PCL1 Memphis Redbirds

Game Notes: Memphis Redbirds (80-53) at Round Rock Express (61-72)

August 28, 2018 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Memphis Redbirds News Release


Memphis Redbirds (80-53) At Round Rock Express (61-72)

Tuesday, August 28 - 7:05 p.m. (CT) - Dell Diamond (8,722) - Round Rock, Texas

Game #134 - Road Game #64 (40-23)

RHP Jake Woodford (4-4, 4.42 ERA) vs. LHP Yohander Mendez (0-7, 5.43 ERA)

THE GAME

TODAY'S GAME: The Memphis Redbirds and Round Rock Express will kick off a three-game set tonight at 7:05 p.m. in Round Rock. With their walk-off win Saturday night, the Redbirds secured their second-consecutive American Southern Division title. It is the second time in franchise history they have won back-to-back division titles, the other time being in 2009 and 2010. Memphis is coming off a 3-1 series win over the Nashville Sounds, and Round Rock is coming off a 2-2 series split with the New Orleans Baby Cakes. This is the last series the two will play against one another this season. Earlier today, manager Stubby Clapp won the Pacific Coast League Manager of the Year award for the second-consecutive season. Yesterday, pitcher Dakota Hudson and outfielder Tyler O'Neill were named to the All-Pacific Coast League Team. Infielder Patrick Wisdom was also recalled by St. Louis today for his second big league stint. 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 in tonight's series opener with Round Rock. Coming into tonight's game, Woodford is 4-4 with a 4.42 ERA in 10 starts this season. In his last start against New Orleans, Woodford took the loss, allowing four earned runs on six hits in five innings of work. He has faced Round Rock once this season, and won that game, having one of his better performances of the last month. In that game, he pitched seven innings, allowing four runs, three earned, on six hits and no walks, while striking out three batters.

The Express will send left-hander Yohander Mendez to the mound to battle Woodford and the Redbirds. Coming into tonight's game, Woodford is 0-7 with a 5.43 ERA in 11 starts at the Triple-A level this season. He has faced Memphis twice this season, going 0-1 in those contests. In 6.2 innings between his two starts, he has allowed 12 hits, 10 earned runs, three home runs, and nine walks, while striking out just four batters.

HISTORY WITH ROUND ROCK: Memphis and Round Rock have played every season dating back to 2005 when Round Rock joined the PCL. Round Rock was affiliated with Houston until 2011 before becoming the affiliate of the Rangers. This will be the final series the two teams will play against one another this season. Memphis narrowly leads the series at 7-6 with three games remaining. Memphis started the season going 4-1 at Round Rock. So far in the season-series, Memphis is outperforming Round Rock both on the mound and at the plate. They are outhitting Round Rock with an average of .284 compared to their .272, and have a 3.29 ERA compared to their 4.50 mark.

BIRD BITES

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

BARON: Has hit safely in 15 of his last 18 games since June; had a season-long eight-game hitting streak in that stretch

EDMAN: Currently riding eight-game hitting streak with 'Birds; has career-high seven HR between Memphis and Springfield

GARCIA: Friday 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 44 walks with Memphis this season

MEJIA: Is 4-for-7 in his last two games after going five-consecutive games with no hits, an 0-for-11 stretch

RAVELO: Was activated from the Disabled List Saturday, hitting second, and snapped 16-game hitting streak

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

SOSA: Yesterday, snapped six-game hitting streak; the six-game streak tied his longest mark with the Redbirds this season

THOMAS: Scored the winning run in Saturday night's game to secure the walk-off win and the division title for Memphis

TOVAR: Sat. night, hit game-tying single in ninth; winning run came around to score when center fielder committed error

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

BY THE NUMBERS

1 manager in franchise history has won Manager of the Year honors; Stubby Clapp has won it in consecutive seasons, becoming the 3rd PCL manager on record to win the award consecutively

BY THE NUMBERS

488 calendar days since Memphis was not in first place (April 27, 2017); they have played 253 regular-season games since then.

BY THE NUMBERS

2 instances in franchise history where the Redbirds have won consecutive division titles. 2009 and 2010, and now 2017 and 2018.

