photo: Jose Martinez (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
In a 3-4 Thursday across the St. Louis Cardinals minor league system, Palm Beach shortstop Jose Martinez led a 19-run offensive explosion with two singles, a double, a home run and four RBI.
Results from games played Thursday, August 17th.
Wilfredo Tovar’s late grand slam was not enough as the American Southern champion Redbirds (82-43) dropped an 11-8 home decision to Nashville. Memphis trails in the series, one game to two, with one contest remaining.
The offense banged out 15 hits, led by three players with three apiece: Tovar, Stephen Piscotty and Rangel Ravelo. Tovar and Piscotty both went 3-for-5. Piscotty doubled and scored twice while Tovar swiped his 16th bag of 2017 in addition to his home run. Ravelo went 3-for 4 with a walk, triple, run scored and RBI. Breyvic Valera and Patrick Wisdom each went 2-for-5. Valera joined Tyler O’Neill with a solo bomb while Wisdom doubled once with a run scored.
The only flaw in Kevin Herget’s start was it didn’t last long enough – though it was a strong effort. The fill-in starter for Luke Weaver struck out five through four innings, yielding a run on two hits and a walk.
Arturo Reyes was pasted for five tallies on eight hits and two bases-on-balls, one intentional, in 1 2/3. Miguel Socolovich limited the damage by leaving the sacks jammed in the sixth but gave up three scores the next inning. Nor was Mark Montgomery immune from the scoring infection, as the righty allowed two runs on three hits and a walk over the final two frames.
Friday’s game: vs. Nashville (59-65) (OAK), 7:05 pm CT, Matt Pearce (3-1, 4.80)
San Antonio 4 at Springfield 2
Single Hooks tallies in the eighth and ninth sent the S-Cards to a 4-2 defeat by first-place (South) San Antonio (30-22). The loss prevented a three-game sweep by the home team and ended their five-game winning streak. Springfield (35-18) holds a two-game lead over Tulsa (LAD) with both Arkansas and Northwest Arkansas virtually out of the running for the second-half title.
Reliever Pedro Echemendia (L, 1-2) worked two scoreless frames before surrendering a long ball to his first batter in the eighth. Jacob Evans recorded the eighth’s final two outs but loaded the bases on two singles and a walk without retiring a batter the next inning. A wild pitch by Tyler Bray allowed the insurance run to score.
Sandy Alcantara tossed a solid effort, yielding a two-run long ball that was one of only two hits permitted through five. The righty fanned seven and issued one free pass.
The offense was held to just five hits, with two from Andrew Knizner. Knizner singled and doubled in three at bats, touching home once. That raised his batting average to .406 over his last 10 games.
Friday’s game: vs. Corpus Christi (22-30) (HOU), 7:10 pm CT, Chris Ellis (5-6, 3.86)
The Beach Birds’ offense simply unloaded on the Blue Jays, translating 24 hits into a 19-4 win and salvaging a split of their four-game set with Dunedin (30-24). Fifth-place Palm Beach (26-26) remains 8 ½ behind Fort Myers (MIN).
The 24 hits included three doubles and home runs by Jose Martinez, Chris Chinea and Jose Godoy. Eight of the 10 PB-Cards who came to the plate on Thursday had multiple hits. While all eight gave noteworthy efforts, the numbers Martinez produced stood out just a bit. The shortstop went 4-for-6 with a double, sac fly and a two-run home run that comprised one of his three runs scored and two of his four RBI. Martinez accounted for six runs.
Thomas Spitz also went 4-for-6 with a double, as the right fielder scored three and knocked in one. Chinea, Godoy and Leobaldo Pina each had three hits and scored twice.
Sam Tewes (W, 1-1) was the fortuitous recipient of his team’s offensive largess. The right-hander served up a two-run long ball before settling down to hold his opponents to just four more hits and a walk resulting in two more tallies over eight total innings. Brady Bowen pitched the ninth.
Friday’s game: vs. third-place Bradenton (28-25) (PIT), 6:30 pm ET, Jake Woodford (6-6, 3.30)
A manufactured ninth-inning tally gave the Chiefs a 5-4 victory over the River Bandits, preventing a four-game sweep by first-place Quad Cities (34-19). Peoria (28-25) is tied for second (and the wild card spot) with Kane County (ARI), six games out.
