RENO, Nevada – The first-place Memphis Redbirds continued their historic 2017 season by going 22-6 in the month of July, now the best single month in franchise history, thanks to an 11-3 win over the Reno Aces (Diamondbacks) Monday night in Reno, Nevada.
Memphis’ previous best month came in Aug. 1998, when the club went 21-9. The best July before this one was a 20-9 mark in 2014. The Redbirds had 23 hits in Monday’s game, which was one shy of the franchise record of 24, set most recently against Oklahoma City on July 22, 2012.
Memphis is now 71-37 on the season and has won 25 of its last 31 games. The win also secured a 24th-straight series win or tie for the Redbirds, dating back to losing three-of-four games at Colorado Springs from April 18-21.
Every Redbird hitter, including the pitcher, had a hit by the end of the fourth inning. That came after every Redbird starter, once again including the pitcher, had a hit, a run, and an RBI by the end of the sixth inning in Saturday’s series opener. Eight of the nine starters had multiple hits Monday night.
Alex Mejia was 4-for-6 with two runs scored, and Tyler O’Neill hit his third home run as a Redbird and 22nd of the season en route to a 3-for-6 game with four RBI. Breyvic Valera, Nick Martini, and Alberto Rosario also had three hits for the Redbirds.
Jack Flaherty, the No. 3 prospect in the Cardinals organization, allowed three runs on five hits in 6.2 innings. He struck out seven and walked two in the outing. In between Reno home runs in the third and sixth innings, Flaherty set down 10-straight Aces, and he ended his outing retiring 13 of the final 16 Reno hitters he faced.
Josh Zeid and Josh Lucas finished the game for the Redbirds and struck out five. Memphis pitchers whiffed 12 Aces on the night.
Memphis and Reno finish their series tomorrow night at 9:05 (CT). After an off-day on Wednesday, the Redbirds head to Tacoma for four games against the Rainiers (Mariners).
