Jensen powers Z's past Redbirds

Kyle Jensen homered and drove in three runs, and Anthony DeSclafani pitched six string innings as the New Orleans Zephyrs beat the Memphis Redbirds, 6-1 on Thursday night.

Jensen upped his league-leading RBI total to 91, making him the third Zephyrs to drive in at least 90 runs in a season. No Zephyr has ever led the Pacific Coast League in RBI.

The Z's struck early, scoring twice in the first inning against Jonathan Cornelius, who was making just his second Triple-A start. Austin Wates and Derek Dietrich led off with consecutive singles, and both scored two outs later when Jensen laced a single to left.

Stephen Piscotty began a Redbirds rally in the fourth inning with a one-out single, and DeSclafani walked Xavier Scruggs to put two on for Pete Kozma, who ripped a double into the left field corner. Piscotty scored on the play, but a perfect relay from Mark Canha and Juan Diaz nailed Scruggs at the plate to preserve the Zephyrs' lead.

That proved to be as close as Memphis would get, as the Zephyrs put up three runs in the bottom of the frame. Jensen led off with a home run to left field, his 27th of the season to move him into a tie for third place in the PCL.

After Cornelius hit Josh Rodriguez with a pitch, Rob Brantly hit a towering homer to right, his fourth deep ball of the year. Juan Diaz added his 12th home run of the season in the sixth, boosting the lead to 6-1 and bringing the Zephyrs within six home runs of the single-season franchise record of 153.

Meanwhile, DeSclafani (3-3) limited Memphis to four hits in six innings, his longest outing since July 7. Though he did not have an inning where he retired the side in order and issued three walks to go with a wild pitch, the right-hander struck out three and had two Redbirds thrown out at the plate.

Grant Dayton chipped in two scoreless innings, and Chaz Roe struck out a pair in a perfect ninth.

Cornelius (0-2) was charged with six runs and six hits in six innings to suffer the loss.

The final series of the 2014 season continues on Friday at 7 p.m.