Cardinals Minor League Notebook – April 26, 2024

photo: Kade Kretzschmar (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)

On Thursday, the St. Louis Cardinals system went 1-2. The Cardinal Nation’s Player of the Day, Palm Beach’s Kade Kretzschmar, reached base five times, drove in two and scored three runs. Other standouts include Thomas Saggese, Nick Raposo, Dakota Harris, Joshua Baez and Chase Adkison.

Results for the games played on Thursday, April 25.

Memphis 5, Jacksonville 9

The Memphis Redbirds (10-13) lost by a 9-5 score to the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (15-9, MIA) at AutoZone Park on Thursday for their third consecutive defeat in the six-game set.  Starter Gordon Graceffo threw 5 1/3 innings, allowing four runs on seven hits while walking three and striking out two. The right-hander yielded two runs in the first and two in the sixth.

The Jumbo Shrimp opened the scoring in the first.  A walk and a double put two runners in scoring position and a single brought both home.

The Redbirds got one back in the second on Moisés Gómez’s leadoff longball to left field.

In the fifth, Nick Raposo doubled and Victor Scott II reached on an error.  Thomas Saggese’s single drove in Raposo to tie the game at two apiece.

Thomas Saggese

Jacksonville led off the next inning with a homer.  A walk, steak and single brought home another runner.  This ended Graceffo’s evening on the mound in favor of Kyle Leahy.

Memphis took the lead in the bottom of the sixth.  Matt Koperniak and Gómez walked.  Raposo’s three-run dinger to left field gave the Redbirds a 5-4 lead.

Nick Raposo

Another solo home run in the seventh enabled Jacksonville to re-tie the score.  In the eighth, three consecutive hits drove in two and a two-run bomb increased their lead to 9-5.

Leahy threw two innings, allowing five runs on five hits while striking out one to take his second loss of the year.  Chris Roycroft pitched 2/3 of an inning, giving up one hit and no runs.  Josh James closed the game, throwing one inning, yielding no runs, no hits, and no walks while striking out one.  The Redbirds allowed nine runs on 13 hits with three walks and four strikeouts.

Raposo went 3-for-4 with a home run, three RBI, and scored twice.  Gómez was 1-for-3 with a homer, an RBI, a walk, and a run scored.  Koperniak went 1-for-3 with a run scored and a walk.  Memphis totaled five runs on seven hits with four walks and seven strikeouts.

Friday’s game: vs. Jacksonville, RHP Sem Robberse (3-0, 1.59) vs. TBD 11:05 CT.

Springfield 4, Arkansas 2 (suspended, fourth inning)

The Springfield Cardinals (14-3) led 4-2 over the Arkansas Travelers (9-8, SEA) heading into the bottom of the fourth inning at Hammons Field on Thursday before it was delayed and postponed to Friday because of inclement weather.   Starter Tekoah Roby had thrown four innings, allowing two runs on four hits with no walks and eight strikeouts before the delay.

Tekoah Roby

In the top of the second, a double and a single put two Travelers on base.  After Roby retired the next two batters, he gave up a two-run double to give the visitors the lead.

In the bottom of the second, Matt Lloyd doubled and Aaron McKeithan singled.  Jacob Buchberger grounded out to drive in Lloyd and Jeremy Rivas’s single brought home McKeithan to tie the game at two apiece.

Springfield took the lead in the third.  Noah Mendlinger walked.  R.J. Yeager’s two-run bomb to left field gave Springfield a 4-2 lead.

R.J. Yeager

The game was stopped as they were heading into the fourth inning and will be made up as a doubleheader on Friday at 5:15 CT.

Friday’s game: (Game 2) vs. Arkansas, RHP Edwin Nuñez (0-1, 7.56) vs. Juan Mercedes RHP (0-0, 3.21) 6:35 CT.

Peoria 3, Wisconsin 5

The Peoria Chiefs (7-11) fell to the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (12-6, MIL) 5-3 at Dozer Park on Thursday.  Starter Cooper Hjerpe pitched 3 2/3 innings, allowing three runs on three hits while walking two and striking out four.

The Chiefs broke the ice in the bottom of the second.  Dakota Harris’s solo homer to left-center field gave Peoria an early 1-0 lead.

