Cardinals Minor League Notebook – 6/23/18

photo: Jake Walsh (Allison Rhoades/Peoria Chiefs)

The St. Louis Cardinals system was 7-3 on Friday, including four wins by one run. Our Player of the Day is Palm Beach starter Jake Walsh, who pitched seven scoreless, one hit innings, striking out six and walking one. Other strong outings were delivered by starters Johan Oviedo, Wilfredo Pereira, Francis Ventura and Martin Cordova.

Results for games played Friday, June 22.


Memphis 5, New Orleans 4

Oscar Mercado (Steve Mitchell/USA TODAY Sports)

The Redbirds edged New Orleans for one of four one-run victories in the Cardinals’ system on Friday.  Memphis fell behind 4-0 until scoring twice in the sixth inning on a wild pitch and groundout RBI by Alex Mejia.  The Cardinals gained the lead and the victory in the eighth, when Oscar Mercado plated two on a double to left to tie.  The winning run scored on a wild pitch with Mejia at the plate.  Max Schrock went 2-for-5, while Rangel Ravelo was 2-for-3 and Mercado was 2-for-4.

Starter Chris Ellis went six innings, giving up four runs, one earned, on seven hits.  Ellis struck out two and walked none.  Hector Mendoza earned the win with two innings of scoreless relief.  In his Memphis debut, Tommy Layne pitched a scoreless ninth for the save.

On the base paths, Mercado stole his 17th and 18th bases of the season in 24 attempts.  In the field, Luke Voit made a fielding error, and Ellis had a missed catch error.

The Redbirds are 44-30 on the season and are in first place in the PCL American Southern.

Saturday’s game:   vs. New Orleans, Dakota Hudson (9-2, 2.13) 2:05 CT.


Springfield 3, Arkansas 2

Granden Goetzman (Springfield Cardinals FANatic Photos)

The Cardinals squeaked by the Travelers by one run on Friday.  Starter Connor Jones pitched just three innings, giving up two runs on two hits while fanning two and walking three.  Austin Sexton and Jacob Evans each contributed three scoreless innings of relief.  Evans was the winning pitcher.

Springfield got on the board first in the second inning.  Evan Mendoza led off with a double and was driven home by Granden Goetzman’s RBI single.  The Cardinals didn’t score again until the seventh, when Andrew Knizner singled, Goetzman doubled and Stefan Trosclair’s sac fly plated Knizner.   Luke Dykstra the drove in Goetzman on a single.  Goetzman and Dykstra each went 2-for-3.

The Cardinals went 33-37 in the first half and finished in last place in the Texas League North.  The Cardinals are 1-3 in the second half and are also in last place.

Saturday’s game:  vs. Arkansas, Anthony Shew (4-2, 4.75) 6:10 CT.


Palm Beach 2, Charlotte 1 (10 innings)

Jake Walsh (Peoria Chiefs)

The Cardinals edged the Stone Crabs in a low-scoring contest on Friday.  If fact, the game went into extra innings at 0-0.  Charlotte struck first with a run in the top of the 10th, but the Cardinals responded with two in the bottom frame to earn the win.  Shane Billings began the inning with a single with Johan Mieses on second base. Brian O’Keefe then doubled Billings and Mieses home for the walk off victory.  No Cardinal had multiple hits.

Starter Jake Walsh pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing only one hit while striking out six and walking one.  Junior Fernandez followed with 1 1/3 scoreless frames.  Jacob Patterson finished with 1 2/3 innings pitched, giving up one run on two hits to earn the win.

In the field, Mieses had an outfield assist, throwing a runner out at home.

The Cardinals are 39-25 in the first half and ended that half in first place in the FSL South.  In the second half, the Cardinals are 1-1 and are in a three-way tie for second place.

Saturday’s game:   vs. Charlotte, Casey Meisner (3-1, 3.75) 12:00 pm CT.


