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PCL1 Memphis Redbirds

Game Notes: Memphis Redbirds (9-1) vs Iowa Cubs (2-6)

April 15, 2018 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Memphis Redbirds News Release


Memphis Redbirds (9-1) VS Iowa Cubs (2-6)

Sunday, April 15 - 2:05 p.m. (CT) - AutoZone Park (10,000) - Memphis, Tennessee

Game #11 - Home Game #6 (5-0)

RHP John Gant (2-0, 0.69 ERA) vs. RHP Zach Hedges (NR)

THE GAME

TODAY'S GAME: The Memphis Redbirds return to action this afternoon for game three of the four-game set against Iowa. With their 3-1 win last night, the Redbirds improved to 9-1 on the season, the best start in the PCL this season and the best start in franchise history. Last night's win was also manager Stubby Clapp's 100th regular season win with the 'Birds in just his second season. His regular season record is now 100-51. Today's game will be broadcast live on www.memphisredbirds.com with Steve Selby on the call.

ON THE HILL: John Gant will take the mound for the Redbirds, making his third start of the season. So far, Gant has been lights-out. In 13.0 innings, he has allowed just one run, and has struck out 10, giving him a 2-0 start to the year. Gant faced the I-Cubs twice last season, going 0-1 with a no-decision. Across those two starts, Gant pitched 11.2 innings, allowing 12 hits, five earned runs, and four walks, while striking out 13 batters, good for a 4.01 ERA. Among qualified pitchers this season, Gant is second in the PCL with a 0.69 ERA. He is also tied for the lead-league with teammate Jack Flaherty for most innings pitched at 13.0.

The Cubs are scheduled to send right-hander Zach Hedges to the mound to battle with Gant. This will be Hedges' first Triple-A appearance this season. So far this season, Hedges has appeared in two games out of the bullpen for Chicago's Double-A team, the Tennessee Smokies. He is 1-0 in 5.1 innings this season, striking out four batters. In four starts with Iowa last season, he struggled, going 0-3 with an 11.94 ERA in just 17.1 innings.

HISTORY WITH IOWA: The Redbirds and Cubs have played each other every year dating back to 1998. The Redbirds hold the advantage against Iowa with an all-time record of 155-133. At home, Memphis holds a 44-game edge over Iowa, with an all-time record of 94-50, while struggling to a 61-83 record against the Cubs in Des Moines. In 2017, the Redbirds dominated the Cubs, posting a 10-5 season-record.

Manager Stubby Clapp also has a player-coach history with Iowa manager Marty Pevey. In 2004, Clapp joined Triple-A Syracuse, who at the time was the affiliate of Toronto, and was managed by Pevey. Clapp played in 29 games for Pevey that season, hitting .287 (25-for-87).

BIRD BITES

AROZARENA: Stole three bases in the third game of his Triple-A career, and stole two more last night

BARON: Joins St. Louis organization after spending entire career in Seattle organization

GARCIA: Is hitting .314 in 50-career Triple-A games with 15 doubles, three triples, and four home runs

KELLY: Third stint with Memphis. Spent second half of 2017 on St. Louis roster backing up Yadier Molina

MEJIA: Fourth stint with Memphis, appearing with team in each of the last four years. Made MLB debut last season

MERCADO: Making Triple-A debut after hitting .287 in 120 games and stealing 38 bases with Springfield in 2017

O'NEILL: Hitting .395 in eight games this season with two doubles, one triple, four home runs and 14 RBI

RAVELO: Second season in organization and with team. Helped lead Memphis to PCL Pennant in 2017

SCHROCK: Hit home run in first game of Triple-A career, a three-run shot in the sixth inning

TOVAR: Second season with Memphis. Has played in nine MLB games with St. Louis and the New York Mets

URIAS: Is making Triple-A debut after spending last five years in the Mexican League

WISDOM: Reigning PCL Playoffs MVP. Hit career-high 31 home runs for Memphis last season

BY THE NUMBERS

9-1 record through first ten games is the best start in franchise history

THE SEASON

ABOUT THE LAST ONE: The defending Pacific Coast League champion Memphis Redbirds continued their franchise-best start after topping Iowa 3-1 last night.

