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA in four innings of work. His first two appearances with Memphis this season were both one-inning relief appearances as part of his Major League Rehab assignment.

The Baby Cakes will send right-hander Jeff Brigham to the mound to battle Lyons and the Redbirds. In six starts with New Orleans this season, the righty is 4-0 with a sparkling 2.62 ERA in 34.1 innings of work. Brigham has thrown at least five innings in all but one of his starts. He has yet to allow more than two earned runs in an appearance, and has yet to strike out fewer than five batters in a game.

HISTORY WITH NEW ORLEANS: Memphis and New Orleans have played every season dating back to 1998 when the Redbirds joined the PCL. In that span, Memphis has remained affiliated with St. Louis, while New Orleans has been affiliated with four different teams. They were previously affiliated with Houston, Washington, and the Mets, and have been affiliated with Miami for the last 10 years. So far this season, New Orleans leads the series at 7-5. The 'Birds are 3-4 in Memphis, and 2-3 at New Orleans thus far. Memphis is narrowly outhitting New Orleans this season, posting a .268 average, compared to their .238 mark. After last night's rough outing for the Memphis pitching staff, New Orleans owns the better ERA at 3.67, while the 'Birds sit at 4.17.

BIRD BITES

AROZARENA: Has just six hits in 13 games since rejoining Memphis last week; hitting .396 with Springfield

BARON: Has hit safely in 14 of his last 17 games since June; had a season-long eight-game hitting streak in that stretch

EDMAN: Hit first career Triple-A home run in last night's loss; has career-high seven HR between Memphis and Springfield

GARCIA: Was recently recalled to St. Louis for Major League debut; recorded first hit on August 10 at Kansas City

KELLY: Went 2-for-2 reaching base all five times last night due to BB&2HBP; is hitting .321 (42-for-131) over last 35 games

MEJIA: Had one RBI last night; now has 23 RBI in last 49 games after having only eight RBI in first 42 games this year

RAVELO: Currently riding 16-game hitting streak, hitting .407 (24-for-59) in that stretch; has career-high 13 home runs

SCHROCK: Has missed last eight games after being placed on the Disabled List in early August

SOSA: Last night, snapped three-game hitless streak, hitting a game-tying two-run double in the third inning

THOMAS: Hit safely in first 10 with Memphis before snapping streak Fri. night; 10 of his 19 hits are extra-base hits

TOVAR: Is hitting .320 (39-for-122) over last 34 games; recently snapped a season-long nine-game hitting streak

URIAS: Had recorded a hit in his first four games since rejoining Memphis before going hitless Sunday night

WILLIAMS: Has hits in seven of 11 games since joining the Redbirds; scored four runs in Saturday night's 14-0 win

BY THE NUMBERS

472 calendar days have passed since the Redbirds were not in first place (April 27, 2017); they have played 240 regular season games in that time.

THE SEASON

ABOUT THE LAST ONE: The Memphis Redbirds dropped last night's game to the New Orleans Baby Cakes 10-6 in a slug-fest.

Memphis starter Connor Jones lasted just three innings in the game. He allowed four earned runs on two hits and six walks, while striking out three. He allowed a two-run home run in the third inning of the game. It was the first one he had allowed at the Triple-A level.

Memphis matched New Orleans run for run until the fifth inning. In the second, Tommy Edman tied it with a two-run home run, his first at the Triple-A level. In the third, Edmundo Sosa tied the game at four with a two-run double.

Memphis reliever Dominic Leone took the loss, allowing a grand slam in the fifth inning. New Orleans hit another home run in the ninth inning off Edward Mujica.

Giovanny Gallegos threw one scoreless inning, while Landon Beck threw three scoreless innings. Carson Kelly and Alex Mejia also drove in runs in the loss.

