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PCL1 Memphis Redbirds

Game Notes: Memphis Redbirds (81-56) at Nashville Sounds (71-66)

September 1, 2018 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Memphis Redbirds News Release


Memphis Redbirds (81-56) At Nashville Sounds (71-66)

Saturday, September 1 - 7:05 p.m. (CT) - First Tennessee Park (10,300) - Nashville, Tennessee

Game #138 - Road Game #68 (41-26)

RHP Adam Wainwright (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. RHP Raul Alcantara (5-6, 5.17 ERA)

THE GAME

TODAY'S GAME: The Memphis Redbirds and Nashville Sounds will play game two of a four-game set tonight at 7:05 p.m. It is the final series of the regular-season for both teams. With their walk-off win last 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 1-2 series loss to the Round Rock Express, and Nashville is coming off a 1-2 series loss to the New Orleans Baby Cakes. Awards have been flying in for the Redbirds this week. Yesterday, pitcher Dakota Hudson was named PCL Pitcher of the Year. Earlier this week, manager Stubby Clapp won the Pacific Coast League Manager of the Year award for the second-consecutive season, and Hudson and outfielder Tyler O'Neill were named to the All-Pacific Coast League Team. Today, Carson Kelly, Daniel Poncedeleon, and Tyler Webb were all recalled by St. Louis in the first wave of September call-ups. Landon Beck was transferred to Memphis in a corresponding move. Today's game will be broadcast on www.memphisredbirds.com with Steve Selby on the call.

ON THE HILL: Right-hander Adam Wainwright will take the mound for the Redbirds tonight against Nashville. Wainwright will be making his second rehab start with the team. His previous rehab start came at AutoZone Park, also against the Sounds. In that game, he threw four scoreless innings, allowing three hits and two walks, while striking out four batters. Left-hander Tyler Lyons piggy-backed Wainwright in that start, earning the win. He threw five shutout innings and the Redbirds won 2-0. Wainwright started four games for the Cardinals before being injured this season. He is 1-3 with a 4.00 ERA with the big league club.

The Sounds will send right-hander Raul Alcantara to the mound to battle Wainwright and the Redbirds. Alcantara has appeared in 31 games for the Sounds this season, starting nine of them. As a starter, he is 1-4 with a 6.50 ERA in 36.0 innings of work. His most recent start came against the Redbirds. He threw three innings, allowing two runs, one earned en route to the loss.

HISTORY WITH NASHVILLE: Memphis and Nashville have played every season dating back to 1998 when the Redbirds joined the PCL. In that span, Nashville has been affiliated with Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, and now Oakland. This will be the final series the two teams will play against one another this season, and the final series of the regular-season for both teams. They have played 13 games so far this year, and Nashville leads the series 8-5. They won each of the first two series 3-1 before Memphis took last week's series 3-1. Memphis will have to win each of the next three games to secure a season series tie. So far, Nashville is outpitching the Redbirds, while Memphis is outhitting the Sounds. Nashville has a 2.93 ERA, while Memphis has a 4.06 ERA. Memphis has a .248 average, while Nashville has a .239 average.

BIRD BITES

AROZARENA: Was placed on the Temporary Inactive List before last night's game

BARON: Has hit safely in 16 of his last 20 games since June; had a season-long eight-game hitting streak in that stretch

EDMAN: In his first game back with Memphis Tuesday night, snapped his eight-game hitting streak with 'Birds

KNIZNER: Rejoins Memphis for his second stint of the season; hitting .316 between Memphis and Springfield

MEJIA: Last night, drove in lone Memphis run with his fourth home run; is hitting just .184 (7-for-38) in last 13 games

RAVELO: Recently snapped 16-game hitting streak, going hitless in three-straight; now has hits in five-straight

SCHROCK: Went 2-for-4 with an RBI Wednesday night; hitting just .200 (11-for-55) this month

SOSA: Recently had back-to-back games with a home run for the first time in his Triple-A career; 5 HR with Memphis

THOMAS: Had three of Memphis' seven hits last night, recording his second three-hit game since joining Memphis

TOVAR: Wednesday night, went 3-for-4 in the win and hit his first home run since May 30; it was his fifth of the year

URIAS: Has recorded at least one hit in 11 of his last 14 games with Memphis; just snapped eight-game hitting streak

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

208 transactions for the Redbirds this season after four transactions this morning. They have bested the previous franchise-record for transactions by 48.