Daniel Poncedeleon was dominant on the mound for the Redbirds. The righty struck out a career-high 12 batters en route to his first win of the season. His lone mistake came on a solo home run in the first inning, but he shut down the I-Cubs bats to secure the win.

It was not a big offensive night for either team, but Memphis did enough damage on the bases, and was helped by two costly I-Cubs' errors to snag the win. The 'Birds ran all over Iowa, stealing five bases as a team for the first time since June 13, 2016 at Nashville.

Randy Arozarena and Oscar Mercado both stole two bases, while Max Schrock stole second. Arozarena leads the PCL with six stolen bases, while Mercado and Schrock are tied for second with four total.

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)

CAN'T STOP, WON'T STOP: The Redbirds have been on fire to start the 2018 season. With the win last night, the 'Birds secured an 9-1 record, the best through ten-games in franchise history. So far, the team has dominated in all aspects of the game. Offensively, they have outscored opponents 69-to-29. The club is hitting .308, has hit eight home runs, 22 doubles, and two triples, while collecting 33 walks. They also have a collective OBP of .378 and an OPS of .830. The pitching staff has gotten off to a hot start, as well. They have a combined ERA of 2.73, have allowed just five home runs, have struck out 85 batters, have a WHIP of 1.20, and are holding opposing hitters to a .226 average.

CAN'T TOUCH THIS: Daniel Poncedeleon could not be touched last night. After giving up a solo home run in the first inning, the righty went on to strike out a career-high 12 batters, topping his previous high of 10, which he accomplished in 2016. Poncedeleon was making his first start against Iowa since May 9 last season when he was struck in the head by a line drive and missed the remainder of the season. Poncedeleon earned his first win of the season, lasting 5.0 innings, allowing five hits, one run, and two walks.

MASTERS OF SMALL BALL: While the Redbirds have proved they can smash the baseball, starting the season by notching at least one extra-base hit in the first nine games, they proved last night they can win by doing the little things. The 'Birds snatched a 3-1 win last night despite not recording an extra-base hit. Helped by errors, and smart baserunning, Memphis snagged two runs in the fifth and one in the seventh. They stole five bases as a team for the first time since June 13, 2016 at Nashville. In addition, the 'Birds have now stolen 16 bases as a team through the first 10 games of the season. Last season, Memphis did not record their 16th stolen base of the year until the 47th game on May 24 at Sacramento.

HOT BAT: After going hitless in the first game of the season against Round Rock, Tyler O'Neill has been a force at the plate. The slugging outfielder and No. 4 Cardinals' prospect has been on a tear, hitting .455 (15-for-33) in those eight games. He has 10 runs scored, two doubles, one triple, four home runs, 14 RBI, and just eight strikeouts since the season opener. He is currently leads the PCL with 14 RBI, is tied for second with four homers, is tied for second with 15 hits, is tied for third with 31 total bases, and is ninth in the league with a .395 batting average.

GARCIA'S GAME: Outfielder and No. 9 prospect in the organization, Adolis Garcia has proven he's a hitter at every level, and has been dominating this season with the Redbirds. So far, Garcia has played in all ten games, starting nine of them, and is hitting a staggering .364 with four doubles, a home run, seven RBI, and has swiped two bases. Garcia is hitting .389 (7-for-18) with runners on so far, and is hitting .571 (4-for-7, 2 2B, 4 RBI) with runners on with two outs and .750 (3-for-4, 2 2B, 4 RBI) with runners in scoring position with two outs. In his 50 career-regular season games at the Triple-A level, Garcia is hitting .314 (53-for-169) with 29 runs scored, 15 doubles, three triples, four home runs, 17 RBI, 10 walks and 40 strikeouts.

