PCL1 Memphis Redbirds

Game Notes: Memphis Redbirds At Oklahoma City Dodgers

Published on April 25, 2017 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Memphis Redbirds News Release


Memphis Redbirds (10-9) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (9-9)

Tuesday, April 25

- 11:05 a.m. (CT)

- Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark (13,066)

- Oklahoma City, Okla.

Game #20

- Road Game #13 (7-5)

RHP Mike Mayers (1-2, 7.36) vs RHP Jair Jurrjens (1-0, 3.78)

THE GAME

TODAY'S GAME: The Memphis Redbirds and Oklahoma City Dodgers (Dodgers) wrap up their four-game series Tuesday morning in Oklahoma City. The Redbirds are looking to claim the series and a .500 road trip with a victory today. Today's game will be broadcast live on 87.7 FM and internet webcast at MemphisRedbirds.com, with Steve Selby on the call.

ON THE HILL: Mike Mayers toes the rubber today for the Redbirds in the series finale. Mayers has been tasked with starting both morning games on this trip and struggled in his previous outing against Colorado Springs. The righthander lasted five frames, but yielded six runs on eight hits, including two home runs. Mayers encountered Oklahoma City twice a year ago, going 0-2 with a 7.59 ERA (10.2 IP, 14 H, 9 R, 9 ER, 6 BB, 6 K).

The Dodgers look to salvage a series split behind veteran righthander Jair Jurrjens. Los Angeles signed Jurrjens late in Spring Training after he pitched for Team Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic. Thus far with OKC, Jurrjens has impressed, although he was roughed up in his last outing, giving up five runs in 4.2 innings to Nashville. The journeyman righthander is looking to get back in the Major Leagues for the first time since 2014 after spending last season with the Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions in Taiwan.

SCHEDULE WITH OKLAHOMA CITY: The Redbirds make their first of two trips to Oklahoma City with this series. The Redbirds lost a three-game series with the Dodgers April 15-17, and the two clubs will play 15 times by season's end. Memphis returns to Oklahoma City July 17-20. A victory today would equal Memphis' win total at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark from a year ago when the Redbirds were 3-4.

THIS DATE IN REDBIRDS HISTORY (April 25, 2008): The Redbirds allowed a season-high 16 runs, including 10 runs on eight hits in the 3rd (both season highs). Memphis lost at Iowa, 16-3, their largest losing margin of the season, and allowed a season-high 21 hits in the game.

BIRD BITES

BADER: Hitting .350 (7-for-20, 2B, 3 R, 2 BB) in five games vs Oklahoma City this season

CUNNINGHAM: All six of his hits this season have gone for extra bases (3 2B, 2 HR); 2 for his last 22 (.091)

DeJONG: Has recorded hits in 12 of his last 14 starts (16-for-53, .302, 3 2B, HR, 3 R, 4 RBI)

GARCIA: Hits in last three at bats after going 0-for-17 before that; has batted in five different spots in the order

HUFFMAN: Hits in six straight starts (9-for-25, .360, 6 2B, HR, 5 R, 6 RBI)

KELLY: Five of his last seven hits have gone for extra bases over the previous eight games

PHAM: Hits in seven of his last eight games (10-for-25, .400, 3 2B, HR, 6 R, 7 RBI)

ROSARIO: Five-game hitting streak snapped on Sunday (5-for-18, .278, 3 R)

TOVAR: Has hits in six games on the season; two of those have been multi-hit games

VALERA: Collected first multi-hit game of the season Sunday; Has hit safely in nine of 14 appearances

VOIT: Hitting .556 (10-for-18, 2 2B, 3B, HR, 3 R, 5 RBI) in six day games this season

WISDOM: Hitless in four straight games (0-for-15); Had hit safely in 11-of-13 games prior to current stretch

BY THE NUMBERS

3 quality starts from Memphis pitchers in the last five games after just one in the first 14

8-0 record for the Redbirds when they out-hit an opponent this season

THE SEASON

ABOUT LAST NIGHT: Chris Ellis tossed his best start of the season, but the Redbirds' offense was held to just two hits (one after the first inning) and fell to the Oklahoma City Dodgers, 3-0. Ellis posted the longest start for a Memphis hurler this season, pitching into the seventh and allowing three runs (two earned) on six hits while striking out eight.

