Memphis Redbirds win second straight PCL championship
The Memphis Redbirds had quite the dramatic run in the 2018 postseason, but in the clinching game of their second consecutive Pacific Coast League championship, they saved the theatrics for after the final out.
It was third baseman Edmundo Sosa who squeezed the last out of the Redbirds’ 5-0 titleclinching victory over the Fresno Grizzlies in front of 8,834 fans at AutoZone Park on Saturday night. Shortly after, the Memphis players mobbed the area in front of the mound, and manger Stubby Clapp turned and embraced whoever he could get his hands on in the home dugout.
The season belonged to the Redbirds, but Game 4 belonged to Memphis left fielder Randy Arozarena.
Arozarena hit a 3-run home run in the bottom of the first inning to put Memphis ahead early, made a diving catch to preserve a shutout in the top of the sixth, and iced the game with a 2-run bomb in the bottom of the eighth.
“(Arozarena’s performance) was perfect,” Clapp said. “It was perfect. We were joking the whole series that ‘chicks dig singles’ because we didn’t hit any long balls besides Tommy Edman in (Game 1). Randy answered the call today, it was awesome.”
It was the first clinching moment for Memphis this season that didn’t end in walk-off fashion. The Redbirds solidified the American Southern Division title on a gamewinning base hit by Wilfredo Tovar and closed out their semifinal playoff series on a line drive shot by pitcher Giovanny Gallegos.
Oddly enough, Saturday’s undramatic title came 18 years to the day after former player Albert Pujols hit a walkoff home run to give Memphis its first PCL crown in 2000.
Even Memphis’ Game 3 victory in the PCL Championship Series on Friday night ended on a suicide squeeze bunt by designated hitter Alex Mejia that scored the game-winning run. But not Saturday’s decisive Game 4 — that game belonged to the Redbirds from the start.
“It’s good to be winning since the beginning of the game,” Arozarena said through a translator. “Because then every out, every at-bat, every pitch you try to gain something and just get another run. It’s better to be winning since the beginning just because it’s too much tension (to win) at the end.”
Not to be completely overshadowed by Arozarena’s efforts were 7 scoreless innings
pitched by Redbirds starter Jake Woodford, who received a standing ovation from those in attendance as he exited the game.
“(The standing ovation) was pretty awesome, I got some chills,” Woodford said. “The fan base here is pretty incredible. To have all them come out for potentially our last home game and to have their support was a great feeling.”
Woodford allowed just two hits while striking out six and walking just one. Again, it was left fielder Arozarena who came to his aid with a diving catch that preserved the shut out in the top of the sixth inning.
“Today was beautiful,” Clapp said. “Just the way I would like it every day.”
Once the Redbirds players made it back into the locker room after the game, the team was eager to douse each other in celebration. Just one thing was missing: Clapp.
After yelling for him multiple times, the manager appeared in the doorway singing “We Are The Champions” by Queen before getting blasted in the face with champagne.
The championship marks Memphis’ fourth Pacific Coast League crown, and the first time the Redbirds have won it all in back-to-back seasons.
“Each (championship) is special in its own way,” Clapp said. “It’s two different teams and two different types of dynamics as far as these teams were considered. I’m just absolutely honored and it was a pleasure to be a part of it.”