photo: Jimmy Crooks (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
The St. Louis Cardinals system went 6-0 on Saturday. The Cardinal Nation’s Player of the Day, catcher Jimmy Crooks, slammed a pair of home runs and plated five for Springfield. Other standouts include Gordon Graceffo, Max Rajcic, Pete Hansen, Darlin Moquete, Bryaden Jobert, Ian Petrutz, Randel Clemente and Fernando Roquez.
Results from games played on Saturday, August 3.
The Memphis Redbirds (14-18) squeaked out a rain-delayed win over the Durham Bulls (14-18, TB) by a score of 3-2 on Saturday at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
Starter Gordon Graceffo pitched six-plus scoreless innings, allowing three hits while striking out two, but did not figure in the decision.
Thomas Saggese put the Redbirds on the board with a solo shot in the fourth, his 13th of the season.
SAGGESE HITS!
A @HueysRestaurant HOME RUN pic.twitter.com/Ic3k4XLbfs
— Memphis Redbirds (@memphisredbirds) August 4, 2024
The Bulls responded in the seventh with an RBI double.
In the top of the eighth, Luken Baker’s RBI single gave Memphis the lead and César Prieto’s RBI forceout extended it to 3-1.
Durham took one run back in the bottom of the eighth on a solo home run, but it was not enough to catch the Redbirds.
Riley O’Brien pitched 1/3 of an inning, giving up a run on two hits. Connor Thomas threw 2/3 of an inning, earning his fourth win this season, allowing a walk. Jacob Bosiokovic pitched an inning, allowing a run on three hits while striking out one. Ryan Loutos earned his 12th save this season, throwing a scoreless inning while striking out two. Memphis allowed two runs on eight hits while walking one and striking out five.
Jordan Walker was 3-for-4 with a run scored. Saggese was 1-for-4 with a home run. Baker went 1-for-4 with an RBI. The Redbirds totaled three runs on eight hits with two walks and 13 strikeouts.
Sunday’s game: at Durham, RHP Ian Bedell (2-2, 5.08) vs. Mason Montgomery LHP (0-6, 6.81) 4:05 CT.
The Springfield Cardinals (20-12) crushed the Tulsa Drillers (16-15, LAD) 8-2 on Saturday at ONEOK Field. Starter Max Rajcic earned his ninth win this season, pitching six innings, and allowing two runs on four hits while striking out four.
Max Rajcic: absolutely filthy changeup pic.twitter.com/EbZEuBfXoy
— Springfield Cardinals (@Sgf_Cardinals) August 4, 2024
The Cardinals struck first with Jimmy Crooks’ two-run dinger in the first. Springfield extended its lead in the third with Crooks’ second two-run shot to right-center to make the score 4-0.
Jimmy Crooks notched a career-high 5 RBIs!
The @Cardinals' 2022 fourth-rounder mashed his first career multihomer game as part of a three-hit night for the @Sgf_Cardinals. pic.twitter.com/ojfVAedBqG
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) August 4, 2024
Tulsa went back-to-back in the sixth to cut their deficit in half.
The visitors added an insurance run in the seventh with Bryan Torres’ sacrifice fly. Torres’s RBI double, Noah Mendlinger’s RBI single, and Crooks’ RBI single in the ninth made the score 8-2.
Crooks went 3-for-5 with two home runs and five RBI. Torres was 2-for-4 with a double, two RBI, and two runs scored. Mendlinger went 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored. The Cardinals totaled eight runs on 14 hits with eight strikeouts.
Jack Ralston earned his second save this season, pitching three innings, and yielding a hit while striking out six. Springfield allowed two runs on five hits while striking out 10.
Saturday’s game: at Tulsa, RHP Edwin Nuñez (0-7, 7.69) vs. Orlando Ortiz-Mayr (5-6, 5.20) 1:00 CT.
The Peoria Chiefs (17-18) defeated the Quad Cities River Bandits (17-18, KC) 4-1 on Saturday at Dozer Park. Starter Pete Hansen earned his fifth win this season, pitching 6 2/3 innings, and allowing one run on seven hits while walking two and striking out six.
Darlin Moquete’s solo moonshot in the first gave the Chiefs an early 1-0 lead.
The River Bandits responded in the top of the third with an RBI single.
Moquete came back with another solo longball in the bottom of the third.
2 AT BATS 2 HOMERUNS FOR DARLIN MOQUETE! Chiefs take back the lead in the bottom of the 3rd!
PEO 2 | QC 1 pic.twitter.com/qXYNkvRofq— Peoria Chiefs (@peoriachiefs) August 4, 2024
Kade Kretzschmar’s RBI single in the seventh extended Peoria’s lead. Miguel Villarroel’s RBI single added one last run to give the home team a 4-1 edge.
Moquete went 2-for-3 with two home runs, a walk, two RBI, and two runs scored. Villarroel was 2-for-4 with an RBI. Won-Bin Cho was 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, and a run scored. The Chiefs totaled four runs on 10 hits with two walks and nine strikeouts.