The tie-breaking score came without a hit. Mick Fennell was plunked, moving to third via an errant pick-off throw. The pitcher then hit Kramer Robertson, who promptly stole second. The steal set up an intentional free pass to Ryan McCarvel, jamming the sacks full. A patient Danny Hudzina worked a base-on-balls, bringing Fennell across.
Peoria struck first with single tallies in three straight frames. Stefan Trosclair went 2-for-5 with a double and solo home run, touching home twice. Dylan Carlson singled twice in two at bats with two walks and two runs scored. He was driven in by Brian O’Keefe, who doubled twice in two at bats with two RBI.
Austin Warner made those three runs hold up during his six innings on the mound, blanking Quad Cities on two hits and two walks. Warner struck out five with eight ground- and five fly-ball outs.
The Chiefs’ bullpen was not as effective. Bryan Dobzanski let the River Bandits get on the board with a run in the seventh. Yeison Medina (BS, 3) (W, 5-0) stranded two inherited runners but gave up the lead with a three-run eighth. Austin Sexton retired the side in order for his first professional save.
Friday’s game: vs. seventh-place Clinton (23-30) (SEA), 7:00 pm CT, Anthony Shew (1-0, 4.26)
State College 0 at West Virginia 3
The third-place Spikes failed to gain ground on the first-place Black Bears for the second game in a row, this time falling 3-0. State College (29-26), four games out of the lead, will try to salvage the series’ finale on Friday.
Jonathon Mulford (L, 2-5) did not finish the fifth, giving up two runs on eight hits in 4 2/3. Will Latcham was tagged with an unearned tally over 2 1/3 before Jason Zgardowski faced the minimum in the eighth.
About the most exciting thing in the Spikes’ box score is that shortstop Wood Myers was tossed by the home plate umpire in the eighth after lining out to short. Myers was hitless in two at bats with a walk. State College managed six hits, two by Caleb Lopes, who singled twice in four at bats.
Friday’s game: at first-place West Virginia (33-22) (PIT), 7:05 pm ET, Daniel Castano (7-2, 2.25)
Luis Bandes’ ninth-inning double gave the Appy Birds a series opening 3-2 victory over the Blue Jays. Second-place Johnson City (29-24) is tied with Greeneville (HOU), both team 2 ½ behind Elizabethton (MIN).
Bandes’ double, his second hit in four at bats, drove in Brady Whalen, who opened with a single. Julio Rodriguez singled right after Whalen but was nailed at the plate. Earlier Rodriguez worked a free pass, scoring his team’s first run on a double play. The Appy Birds had eight hits in all. Defensively, the visitors committed three miscues, two leading to an unearned tally in the fifth.
Both of the runs against Alvaro Seijas through six crossed the plate in the fifth. The righty allowed four of his five hits that frame. He hit two batters.
The bullpen kept Bluefield off the board the rest of the way. Jake Walsh (W, 5-0) fanned four over two. Thomas St. Clair walked the bases full but Jacob Patterson induced his only batter to hit into a game-ending double play for his ninth save.
Friday’s game: at Bluefield (36-18) (TOR), 7:05 pm ET, Zach Prendergast (2-0, 3.21)
GCL Cardinals 5 at GCL Mets 10
Thursday was a L-O-N-G day for Gulf Birds’ hurlers as the visitors fell 10-5 to the fifth-place GCL Mets (15-28). The loss kept the second-place GCL Cardinals (23-19) from gaining ground on the Nationals, which also lost.
All four Gulf Cards’ hurlers were scored upon, beginning with Jorge Rondon. The starter fell an out shy of finishing the third, yielding a run on two hits. Chris Hunt (L, 2-1) was touched for three tallies on seven hits over 3 1/3.
But Hunt’s results pale in comparison to Enrique Perez, who surrendered five runs, four earned, on two hits and three walks in the seventh. Gabriel Gentner allowed a home run with the bases empty in the eighth.
Taylor Bryant and Moises Castillo both went 2-for-4, with Bryant driving in two and stealing a base. Rehabbers Edmundo Sosa and Jordan Schafer each singled once in three at bats with a walk and two runs scored.
Friday’s game: vs. first-place GCL Nationals (25-18), 12:00 pm ET, Brian Pirela (3-3, 5.08)
DSL Cardinals vs. DSL Mets1 – ‘postponed’
Thursday’s contest between the DSL Cardinals (27-35) and DSL Mets1 (38-23) was rained out. While the game is officially listed as ‘postponed’, the two teams are not scheduled to meet again during the nine remaining regularly scheduled contests.
Friday’s game: Off
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