Cardinals Minor League Notebook – April 16, 2026

photo: Rainiel Rodriguez (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)

The St. Louis Cardinals system was 1-4 on Wednesday. The Cardinal Nation’s Player of the Day, C Rainiel Rodriguez, hit three doubles, a triple, drove in one and caught a runner stealing in Peoria’s twin bill. Other standouts include Quinn Mathews, Miguel Ugueto, Ruben Menes, José Suárez and Trevor Haskins.

Results for games played on Wednesday, April 15, 2026.

Memphis 3, Gwinnett 10

The Triple-A Redbirds were pounded by the Stripers in a 10-3 home loss on Wednesday. Starter Quinn Mathews pitched five scoreless innings, allowed one hit, walked three and fanned eight.

Quinn Mathews

Matt Pushard, opening his rehab assignment from St. Louis, relieved Mathews and threw a scoreless sixth. Tink Hence surrendered six runs in 2/3 of an inning and took the loss. Gerson Moreno yielded one run in 1/3 of an inning. Ian Bedell relinquished three runs in 1 1/3 innings. Skylar Hales secured the final two outs.

Memphis took a 1-0 lead in the second inning. Jimmy Crooks reached on an error. Blaze Jordan singled, advancing Crooks to third. Crooks scored on a double play by Nelson Velázquez.

The score remained 1-0 until the seventh inning, when Gwinnett posted seven runs. The Stripers made it 8-1 in the top of the eighth.

The Redbirds added a second run in the home eighth on a solo home run by Joshua Báez.

Joshua Baez

The two teams added a run each in the ninth. Jordan doubled. Ramon Mendoza singled. Jordan came home on a fielding error.

The Redbirds offense scored three runs on eight hits. Báez was 2-for-4 with an RBI. Jordan was 2-for-4. Mendoza was 2-for-3.

Báez was picked off first base. Leonardo Bernal made a throwing error. Mathews picked a runner off first base.

First place Memphis is 12-5 on the season.

Thursday’s game:  vs. Gwinnett, Bruce Zimmermann LHP (1-0, 3.00) vs. Elieser Hernandez RHP (0-1, 4.50) 6:45 CT.

Springfield 3 at Wichita 5

The Double-A Cardinals fell to the Wind Surge by a 5-3 score on Wednesday. Starter Jurrangelo Cijntje pitched 4 2/3 innings, gave up four runs on five hits, walked two and fanned five. Cijntje took the loss.

Austin Love relieved Cijntje and surrendered one run in 1 1/3 innings. Mason Burns tossed the final two scoreless innings.

Springfield went up 1-0 in the top of the first inning on a solo home run by Miguel Ugueto.

Miguel Ugueto

Wichita answered with two runs in the bottom of the first. The Wind Surge extended their lead with a run in the third.

In the top of the fifth, the Cardinals cut the lead to 3-2. Carlos Linarez singled but was eliminated in a force out by Jon Jon Gazdar. Chase Davis plated Gazdar on a single.

Wichita extended their lead to 5-2 with single runs in the fifth and sixth.

Springfield put up one run in the seventh to shrink the lead to 5-3. Graysen Tarlow was hit by a pitch and later scored on a single by Gazdar.

The Cardinals scored three runs on nine hits.  Ugueto was 4-for-5 with an RBI. Gazdar was 2-for-5 with an RBI.

Ugueto stole his fifth base of the season. Chase Davis was caught stealing.

Riding a seven-game losing skid, Springfield is 4-7 on the season.

Thursday’s game:  at Wichita, Braden Davis LHP (0-1, 9.00) vs. Mike Paredes RHP (1-0, 3.09) 6:35 CT.

Peoria 3 at Wisconsin 7 (seven innings, game one)

The Chiefs fell to the Timber Rattlers in the first game of a twin bill on Wednesday. It was the makeup contest for Tuesday’s rainout.

