Cardinals Minor League Notebook – May 13, 2021

photo: Masyn Winn (Ryan Dowd/Palm Beach Cardinals)

The St. Louis Cardinals system went 2-2 on Wednesday. Our Player of the Day is Palm Beach leadoff man Masyn Winn, who reached base five times and scored four in the Beach Birds’ slugfest victory. Peoria’s Jacob Schlesener, Cole Aker, and Fabian Blanco combined for 5 2/3 scoreless innings of relief that enabled the Chiefs to come back from a 7-1 deficit for a walk off win against Wisconsin.

Results for games played Wednesday, May 12.

Memphis 6 at Nashville 9

A ninth inning rally fell short for the Redbirds (2-6) on Wednesday night as they lost at Nashville 9-6.

The Redbirds battled but never held a lead as starter Matthew Liberatore struggled against the Nashville bats.  A first inning solo home run put Memphis behind from the beginning, though the offense briefly tied it with an RBI single by Scott Hurst in the top of the second.

The Sounds were back with a four-run third inning off Liberatore.  The left hander remained for six innings though, and was charged with five runs on seven hits, fanned four and walked one.  The Redbirds offense put up a second run in the fifth on a single by rehabbing John Nogowski.  The run was scored by red-hot Max Moroff (1.762 OPS) who drew a walk.

Max Moroff

Roel Ramirez relieved in the seventh and surrendered three more runs to give the Sounds to a commanding 8-2 edge.  Kramer Robertson’s RBI single in the eighth closed the gap to 8-3 but Nashville responded with their ninth and final run against Cardinals reliever Alex FaGalde in the home eighth.

In the top of the ninth the battling Birds rallied.  Moroff hit a solo home run to lead off the inning, his fourth long ball of the young season.  Conner Capel drew a walk and three batters later Matt Szczur hit a two-run bomb to left field.  The rally and game ended when Evan Mendoza lined out to right field.

The Redbirds scored their six runs on just six hits, one each from six different players, but also drew 10 walks. Hurst reached base three times with a single and two walks and Moroff was issued a free pass three times in addition to his home run.

Liberatore was tagged with his second loss of 2021.  Hurst stole his second base of the season and Austin Dean was caught stealing for the first time.

Thursday’s game:  at Nashville, Angel Rondon RHP (0-1, 12.46) vs. TBA 6:35 CT.

Springfield 2 at Arkansas 4

The Cardinals (1-7) outhit the Travelers on Wednesday night but couldn’t make it count, as Springfield was defeated by Arkansas 4-2.  S-Cards pitching fell victim to the long ball as well.

Springfield got on the board first with a solo home run by Luken Baker in the second inning. The lead held until the bottom of the fourth when Cardinals starter Connor Thomas yielded a run on three singles.

Luken Baker

Springfield grabbed the lead back in the fifth on an RBI single by Nolan Gorman.  It did not hold long as Arkansas put up three runs in the home sixth to take the 4-2 lead.  All three runs came via the long ball, a solo shot and a two-run blast.

Starter Thomas went 5 1/3 innings and surrendered four runs on five hits.  He punched out seven and walked none.  Edgar Escobar tossed the final 2 2/3 scoreless innings, but the offense could not rally.

Nick Plummer was in the center of the action with two hits and a walk. But the right fielder was also caught stealing for the second time this season and committed a fielding error, as did Escobar.

Thursday’s game:  at Arkansas, Kyle Leahy RHP (0-1, 11.25) vs. Ian McKinney LHP (0-0, 3.60) 7:10 CT. 

Peoria 9, Wisconsin 8 (10 innings)

On Wednesday night at Dozer Park, the Chiefs (2-6) rallied in the late innings from a huge deficit to steal the game from the visiting Timber Rattlers on a walk off in extra innings.

It had the beginnings of a laugher as the Wisconsin bats feasted off Chiefs starter Mac Lardner, beginning with three runs in the first inning.  By midway through the third, the Timber Rattlers had a commanding 7-0 lead.

The Chiefs ended the shutout with a score in the home third. Jhon Torres led off with a double to left.  Brady Whalen and Brendan Donovan drew back-to-back two-out walks to load the bases. Zade Richardson was hit by a pitch and Torres came home.

The tally remained 7-1 until the bottom of the seventh inning.  Alec Burleson singled and advanced to third on a single by Donovan.  Richardson reached base on a fielding error that plated Burleson.  The rally continued in the final two frames.