ON THIS DATE

In 2002, Chad Meyers stole his 43rd base of the season, a franchise record that still stands.

THE SEASON

ABOUT THE LAST ONE: The Memphis Redbirds won last night's game in shutout fashion, topping the Nashville Sounds 2-0.

Right-hander Adam Wainwright took the mound for Memphis in a Major League Rehab appearance. The righty threw four strong innings, allowing no runs, while surrendering two hits and two walks, while striking out four.

Left-hander Tyler Lyons piggy-backed Wainwright's start, earning the win. Lyons threw five shutout innings, allowing just one hit and one walk, while striking out seven Sounds' batters. It was the 11th shutout thrown by Memphis pitchers this season.

The 'Birds scored two runs in the third, giving Wainwright and Lyons the only support they needed. Rangel Ravelo and Alex Mejia both drove in runs in the inning.

Mejia finished the game going 2-for-4 at the plate, and Randy Arozarena went 2-for-3 with two stolen bases in the game.

BACK-TO-BACK FOR CLAPP: Earlier today, Redbirds manager Stubby Clapp was named the Pacific Coast League Manager of the Year for the second consecutive season. Last season, he led the Redbirds to a franchise-record 91-50 in his first season at the helm of the 'Birds. They won the PCL Championship, winning 97 total games between the regular-season and playoffs. He became the first manager in Memphis history to win the award last season. This season, Memphis is 80-53 with seven games remaining. After winning Saturday night, the Redbirds clinched their second-consecutive division title for the first time since 2009-2010. Clapp is just the third PCL manager on record to win the award in consecutive seasons, joining Dan Rohn of Tacoma (2004, 2005) and Jim Lefebvre of Phoenix (1985, 1986). With the ninth win of the season this year, he became the fastest manager in both Memphis history, and the 116-year history of the PCL to reach 100 wins. He is 171-103 in two seasons with Memphis, a .624 winning percentage, best in franchise history. He also sits fifth in wins among Redbirds' managers.

BACK-TO-BACK DIVISION CHAMPS: Saturday night, the Redbirds walked off in the bottom of the ninth inning to complete the comeback and secure their second-consecutive American Southern Division title. The Redbirds have now won their division in consecutive seasons for the second time in franchise history. They also won in 2009 and 2010. They went on to win the PCL Championship in 2009 before being beat out of the playoffs in the second round in 2010. The Redbirds have made the playoffs in 2000, 2009, 2010, 2014, 2017, and now 2018. They were crowned PCL Champs in 2000, 2009, and 2017. The PCL Playoffs begin on September 5. The first two games of his year's opening round will be played in the home ballpark of the American Northern Division Champions. As of right now, Oklahoma City leads Colorado Springs by 0.5 games in that division. Game three and any necessary games after that will be played in Memphis. Memphis won the regular season series against both teams with records of 11-5 against Colorado Springs, and 10-6 against Oklahoma City.

MORE HONORS FOR THE 'BIRDS: Yesterday, outfielder Tyler O'Neill and right-handed pitcher Dakota Hudson were named to the All-Pacific Coast League Team. In 19 starts with Memphis this season, Hudson was 13-3 with a 2.50 ERA in 111.2 innings. He was promoted to St. Louis in late July and in 13 relief appearances, he is 4-1 with a 3.14 ERA in 14.1 innings. O'Neill was hitting .311 (74-for-238) with Memphis, posting an on-base percentage of .385, a slugging percentage of .693, and an OPS of 1.078. O'Neill hit 26 home runs with Memphis, posting six multi-home run games. With St. Louis, the outfielder is hitting .282 (24-for-85) with six home runs. It is the first time in franchise history that Memphis has had two players named to the All-PCL team in the same season. Before Patrick Wisdom earned the honor last season, no Memphis player had been named to the team since 2013.

These honors are some of the many the Redbirds have won this season. 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 was 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. 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.

80 WINS IN THE BOOKS: With last night's win, Memphis won its 80th game of the season. It is the fourth time in franchise history Memphis has had a team win at least 80 games. Stubby Clapp has played for or managed three of those teams. He played for the 2000 team that went 83-61, managed last year's team that went 91-50, and has managed this year's team that is 80-53. They also went 82-62 in 2010.

