photo: Nathan Church (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
The St. Louis Cardinals system was 2-1 on Thursday. The Cardinal Nation’s Player of the Day, Springfield outfielder Nathan Church, hit a go-ahead three-run home run. Other standouts include Luken Baker, Cesar Prieto, Michael McGreevy, Chandler Redmond and Miguel Villarroel.
Results for the games played on Thursday, April 11.
The Memphis Redbirds (5-6) beat the Nashville Sounds (5-6, MIL), 6-1, in a longball-filled game at AutoZone Park on Thursday.
The Redbirds led the scoring in the bottom of the first. José Fermín and Thomas Saggese singled to put two on with two outs. Luken Baker’s three-run bomb to left field put Memphis up 3-0 early.
NOTHING BETTER THAN A BAKER BLAST pic.twitter.com/u04SYCstZg
— Memphis Redbirds (@memphisredbirds) April 12, 2024
In the bottom of the fifth, Fermín doubled and then stole third. Jared Young walked, and Saggese’s sacrifice fly scored Fermín to make it 4-0. César Prieto hit one deep to right field for a two-run homer to make it 6-0.
PRIETO POWER pic.twitter.com/ARSwpfjPfv
— Memphis Redbirds (@memphisredbirds) April 12, 2024
Memphis manager Ben Johnson brought John King in to pitch the ninth inning. He gave up a home run to the first batter he faced to lose the shutout. However, the lefty ended the game with three straight outs to seal the Redbirds’ win.
Fermín went 2-for-3, scoring twice. Baker went 1-for-4, a home run, and scored once with three RBI. Prieto went 1-for-4, also a home run, with two runs driven in. The Redbirds were outhit 9-5 with four walks, two strikeouts, and three extra-base hits.
Starter Michael McGreevy pitched 6 2/3 innings, yielding no runs on four hits with one walk and four strikeouts. Kyle Leahy added 1 1/3 innings, giving up no runs on three hits, one walk and two strikeouts. The Redbirds allowed one run on nine hits while walking two and striking out six.
Friday’s games: vs. Nashville, RHP Gordon Graceffo (0-2, 9.39) vs. Carlos F. Rodriguez (0-2, 6.43) 6:05 CT (Game 1), RHP Adam Kloffenstein (0-1, 7.56) vs. Tobias Myers (0-1, 2.79) (Game 2)
Springfield 7, Wichita 6 (10 innings)
The Springfield Cardinals (5-0) defeated the Wichita Wind Surge (1-4, MIN) in 10 innings at Hammons Field on Thursday. The walk off extended Springfield’s best-ever start to a season.
The Wind Surge’s three consecutive singles in the first scored the first run of the game against Alex Cornwell. The Cardinals responded in the fourth with R.J. Yeager’s moonshot to center field to tie the game at one.
Cornwell walked the first batter in the fifth, and Ryan Shreve replaced him. Two batters later, Shreve gave up a two-run homer to put Wichita up 3-1.
Springfield responded in the bottom half of the inning with five runs. Chris Rotondo singled, and Jeremy Rivas walked to set Nathan Church up for his three-run go-ahead home run to center field. Yeager, Chandler Redmond, and Jacob Buchberger walked to load the bases. Noah Mendlinger’s single to left field scored Yeager and Redmond to make it 6-3.
FIRE. ME. UP. NATHAN CHURCH. 🫡 pic.twitter.com/VnWxSOHroY
— Springfield Cardinals (@Sgf_Cardinals) April 12, 2024
Matt Svanson relieved Shreve in the seventh. He yielded one run via a single and one in the eighth on a home run. Andre Granillo was asked to close the game in the ninth, but gave up a bomb to right, tying the game at six apiece and taking a blown save.
Granillo held the Wind Surge scoreless in the top of the 10th, thanks to Jimmy Crooks catching the automatic runner while he was attempting to steal third. In the home 10th, Redmond singled to right field, scoring the extra-inning runner Yeager with the walk off 7-6 win for Springfield.
