Cardinals Minor League Notebook – April 15, 2024

photo: Adari Grant (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)

On Sunday, the St. Louis Cardinals system went 2-2 as Springfield came back from six down to extend its record to 9-0. Palm Beach’s Adari Grant is The Cardinal Nation’s Player of the Day, with three hits and three RBI. Other standouts include Gavin Collins, Matt Lloyd and Anyelo Encarnacion.

Results for the games played on Sunday, April 14.

Memphis 4, Nashville 8

The Memphis Redbirds (7-8) fell to the Nashville Sounds (7-8, MIL) 8-4 at AutoZone Park on Sunday, for a 3-3 home series split.  Starter Victor Santos took his third loss in three starts, pitching 4 1/3 innings, allowing six runs, five earned, on five hits with two walks and three strikeouts. The right-hander’s ERA is 10.38.

Memphis got on the board in the bottom of the first.  José Fermín doubled, and Matt Koperniak walked.  After both runners advanced on a wild pitch, Luken Baker’s sacrifice fly scored Fermín.  That lead did not last long as Santos gave up a three-run blast to left-center to the third batter he faced in the second to give the Sounds a 3-1 lead.

Memphis took back the lead in the fourth.  Moisés Gómez singled.  Gavin Collins’s two-run moonshot to left field tied the game, and Nick Dunn went back-to-back, with a homer to center field for a 4-3 Memphis lead.

Gavin Collins

Nick Dunn

Santos yielded two singles and a triple to yield the lead in the fifth.  With one out, Kyle Leahy replaced Santos.  He immediately walked the first batter and gave up a sacrifice fly to score the runner on third. Leahy served up a bomb to left-center field as Nashville took an 8-4 lead.

Gómez went 2-for-4 with a run scored, as the only Redbird with a multi-hit game.  Collins was 1-for-2, a home run, two walks, and two RBI.  Fermín had a 1-for-3 game with two walks and a run scored.  The Redbirds totaled four runs on eight hits while walking six times and striking out seven.

On the pitching side, Connor Thomas tossed 1 1/3 relief innings, yielding two hits, no runs, and striking out one.  Jacob Bosiokovic threw one inning, allowing no runs, one hit, and one walk.  Josh James pitched one inning, giving up no runs, no hits, and two walks.  Memphis pitching gave up eight runs on 11 hits with seven walks and six strikeouts.

Tuesday’s game: at Gwinnett, TBD vs. TBD 6:05 CT.

Springfield 8, Wichita 7

The Springfield Cardinals (9-0) came back from a six-run deficit to defeat the Wichita Wind Surge (1-8, MIN) 8-7 and set a franchise record of nine straight wins.  Starter Edwin Nuñez pitched 2 2/3 innings, yielding two runs on one hit with three walks and three strikeouts.

The Wind Surge took the lead in the second on a homer to right field.  After Nuñez walked two and hit a batter, he induced the next batter to fly out, which scored another run to give Wichita a 2-0 lead.

The Cardinals got a run back in the third.  Jacob Buchberger walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch.  Bryan Torres singled to left field to bring home Buchberger.  However, Wichita extended their lead in the fourth.  Trent Baker entered in relief, and with two outs and the bases loaded, he gave up a grand slam to left field.  In the fifth, the Wind Surge’s three consecutive singles scored another insurance run to increase the visitors’ lead to 7-1.

Springfield responded in the bottom of the fifth.  Torres led off with a single, and Nathan Church doubled.  R.J. Yeager’s single scored Torres to extend his hitting streak to eight games.  The Cardinals did not score again until the seventh.  Church singled, Yeager walked, and Matt Lloyd walked to load the bases.  A wild pitch plated Church to cut the deficit to 7-3.

R.J. Yeager

The home team rallied in the eighth.  Buchberger singled, Jeremy Rivas singled, and a passed ball allowed them to move to second and third.  Torres grounded out for the second out of the inning while Buchberger scored.  Church singled, scoring Rivas, and Church advanced to second on an error.  Yeager walked, and Lloyd hit a three-run go-ahead home run to center field to give the Cardinals an 8-7 lead.

Matt Lloyd

Torres had a 2-for-4 game with a walk, two RBI, and a run scored.  Church was 3-for-4 with a walk and an RBI and scored twice.  Lloyd went 1-for-4, a homer, a walk, and three RBI.  The Cardinals totaled eight runs on 11 hits while walking nine times with six strikeouts.

From the pen, Ryan Shreve pitched two innings, allowing no runs, no hits, and no walks while striking out three to earn his first win this season.  Leonardo Taveras earned his first save, pitching one inning while yielding no runs, no hits, and no walks.  Springfield allowed seven runs on six hits while walking seven with 11 strikeouts.

