Cardinals Minor League Notebook: 7/3/17

(photo: Shane Billings/Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)

Results from games played Sunday, July 2nd.

New Orleans 10 at Memphis 3     

It was a long Sunday afternoon for Redbirds’ hurlers as New Orleans thumped Memphis, 10-3.  The Redbirds (50-32) lead the series, two games to one, with one on tap. The club is 10 games up on second-place Nashville (OAK).

Four Memphis pitchers took the mound against the team with the weakest record in the entire Pacific Coast League and three of them gave up runs.  John Gant took the loss, his fourth in five decisions, yielding four runs, three earned, on 10 hits and a walk through five.  He fanned six and served up a two-run long ball.

Tyler Bray pretty much ended any hopes his team might have had of a comeback, surrendering five runs on five hits and a free pass in 1 2/3.  Trey Nielsen stranded one inherited runner but allowed a tally on two hits the next frame.  Josh Lucas tossed a clean ninth.

Two of the home team’s three scores came off solo shots by Harrison Bader and Wilfredo Tovar.  They were two of three Redbirds with two hits each, joined by Adolis Garcia.

Monday’s game:  vs. New Orleans (29-52) (MIA), 6:35 pm CT, Luke Weaver (7-1, 1.93)

Springfield 4 at Frisco 8

Four late scores against the S-Cards’ bullpen for the second time in the last three games sent them to an 8-4 loss at Frisco in the series opener.  Springfield (5-5) is a game behind co-leaders Northwest Arkansas (KC) and Tulsa (LAD) in the North Division.

Blake McKnight allowed three runs in the eighth, his second inning of work, leaving him with his fifth loss in six decisions.  Cory Littrell plunked his only batter faced, leaving Andrew Morales to permit all three baserunners to score on a walk and two-run single.

Sandy Alcantara started, yielding four tallies on five hits and two free passes through six.  Two of the four runs came on a long ball.  Alcantara fanned six.

Eight of nine Springfield players had at least one hit with Tommy Edman the only one with multiples.  Edman singled and tripled in four at bats, scoring once.  John Nogowski added a two-run shot and Casey Turgeon launched a solo bomb, his first of 2017.  Defensively, left fielder Turgeon was credited with an outfield assist, throwing a runner out at third.

Monday’s game:  at Frisco (6-4) (TEX), 7:05 pm CT, Chris Ellis (0-3, 5.09)

 

Palm Beach 8 at Charlotte 1

Five late tallies blew open a close game, resulting in the Beach Birds flying past the Stone Crabs, 8-1.  First-place Palm Beach (7-3) holds a two-games-to-one series lead with one to play and is a half of a game in front of both Bradenton (MIL) and Fort Myers (MIN).

Shane Billings (Peoria Chiefs)

The visitors scored early and late, pushing across three tallies in the initial two frames plus five more in the seventh through ninth.  The 16-hit attack featured either a hit or RBI from eight of nine players and multi-hit performances from six starters.  Shane Billings led the way, going 4-for-5 with two doubles, two runs scored and a strikeout.  The left fielder is our Player of the Day.

Center fielder Thomas Spitz went 3-for-4 with a solo shot, walk and stolen base.  Four PB-Cards had two hits apiece:  Darren Seferina, Danny Diekroeger, Jose Godoy and Luke Dykstra.  Seferina, like Spitz, went yard once with a stolen base. Defensively, the shortstop committed his sixth error.

Derian Gonzalez (W, 4-7) tossed a strong effort, limiting Charlotte to an unearned run over six.  The righty yielded six hits and two free passes.  Hector Mendoza walked one in the seventh before Brady Bowen scattered three hits over the last two innings.

Monday’s game:  at Charlotte (4-5) (4-4), 6:05 pm ET, TBA

 

Peoria 8 at Kane County 1

Jordan Hicks’ pitching and Brian O’Keefe’s two-bomb night helped the Chiefs down the Cougars, 8-1.  Peoria (7-4) has clinched the three-game series with one to go and is in a three-way tie for first with Beloit (OAK) and Quad Cities (HOU), a game ahead of Kane County.