In the eighth, the Chiefs put up the crooked number four to pull to within one.  Moises Castillo reached on an error and Matt Chamberlain walked.  Torres doubled to score Castillo. Malcolm Nunez drew a walk.  With two outs and the bases loaded, a wild pitch sent Chamberlain home.  Donovan and Richardson walked, and Torres scored.  Nunez then came home when Chandler Redmond was hit by a pitch.

The game became all knotted up in the bottom of the ninth when the Chiefs scored on a walk by Chamberlain, a ground out, a wild pitch, and a fielder’s choice that scored Chamberlain.  In aid of the Chiefs’ comeback, relievers Jacob Schlesener, Cole Aker, and Fabian Blanco kept the Timber Rattlers off the board for six innings. Blanco finally surrendered a run to Wisconsin in the top of the 10th.

In the bottom of the 10th, with Whalen starting the inning on second base, Donovan singled to plate Whalen.  Richardson then singled and Donovan stole third. Castillo hit the walk off single to center that scored Donovan for the win.

Torres, Burleson, and Donovan each had three hits.  Both Chamberlain and Torres scored twice and Richardson plated two. Donovan and Burleson each stole a base. Donovan made a throwing error and Richardson had a passed ball.

Jacob Schlesener

Cole Aker

Fabian Blanco

The real heroes of the game were not hitters, however, as relievers Jacob Schlesener, Cole Aker and Fabian Blanco combined for 5 2/3 scoreless innings that enabled the offensive comeback.

Thursday’s game:  vs. Wisconsin, Ian Bedell (0-1, 10.13) RHP vs. Reese Olson RHP (1-0, 0.00) 6:35 CT.

Palm Beach 13 at Jupiter 8

Behind two five-run innings, the Cardinals (3-5) outslugged the Hammerheads on Wednesday afternoon at Roger Dean, scoring 13 runs and smashing 18 hits for the win.

Two Beach Birds contributed with the long ball.  L.J. Jones blasted a two-run shot in the second inning to finish off a five-run surge.  In the fifth inning Patrick Romeri thumped a solo shot to start a second five-run rally.  It was the first home run of the season for the two, in fact it was Jones’ first as a professional.

The offense first got on the board in the first inning on an RBI single by Jacob Buchberger.  Buchberger plated Masyn Winn, who drew a leadoff walk.

Adanson Cruz doubled to left to lead off the second inning. After advancing to third on a single by Franklin Soto, Cruz scored on a wild pitch.  Winn tripled to plate Soto then scored on a single by Jordan Walker.  The two-run home run by Jones brought the score to 6-0.

Cardinals starter Ludwin Jimenez got through the first two innings cleanly.  His luck ran out in the third inning, as the Hammerheads put five runs on the board to close the gap to 6-5.  With one run in, one out and two men on, Jimenez was replaced by Angel Cuenca.  Cuenca allowed the two inherited runners to score and then surrendered two more.  The right hander returned to pitch the fourth and yielded two additional runs as Jupiter took a 7-6 lead.

Palm Beach responded with a five-run top of the fifth.  Romeri led off with the solo home run.  Cruz walked and later scored on a single by Roblin Heredia.  Winn singled, then Walker tripled to plate Heredia and Winn, and a throwing error sent Walker home.  The Beach Birds led 11-7.

Enmanuel Solano tossed the fifth and sixth innings. He surrendered a run in the sixth to decrease the Cardinals lead to 11-8.  Palm Beach added two more runs in the top of the eighth when Winn doubled and scored on an error that put Buchberger on base.  Buchberger came home on a Romeri single.

There were more solid relief appearances in this game as Ramon Santos and Will Guay tossed the final three scoreless innings.

Masyn Winn

Player of the Day Winn reached base five times in six plate appearances, with a walk, two singles, a double and a triple. The leadoff man drove in one, stole his fifth and sixth bases of the season and scored four runs.

Walker also reached base five times on two singles and a double plus two walks. The third baseman plated three and is batting .381 on the season. Franklin Soto also three hits. Along with their home runs, Jones and Romeri each plated two.

Buchberger snatched his first base.  Soto was caught stealing for the first time.  Walker made a throwing and a fielding error.  Cruz had an outfield assist at third base.

Thursday’s game:  at Jupiter, John Beller RHP (0-0, 1.80) vs. Chris Mokma RHP (0-1, 15.00) 5:30 CT.


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