Cardinals Minor League Notebook – June 12, 2019

photo: Kyle Leahy (Allison Rhoades/Peoria Chiefs)

On the 4-1 Tuesday across the St. Louis Cardinals, pitching led the way with Springfield’s Austin Warner and Peoria’s Kyle Leahy combining for one run in 14 innings with 18 strikeouts. Palm Beach was eliminated in the first half and DSL Blue walked off a win.

Results from games played Tuesday, June 11th.


Memphis – off   

Coming off a seven-game West Coast swing in which they went 4-3, Memphis (27-38) heads back to AutoZone Park for a seven-game home stand against Salt Lake and Las Vegas (OAK).

Wednesday’s game:  vs. Salt Lake (29-34) (LAA), 7:05 pm CT, Evan Kruczynski (1-1, 6.00)


Springfield 4 vs. Midland 1     

Austin Warner (Springfield Cardinals FANatic Photos)

A trio of S-Cards hurlers combined for 16 strikeouts as Springfield (25-39) downed Midland, 4-1, in the series opener at Hammons Field.

Co-Player of the Day Austin Warner (W, 3-5) notched 10 of them during his six innings on the bump, scattering six hits and a walk and limiting the RockHounds to a run.  That included a rare four punchout inning. The lefty threw 70 of his 99 pitches for strikes.

Kodi Whitley retired all six batters faced, striking out four, and Junior Fernandez fanned two in his one-two-three ninth for his fourth save.

A balanced offensive effort featured seven of nine Springfield players gathering at least one of the squad’s 10 hits.  Irving Lopez, Yariel Gonzalez and Chris Chinea had two hits apiece, Lopez in two at bats and the latter two in four.  Both Lopez and Chinea went yard with the bases empty, Lopez adding a triple, two runs scored and an RBI with Chinea touching home once with a walk and one knocked in.  Lopez reached base once via a hit batsman.

Wednesday’s game:  vs. Midland (31-32) (OAK), 11:10 am CT, RHP Roel Ramirez (1-1, 5.54) (updated)


Palm Beach 2 “at” Jupiter 0 (5)    

Chase Pinder (Andrew Miller/Palm Beach Cardinals)

Two unearned tallies provided the margin of victory as the Beach Birds slipped past the Hammerheads, 2-0, in a contest that was called due to rain with one gone in the visitor’s half of the sixth.  With Fort Myers’ win, however, third-place Palm Beach (35-28) was eliminated in the playoff race for the first-half of the season.

Both runs were generated in the fourth after Chase Pinder opened with a single to right.  A throwing error by Jupiter’s third baseman on Julio Rodriguez’ grounder advanced Pinder to third, putting the left fielder in position to score on Luken Baker’s ground out.  A two-out single by Scott Hurst drove in Rodriguez for the final score.

Alex Fagalde tossed the first three frames, yielding three hits and a walk on 71 pitches, 42 of them strikes.  The righty threw one wild pitch.  Ramon Santos and Edgar Gonzalez each hurled a one-two-three inning, with Santos picking up his first win and Gonzalez his first save.

Wednesday’s game:  at Jupiter (20-42) (MIA), 6:30 pm ET, Griffin Roberts (0-0, 8.10)


Peoria 1 at Clinton 0       

Kyle Leahy (Peoria Chiefs)

Kyle Leahy’s eight-inning gem was key in Peoria’s (26-36) tight 1-0 victory over Clinton in the first of their three-game series.

Leahy (W, 4-4), our co-Player of the Day, blanked the LumberKings on five hits with eight strikeouts, extending his scoreless innings streak to 21 over four games.  The tall righty did not issue a free pass and threw 98 pitches, 67 for strikes.  Cole Aker faced the minimum in the ninth, fanning two, for his second save.

The pitching duel remained scoreless until the sixth when Brady Whalen doubled home Brendan Donovan, who had kicked off the inning with a walk.  Whalen’s two-bagger was one of only three hits for the Chiefs.

Wednesday’s game:  at Clinton (31-33) (MIA), 6:30 pm CT, Alvaro Seijas (4-4, 3.06)


DSL Cardinals Blue 5 vs. DSL Orioles2 4

A blown save was followed by a walk-off victory as the Cardinals Blue (5-2) edged the Orioles2, 5-4.

The back-and-forth battle featured four lead changes plus two ties and four miscues, three by the visitors, which led to three unearned tallies.  Designated hitter Diego Velasquez was a perfect 3-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI.  The 17-year-old was plunked once.  The only other C-Blue player with more than one of the team’s nine hits was shortstop Darlyn Del Villar, who went 3-for-5 with a double, run scored and one driven in out of the three hole.

Making his first professional start after one relief appearance, 17-year-old Engels Martinez allowed two runs on three hits and a base-on-balls over four innings with four strikeouts.  Tandem mate Luis Ortiz held the Orioles2 (2-5) to an unearned score on three hits while matching Martinez’ four K’s.  Luis Tena (W, 2-0) (BS, 2) yielded a solo shot tying the game at four all in the top of the ninth but was the pitcher of record when Del Villar doubled and scored on a fielding error on a subsequent play for the walk-off win.

Wednesday’s game:  Off


DSL Cardinals Red 4 at DSL Cubs2 6

Lack of timely hitting resulted in the Cardinals Red (4-5) falling to the DSL Cubs2, 6-4.

The C-Red had plentiful opportunities with nine hits and nine free passes but went 3-for-12 with runners in scoring position and left 11 on base.  The only Cardinals Red player with a multi-hit performance was left fielder Claudio Ramirez, who went 3-for-4 with a double and one driven in.  Defensively, he was credited with an assist at home.

Right-hander Edgar Manzo limited his opponents to an unearned run on two hits and four walks in four innings.  Luis Garcia retired five batters but allowed two runs, one earned, on two hits and two free passes.

Augusto Calderon (L, 0-1) recorded the sixth’s final out, stranding two inherited runners, but was charged with three tallies on a hit and three walks the next frame.  Larimel Soriano tossed the final 1 1/3 innings, giving up two and a walk while permitting one of Calderon’s runners to score.

Wednesday’s game:  vs. DSL Cubs2 (4-5), 10:30 AM ET, Miguel Yedis (0-0, 0.00)


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