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PCL1 Memphis Redbirds

Game Notes: Memphis Redbirds (78-52) vs Nashville Sounds (68-62)

August 25, 2018 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Memphis Redbirds News Release


Memphis Redbirds (78-52) vs Nashville Sounds (68-62)

Saturday, August 25 - 6:35 p.m. (CT) - AutoZone Park (10,000) - Memphis, Tennessee

Game #131 - Home Game #68 (38-29)

LHP Austin Warner (1-1, 3.33 ERA) vs. RHP Frankie Montas (4-5, 4.86 ERA)

THE GAME

TODAY'S GAME: The Memphis Redbirds and Nashville will play game two of a four-game set tonight at 6:35 p.m. in Memphis. It is the last home series of the regular-season for the Redbirds. If the Redbirds win one more game in this series, they will clinch the American Southern Division at home. Memphis is coming off a 2-1 series loss to the New Orleans Baby Cakes and Nashville is coming off a 2-1 series loss to the Round Rock Express. Both teams have 10 games remaining this season, and seven will be played against one another. Earlier today, infielder/outfielder Rangel Ravelo was activated from the Disabled List, and infielder Ramon Urias was transferred to Springfield in the corresponding move. Today's game will be broadcast on www.memphisredbirds.com with Steve Selby on the call.

ON THE HILL: Left-hander Austin Warner will take the mound tonight for the Redbirds in game two against Nashville. This will be his first career appearance against the Sounds. Warner is looking to rebound from his previous outing against Round Rock. In that start on Sunday, he was rocked for 14 hits in just 4.1 innings. He limited the damage to just three runs, all coming on solo home runs. All three home runs were back-to-back-to-back shots. It was the first time Memphis had allowed back-to-back-to-back home runs since 2013. With the exception of his last start, Warner has been pitching well in his first taste of Triple-A ball. Through his first five starts, he has thrown 27.0 innings, and is posting a 1-1 record with a 3.33 ERA and 18 strikeouts.

The Sounds will send Frankie Montas to the mound to battle Warner and the Redbirds tonight. Montas has made 14 starts with the Sounds this season and is 4-5 with a 4.86 ERA in 66.2 innings of work. He has faced the Redbirds twice this season, and is 1-1 in those two starts. In his first start, he earned the win, throwing six innings of one-run ball. In his second start, he took the loss despite throwing a complete game. He threw eight innings, allowing just two run, but Memphis won the game 2-1.

HISTORY WITH NASHVILLE: Memphis and Nashville have played every year dating back to 1998 when Memphis joined the PCL. Nashville has been affiliated with Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, and Oakland in that span, while Memphis has remained affiliated with St. Louis. Both teams have 10 games remaining this season, and seven of them will be played against one another. In the nine games they have played this season, Nashville leads the series 3-6, winning both series 3-1. So far this season, Nashville is outperforming Memphis on the mound, while Memphis is outperforming Nashville at the plate. The Redbirds are hitting .253, while Nashville is hitting .247. The Sounds are posting a 3.30 ERA, while Memphis has a 4.50 mark.

BIRD BITES

AROZARENA: Reached base in all four plate appearances last night, going 2-for-2 with two walks, two RBI, and HR

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

GARCIA: Last night, hit leadoff for first time this season, going 2-for-5 with a double, RBI, and two runs scored

KELLY: Tues. night, snapped five-game walk streak, and has a career-high 43 walks with Memphis this season

MEJIA: Is now hitless in his last five games after going 0-for-4 last night; second-longest stretch of season

RAVELO: Currently riding 16-game hitting streak, hitting .407 (24-for-59) in that stretch; activated from DL today

SCHROCK: Went 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI Sat. night in his first game back after spending 10 games on DL

SOSA: Wednesday night, went 2-for-4 with two doubles, extending his current hitting streak to four games

THOMAS: Last Thursday night, hit three-run home run in third inning to put Memphis ahead for good; they won 3-2

TOVAR: Has hit safely in seven of eight since coming off the Disabled List last week; hitting .357 (10-for-28)

WILLIAMS: Drove in all three runs Memphis scored from 8/19-8/22 on a solo home run and two-run home run

WISDOM: Hit home run in first game back with Memphis; recorded ML first hit on 8/12 and first home run on 8/19

BY THE NUMBERS

1 more win in this series against Nashville would allow the Redbirds to clinch the American Southern Division at home.

ON THIS DATE

In 2011, reliever Victor Marte set the Redbirds' single-season record for saves with his 27th of the season. He went on to record 31 total saves on the season, a record that still stands.