Tuesday’s game: at Amarillo, RHP Max Rajcic (1-0, 1.80) vs TBA 7:05 CT.

Peoria 4, Beloit 9

The Peoria Chiefs (5-4) lost to the Beloit Sky Carp (4-4, MIA) 9-4 at Dozer Park on Sunday.  Starter Pete Hansen took his first loss of the season, giving up five runs on nine hits while walking one and striking out four in four innings.

The Chiefs opened the scoring in the first.  Leadoff man Darlin Moquete tripled and Anyelo Encarnacion hit a two-run bomb to left-center to give the Chiefs a 2-0 lead.  The Sky Carp got one run back in the second on a single to left field.

Anyelo Encarnacion

Peoria extended their lead in the bottom of the fourth.  Brody Moore opened the inning with a single, and two batters later, Joshua Baez’s two-run blast to left-center made the score 4-1.

Joshua Baez

The Sky Carp turned the tables in the fifth.  After a leadoff walk, three consecutive singles scored one and loaded the bases.  Wilfredo Pereira replaced Hansen after the third single and immediately balked in a run.  Pereira allowed another walk to load the bases, and a bases-clearing double gave Beloit a 6-4 lead.

Beloit extended their lead in the top of the ninth with three unearned runs against reliever Dionys Rodriguez.  The first batter reached on an error from Baez.  Rodriguez hit a batter and walked the next two to force in a run.  A fielding error from Dakota Harris allowed two more runs to score, extending the Sky Carp’s lead to 9-4.

Encarnacion went 1-for-4, a home run, a walk, two RBI, and scored once.  Baez was 2-for-4, a home run, two RBI, and scored once.  The Chiefs totaled four runs on eight hits with three walks and nine strikeouts.

Out of the pen, Tanner Jacobson pitched two innings, allowing no runs on one hit while striking out two.  Nathanael Heredia pitched one inning, yielding no hits with one walk and a strikeout.  Peoria gave up nine runs on 11 hits with five walks while striking out 10.

Tuesday’s game: at Quad Cities, TBD vs. TBD 6:30 CT.

Palm Beach 10 at Daytona 8 (10 innings)

The Palm Beach Cardinals (6-3) squeaked out a win against the Daytona Tortugas (4-5, CIN) in 10 innings at Jackie Robinson Ballpark on Sunday.  Starter Jose Davila pitched 4 1/3 innings, allowing two runs, both unearned, on five hits with three walks and four strikeouts.

The Tortugas struck first in the bottom of the first.  Throwing errors from Adari Grant and Lizandro Espinoza allowed two runners to remain on base that eventually came around to score to give the Tortugas a 2-0 lead.

The Cardinals responded in the second.  Chase Adkison walked, and Espinoza doubled.  Grant’s two-RBI double to left field tied the game.  Jose Cordoba reached second on a throwing error, and Grant scored.  Kade Kretzschmar drove in Cordoba with a ground out to increase Palm Beach’s lead to 4-2.

Adari Grant

Palm Beach added an insurance run in the top of the sixth.  Trey Paige singled, Espinoza reached first while forcing Paige out at second, Grant was hit by a pitch, and Sammy Hernandez walked to load the bases.  A wild pitch allowed Espinoza to cross home to make the lead 5-2.

Randel Clemente gave up two walks to start the seventh and then allowed a three-run shot to left-center field to tie the game for the Tortugas.  No more runs were scored until the 10th inning when Adkison started on second.  Paige singled to center to drive in Adkison.  Espinoza walked, and a single from Grant plated Paige.  Cordoba singled to load the bases, and a wild pitch allowed Espinoza to come home.  Kretzschmar’s sacrifice fly scored Grant, and Ross Friedrick singled to bring home Cordoba to increase the lead to 10-5.

Augusto Calderon was asked to close the game in the 10th and made it interesting. After walking his first batter, he gave up a three-run homer to left-center to bring the deficit to 10-8.  However, he retired the next three batters to complete the Cardinals win.

Grant had a 3-for-3 game, including a double, three RBI, and two runs scored.  Espinoza went 1-for-3 with a double, a walk, and scored three times.  Paige was 2-for-5 with an RBI, and one run scored.  The Cardinals totaled 10 runs on 11 hits with six walks and 11 strikeouts.

Henry Gomez

In relief, Henry Gomez picked up his first win of the season, pitching 2 1/3 innings, yielding no runs on two hits while striking out two.  Ettore Giulianelli pitched 2/3 of an inning, allowing no hits while walking three and striking out two.  Palm Beach allowed eight runs on 10 hits while walking nine and striking out 10.

Tuesday’s game: vs. Lakeland, TBA vs. TBA 4:00 CT.

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