Peoria 6, Burlington 1 (seven innings, Game 1 DH)

Johan Oviedo (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)

The Chiefs were victorious over the Bees at home in the first game of Friday’s twin bill.  Peoria had the game in hand throughout, putting up two runs in each of the first, fourth, and fifth innings.  In the first, after Scott Hurst drew a walk then advanced to third on Julio Rodriguez’ single, a throwing error on a pickoff attempt sent Hurst home for the first run.  A second fielding error plated Rodriguez.  Two singles and a sac fly by Hurst in the fourth drove in a run and Rodriguez added an RBI single for the second run of the inning.  In the fifth, J.R. Davis hit a two-run home run to left center field.  Rodriguez went 4-for-4, and Davis was 2-for-3 with two runs scored.

In one of his better outings in a disappointing season to date, starter Johan Oveido won his third game after pitching 5 1/3 innings and giving up one run on four hits. The right hander struck out six and walked one.  Kodi Whitley earned his second save with 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief.

Nick Plummer stole his fifth base in eight attempts.  Rayder Ascanio made a fielding error, his third error of 2018.


Peoria 4, Burlington 3 (seven innings, Game 2 DH)

Matt Fiedler (Palm Beach Cardinals)

The Chiefs swept the doubleheader with a win over the Bees in Game 2 on Friday.  Starter Zach Prendergast pitched 2 2/3 innings, giving up two runs on five hits while fanning four and walking none.  Andrew Summerville followed with 2 1/3 scoreless innings of relief to earn the win.  C.J. Saylor pitched a scoreless sixth.  Fabian Blanco tossed the seventh and surrendered a run but earned his third save.

The offense scored two in the second and two in the third.  Back to back solo home runs by Matt Fiedler and Bryce Denton got Peoria on the board.  In the third, J.R. Davis and Fielder had RBI singles. Fiedler went 2-for-2 with a walk and the two RBI.

Scott Hurst stole his sixth base in nine attempts.  Shortstop Rayder Ascanio made his second error of the day, this one on a throw.

The wild card winning Chiefs were 39-31 in the first half, and 2-0 to begin the second half for a four-way tie for first place in the Midwest League Western.

Saturday’s game:  vs. Burlington, Paul Balestrieri (2-3, 5.00) 2:00 CT.


State College 2 at West Virginia 4

Kevin Hamann (St. Louis Cardinals)

The Spikes fell to the West Virginia Black Bears on the road on Friday.  Starter Angel Rondon suffered his first loss of the season, pitching five innings and giving up four runs on seven hits.  The right hander struck out three and walked two.  Kevin Hamann added two scoreless innings of relief.  Troy Montemayor pitched a scoreless eighth.

The Spikes put up one run in the first inning on an RBI ground out by Nick Dunn.  State College added a second run in the fourth on a hit by pitch.  Edwin Figuera went 2-for-5.

In the field, Walker Robbins had an outfield assist.

The Spikes are 3-5 on the season and are tied for fourth place in the New York-Penn League Pinckney Division.

Saturday’s game:  at West Virginia, Jim Voyles (0-1, 2.08) 6:05 CT.


Johnson City 4, Kingsport 9

Leandro Cedeno (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)

The Cardinals fell to the Mets on Friday at home.  Johnson City fell behind early and didn’t get on the board until the sixth inning, when Leandro Cedeno hit a two-run home run to center field.  In a ninth inning rally, when down 9-2, the Cardinals put up two more on doubles by Jonatan Machado and Moises Castillo.   Machado went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and Castillo went 2-for-5.

Starter Edwar Ramirez pitched four innings, giving up five runs on eight hits.  Ramirez struck out four and walked two.  Tommy Parsons followed with one inning of relief, surrendering one run.  Enrique Perez allowed three more runs in his 1 2/3 innings of work.  Evan Sisk tossed the final 2 1/3 scoreless innings.  Ramirez took the loss.

