Memphis ends skid with back-to-back homers to beat Jacksonville 7-5

The longest skid of Memphis’ 2026 season ended with two swings in the game’s sharpest moment. Ramon Mendoza opened the bottom of the eighth with a solo homer, Joshua Báez followed on the next pitch, and the Redbirds held on for a 7-5 win over Jacksonville at AutoZone Park.

That late burst was more than a clean finish. It came one night after Memphis lost 7-6 in extra innings to the Jumbo Shrimp in front of a sellout crowd, a loss that had left the Redbirds searching for a response in the middle of a six-game homestand. Instead, Memphis got the answer it needed in a single inning, against Jacksonville reliever Luis Palacios, with back-to-back home runs that flipped the night and stopped the slide.

Mendoza set the tone with a 2-for-3 night that included two RBIs, a double and three runs scored. The 25-year-old third baseman from Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico entered the game hitting .319 with a .394 on-base percentage and a .907 OPS, and he reinforced that profile by reaching base and punishing mistakes at the plate. Báez, a 22-year-old right fielder and Cardinals second-round pick in 2021, added his second home run in as many days, underscoring how much of Memphis’ offense was coming from young bats with real impact.

Bligh Madris also homered and drove in three runs, giving Memphis another key run-producing line in a game that stayed tight well into the late innings. The Redbirds needed that cushion because Jacksonville kept pressure on all night, and Memphis had to answer after the clubs traded punches early.

Pete Hansen kept the game within reach despite an uneven defensive night behind him. The left-hander allowed three runs on four hits with two walks and six strikeouts, working around three errors and still giving Memphis enough innings for the offense to take over. Once the bullpen got the ball, Skylar Hales threw a perfect eighth to earn the win, and Ryan Fernandez finished it with a quick six-pitch ninth for the save.

The victory left Memphis tied with Gwinnett atop the International League standings and preserved an unusual run: the Redbirds have spent every day of the 2026 season in at least a share of first place. That is why the eighth inning mattered beyond one win. It was a season-stopping swing, the kind of late power surge that can either read as a release of pressure or become the moment a clubhouse remembers how to close.