WELCOME BACK, WAINWRIGHT: In last night's series finale win over Nashville, right-hander Adam Wainwright took the mound for Memphis in a rehab appearance. It was his first appearance with the team since 2008 when he also made rehab starts with the 'Birds. It was Wainwright's fifth rehab start on his road back to St. Louis. He had previously made two starts with Palm Beach and two with Springfield before joining the Redbirds last night. In last night's win, he threw four scoreless innings, allowing three hits and two walks, while whiffing four Sounds batters. He threw 61 pitches, 38 of which went for strikes. Tyler Lyons piggy-backed Wainwright, earning the win.

LYONS LIGHTS-OUT: Last night, left-hander Tyler Lyons, usually a starter for Memphis, piggy-backed Adam Wainwright's rehab start. Lyons dominated the Sounds' hitters, allowing just one hit and one walk, throwing the final five innings of the game. He struck out a season-high seven batters in his five shutout frames. For his efforts, he earned his first win of the season with the Redbirds and lowered his ERA to 2.55. He retired 15 of the 18 batters he faced, with the only other baserunner reaching on an error.

SHUTOUTS GALORE: After using strong pitching to blank the Nashville Sounds last night, Memphis has now won 11 games in shutout fashion this season. Their 11 shutout wins are tied for the second-most in the PCL with New Orleans, and only behind Omaha (13). However, the Redbirds have also been shut out 11 times this season, owning just a .500 record in shutout games. Their 11 shutout losses are second-most in the PCL behind only Iowa's 12 such losses. The Redbirds are 7-5 in shutout games at AutoZone Park and 4-6 in shutout games on the road. The 11 shutout wins this season are the most for a Memphis team since 2015 when they went 14-6 in such games. The 11 shutout losses this season are the most for the Redbirds in a season since 2012 when they went 7-11 in shutout games.

RUNNIN' RUNNIN': Last night, outfielder Randy Arozarena stole two bases in Memphis' win over Nashville. He stole three total in the 3-1 series win over Nashville. The Redbirds now have 108 steals this season. This season 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 seven games remaining, the Redbirds are still within striking distance of that record. Before he was traded, outfielder Oscar Mercado led the team with 31 steals on the season. Arozarena now has the team lead with 17 steals so far. The Redbirds also have the third-most steals in the PCL this season behind Colorado Springs' 159 and Fresno's 114. The Redbirds have only been caught 36 times on the base paths this season, giving them a 75 percent success rate. Memphis now has 105 steals for the first time since 2002. They trail only the 1999 team for most steals in a season.

MEJIA DRIVES IN ANOTHER: After snapping a five-game hitless streak Sunday afternoon by going 2-for-3 with two runs and a walk, he went 2-for-4 last night with an RBI. He was 0-for-11 in his hitless streak. Three of his appearances in the stretch were pinch-hit appearances, while just two were starts. He was 0-for-8 in his two starts. He is now 4-for-7 with an RBI and two runs scored in his last two games. After driving in just eight runs in his first 42 games of the season, Mejia has now driven in 26 runs in his last 59 games.

HAVE A NIGHT, RANDY: Last night, outfielder Randy Arozarena went 2-for-3 with a walk, a run scored, and two stolen bases in the Memphis win over Nashville. It was his fourth game with at least two steals with Memphis this season. He currently leads active Memphis players with 17 steals on the season. It was the second time in the last four games that Arozarena had recorded multiple hits in a game. He also finished the series against Nashville with three stolen bases.

HOME SEASON DONE: Last night's game marked the final home game of the regular-season for the Redbirds. In 70 home games this season, they went 40-30 at AutoZone Park. After winning their 40th home game last night, Memphis won 40 games at home in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2010-2011. With the Redbirds clinching a playoff spot on Saturday night, they have one guaranteed game at home during the playoffs. The 'Birds will play game three at home, and play games four and five at home, if they are necessary in the series.

Check out the Memphis Redbirds Statistics



Pacific Coast League Stories from August 28, 2018


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