photo: Imeldo Diaz (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
The St. Louis Cardinals system went 5-3 on Tuesday. Shortstop Imeldo Diaz’ eighth-inning two-run homer flipped a potential loss into a Johnson City game and series win over the first-place club.
Results from games played Tuesday, August 22nd.
New Orleans 8 at Memphis 3
Kevin Herget could not finish the fifth, resulting in the Redbirds’ 8-3 loss to the BabyCakes (52-75) (MIA). Memphis (84-46) split the four-game home set.
Herget (L, 4-2) yielded six runs on seven hits, including a solo home run, and three walks through 4 1/3. The righty plunked one batter.
Josh Zeid let both inherited runners score plus an unearned tally of his own on six hits in 2 2/3. Zeid fanned five. Miguel Socolovich and Mark Montgomery each went an inning, Socolovich permitting a run on two hits and a base-on-balls.
Two of the Redbirds’ three tallies were generated by home runs sans base runners. Breyvic Valera gave his team a brief 1-1 tie after one and Rangel Ravelo’s long ball capped Memphis’ scoring.
Ravelo was one of two Redbirds with two hits, going 2-for-3 with a walk and strikeout. Alberto Rosario singled and doubled in four at bats, scoring the team’s other run.
Wednesday’s game: Off
Springfield 7 at Northwest Arkansas 3

The S-Cards scored five times in the first two frames, coasting to a 7-3 victory over the Naturals in the series opener. Springfield (38-19) kept one game up on second-place Tulsa (LAD) with the win, despite the Drillers having won seven straight.
Like their Memphis counterparts, Springfield collected nine hits but with very different results. Darren Seferina, Adolis Garcia and Anthony Garcia had two hits apiece. Third baseman Seferina added a single to a two-run blast with a walk and two runs scored.
Adolis Garcia singled twice in five at bats, crossed home two times and drove in one. Anthony Garcia went 2-for-3, knocking in two. Seferina and Adolis Garcia each swiped a base. Seferina committed one of four Springfield miscues.
Ryan Helsley (W, 3-0) tossed a strong mound effort, fanning seven in 5 1/3. The only damage against the Oklahoma native was a solo bomb, one of three hits and two walks yielded.
Corey Littrell left Helsley’s final two runners aboard but was touched for a run on three hits the next frame. Landon Beck faced the minimum in the eighth but Tyler Bray was charged with an unearned score in his inning of work.
Wednesday’s game: at Northwest Arkansas (22-35) (KC), 7:05 pm CT, Sandy Alcantara (7-5, 4.38)

A big fourth inning gave the Beach Birds a 5-2 victory over the Hammerheads in the first of three games between the two teams. Third-place Palm Beach (29-26), winners of the South Division’s first half, has now won four in a row but trails the league-leading Fort Myers (MIN) by seven with 12 games remaining.
The PB-Cards batted around in the five-run fourth. Thomas Spitz opened the frame with a single and closed it with a swinging K. In between, an RBI single by Chris Chinea drove in Spitz, back-to-back walks that brought Casey Grayson (plunked) across, a two-run single by Shane Billings scoring Chinea and Blake Drake (walk) and a missed catch error by Jupiter’s pitcher, allowing Andy Young (walk) to touch home.
Chinea swung the hottest bat, going 4-for-5, collecting four of his team’s 10 singles. The only other Beach Bird with more than one hit was Billings, who singled twice in four at bats and plated two.
Mike O’Reilly tossed six strong frames, holding the opposition to two runs on nine hits to improve his record to three wins against no losses. The 22-year-old struck out seven.
A quartet of relievers shared pitching duties the rest of the way. Ross Vance retired two and gave up one hit before giving way to Ian McKinney, who recorded three straight outs. Dailyn Martinez got his only batter, turning the ball over to Connor Jones, who picked up his first save in only his second relief effort this season.
Wednesday’s game: at Jupiter (30-28) (MIA), 6:30 pm ET, Sam Tewes (1-1, 3.46)

Six Wisconsin tallies in the first doomed the Chiefs to an 8-4 loss in the road series opener. While second-place Peoria (30-28) drops to eight back of Quad Cities (HOU), they are a game up on both Cedar Rapids (MIN) and Kane County (ARI) in the Wild Card standings.
Austin Warner took the loss, his third in five decisions, permitting seven runs, six earned, on five hits and three free passes over four. Ronnie Williams served up a home run during his three-inning stint but Austin Sexton tossed a clean eighth.
Peoria accumulated nine hits with three players having two each: Brian O’Keefe, Ryan McCarvel and Nick Plummer. O’Keefe singled twice in four at bats, scoring twice, while one of McCarvel’s two hits was a three-run home run, his second long ball in as many games.
Wednesday’s game: at Wisconsin (26-32) (MIL), 7:05 pm CT, Anthony Shew (2-0, 3.69)
State College 5 vs. West Virginia 4