RAVELO ON FIRE: In Tuesday night's loss to New Orleans, infielder Rangel Ravelo went 3-for-4 at the plate, hitting a home run and driving in two runs to extend his season-long hitting streak to 16 games. Last night, he was hit by a pitch in his only plate appearance before exiting the game, keeping the streak intact. His home run Tuesday tied the game at three in the fifth inning, and the score stayed that way until the 10th inning. During this stretch, he is hitting .407 (24-for-59), scoring 16 runs, hitting two doubles, four home runs, driving in 17 runs, walking 10 times, and striking out just eight times. Although Adolis Garcia and Lane Thomas have both ended their hitting streaks, Memphis accomplished the rare feat of having two 10-game hitting streaks at the same time. Ravelo's has overlapped with both Garcia's and Thomas'. Ravelo, in the midst of one of his finest seasons, is hitting .309 (96-for-311) in 90 games with a career-high 13 home runs. Since he joined Memphis last season, he now has hit safely in at least 15-straight games twice. He hit in 15-straight last season (May 9-June 3). He is now one of six Redbirds to have a hitting streak of at least 10 games this season. Tyler O'Neill (10), Yairo Munoz (10), Lane Thomas (10), Adolis Garcia (14), and Patrick Wisdom (16) have also accomplished the feat. With a hit in his next appearance, he will have the longest hitting streak for a Memphis player this season and will have tied the franchise record for the fourth-longest hitting streak. The longest hitting streak in franchise history is 20 games, which was set in 1999 by Adam Kennedy.

STRUGGLES WITH THE DIVISION: Despite having the best record in all of Triple-A Baseball at 74-48, Memphis has struggled against its own division. The 'Birds are 2-6 against Nashville, 5-7 against New Orleans after last night's loss, and 6-4 against Round Rock. Memphis has 18 games remaining this season. They will play four more against New Orleans, six more against Round Rock, and eight more against Nashville. Nashville is the closest to the 'Birds, sitting eight games behind Memphis. While the 'Birds batters hold similar lines against divisional and non-divisional opponents, the biggest difference is pitching. Memphis is hitting .274 (859-for-3136) against opponents in other divisions, and are hitting a slightly lower .267 (269-for-1007) against the division. However, Memphis pitchers are posting a 4.02 ERA (117ER, 262.0IP) against the division, while posting a 3.42 ERA (308ER, 811.2IP) against everyone else.

BECK SHUTTING IT DOWN: Last night, reliever Landon Beck was lights-out for the Redbirds. The righty pitched 3.0 innings, allowing just one hit, while striking out one batter. His effort allowed the 'Birds to stay in the game to try and mount a comeback. Beck is currently on his third stint with Memphis this season, his first at the Triple-A level. Since allowing runs in back-to-back games on July 22 and 24, he has been basically unhittable. Since July 24, he has appeared in seven games for the Redbirds, mostly in long-relief. He has thrown 12.2 innings in that span, allowing just one run on seven hits and two walks, while striking out nine batters. He has a 0.71 ERA in his last seven games, and is holding opponents to a .163 (7-for-43) average. In his first season at the Triple-A level, Beck is 0-0 with a 3.16 ERA in 16 games, spanning 25.2 innings.

EDMAN GOES DEEP: With Patrick Wisdom's contract being purchased by St. Louis this weekend, infielder Tommy Edman was transferred to Memphis from Springfield. Edman played in the playoffs with Memphis last season, and has joined the team for the first time this season. Last night, he went 2-for-5 at the plate, hitting a game-tying two-run home run in the second inning. It was his first career home run at the Triple-A level, and his seventh overall this season. In his first game Saturday, he went 2-for-4, scoring once, hitting a sacrifice fly, and driving in two in the win. He went hitless in Memphis' two-hit shutout loss on Sunday, but has hit safely in each of his last three games. In his first five games with the 'Birds, Edman is hitting .368 (7-for-19). He has hits in four of five games, and multiple hits in three of those games. Additionally, he has five RBI in his first five, and has multiple RBI in two of those games. In the playoffs last season, the utility infielder appeared in nine games, hitting .222 (2-for-9), and did not make an error. With Springfield this season, he was hitting .298 (128-for-429) in 104 games. His seven home runs between Memphis and Springfield this season are already a career-high. He hit four in his first season in 2016, and hit five across three levels last season.

