Cardinals Minor League Notebook – September 3, 2019

photo: Dylan Carlson (Frank Ramirez/The Cardinal Nation)

In a fitting finale to a bad and baffling St. Louis Cardinals minor league regular season, the organization went 0-4 with a tie on Labor Day. Player of the Day Dylan Carlson reached base four times, raising his Triple-A slash line to .361/.418/.681. Each team has finished its 2019 campaign, save for Johnson City, which took a Game 1 finals loss.

Results for games played Monday, September 2nd.


Iowa 9, Memphis 6

Dylan Carlson (Frank Ramirez/The Cardinal Nation)

Memphis allowed eight runs in the first four innings and couldn’t catch up, falling 9-6 at Iowa on Monday and dropping to 69-71 to finish the year.

Chris Ellis started and was shelled for five tallies on seven hits, two walks, and a plunking over just three innings. Bryan Dobzanski relieved and was even worse, taking a deserved defeat after permitting three runs in just 2/3 of one frame. Pitching quite well in relief, though, were Jesus Cruz, Chasen Shreve, and Roel Ramirez. The trio combined to fan nine Cubbies in 4 1/3 innings and conceded one run on only two singles and a free pass.

Center fielder Dylan Carlson singled, doubled, homered, and was hit by a pitch — the young man knows how to take a holiday. Nearly matching him was second sacker Ramon Urias, who homered and doubled to lift his post-All Star OPS to a robust .932. Other multi-hit efforts were recorded by Max Schrock and Jose Godoy with a pair of singles apiece, and shortstop Jose Martinez, who mirrored his keystone mate with a double and homer of his own. (Bonus Carlson tidbit: across AA and AAA, when behind in the count in 2019 Dylan Carlson hit .283 in 180 at-bats and slugged .472. When ahead in the count, he slugged over .700 at both levels.)


Midland 11 at Springfield 6

Julio Rodriguez (Steve Mitchell/Imagn)

Springfield finished its second half 30-40, same as the first, after dropping an 11-6 decision to Midland at home on Monday. Defense-first backstop Julio Rodriguez had his best game for Springfield, singling twice, homering, and gunning both would-be RockHounds base stealers. Other hitting stars included Rayder Ascanio, who homered and singled, and second baseman Irving Lopez and center fielder Conner Capel, who each singled twice. Capel also had an outfield assist while Lopez participated in a pair of double plays.

Johan Oviedo started and was mauled for seven runs on 12 baserunners in just 4 1/3 stanzas. The big righty did whiff seven batters. At the other end of the spectrum, dazzling in his Double-A (and relief pitching) debut was righty Kyle Leahy. The 22-year-old erstwhile starter flummoxed Midland hitters for three innings, yielding only one lonely single and fanning two.


Clinton 5, Peoria 2

Imeldo Diaz (Palm Beach Cardinals)

Out-hitting their opponent 14-to-7, Peoria rolled to a road victory Monday…is the headline that didn’t happen. Instead, somehow Peoria out-hit Clinton 14-to-7 but lost by a 5-2 score anyway, crashing to 24-46 for the second half.

Starter Parker Kelly went 4 2/3 innings and permitted three runs on six hits, a walk, a balk, and a hit batter. Lefty Connor Thomas then allowed two runs, one earned, but no hits. Unscored upon were righty Connor Coward (1 1/3 innings, two whiffs) and 21-year-old Freddy Pacheco, who fanned one and allowed a single in his shutout inning.

There were zero extra base knocks for the Chiefs, but five players logged multi-hit efforts. Leading the way with three hits each were designated hitter Delvin Perez and hot corner resident Imeldo Diaz. The 21-year-old Diaz spent only six weeks in Peoria and distinguished himself with a .316 average and .804 OPS (which left him a scant .001 behind wunderkind catcher Ivan Herrera for the team OPS lead). Two-hit games were contributed by center fielder Jonatan Machado, catcher Alexis Wilson, and left fielder Brandon Riley, who also stole a base.


State College 3 at Williamsport 3

Junior Gonzalez (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)

State College (39-36) kissed their sister Monday afternoon, wrapping up their season with a 3-3 hung jury at Williamsport. Lightning halted play as the bottom of the ninth was about to begin, and subsequent rain showers made the field unplayable.

The tie game is the first in Spikes history, as all other games stopped with a tie score were suspended and completed at a later date. All statistics from the game count in the year-end totals.

The Spikes had no extra base hits, and designated hitter Liam Sabino provided the sole multi-hit game with his pair of singles. Shortstop Luis Flores started the scoring with a two-run single, but State College couldn’t make it stand up.

Junior Gonzalez started for the Spikes and lasted six innings, surrendering just two runs and one earned. The 22-year-old righty fanned six and gave one base on balls, while scattering half a dozen singles. The only reliever was fellow righty Jeremy Randolph, who threw two frames and allowed a tally on two hits. The bottom of the ninth went unplayed.


Burlington 9 at Johnson City 2 (Appalachian League finals Game 1)

Chandler Redmond (Robert Kell)

In the opener of the Appalachian League Finals, Johnson City was thumped early and often, eventually succumbing by a 9-2 score at home Monday evening. For whatever odd reason, loser Julio Puello remained in the game long enough to allow seven earned runs, three in his final inning of work. Southpaw Enrique Perez and starboardsider Alex Gallegos each twirled a scoreless frame in relief, yielding one hit and two walks between them.

First baseman Chandler Redmond did all he could by homering (for the third consecutive game), doubling, and drawing a walk, but it was all in vain as his mates managed just four hits, one for extra bases (a longball by Carlos Soler) and went 0-for-6 with men in scoring spots. Nothing good happened on the defensive side either, as Mateo Gil, Aaron Antonini, and Tre Fletcher combined for a quartet of throwing miscues that led to one unearned run. (Wasn’t that a band in the ’80s? “Throwing Miscues”?)

Tuesday’s game: at Burlington, pitcher TBA, 5:30 CT.


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Johnson City Cardinals Notebook – 2019 Week 11


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