LOCAL BRIEF

Leadoff extraordinaire Oscar Mercado was moved to the seventh spot of the Memphis Redbirds’ lineup for Friday’s Pacific Coast League game against visiting New Orleans. And, he didn’t disappoint. Mercado doubled home a pair of eighth-inning runs, stole third and eventually scored the game-winner on a wild pitch to guide Memphis to a 5-4 victory over the Baby Cakes at AutoZone Park.

The Redbirds (44-30) had trailed 4-0 until cutting their deficit in half in the bottom of the sixth. The runs came courtesy of Tyler O’Neill (wild pitch) and Patrick Wisdom, who scored on Alex Mejia’s RBI groundout. The decisive eighth inning began with singles from O’Neill and Steven Baron. After Wisdom moved both runners into scoring position, Mercado worked the count full against New Orleans reliever Odrisamer Despaigne before doubling to left.

Mercado finished the contest with two hits and two steals, pushing his team-leading total to 18. Max Schrock and Rangel Ravelo also had multiple-hit games. Hector Mendoza (1-1) was the winning pitcher, while Tommy Layne struck out the side in the ninth inning to register his first save.

Garrett Cooper and Peter Mooney collected two hits apiece for the Baby Cakes (36-37).

Memphis entered Saturday night with a 7 1/2-game lead on New Orleans in the PCL American South Division. The series concludes Sunday at 2:05 p.m.