(photo: Nick Martini/Springfield Cardinals FANatic Photos)
The St. Louis Cardinals system was 5-2 on Friday, with the GCL game suspended. Our Player of the Day is Memphis outfielder Nick Martini, who was 3-for-5 with a double, and drove in four of the Redbirds’ six runs. Jack Flaherty also tossed 6 1/3 scoreless innings in Memphis’ victory over Las Vegas.
Results for games played Friday, July 21.
The Redbirds shut out Las Vegas behind 6 1/3 scoreless innings by starting pitcher Jack Flaherty. Flaherty allowed four hits while striking out nine and walking none. Miguel Socolovich followed with 1 2/3 scoreless innings. Mike Mayers pitched a scoreless ninth.
Leading the offense was Nick Martini, who was 3-for-5 with a double and four RBI. Two additional runs scored on a fielding error. Harrison Bader was 3-for-4, and Aledmys Diaz was 2-for-4.
Adolis Garcia stole his third base In three attempts for Memphis.
The Redbirds are 63-35 on the season and are in first place in the PCL Southern by 17 games.
Saturday’s game: vs. Las Vegas, Matt Pearce (0-0, 4.50) 6:35 CT.
The Cardinals topped the Travelers on Friday night with the help of a three RBI performance by Jacob Wilson. Wilson was 2-for-5 with two doubles. Magneuris Sierra drove in a run and was 2-for-4. Darren Seferina was also 2-for-4, plating one run and scoring twice. Randy Arozarena was 2-for-5 with two runs scored.
Starter Zac Gallen earned his third win of the season. Gallen pitched six innings, giving up three runs on eighth hits while fanning one and walking none. Jacob Evans followed with a scoreless inning of relief. Dailyn Martinez pitched the final two scoreless innings.
On the base paths, Arozarena stole his fifth base for Springfield in five attempts. In the field, Seferina committed a fielding error.
The Cardinals are 53-45 overall, and 17-10 in the second half and are in first place in the Texas League North.
Saturday’s game: at Arkansas, Dakota Hudson (8-4, 2.69) 6:10 CT.
The Cardinals squeaked by Charlotte thanks to a walk off by Thomas Spitz. The ninth inning single was the outfielder’s only hit of the game. Casey Turgeon, who was 2-for-3, drove in the other Palm Beach run on an RBI single in the fifth inning. Shane Billings was 2-for-4.
Starter Junior Fernandez pitched eight innings, giving up one run on four hits, while fanning three and walking four. Ross Vance pitched a scoreless ninth and earned his first win of the season. Vance also picked off a runner at first base.
Danny Diekroeger stole his first base for Palm Beach in his only attempt.
The Cardinals are 54-39 overall and 14-12 in the second half, which puts them four games back of first place in the FSL South.
Saturday’s game: vs. Charlotte, TBA 4:30 CT.
The Chiefs blew by Dayton with the long ball featured prominently. Vince Jackson launched a solo home run in the first inning for his only hit of the game. Ryan McCarvel added a solo shot in the same inning; McCarvel was 3-for-4 with three runs scored. The Chiefs plated three in the fifth. Kramer Robertson drove in a run on a single and was 2-for-6. Matt Fiedler, who was 3-for-5, also had an RBI single. Danny Hudzina hit a sac fly for the third run in the inning. Juan Yepez blasted a two run homer in the sixth and was 2-for-5 with two runs scored.
Starter Austin Warner pitched six innings, giving up one unearned run on three hits to earn the win in his Peoria debut. The left hander fanned seven and walked two. Colton Thomson pitched three scoreless innings of relief to earn his first save.
On the base paths, Nick Plummer stole his seventh base of the season in 12 attempts. Yepez swiped his sixth bag in seven attempts for Peoria. Robertson was caught stealing for the third time in six attempts.
Stefan Trosclair committed a fielding error, as did Plummer.
The Chiefs are 46-51 overall and 15-12 in the second half to put them three games back of first place in the Midwest League West.
Saturday’s game: at Bowling Green, Anthony Shew (0-0, 4.05) 6:35 CT.
State College 3 at West Virginia 4 (12 innings)
The Spikes lost a tough one in extra innings on Friday night. Starter Andrew Summerville gave up two West Virginia runs on seven hits in 5 2/3 innings pitched. The left hander fanned three and walked two. Noel Gonzalez pitched 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. Spencer Traynor followed for two innings, giving up one unearned run and taking his third blown save of the season. Robbie Gordon was the losing pitcher, surrendering one run on two hits in 1 2/3 innings pitched.
The Spikes offense had 13 hits, but only managed three runs. State College scored in the fifth on a ground out by Brandon Benson. In the eighth, an RBI single by Bryce Denton and another RBI single by Caleb Lopes put two more runs on the board. Joshua Lopez and Evan Mendoza had multiple hits, as Lopez was 2-for-4 and Mendoza was 3-for-6.
In the field, Lopez committed a fielding error and pitcher Trayner made a throwing error. Scott Hurst stole his second base of the season in four attempts.
The Spikes are 17-13 and are 1.5 games back of first place in the New York-Penn League Pinckney Division.
Saturday’s game: at West Virginia, Paul Balestrieri (0-0, 3.77) 6:05 CT.
A rally in the later innings fell short for the Cardinals, as they were edged by Danville on Friday night. A three run home run by Wadye Ynfante led to a four-run sixth inning that brought the Cardinals within two runs. Though the Braves added two more in the next inning, Johnson City continued to battle back. In the seventh, a Ynfante ground out added another run. In the eighth, a run scored on a Carlos Talavera ground ball force out, and second run came home on a balk.
Ynfante was 2-for-5 with two RBI. Chase Pinder was 3-for-4. Talavera committed a fielding error and had an outfield assist. Starlin Balbuena committed a throwing error. Imeldo Diaz stole his first base of the season with Johnson City in his first attempt.
Starter Jacob Schlesener pitched four innings, giving up one unearned run on one hit. Schlesener struck out four and walked four. Juan Alvarez added 1 2/3 innings of relief, surrendering four runs and took the loss. Jake Dahlberg followed for 1 1/3 innings, relinquishing four additional runs on five hits. Thomas St. Clair pitched the final two scoreless innings.
The Cardinals are 12-17 and are 6.5 games back of first place in the Appalachian League West.
Saturday’s game: vs. Danville, Edwar Ramirez (1-4, 6.84) 6:00 CT.
GCL Cardinals 5 at GCL Astros 3 (suspended, third inning)
The Friday game was suspended due to rain in the top of the third inning with the Cardinals leading 5-3. Jonatan Machado and Dariel Gomez have two RBI each. All three runs to score against starter Angel Rondon are earned.
The game will be completed on July 26.
Saturday’s game: Off.
DSL Cardinals 10 at DSL Angels 4
A middle innings burst of offense and a five RBI performance from shortstop Raffy Ozuna led to a blowout win for the Cardinals. Ozuna was 4-for-5, with the aforementioned five RBI, including a fifth inning three run home run. Ozuna also doubled and scored twice. Franklin Soto plated a run on a seventh inning single. Luis Montano also singled in a run in the seventh. Cristhian Longo was 2-for-4 with a triple and three runs scored.
Starter Francis Ventura pitched 4 1/3 innings, giving up four runs, three earned on nine hits. The right hander struck out four and walked two. Anthony Trompiz went the remaining 4 2/3 scoreless innings and earned his second win of the season.
The Cardinals are 16-25 on the season and are 14 games back of first place in the DSL South.
Saturday’s game: vs. DSL Angels, TBA 9:30 a.m. CT.
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