HAVE MERCY MERCADO: Last night, outfielder Oscar Mercado led the offensive charge for the Redbirds, going 3-for-4 with two runs scored, and two stolen bases. He and Rangel Ravelo (2-for-4) were the only 'Birds with multi-hit games last night. Last night was his first three-hit game of the season, also making it the first three-hit game of his Triple-A career. With his two stolen bases last night, he also moved into a tie with teammate Max Schrock for second-most in the PCL, behind teammate Randy Arozarena (6).

FRIGID IN THE FIRST: In the 2017 season, the Redbirds dominated the competition in the first inning, outscoring them 118-to-51. However, this season, the Redbirds have scored just two runs in the first, both coming in the last three games. While the 'Birds have only allowed four runs in the first inning, they have made up for their lack of runs in the first by scoring 25 runs combined between the second and third innings in just ten games. The Redbirds have also scored 14 runs in the seventh inning this season, helped mainly by a 12-run inning in the opening series against Round Rock. So far Memphis has scored 69 runs through nine games, compared to allowing just 29 runs.

LIGHTS-OUT PITCHING: Memphis' 2017 pitching staff was one of its main reasons for success. The 'Birds led the PCL in ERA (3.77), which was a franchise record (3.89, 1998 and 2003), and Memphis was the only club in the PCL with a team ERA under 4.20. The Redbirds have continued that dominant stretch to start the 2018 season. So far, the 'Birds have the third-best team ERA in the PCL at 2.73 behind only Oklahoma City (2.19) and Nashville (2.28). The 'Birds are also seventh in the league with 85 strikeouts behind Albuquerque, Las Vegas, and Salt Lake (98), Tacoma (94), Fresno (93), and El Paso (86).

ALL THEY DO IS WIN, WIN, WIN: The 2017 Redbirds became the winningest club in the franchise's 20 seasons with their 84th win on Aug. 21 against New Orleans. The previous record was 83 wins, set by the 2000 team. The 'Birds have continued their winning ways to begin the 2018 season. They have started 10-1 for the first time in franchise history.

Last season, Memphis became the first PCL team since Tucson in 2006 to win 90 games in the regular season with a win at Colorado Springs on Sept. 3. They finished the season with a record of 91-50, and went on to win an additional six games in the PCL playoffs, giving them a total of 97 for the year.

MEMPHIS PLAYERS AND COACHES

FASTEST TO 100: With the win last night, second-year manager Stubby Clapp secured his 100th regular season win as manager of the Redbirds. The accomplishment made him the fastest manager in Redbird history to reach 100 games. He also sits at sixth on the all-time win list for the Redbirds and has the best winning percentage at .662. Clapp's regular season record now sits at 100-51.

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, given in honor of developmental excellence.

THE COACHING STAFF: Mark Budaska returns to the coaching staff as the hitting coach. Budaska has held the position since the 2008 season. Pitching Coach Dernier Orozco is set to begin his 13th season in the St. Louis organization, and his first as a Memphis coach. Bench coach Brian Burgamy will round out the staff in his first year in the organization, and his first year in player development.

WISDOM WOWS IN 2017: Returning infielder Patrick Wisdom was an All-PCL Team performer, Memphis' first since Brock Peterson in 2013, thanks in part to a career-high 31 home runs and 89 RBI. The 31 homers ranked fourth in the PCL and were tied for the fifth-most in a season in Redbirds history, and the 89 RBI were tied for the seventh-most in a campaign in franchise history.

Wisdom was also named Most Valuable Player of the PCL Playoffs, highlighted by his decisive two-run home run in Game 5 at El Paso and a diving catch at first base to strand two Chihuahuas on base.

2017 HONOREES: Manager Stubby Clapp was named the 2017 PCL Manager of the Year and the 2017 Baseball America Minor League Manager of the Year. Clapp became the first manager in the history of the St. Louis organization to earn the Baseball America Award. Carson Kelly and Ryan Sherriff represented the Redbirds at the Triple-A All-Star Game in Tacoma, with Luke Weaver selected but unable to play due to a promotion to St. Louis. Jack Flaherty participated in the MLB Futures Game during All-Star festivities in Miami.

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