O’Keefe’s first home run came with the bases clear and was part of a two-run fourth that put the visitors up 2-0.  He launched his second long ball with two aboard, providing half of his squad’s tallies in the ninth.

Designated hitter Vince Jackson accounted for three scores, doubling three times in four at bats with a run scored and two driven in.  Jackson was one of three Chiefs to be caught stealing.

Mick Fennell also had three hits, going 3-for-5 with a run scored and RBI.  Fennell was another of the Peoria players to be nailed trying to swipe a bag.

Jordan Hicks (Peoria Chiefs)

Hicks (W, 8-2) had a stellar outing, fanning nine over eight scoreless frames.  The 20-year-old gave up just four hits and two bases-on-balls.  Dewin Perez surrendered a solo bomb in the ninth.

Monday’s game:  at Kane County (6-5) (ARI), 6:30 pm CT, Evan Kruczynski (0-0, 0.00)

 

State College 3 vs. Batavia 1

The Spikes muzzled the Muckdogs, 3-1, taking a two-games-to-none series lead with one on tap.  First-place State College (9-4) has a one-game advantage over Both Mahoning Valley (CLE) and West Virginia (PIT) in the Pinckney Division.

First baseman Tyler Lancaster had a perfect night at the plate, going 3-for-3 with a double and one driven in.  Right fielder Brandon Benson singled twice in four at bats, touched home one time with an RBI and stolen base.  State College had seven hits in all.

Jonathon Mulford struck out six over five scoreless, working around four hits and five walks.  He left with his team up 1-0 but an unearned run against Spencer Traynor (BS, 1) (W, 2-0) prevented Mulford from picking up the win.  Will Latcham fanned three over two frames for his first professional save.

Monday’s game:  vs. Batavia (5-8) (MIA), 7:05 pm ET, Anthony Shew (2-0, 0.84)

 

Pulaski 3 at Johnson City 2 (7) – Game 1

Johnson City 4 at Pulaski 2 (7) – Game 2

Johnson City split its double-header series opener with Pulaski, falling 3-2 in the opener, but claiming the finale 4-2. The extra game covered Friday’s rainout. The Appy Birds (7-4) are in a three-way tie for first with Elizabethton (MIN) and Greeneville (HOU).

Johan Oviedo yielded two runs in the first of his three-inning stint.  He allowed two hits, walked two, hit a batter and committed two balks.

Robert Calvano (L, 0-2) fanned four over three but permitted the difference-making score on three hits and a walk.  Jake Walsh tossed a one-two-three seventh.

Delvin Perez, the only JC-Card with more than one of the team’s six hits, singled twice in three at bats out of the eight hole.  Wood Myers went 1-for-2 with a run scored while J.D. Murders scored the other run.

Irving Wilson (The Cardinal Nation)

In the nightcap, the home team snapped a 2-2 tie with a two-run sixth.  Walker Robbins’ sac fly scored Chase Pinder (walk) for the go-ahead tally and Irving Wilson added an insurance run when he doubled home Carlos Rodriguez (single).

Wilson’s perfect night at the plate ended a home run shy of the cycle, as the designated hitter went 3-for-3 with two walks and run scored.  Pinder singled and doubled in two at bats with a base-on-balls, crossed home twice and threw a strike from right field that nailed a Yankee baserunner at the plate.

Monday’s game:  vs. Pulaski (8-3) (NYY), 7:00 pm ET, Jacob Schlesener (0-0, 0.00)

 

GCL Cardinals – off

The fifth-place GCL Cardinals (1-4) look to build on their first win of the season from Saturday when they face the third-place Mets on Monday.

Monday’s game:  vs. GCL Mets (2-3), 12:00 pm ET, Junior Gonzalez (0-0, 6.75) or Austin Warner (0-0, 0.00)

 

DSL Cardinals – off

The Dominican Summer League is idle on Sundays.

Monday’s game:  DSL Cardinals (10-13) at DSL Twins (18-5), 10:30 am ET, Wilfredo Pereira (0-3, 2.81)


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