Chad Huffman had a first inning double and Tommy Pham singled in the ninth for the only hits of the game for Memphis, who was shut out for the first time this season.

DOUBLE SWITCHING: Memphis plays its final game before the season's first scheduled off day, which will also signal a change in playing style. The Redbirds' first 20 games have come against NL affiliates in New Orleans (Marlins), Colorado Springs (Brewers), and Oklahoma City (Dodgers).

Following tomorrow's off day, Memphis' next nine games will come against AL affiliates in Round Rock (Rangers) and Omaha (Royals) before reverting to NL play for 20 of the following 24 contests.

SEEKING A SERIES WIN: Memphis won its season-opening road series against New Orleans by taking four of the first five games. That series win equaled the road series victory total from 2016 when the Birds were 1-9-7 in road series. A victory today would give Memphis its second road series win and first at Oklahoma City since September 4-7, 2015.

BETTER LATE (AND CLOSE) THAN NEVER (AND NOT): Saturday's six-run outburst in the ninth inning provided another dramatic victory for Memphis, something that has become commonplace in the early portion of the season. The Redbirds have already picked up five wins in their last at-bat, accounting for half of the team's victories.

Additionally, with Sunday's one-run triumph, Memphis improved to 5-1 in games decided by the slimmest of margins. The five wins are second-most in the PCL (Round Rock, 6).

STARTING OUT QUICK, FINISHING STRONG: The 'Birds have scored 14 runs in the first inning and 12 runs in the ninth inning of games, which are their most fruitful scoring innings of the season.

Memphis has scored first in 12 of its initial 19 games this season, which trails only Iowa (13) in terms of times scoring the game's first run. However, the Redbirds are just 7-5 in those contests, which ranks 12th in the league.

The Redbirds have scored the game's final run nine times, tied for the fourth-most in the league, and are 8-1 in such games, the third-best mark in the circuit.

EXTRA, EXTRA: The Redbirds have posted 152 hits in the first 19 games of the season, including a league-leading 41 doubles. Memphis was the last team in the circuit to post a triple, waiting until Sunday to collect their first two three-baggers of the season.

BOMB SQUAD SHORTAGE: Memphis failed to homer in yesterday's game, marking the fourth straight contest without a dinger for the Redbirds, their longest streak this season. For a majority of the season's first two weeks, Memphis led the PCL and all of MiLB in home runs, but they now sit in a tie for fifth-most with 19 (El Paso, 24).

The Redbirds are still way ahead of their pace from a season ago when the squad did not hit its 19th homer until game 37, which came on May 19. A majority (12 of 19) of the long balls this season have been solo blasts.

Memphis has already hit three leadoff home runs, three game-winning home runs and have had a pair of players (Tommy Pham and Carson Kelly) collect multiple home runs in the same game.

RUN, RUN, RUNAWAY: The Redbirds are 7-for-22 in steal attempts and have been picked off eight times. The 15 caught stealings are by far the most in the PCL, with no other squad having been caught more than 10 times (Fresno, 10-for-20).

PUSHING THE 'PEN: Chris Ellis' start yesterday was the longest for a Memphis hurler this season. However, in 19 games this season, Redbird starters have failed to complete 5.0 innings 11 times, with four pitchers recording at least one out after the fifth (Daniel Poncedeleon 4/11, 4/22; Tyler Lyons 4/12; Josh Zeid 4/21; Chris Ellis 4/24). That trend has changed on this road trip with three quality starts in the last five games.

Overall, though, the bullpen has had to carry a significant portion of the innings (81.0) alongside the starters (87.0). Thus far, the relievers have responded with a 4.11 bullpen ERA.

ABOUT LAST SEASON: Memphis finished 65-77 last season, 18.0 games behind first place Nashville, who finished with the best regular season in the Pacific Coast League. The Redbirds had 59 players appear in a game last season, 25 of whom were making their Triple-A debut.

MEMPHIS PLAYERS AND COACHES

ROAD WARRIOR: Luke Voit has found his hitting stroke yet again on the road after a tough homestand. For the second time this year, Voit posted hits in six straight games before going 0-for-4 yesterday. During the six games, Voit is 10-for-20 (.500) with two doubles, a triple, and five RBI. He capped the stretch with three straight multi-hit games and collected at least one RBI in four in a row.