STILL PERFECT. #walkoff pic.twitter.com/TbNhSlwSBM
— Springfield Cardinals (@Sgf_Cardinals) April 12, 2024
On the hitting side, Church went 2-for-5 including a home run with three RBI. Yeager went 1-for-4, scoring three times, one run driven in, and one walk. Redmond went 1-for-4 with an RBI, scoring once, and a walk. The Cardinals totaled seven runs on eight hits with seven walks while only striking out once.
On the pitching side, Cornwell pitched four innings, giving up two runs on seven hits while walking two and striking out two. Granillo took the win, charged with one run in two innings on one hit with three strikeouts. The Cardinals yielded 12 hits, three of which were home runs, three walks, and struck out 10.
Friday’s games: vs. Wichita, Tink Hence (1-0, 0.00) vs. Marco Raya (0-0, 3.00) 5:05 CT (Game 1), Ian Bedell vs. Travis Adams (1-0, 0.00) (Game 2)
Peoria vs. Beloit (postponed)
Due to inclement weather, Thursday’s home game between Peoria (2-3) and Beloit (3-1) was postponed. It will be made up as part of a double-header on Friday, April 12.
Friday’s games: vs. Beloit, LH Cooper Hjerpe (0-0, 13.50) vs. LH Cade Gibson (0-0, 0.00) 5:30 CT (Game 1), RH Cade Winquest (0-0, 0.00) vs. RH Karson Milbrandt (Game 2)
The Palm Beach Cardinals fell to the Daytona Tortugas (CIN) in a back-and-forth battle that ended in a walk off at Jackie Robinson Ballpark on Thursday.
In his professional debut, starter Jason Savacool pitched four innings, allowing one run on two hits while walking three and striking out four.
The Tortugas broke the ice first in the bottom of the fourth when Savacool balked in the game’s first run. The Cardinals responded in the fifth when Brayden Jobert’s home run to right field tied the game at one.
Palm Beach took the lead in the top of the sixth with a leadoff bomb to right field by Chase Davis, the first home run of his career. The lead was short-lived as Angel Cuenca allowed a two-run homer in the bottom half of the inning to put the Tortugas up 3-2.
The Cardinals continued the back-and-forth with two more runs in the seventh. Miguel Villarroel tripled to lead off the inning, and Sammy Hernandez added an RBI triple. Jobert’s infield single scored Hernandez to put Palm Beach back on top.
However, reliever Wilmer Ortega gave up another two-run blast to right field as the Tortugas recaptured the lead.
The seesaw game did not end there. Jose Cordoba singled to start a two-out rally in the top of the eighth inning, and the next pitch hit Ross Friedrick to put runners on first and second. Villarroel’s second triple of the day scored Friedrick and Cordoba to put the Cardinals up 6-5. Kade Kretzschmar added an insurance run with his single to right field.
Augusto Calderon came in to close the game in the bottom of the ninth. He was greeted by a single and a homer to right field from the first two batters to re-tie the game at seven apiece. Calderon retired the next two batters but a blast over right field wall meant a Tortugas walk off win.
On the hitting side, Villarroel went 2-for-4 with two triples, two runs driven in, and scoring twice. Jobert went 2-for-4 with two RBI and a strikeout. Hernandez went 2-for-4, scoring once and driving in one. The Cardinals totaled 11 hits, five of which were extra-base hits, no walks, but struck out 10 times.
On the pitching side, Luis Gastelum was the only pitcher unscored upon, throwing one inning and allowing one hit while striking out one batter. Calderon took the loss, yielding three runs on three hits while striking out one in 2/3 of an inning. The Cardinals gave up eight runs on nine hits, four of which were home runs, and four walks while striking out 10.
Friday’s game: at Daytona, LH Quinn Mathews (0-0, 2.70) vs. TBA 5:35 CT.
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