photo: Sam Tewes (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
In a 3-4 Wednesday across the St. Louis Cardinals minor league system, our Player of the Day Sam Tewes pitched Palm Beach to a win over Jupiter. Other mound standouts include Peoria’s Anthony Shew and Jose Moreno from the Dominican Summer League.
Results from games played Wednesday, August 23.
Memphis Redbirds off
The Redbirds were off Wednesday and will begin a stretch of eight games against the Iowa Cubs on Thursday. Matt Pearce (3-2, 5.84) will take the mound for the Redbirds as they travel to Iowa for a 7:08 PM Central time start.
Northwest Arkansas Naturals 5, Springfield Cardinals 1
The Naturals cruised to a 5-1 home win over the Cardinals as Springfield fell into a first-place tie.
In the first, a walk, hit by pitch, sacrifice bunt, and a sacrifice fly off the bat of right fielder Adolis Garcia resulted in Springfield’s lone run. From there, Naturals starter Jacob Staumont took over, walking four but allowing no base hits over his seven frames.
Springfield spot starter Pedro Echemendia gave up three runs over 3 2/3 innings, leading to his fourth loss in five decisions. Jacob Evans recorded four outs without allowing a run before Andrew Morales yielded two in the sixth. Sandy Alcantara turned in two scoreless innings to finish the night for the Cardinals.
Thursday’s game: Chris Ellis (5-7, 4.25) at Northwest Arkansas Naturals, 7:05 PM Central time.
Palm Beach Cardinals 4 at Jupiter Hammerheads 2
Behind seven dominant innings from Sam Tewes, the Cardinals enjoyed a 4-2 victory over the Hammerheads.
Tewes, our Player of the Day, held the Hammerheads to one run on six hits, no walks and four strikeouts, which led to his second win with Palm Beach. Hector Mendoza allowed a run out of the bullpen, but Brady Bowen and Eric Carter (fourth save) combined to hold Jupiter off the scoreboard while recording the final six outs.
Cardinals right fielder Thomas Spitz led the way offensively with a double and two runs batted in. Shortstop Jose Martinez went 2-for-4 with two runs scored, and every player in Palm Beach’s lineup recorded a hit except left fielder Vince Jackson.
Thursday’s game: Jake Woodford (7-6, 3.14) at Jupiter Hammerheads, 5:30 PM Central time.
Peoria Chiefs 2 at Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 0
A strong night on the mound all around enabled the Chiefs’ two runs to stand up in a road win over the Timber Rattlers.
Peoria shortstop Kramer Robertson and catcher Brian O’Keefe each drove in a run in the third inning. Although their two runs were enough, it’s tough to ignore that the club went just 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position, stranding eight runners.
Chiefs starter Anthony Shew twirled six scoreless innings on five hits and two walks, whiffing five batters on route to his third win with Peoria. Leland Tilley followed with two clean innings, and Yeison Medina shut the door in the ninth for his eighth save.
Thursday’s game: Ian Oxnevad (3-10, 4.28) at Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, 7:05 PM Central time.
West Virginia Black Bears 6 at State College Spikes 4
The Black Bears jumped on Spikes starter Daniel Castano early and held on for a 6-4 win at State College.
Castano, now 7-3 as a Spike, was tagged for four runs in the top of the first inning and finished the night with five runs (three earned due to shortstop Wood Myers’ fielding error) allowed across six frames. The Spikes chipped away, but could not overcome the Black Bears’ early pad.
Spikes backstop Dennis Ortega went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles, a run scored, and a run batted in. Third baseman Edwin Figuera had two hits and drove in one, and designated hitter Ricardo Bautista doubled in a run.
Thursday’s game: Paul Balestrieri (3-3, 6.37) vs. West Virginia Black Bears, 6:05 PM Central time.
Greeneville Astros 4 at Johnson City Cardinals 1
The Cardinals put up a run in the first inning but failed to add on as they fell to the Astros on Wednesday by a 4-1 final score.
After leading off the first with a double, second baseman Irving Lopez came around to score on an error. That was it, as the Cardinals mustered just five total hits and struck out 14 times, stranding six baserunners.
Alvaro Seijas was acceptable in his start, although he came up on the short end, falling to 4-2 on the year. Seijas went 6 2/3 innings, surrendering four runs on six base hits and striking out seven Astros. Will Changarotty logged 2 1/3 scoreless innings to keep the Cards within striking distance.
The Cardinals set a new season high for attendance, breaking last year’s prior franchise-record of 53,444. Current pace has Johnson City headed toward 63,700.
Thursday’s game: Zach Prendergast (3-0, 3.79) vs. Greeneville Astros, 6:00 PM Central time.
GCL Nationals 5, GCL Cardinals 4
The Cardinals came close, but could not fully match the Nationals in the run column and fell on Wednesday, dropping five games behind in the standings.
Starter Winston Nicacio was knocked around by the Nationals, to the tune of four runs (three earned) on 11 hits in five innings. Nicasio dropped to 4-2 on the season.
First baseman Taylor Bryant drove in three of the Cardinals’ four runs, and shortstop Edmundo Sosa scored three times. The Cardinals had two hits in seven at-bats with runners in scoring position and left five runners on. The Nationals, though they scored enough for a win, stranded 11 runners on base and went just 3-for-14 with runners in scoring position.
Thursday’s game: TBD vs. GCL Marlins, 11:00 AM Central time.
DSL Cardinals 8 at DSL Angels 2
Jose Moreno’s pitching and a grand slam from first baseman Freddy De Jesus helped the Cardinals put the Angels away with ease on Wednesday.
Moreno picked up his first win in four decisions with six shutout frames, allowing two base hits and one walk while striking out six Angels batters. Cristoffer Zapata allowed two runs in the seventh inning, and Rodard Avelino pitched two scoreless innings to finish.
De Jesus hit his grand slam in the ninth inning, putting the game out of reach. Second baseman Pablo Gomez doubled, walked, and scored two runs, and catcher Ivan Herrera went 4-for-5 with a double, a run scored, and a run batted in.
The Cardinals and Angels were supposed to play two games on Wednesday but will instead have a doubleheader on Thursday, beginning at 9:30 AM Central time.
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