THE SEASON

ABOUT THE LAST ONE: The Memphis Redbirds won last night's series opener over the Nashville Sounds 9-3.

The 'Birds scored early and often to back a strong Kevin Herget on the mound to secure the win. Herget threw six innings, allowing just one run, a solo home run, on four hits and a walk, while striking out seven batters.

Adolis Garcia led off the game for the Redbirds with a double, and came around to score on Patrick Wisdom's RBI single two batters later.

The 'Birds broke out for five runs in the second inning, using three hits, two walks, and one hit-by-pitch to score their runs. Ramon Urias highlighted the inning with a bases-clearing double, giving him three RBI.

Randy Arozarena smashed a two-run home run in the third inning, and the 'Birds grabbed another run in the eighth. Garcia, Wilfredo Tovar, Arozarena, and Edmundo Sosa all collected multi-hit games for the Redbirds.

Three Memphis relievers combined to throw the final three innings, allowing two runs to cross. Tommy Layne posted another scoreless outing, throwing 1.1 innings without allowing a baserunner.

HERGET FINALLY GETS THE W: Last night, Memphis starter Kevin Herget was phenomenal for the Redbirds. Herget threw six strong innings, allowing just one run on four hits and one walk. The lone run came on a solo home run in the fourth inning. He struck out seven in the win. It snapped a streak of three-straight losses for Herget. He had not won a game since July 29 at Las Vegas. With the flurry of callups this season, especially among pitchers, Herget has now made the most starts this season for Memphis, despite not joining the rotation until the end of April. This is also his first season as a consistent starter, and he has set many personal highs because of that this season. Through 27 appearances and 21 starts, Herget is now 9-10 with a 4.39 ERA, and 118 strikeouts. Herget now has career-highs in wins, losses, innings pitched, strikeouts, and many more. Additionally, he has only walked 33 batters this season. He owns the lowest walks per nine innings pitched in the PCL at 1.81. It is also the best mark in all of Triple-A baseball, sitting .09 points ahead of the next closest pitcher.

QUALITY STARTS GALORE: After Kevin Herget's performance last night, 'Birds starters have thrown 58 quality starts in 130 games this season. They threw 55 total in 2017. Earlier this season, the Redbirds staff had a streak of 11-straight quality starts. Of the 17 pitchers that have made a start for Memphis this season, 11 of them have thrown at least one quality start. Sam Tuivailala, Sean Gilmartin, Luke Weaver, Tyler Webb, Tyler Lyons, and Connor Jones combined for 15 starts, and have not thrown a quality start. Dakota Hudson and Kevin Herget lead the team with 11 apiece, John Gant has seven, Daniel Poncedeleon has six, Austin Gomber has five, Jack Flaherty, Chris Ellis and Jake Woodford have four apiece, Ryan Helsley has three, Austin Warner has two, and Alex Reyes has one.

URIAS PUTTING ON A SHOW: Since rejoining Memphis for his third stint of the season, utility infielder Ramon Urias has been solid at the plate. Last night, he went 1-for-4, driving in three runs in Memphis' five-run second inning. He smoked a bases-clearing double to left center. The hit drove in the fourth, fifth, and sixth runs of the game, providing the winning runs as Nashville scored just three runs on the night. In his first 13 games back with the 'Birds, Urias has hit safely in 12 of them, and recorded multiple hits in five of them. With his performance last night, he has now hit in eight-consecutive games with Memphis for the first time this season. With Rangel Ravelo on the Disabled List, he has the longest active streak on the team right now. Over this streak, he is hitting .323 (10-for-31) with two doubles and five runs scored. In 41 games with Memphis this season, Urias is hitting .279 (34-for-122). Since rejoining the team two weeks ago, he has raised his batting average by 58 points from .221 to .279.

WIZ IS BACK WITH A BANG: Last night, Patrick Wisdom went 1-for-4 at the plate, driving in the first run of the game with an RBI single in the first inning. On Thursday, in his first game back with the team since making his Major League debut, Wisdom made an immediate impact, going 1-for-3 with a two-run home run in the game. With the Cardinals, Wisdom hit .333 (4-for-12), hitting one home run, scoring four times, and driving in three runs. With his performance for the 'Birds last night, he is still hitting a career-best .288 (105-for-364) this season. Having spent the better part of the last three seasons with Memphis, Wisdom is in the top-10, or just outside it, for many Redbird records. He has the fourth-most home runs at 51, the third-most RBI at 180, the fifth-most extra-base hits at 123, is tied for the sixth-most doubles at 69, has the eight-most total bases at 505, has played the 10th-most games at 310, and has the 10th-most at-bats at 1,082. Additionally, he is just outside the top-10 in runs at 162, hits at 277, and walks at 106. He needs just two more runs scored to get into the top-10, 13 more walks, and 26 more hits to reach the top-10. However, he has struck out 333 times in his Redbird career. With two more strikeouts, he will tie John Nelson for the most strikeouts in Memphis history.

