Cardinals Minor League Notebook – 5/12/19

photo: Johan Mieses (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)

The St. Louis Cardinals system was 4-0 on Saturday as Palm Beach took two and Peoria was cancelled. Our Player of the Day is Springfield outfielder Johan Mieses, whose pinch-hit, game-tying grand slam in the ninth paved the way for the walk off single by Conner Capel.

Results for games played Saturday, May 11.


Memphis 7, Nashville 5

John Nogowski (Memphis Redbirds)

The Redbirds defeated the Sounds at AutoZone Park on Saturday in the opener of a four-game set.  Starter Daniel Ponce de Leon kept Nashville off the board until the sixth inning.  After pitching five scoreless frames and given a 7-0 lead, the right hander began the sixth by walking the first two batters, and was relieved by Ryan Meisinger. Meisinger gave up a single to load the bases.  The next batter grounded into a fielder’s choice and two runs scored, one on a throwing error by second baseman Ramon Urias.  Ponce de Leon was charged with two runs, one unearned.  A third run in the inning was charged to Meisinger.   Meisigner returned to pitch the seventh and surrendered two additional runs.  Hunter Cervenka and Chris Beck each pitched a scoreless inning.   Ponce de Leon earned his third win, Beck his third save.

The offense put up seven runs over the second, third and fourth innings.  John Nogowski plated a run on a single in the second, as did Urias, and a third run in the inning scored on a sac fly by Drew Robinson.  In the third inning Tyler O’Neill hit a solo home run and Nogowski again hit a RBI single.  Andrew Knizner hit a solo home run in the fourth and Rangel Ravelo drove in the seventh and final run on a single.

Robinson, O’Neill, Ravelo, Nogowski and Urias each had two hits.  Nogowski drove in two runs.

O’Neill stole his first base of the season. Robinson was caught stealing for the second time in the season.  Urias and Kramer Robertson made throwing errors, and Robinson had a fielding error.

Memphis is 19-17 on the season and in second place in the PCL North, 5 games back of the Iowa Cubs.

Sunday’s game:  vs. Nashville, Anthony Shew (1-0, 0.00) 2:05 CT.


Springfield 6, NW Arkansas 5

Johan Mieses (Memphis Redbirds)

The Cardinals mounted a ninth-inning comeback from a four-run deficit to defeat the Naturals on Saturday.

Springfield’s offense got on the board with a run in the first inning on a double by new arrival Randy Arozarena.  The Naturals put up five runs in the second and third inning to take a 5-1 lead, and that is where the score remained until the bottom of the ninth.

In the ninth, singles by Chris Chinea and Brian O’Keefe, and a hit by pitch to Irving Lopez, loaded the bases with no outs.   On a 2-1 offering, Johan Mieses hit a grand slam to left field to tie the game at 5-5.  Justin Williams followed with a single, Dylan Carlson was intentionally walked, and Evan Mendoza bunted into a force out.  Randy Arozarena singled to load the bases, and Conner Capel singled to left, scoring Carlson for the walk off win.

Conner Capel (Springfield Cardinals FANatic Photos)

Williams, Arozarena, Capel, and O’Keefe had two hits each.  Extra base hits were doubles by Capel and Arozarena, and the grand slam by Mieses, who was a pinch hitter for Alberto Triunfel.

Johan Oviedo started for Springfield and gave up five runs on six hits in five innings. In his second Double-A outing, the right hander fanned four and walked five.  Hector Mendoza and Ronnie Williams combined to pitch the final four scoreless innings.  Williams took the win.

The Cardinals are 14-21 and have moved up to third place in the Texas League North.

Sunday’s game:  vs. NW Arkansas, Williams Perez (3-1, 4.86) 4:10 CT.


Palm Beach 4 at Bradenton 3 (seven innings; Game 1 doubleheader)

Zach Kirtley (State College Spiles

The Cardinals edged the Bradenton Marauders in the first game of a road twin bill on Saturday.

Starter Perry DellaValle tossed 4 2/3 innings, giving up two runs on six hits while striking out two and walking two.  C.J. Saylor followed with 1 1/3 innings of relief in which he surrendered one unearned run.  Saylor got the win.  Bryan Dobzanski pitched a scoreless seventh to earn his second save.

The Palm Beach offense put up single runs in the first, second, fourth, and fifth innings. Michael Perri’s single drove in the first.  Dennis Ortega’s single brought in a run in the second.  In the fourth, Zach Kirtley plated a run on a single, and Bryce Denton’s sac fly in the fifth scored the fourth and final Palm Beach run.

Kirtley and Luken Baker (two doubles) had two hits in the contest.  Nick Dunn added a triple.

Yariel Gonzalez made a fielding error, and Chase Pinder had an outfield assist.


Palm Beach 5 at Bradenton 1 (seven innings; Game 2 doubleheader)

Tommy Parsons (Peoria Chiefs)

The Cardinals were the victors in the second game of the doubleheader and took the series at then-first-place Bradenton.  Three of the Palm Beach runs came via the long ball and both home runs were in the fourth inning.  Justin Toerner hit a solo home run, and Moises Castillo’s blast scored two.  Luken Baker plated the first run on a single in the first inning.  Yariel Gonzalez drove in a run on a single in the fifth.

Catcher Julio Rodriguez went 3-for-3 and was the only Cardinal with multiple hits.

Starter Tommy Parsons pitched a complete game and gave up one run on six hits.  TCN’s April Pitcher of the Month fanned six and issued no free passes to earn his first win in two tries for Palm Beach.

Nick Plummer stole his first base of the season.

The Cardinals are 21-14 on the season and are tied for second place with Bradenton, one game behind Fort Myers in the FSL South.

Sunday’s game:  No game scheduled


Peoria at South Bend (cancelled)

The Chiefs game to conclude the road series could not be played due to rain. Since Peoria and South Bend do not meet again in the 2019 regular season due to being in different divisions, the game will not be made up.

Sunday’s game:   No game scheduled.


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