Dakota Harris

However, that lead was short-lived as Wisconsin came back in the third.  Hjerpe walked two batters and gave up a single to load the bases.  He then hit a batter to score one.  He forced a batter to ground into a forceout as another run came home.  Finally, a wild pitch allowed the final run of the inning to make the score 3-1.

In the home fifth, Brody Moore singled.  Joshua Baez’s two-run moonshot to left-center field tied the game at three.

Joshua Baez

Cade Winquest entered in relief in the fourth inning and pitched the rest of the game.  The Timber Rattlers took the lead again in the top of the seventh.  Winquest allowed two singles and a walk to load the bases and walked the next batter. He then yielded a single to bring home a second runner to give Wisconsin a 5-3 lead.

Winquest pitched 5 1/3 innings, yielding two runs on four hits with three walks and five strikeouts to take his second loss of the year.  The Chiefs allowed five runs on seven hits while walking five and striking out nine.

Baez went 2-for-3 with a home run, two RBI, and scored once.  Harris was 2-for-4 also with a home run, an RBI, and a run scored.  Moore went 1-for-3 with one run scored.  Peoria totaled three runs on seven hits with no walks and eight strikeouts.

Friday’s game: vs. Wisconsin, RHP Hancel Rincon (1-1, 3.07) vs. Brett Wichrowski RHP (0-1, 1.64) 7:05 CT.

Palm Beach 13 at Fort Myers 9 (10 innings)

The Palm Beach Cardinals (12-6) came back from a nine-run deficit to top the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (7-11, MIN) in extras at Lee Health Sports Complex on Thursday.  Starter Jason Savacool threw 2 1/3 innings, allowing six runs on four hits with two walks and four strikeouts.

The Mighty Mussels took the lead in the bottom of the first.  A single and two walks loaded the bases.  A grand slam followed.  They continued to add to their lead in the third with a leadoff homer.  A single ended Savacool’s day. Reliever Benjamin Arias gave up a single and a bases-clearing double for two runs.  Three singles plated two more runs to make the score 9-0.

The Cardinals earned two back in the fourth.  Jose Cordoba doubled and Kade Kretzschmar singled.  Johnfrank Salazar reached first on an error to score Cordoba and Kretzschmar.

Palm Beach generated another two runs in the top of the eighth.  Kretzschmar walked and Salazar singled.  Chase Adkison singled to right field to drive home Kretzschmar.  Tre Richardson reached on an error to bring Salazar home and make the score 9-4.

Kade Kretzschmar

In the ninth, the Cardinals tied it to send it to extras.  Luis Piño reached on catcher’s interference, Miguel Villarroel walked, and Brayden Jobert singled to load the bases.  Kretzschmar reached on a fielder’s choice to bring Piño home.  Ross Friedrick walked to plate Villarroel.  Adkison singled to drive in Jobert.  Richardson grounded into a forceout to get Adkison out at second, but a throwing error by the second baseman allowed Richardson to advance and two runners to cross home to tie the game at nine apiece.

Chase Adkison

The Cardinals proceeded to take a four-run lead in the 10th without recording a hit.  Sammy Hernandez started on second, and Piño, Villarroel, Jobert, and Kretzschmar walked to plate two runs.  Two wild pitches allowed two more runners to come home to give Palm Beach a 13-9 lead.

Adkison went 3-for-6 with two RBI.  Kretzschmar was 2-for-3 with three walks, two RBI, and scored three times.  Villarroel was 2-for-5 with a triple, a walk, and two runs scored.  The Cardinals totaled 13 runs on 12 hits while walking and striking out nine times.  The Cardinals went just 3-for-20 with runners in scoring position.

Alec Willis threw two innings, allowing one hit, no runs, one walk, and struck out four.  Randel Clemente pitched two innings, yielding no runs on one hit while walking none and striking out two to earn his first win of the season.  Henry Gomez threw one inning, giving up no runs on no hits with one strikeout.  Palm Beach allowed nine runs on eleven hits with three walks and 14 strikeouts.

Friday’s game: at Fort Myers, LH Quinn Mathews (1-0, 0.75) vs. Charlee Soto (0-0, 2.70) 6:05 CT.

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