GARCIA ON A ROLL: Last night, outfielder Adolis Garcia went 2-for-5 at the plate, scoring twice and driving in one run, while also notching a double. This came one night after he kicked off the scoring with a solo home run in the second inning. It was his 22nd home run of the season, extending his career-high. It was his first home run since returning from his first big league stint with St. Louis. After going hitless in his first four games back with Memphis, Garcia has been clicking at the plate. After last night's performance, he has now hit safely in five of his last six and has recorded multiple hits in three of those games. Over the last six games, he is hitting .320 (8-for-25) at the plate.

HAVE A NIGHT, RANDY: In last night's win over Nashville, outfielder Randy Arozarena was phenomenal at the plate, reaching in all four of his plate appearances. Arozarena went 2-for-2, scoring two runs, driving in two, and walking twice. In the third inning, he crushed his fifth home run of the season, and his first in over a month, to deep leftfield to extend the Memphis lead. After collecting just three hits in his first 10 games back with Memphis this season, Arozarena has been clicking at the plate. He has hit safely in six of his last eight games, including hits in three-straight games.

SOLID NIGHT FOR EDMUNDO: Infielder Edmundo Sosa went 2-for-4 at the plate last night, hitting a double and driving in two runs, while also scoring once. Sosa had been struggling at the plate early in the month, but he seems to have found some consistency. After going hitless in three straight last week, Sosa has now hit safely in six of his last seven, and has hit safely in five-straight games.

TOVAR ON FIRE: Infielder Wilfredo Tovar has been on fire at the plate since rejoining Memphis from a stint on the Disabled List early last week. Tovar hit safely in his first six-games back with the 'Birds before snapping his streak on Wednesday. He got a night off Thursday and came back with a hot-bat last night. He went 2-for-4 in the game, scoring twice. Since rejoining the Redbirds, Tovar is now hitting .357 (10-for-28) in his last eight games. He has hit three doubles, one triple, scored four runs, and driven in two runs.

RAVELO IS BACK: Before today's game, infielder Rangel Ravelo was activated from the Disabled List. He missed seven games after being hit in the face by a pitch last week. Ravelo is in the midst of the second-longest hitting streak of his career. He has hit safely in 16-consecutive games. Ravelo leads the Redbirds in batting average (.309), on-base percentage (.395), and is second in walks. He already has a career-high 13 home runs.

DOWN TO 10: Including tonight's game against the Nashville Sounds, the Redbirds have 10 games left this season. If they win one more game in this series, they will clinch the American Southern Division at home. This weekend marks the final regular-season home games of the 2018 season. Of the 10 remaining games, Memphis will play seven more against Nashville, and three more against Round Rock.

STRUGGLES WITH THE DIVISION: Despite having a strong overall record of 78-52, Memphis has struggled mightily against its own division this season. The 'Birds are 3-6 against Nashville, 7-9 against New Orleans, and 7-6 against Round Rock. Memphis has 10 games remaining this season. They lost the season series with New Orleans after dropping their most recent series, they have three more against Round Rock, and seven more against Nashville. Nashville is the closest to the 'Birds, sitting 10 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 .264 (334-for-1264) against the division. However, Memphis pitchers are posting a 3.90 ERA (144ER, 332.0IP) against the division, while posting a 3.42 ERA (308ER, 811.2IP) against everyone else.

THREE STRAIGHT SERIES LOSSES: The Redbirds have struggled to an 10-12 record in the month of August. They have played six full series this month, winning just two of them. They won the opening series of the month over Sacramento 2-1, and their series against Oklahoma City a few days later at 3-1. Between those two series, they dropped their series to Fresno 3-1, and since topping Oklahoma City, they have dropped three consecutive series for the first time this season. They lost three of four to New Orleans last week, two of three to Round Rock, and with last night's win, finished their final series with New Orleans by losing two of three. This is the first time Memphis has lost three-consecutive series since they lost four-straight from mid-August to early-September in 2016. From August 17-19, they fell 3-1 to Reno, from August 20-23, they fell 3-1 to Iowa, from August 24-28, they fell 4-1 to Nashville, and from August 29-September 1, they fell 2-1 at Oklahoma City.

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