Osvaldo Berrios earned his sixth save this season, pitching 2 1/3 innings, and yielding a hit and a walk while striking out four. Peoria allowed one run on eight hits while walking three and striking out 10.
Sunday’s game: vs. Quad Cities, LHP Ixan Henderson (Peoria debut) vs. Hunter Owen LHP (6-6, 4.23) 2:05 CT.
The Palm Beach Cardinals (23-10) destroyed the Bradenton Marauders (12-23, PIT) 9-2 on Saturday at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. Dodging a rain delay, starter Juan Salas pitched four innings, allowing two runs on three hits while striking out eight.
The Marauders struck first in the third and again the fourth with solo home runs.
The Cardinals responded in the bottom of the fourth when Ross Friedrick grounded into a double play that scored Ian Petrutz.
Brayden Jobert’s three-run bomb in the fifth gave the Beach Birds a 4-2 lead.
Palm Beach broke the game open in the sixth with Petrutz’s two-RBI ground-rule double, Friedrick’s bases-loaded walk, and Cade McGee’s two-RBI single.
Petrutz reached base four times, going 2-for-3 with a triple, a double, two walks, two RBI, and two runs scored. Jobert went 2-for-5 with a home run, three RBI, and a run scored. Anyelo Encarnacion was 1-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored. The Cardinals totaled nine runs on eight hits with 11 walks and eight strikeouts.
Randel Clemente earned his second win this season, throwing three scoreless innings while striking out seven. Michael Watson pitched a scoreless inning while striking out two. Angel Cuenca threw a scoreless inning, yielding two hits while striking out one. Palm Beach allowed two runs on five hits while striking out 18.
Sunday’s game: vs. Bradenton, RH Hunter Kublick (3-2, 4.02) vs. TBD 11:00 CT.
DSL Cardinals 2, DSL White Sox 1 (Game 1, 7 innings)
The DSL Cardinals (21-19) defeated the DSL White Sox (10-23, CWS) 2-1 in the first half of their doubleheader on Saturday at the St. Louis Cardinals DR Complex. This was the completion of a suspended game from July 19.
As a result, the box score includes an oddity. The Cardinals’ starting pitcher is no longer with the organization. Oliver Gonzalez threw two scoreless innings, allowing a hit and a walk while striking out three, however, the 17-year-old was traded to the Dodgers last week along with Tommy Edman.
Before the suspension, the Cardinals struck in the second with Paulo Asprilla’s RBI single and Yairo Padilla’s RBI single.
When the game was re-started, the White Sox cut the deficit in half when reliever Reiner Lopez plunked a batter with the bases loaded.
Lopez yielded one run, none earned, on no hits and two walks while striking out one in an inning pitched. Jarol Baez earned his second win this season, pitching two scoreless innings, and giving up a hit and a walk. Jose Suriel pitched a scoreless inning while striking out two and Alan Reyes earned his fourth save, striking out one in the inning he pitched. The Cardinals allowed one run, none earned, on two hits while walking four and striking out seven.
Padilla and Asprilla were each 1-for-3 with an RBI. Daniel Rojas and Yaxson Lucena both went 2-for-3 with a run scored. The Cardinals totaled two runs on six hits with three walks and two strikeouts.
DSL Cardinals 8, DSL White Sox 3 (Game 2, 7 innings)
The DSL Cardinals (22-19) swept the doubleheader with an 8-3 win over the DSL White Sox (10-24, CWS) on Saturday at the St. Louis Cardinals DR Complex. Starter Jefferson Moran pitched 2 2/3 innings, allowing three runs on four hits while walking three and striking out two.
The Cardinals struck first in the first with Yoerny Junco reaching on an error that scored Yairo Padilla, Juan Pablo Cabrera’s bases-loaded walk, and Fernando Roquez’s three-RBI triple.
An RBI single in the second put the White Sox on the board and they added on in the third with a two-RBI double.
The home team put the game out of reach in the fifth with Padilla’s RBI forceout, Junco’s RBI single, and a wild pitch that brought Padilla home to make the score 8-3.
Junco was 3-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored. Cabrera was 1-for-2 with two walks, an RBI, and two runs scored. Roquez went 1-for-1 with a triple, two walks, three RBI, and a run scored. The Cardinals totaled eight runs on seven hits with 10 walks and six strikeouts while hitting 2-for-17 with runners in scoring position.
Justin Hernandez pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing a hit and two walks while striking out four. Brailyn Paulino earned his first win this season, throwing two scoreless innings, and yielding five walks while striking out two. Xavier Cruz pitched a scoreless inning, giving up three hits while striking out two. The Cardinals allowed three runs on eight hits while walking 10 and striking out 10.
The DSL Cardinals are off Sunday.
Monday’s game: at DSL Rangers Red (29-15, TEX), TBD vs. TBD 10:00 CT.
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