BIG NIGHT FOR CARSON: Last night, catcher Carson Kelly reached base safely in all five of his plate appearances. In the game, he recorded two singles and a walk, and was twice hit by a pitch. He also scored once and drove in a run in the game. Kelly has now hit safely in eight of his last 10 games, and has driven in seven runners in those 10 games. Kelly is having one of his finest seasons thus far. In 71 games with the Redbirds, he is hitting .292 (75-for-257). He has hit 14 doubles, one triple, and seven home runs, while driving in 41 runs. He has also walked 37 times this season, and struck out just 38 times. Of current players that have appeared in at least 70 games with Memphis this season, Kelly owns the second-best on-base percentage at .387, just behind Rangel Ravelo's team-leading .395 mark.

ANOTHER RBI FOR MEJIA: Last night, Alex Mejia entered the game in the bottom of the first inning as a pinch runner for Rangel Ravelo after he was hit by a pitch. Mejia stayed in the game at first base, going 2-for-4 at the plate and driving in a run and scoring once. Mejia had just eight RBI through his first 42 games this season. After driving in another run last night, he has 23 RBI in his last 49 games. He has driven in five runs in 10 August games so far. He drove in just four in 20 April games and 22 May games.

SOSA IN THE CLUTCH: Last night, Edmundo Sosa's lone hit tied the game up for the Redbirds. Sosa went 1-for-5 on the night, driving in two with a double in the third inning. It was the second-consecutive inning Memphis had tied the game on a two-run hit. They had tied it up on a two-run home run from Tommy Edman in the previous inning. Since joining Memphis, Sosa has 13 two-out RBI, and three game-tying RBI.

AUGUST PITCHING WOES: After dropping last night's game, the Memphis pitching staff continued their struggles in the month of August. The starters in particular have struggled. So far this month, the starters are 3-5 with a 6.75 ERA in 14 games. They have allowed 51 earned runs in just 68.0 innings of work. In all 25 games of April, the Memphis starters allowed only 39 total earned runs in 135.2 innings. The most runs the starters have allowed this season came in May when they allowed 57 earned runs in 177.0 innings. That was also the month they pitched the most innings this season. With all the recent transactions, the Memphis hitters have struggled to keep up with the opposition at the plate as well. The pitching staff, bullpen included, has allowed 82 runs this month (5.9/game). The Redbirds have scored only 75 total runs this month (5.4/game).

100 STEALS: Last night, infielder Wilfredo Tovar stole his 11th base of the season, giving Memphis their 100th stolen base this season. It is the first time the Redbirds have recorded at least 100 steals in a season since 2013 when they stole 104 as a team. In the 21-year history of the franchise, the 'Birds have only stolen 100 bases seven times in a season (1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2009, 2013, 2018). The 'Birds have only stolen 100 bases as a team four times since 2002. The franchise record for steals is 110, set in 1999. With 18 games remaining, the Redbirds are still within striking distance of that record. With Oscar Mercado getting traded, and Patrick Wisdom getting called-up, Tovar's 11 steals are second-most on the team behind Randy Arozarena's 12.

STRUGGLING AT HOME: So far this season, the Redbirds own a far better record on the road than they do at AutoZone Park. The Redbirds are 39-21 in 60 road games this season, compared to 35-27 in 62 home games. After dropping the first three games of this series to New Orleans, the Redbirds have now lost five-consecutive games at home for the first time this season. As a team this season, the Redbirds are hitting just .263 with 50 home runs at home, while hitting .281 with 78 home runs on the road. The Redbirds have a better home ERA than road ERA, but the bats have been unable to back up the strong pitching performances. Their home ERA is 3.39, compared to a 3.75 mark on the road.

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.

Check out the Memphis Redbirds Statistics

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Pacific Coast League Stories from August 16, 2018


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