The Spikes rallied for a dramatic walk-off victory in the series opener against the Black Bears, the co-division leaders. It is only the third win in their last eight games for second-place State College (31-29), which is three games out of first.
Down 4-2 with three outs to give, the home team put their first three players aboard, sandwiching a single between two walks. A 4-6 force brought State College within one which may have helped bring about the fielding error allowing the next Spike to reach, knotting the game at four all. Zach Kirtley singled home pinch-runner Edwin Figuera, in his only hit in five at bats, for the win.
Three Spikes each had two of the team’s 10 hits: J.D. Crowe, Brandon Benson and Wood Myers. All three singled twice in four at bats, Crowe scoring once and Benson twice. Figuera pinch ran for Crowe in the ninth.
Only one of three runs charged to starter Jonathon Mulford over 5 2/3 innings was earned, due to a Yariel Gonzalez fielding error at third. After Levi MaVorhis yielded a run in 2 1/3, Spencer Trayner picked up the win thanks a scoreless ninth and his teammates’ walkoff.
Wednesday’s game: vs. West Virginia (34-26) (PIT), 7:05 pm ET, Daniel Castano (7-2, 2.28)
Johnson City 4 at Elizabethton 3

Two eighth-inning tallies lifted the Appy Birds past the Twins in the decisive third game of the series. Nine games remain in the regular season with second-place Johnson City (32-26) 2 ½ games behind Elizabethton (35-24) but two games ahead of Greeneville in the Wild Card standings.
Both eighth-inning scores came off Imeldo Diaz’ bat, as the shortstop launched his fourth long ball of 2017 with Luis Bandes (error) aboard. Diaz went 2-for-4, as did Irving Lopez, who added a base-on-balls, run scored and stolen base.
Reliever Thomas St. Clair picked up the win, his second in three decisions, striking out three in 1 2/3. Brett Seeburger fanned three in 1 1/3, stranding one inherited runner, for his second save.
Evan Guillory went the first five, permitting just a single tally on five hits and a walk. Jake Dahlberg (BS, 1) gave two runs on four hits in the sixth.
Wednesday’s game: vs. Greeneville (30-28) (HOU), 7:00 pm ET, Alvaro Seijas (4-1, 4.80)

The Gulf Birds lost their fourth straight game, this time 7-5 to the bottom-dwelling Mets (16-31). The Cardinals (23-22) are tied for third with the Astros, four behind the Nationals with 11 games to go in the regular season.
Derian Gonzalez, making his second rehab start, gave up an unearned tally via a lead-off double, fielding error and sac fly. The righty, out since July 7th, allowed two hits in two frames with four strikeouts.
Regular starter Junior Gonzalez took over in the third, permitting three runs, two earned, on seven hits and two walks over five. In his first Gulf Coast League appearance, Oneiver Diaz (L, 0-1) could not hold the 4-4 tie he inherited, yielding three tallies on two hits and two bases-on-balls.
The home team mustered nine hits, including three by Andres Luna. The designated hitter went 3-for-4 with a double, run scored, RBI and a stolen base. Second baseman Moises Castillo had two hits in four at bats, including a solo long ball that was one of his two driven in.
Defensively, the Gulf Birds committed three miscues that, as previously mentioned, led to two unearned scores: left fielder Terry Fuller (fielding), third baseman Elehuris Montero (throwing) and center fielder Luis Flores (throwing).
Wednesday’s game: at first-place GCL Nationals (28-19), 12:00 pm ET, Angel Rondon (2-2, 2.87)
DSL Cardinals 6 at DSL Twins 2
Four late scores lifted the Dominican Birds over the first-place Twins, 6-2. The seventh-place Cardinals (28-37) may have only four days left in their season but they will be busy with six games, including two double headers, on tap.
The Twins (46-20) struck first with two runs against Francis Ventura in the contest’s initial frame on three free passes and a two-run single. Ventura tossed four more scoreless innings, yielding only two more hits during that span.
Roy Garcia (W, 2-4) struck out three over the next two frames and picked up the win when his squad put up a three-spot in the eighth. 17-year-old lefty Nelson Prado issued a base-on-balls to his first batter but retired the next six in a row for his first professional save.
Down 2-0 through four, the visitors tied it up the next inning before pushing across four runs, two earned, over the last two frames. Four Cards each had two of the team’s 12 hits: Freddy De Jesus, Victor Garcia, Diomedes Del Rio and Joyser Garcia. All but Garcia touched home once and Del Rio knocked in one.
Wednesday’s games: at/vs. third-place DSL Angels (32-33). Game one – 10:30 am ET, TBA
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