Overall in 11 road games this year, he is hitting .461 (18-for-39) with eight extra-base hits and 11 RBI.

STRIKING NEW GROUND: Righthander pitcher Daniel Poncedeleon became the first player promoted to the Redbirds this season as a counter move for Opening Day starter Luke Weaver going on the disabled list.

Since then, he's tossed a combined 16.0 innings against Colorado Springs and Oklahoma City and leads the team with 17 strikeouts. He leads PCL starters with a .167 opponent batting average and is currently fifth in the league in ERA (1.69).

THE ROSTER: Of the 25 players who comprise Memphis' roster, 21 appeared at Triple-A last season, be it with Memphis or another organization. Of those who played at Triple-A, 14 donned a Redbirds uniform. Additionally, the roster is full of Major League experience with 11 players combining for 369 games played. Tommy Pham leads the roster with 136 games of MLB experience.

PROSPECTING: The Cardinals organization has seen a steady growth in the rating of its prospects the last three seasons, elevating from 15th to 14th to 12th this season, according to Baseball America. While top prospect Alex Reyes is sidelined for the season, six of the top 30 prospects tabbed by the publication are currently on the Redbirds roster. That includes Luke Weaver (#2), Carson Kelly (#4), Harrison Bader (#7), Paul DeJong (#14), Sam Tuivailala (#23), and Breyvic Valera (#29).

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK: Only three players on Memphis' Opening Day squad had not played at the Triple-A level prior to this year. Paul DeJong, Luke Voit, and Rowan Wick all reached as high as Double-A Springfield last year and have appeared at the Triple-A level for the first time in 2017. Pitcher Daniel Poncedeleon became the fourth player to make his Triple-A debut this season last Tuesday.

ST. LOUIS MAJORITY: When digging into St. Louis' current 25-man roster, 16 players have spent time in Memphis: pitchers Lance Lynn (2009-11), Tyler Lyons (2012-17), Carlos Martinez (2013-14), Kevin Siegrist (2013-14), Miguel Socolovich (2015-16), Michael Wacha (2013), and Adam Wainwright (2004-05, '08); catcher Yadier Molina (2004); infielders Matt Adams (2012, '14, '16), Matt Carpenter (2011-12), Aledmys Diaz (2015), Greg Garcia (2013-16), and Kolten Wong (2013-14, '16); and outfielders Randal Grichuk (2014, '16), Jose Martinez (2016). and Stephen Piscotty (2014-15).

REDBIRDS ALL-TIME ROSTER: Since St. Louis and Memphis signed a player development partnership in 1998, a total of 610 players and coaching staff have appeared on the Redbirds, including this season. Of that number, 252 have played or served in a coaching capacity for the St. Louis Cardinals in their career.

BREEDING GROUND: Entering the 2017 campaign, 26 members of the Cardinals' 40-man roster have played for the Redbirds in their respective careers.

OFFSEASON REBRANDING

A FRESH LOOK: The Redbirds unveiled a new brand identity on January 18 that speaks directly to the soul of the city and its rich traditions.

The primary logo replicates that of a neon street sign, quickly calling to mind Memphis' iconic Beale Street, located just a few blocks from the ballpark. The tube lighting is applied elsewhere throughout the brand package, including in the primary word mark and the numbers seen on the jerseys. Both the home and away uniforms feature the neon "Memphis" across the front with the neon "M" formed in the shape of a music note, to honor the home of the blues and the birthplace of rock 'n' roll.

In order to successfully capture this essence of Memphis, the Redbirds turned to Dan Simon of Studio Simon for design.

The primary colors of the new brand are St. Louis Cardinals red, navy and yellow, to represent the affiliate of the Redbirds since 1998. There are two primary hat versions: a red home hat featuring a more modern take on Rockey the Redbird's head, and the iconic music note neon "M" on a blue hat with a red bill. Fans will note a faint yellow outline around the jersey elements, which gives the effect that the neon is turned on.

Check out the Memphis Redbirds Statistics

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Pacific Coast League Stories from April 25, 2017


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