BY THE NUMBERS

87 home runs on the road by Memphis hitters this season is tied for the second-most home runs in franchise history hit on the road by Memphis in a single season. The record is 90 (2004).

BY THE NUMBERS

13-16 record for Memphis in August after losing the last two games. They secured their first month with a below .500 record under Stubby Clapp, and their first below .500 month since September of 2016.

THE SEASON

ABOUT THE LAST ONE: The Memphis Redbirds dropped the series opener to the Nashville Sounds 5-1 last night. It was the opener of the final regular-season series for both times.

Memphis starter Austin Warner got off to a rough start in the game before settling in. He allowed three runs on a home run in the first inning, and allowed one run in the second inning. He then threw two scoreless frames before exiting the game.

Giovanny Gallegos, Andrew Morales, and John Brebbia combined to throw the final four innings, allowing just one run.

Alex Mejia drove in the lone run for Memphis, hitting a solo home run in the seventh inning. Lane Thomas went 3-for-4, and Edmundo Sosa went 2-for-4 in the game. Rangel Ravelo collected the only other hit for Memphis.

BELOW .500 AUGUST: With Thursday night's loss to Round Rock, Memphis fell to 13-15 in August with one game remaining to secure their first below .500 month under Stubby Clapp. They then dropped last night's game 5-1, falling to 13-16 in August. It is their first below .500 month since going 2-3 in September of 2016. The 'Birds had struggled both at the plate and on the mound in August. Memphis batters hit just a collective .247 with only 23 home runs. Their .247 average was their worst batting average in a month this season, beating their June mark of .266, the previous low. Memphis was also being outscored 143-to-128 in August. It is the first month this season where they have been outscored. The 143 total runs Memphis has allowed in August is a season-high, as is the 126 earned runs. Memphis batters also struck out 207 times in the month, their highest mark.

STRUGGLES WITH THE DIVISION: Despite having a strong overall record of 81-56, and winning their division, Memphis has struggled mightily against its own division this season. Memphis has had to rely on their dominance over other divisions to get the job done. The 'Birds are 5-8 against Nashville, 7-9 against New Orleans, and 8-8 against Round Rock. Memphis has three games remaining this season. They lost the season series with New Orleans, and tied the season-series with Round Rock, and have to win their last three against Nashville to secure a season-series tie with the Sounds. Until a few weeks ago, Memphis batters had just a slightly lower batting average against divisional opponents than they did against opponents from other divisions. However, Memphis has struggled to hit and pitch against the division in recent weeks. Memphis is hitting .274 (859-for-3136) against opponents in other divisions, and are hitting much lower at .258 (384-for-1486) against the division. Memphis pitchers are posting a 3.86 ERA (168ER, 392.0IP) against the division, while posting a 3.42 ERA (308ER, 811.2IP) against everyone else.

INFIELDERS IN THE OUTFIELD: Last night, usual infielders Alex Mejia and Max Schrock both played in the outfield for the first time this season. Schrock played left field, while Mejia played right field. It was the first outfield appearance for both players in their entire professional careers. Schrock has spent four years in the Minor Leagues, and has appeared in 319 games. He had played 2,721.1 innings in the infield before making his outfield debut last night. Mejia has spent seven years between the Minor Leagues and St. Louis. Mejia had appeared in 643 games in the field in his professional career before his outfield debut last night. He had played in 5,152.2 innings in the infield.

MEJIA GOES DEEP: Last night, first time outfielder Alex Mejia went deep in the seventh inning. His solo home run provided the only run of the game for the Redbirds. It was his fourth home run of the season, and his third solo shot. He has had one two-run home run. The four home runs ties his career-high with a single team in a season. He also hit four homers with the Redbirds last season. The home run also continues Mejia's recent run production. In his first 42 games of the season, he had just eight RBI and one home run. In his last 63 home runs, he has hit three home runs and driven in 27 runs for Memphis.