Castillo committed a throwing error. Sanel Rosendo had an outfield assist.

The Cardinals are 1-3 on the season and are in last place in the Appalachian League West.

Saturday’s game:  vs. Kingsport, TBA 6:00 CT.


GCL Cardinals 5 at GCL Mets 1

Wilfredo Pereira

The Cardinals defeated the Mets on Friday to win their fourth straight game.  Starter Wilfredo Pereira won in his initial US appearance, pitching seven innings and giving up one run on two hits.  The right hander struck out five and walked one.  Chris Rivera tossed the final two scoreless frames.

The game was scoreless until the fifth, when Victor Garcia led off with a double to center field.  Brandon Benson singled, and Andrew Warner’s ground rule double scored Garcia.  Two batters later, Mateo Gil singled to plate Benson.  In the sixth, a leadoff single by Raffy Ozuna and Ivan Herrera’s single put two on.  A throwing error two hitters later brought Ozuna and Herrera home.  Finally, in the eighth, John Nogowski singled and then scored on Garcia’s double.  Ozuna and Herrera were both 2-for-5.  Garcia went 2-for-4 and Warner went 2-for-3.

On the base paths, Benson was caught stealing for the second time in two attempts and Josh Shaw was caught stealing for the first time in one try.  Ozuna made a fielding error.

The Cardinals are 4-0 on the season and are in first place in the GCL East.

Saturday’s game:  Off


DSL Cardinals Blue 3 at DSL Phillies Red 4 (11 innings)

Francis Ventura

The Blue team was edged by the Phillies Red in extra innings on Friday.  The offense scored all three of its runs in the second inning and failed to add on to maintain a lead.  The second began with a walk to Diowill Burgos, then a wild pitch a fielding error that put Pablo Gomez on first base.  Leudy Pena singled to advance the runners.  Luis Rodriguez’ sac fly plated Burgos.  Ramon Mendoza drew a walk and Darlyn Del Villar singled to score Gomez and Pena.  Del Villar went 3-for-5.

Starter Francis Ventura pitched six innings, giving up one run on four hits.  The right hander struck out three and walked two.  Anthony Trompiz tossed three innings of relief and surrendered two runs on four hits.  Trompiz was charged with a blown save.  Saniel Santana pitched the final 1 1/3 innings, allowing one unearned run and taking the loss.

On the base paths, Gomez stole his fourth base in five attempts.  Del Villar stole his fifth base in five tries.  Jean Selmo was caught stealing for the second time in four attempts.  In the field, Gomez and Ramon Mendoza both made fielding errors.

The Cardinals Blue are 12-6 on the season and tied for second place in the DSL South.

Saturday’s game:  at DSL Angels TBA 9:30 am CT.


DSL Cardinals Red 4, DSL Phillies White 0

The Cardinals Red team shut out the Phillies White on Friday.  Starter Martin Cordova pitched six scoreless innings, allowing three hits while fanning four and walking none.  Cordova earned the win in his professional debut.  Wilman Madera tossed three scoreless innings of relief to earn his first save.

The Red offense put up three runs in the second inning, a frame that began with Adanson Cruz’ single.  Cruz stole second, Cristhian Longa drew a walk, and Cruz advanced to third on a wild pitch.  Two batters later, Luis Andujar singled to score Cruz and Longa.  Elvin De Jesus tripled to plate Andujar for the third run.  Longa added a solo home run in the fourth for the final run for Cardinals Red.

On the base paths, Cruz stole his fifth base in six attempts.  Andujar stole his fourth bag in four tries.  Franklin Soto was caught stealing for the sixth time in 13 attempts.  Andujar and Soto both made throwing errors, Longa committed a fielding error, and catcher Jesus Orrechia erred on a pickoff attempt.

The Cardinals Red are 8-10 on the season and are in fourth place in the DSL San Pedro Division.

Saturday’s game:  vs. DSL Mets2, TBA 9:30 am CT.


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