THOMAS ON A ROLL: Last night, outfielder Lane Thomas went 3-for-4 at the plate, notching nearly half of Memphis' seven hits in the game. Thomas had previously hit home runs in each of his previous two games, hitting a two-run shot and a solo shot. It was the first time in his Triple-A career that he had homered in consecutive games. In 29 games with Memphis since being promoted from Springfield last month, Thomas is hitting .269 (32-for-119). Thomas is having a breakout season in his first year in the St. Louis organization. Between the two levels of the organization, he is hitting .262 (132-for-503), the second-highest average of his career. He has also scored 83 runs, hit 22 doubles, hit 26 home runs, driven in 84 runs, and walked 49 times, all career-highs. His six triples, and 16 stolen bases are just shy of his career-high marks. He has hit safely in six of his last eight games and is hitting .321 (9-for-28) in those eight games.

GALLEGOS IS DEALING: Since being traded to the organization late last month from the Yankees, right-handed reliever Giovanny Gallegos has been dominant on the mound. The righty has made 12 appearances spanning 16.1 innings. In last night's game, he threw two scoreless innings following Austin Warner's departure from the game. In his 12 games with Memphis, Gallegos is 0-0 with one save and a 0.55 ERA. He has allowed just seven hits, one run and three walks, while striking out 16 batters. Opponents are hitting just .132 (7-for-53) off him since he joined the Redbirds.

RAVELO FINDING HIS WAY BACK: On August 15, infielder Rangel Ravelo left the Redbirds' game against New Orleans after being hit in the face with a pitch. He spent more than a week on the Disabled List before returning to the lineup on August 25. At the time of his injury, Ravelo was riding a 16-game hitting streak, tied for the longest such streak of his career. Ravelo went 0-for-8 in his first two games back with the 'Birds. However, in the last five games, he has been finding some consistency. He has recorded one hit in each of his last five games, and has recorded at least one RBI in three of those five games. Thursday night, Ravelo drove in two of the three Memphis runs via a single and a sacrifice fly. The other run scored on a Lane Thomas solo home run. Ravelo is 5-for-19 (.263) in the last five games with four RBI and two walks. He leads current Memphis players with a .300 (101-for-337) batting average, and .383 on-base percentage.

WARNER HIT HARD IN THIRD-STRAIGHT: In last night's series opening loss to the Nashville Sounds, left-handed pitcher Austin Warner took the loss for the 'Birds. He threw four innings, allowing four earned runs on six hits and three walks, while striking out just three batters. He allowed a three-run home run in the first inning, and one run in the second before throwing two scoreless innings. Warner has struggled to find consistency in his last three starts after being lights-out in his first four starts with the team. In his first four starts, he was 1-0 with a 2.78 ERA in 22.2 innings of work. However, in his last three starts, he is 0-2 with a 7.11 ERA in just 12.2 innings. He hasn't made it through five innings in any of the starts, throwing 4.1 twice, and 4.0 last night. He has allowed 10 earned runs on 28 hits, four of them home runs, while walking six and striking out five batters. Opponents are hitting .467 (28-for-60) off him in this stretch.

CLOSING IN ON ROAD HOMER RECORD: With three games remaining this season, Memphis has hit 87 home runs away from AutoZone Park. The 87 home runs on the road this season are tied for the second-most in franchise history. The 2008 Redbirds also hit 87 home runs. The 2004 team holds the record with 90 home runs on the road in a single season. The 'Birds will have to rely on home runs from unlikely sources to chase down the record. 91 of their 140 home runs this season are either in St. Louis or have been traded.

RUNNIN' RUNNIN': Last night, outfielder Lane Thomas stole his fourth base of the season with the Redbirds. The Redbirds now have 109 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 three games remaining, the Redbirds have a chance to tie or set the new franchise record. Before he was traded, outfielder Oscar Mercado led the team with 31 steals on the season. Randy 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' 161 and Fresno's 122. The Redbirds have only been caught 37 times on the base paths this season, giving them a 75 percent success rate.

BACK-TO-BACK FOR CLAPP: Earlier this week, 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 81-56 with three 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 172-106 in two seasons with Memphis, a .619 winning percentage, best in franchise history. He also sits fifth in wins among Redbirds' managers.

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