Starter Nolan Sparks pitched two innings, gave up five runs on five hits, walked four and struck out three. Sparks took the loss.

Gerardo Salas relieved Sparks and surrendered two runs in three innings. Sam Brodersen tossed a scoreless sixth.

Wisconsin took a 2-0 lead in the first inning then added two runs each in the second and third to extend their lead to 6-0.

In the top of the fourth, Peoria scored three runs to shrink the lead to 6-3. Jalin Flores tripled. Cade McGee walked. Ian Petrutz walked. José Suárez doubled to clear the bases.

José Suarez

In the home fourth, Wisconsin added a run to increase the lead to 7-3.

The Chiefs scored three runs on six hits. Suárez was 2-for-3 with three RBI. Rainiel Rodriguez was 3-for-4 with three doubles.

Won-Bin Cho stole his seventh base of the season. Tai Peete had an outfield assist at second base. Cho had an outfield assist at third base.

Peoria 5 at Wisconsin 6 (seven innings, game two)

The Chiefs lost the second game of the twin bill with Wisconsin by the score of 6-5.

After striking out the side in the fourth and only one Wisconsin run on the board, Chiefs starter Tanner Franklin was cruising. So, he remained in the game for the fifth inning for the first time in his career. It didn’t go well, with a hit-by-pitch, error, three-run homer and a walk prior to his exit with no outs.

Tanner Franklin

Overall, Franklin pitched four-plus innings, gave up four runs, three earned, on four hits, walked one and fanned six.

Christian Worley relieved Franklin and surrendered two runs in 1 1/3 innings. Jack Findlay secured the final two outs.

Peoria took a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Won-Bin Cho was hit by a pitch. Rainiel Rodriguez tripled to plate Cho. Rodriguez scored on a ground out by Jalin Flores.

Rainiel Rodriguez

The Chiefs added a run in the second to increase the lead to 3-0. Miguel Villarroel drew a walk. Tre Richardson singled. The two executed a double steal. Sammy Hernandez reached on a fielder’s choice as Villarroel scored.

Peoria extended their lead to 4-0 in the top of the third on a solo home run by José Suárez. The Timber Rattlers scored their first run in the home third to cut the lead to 4-1.

In the fifth, Wisconsin put up three runs to tie the game. The Chiefs briefly regained the lead with one run in the top of the sixth. Suárez walked and later scored on a single by Jose Cordoba.

The Timber Rattlers took the lead to stay with two runs in the home sixth.

Peoria scored five runs on five hits. Suárez scored two runs. The offense was 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left four men on base.

Villarroel, Richardson, and Hernandez each stole a base. Suárez made a fielding error.

Peoria is 3-8 on the season.

Thursday’s game: at Wisconsin, Leonel Sequera RHP (0-2, 6.75) vs. Ethan Dorchies RHP (0-1, 9.95) 6:40 CT.

Palm Beach 4, Jupiter 2

The Class-A Cardinals defeated the Hammerheads by a 4-2 score on Wednesday at Jackie Robinson Training Complex in Vero Beach, Florida.

Starter Ethan Young pitched four innings, gave up two runs on four hits and fanned six.

Rubén Menes relieved Young and threw three scoreless innings on one hit, no walks and five strikeouts to earn the win. Robbie Knowles and Jovi Gálvez (save) added a scoreless frame each.

Ruben Menes

The Hammerheads went up 2-0 in the top of the third inning. Palm Beach tied the game with two runs in the bottom of the inning. Cameron Nickens reached on an error before Trevor Haskins hit a two-run home run.

Trevor Haskins

The game remained tied until the seventh when the Cardinals scored twice. Jonathan Mejía and Brayden Smith walked then executed a double steal. Chase Heath walked to load the bases. Mejía scored on a wild pitch. Smith came home on a sac fly by Nickens.

The offense scored four runs despite just two hits. Haskins’ home run and a single by Ryan Mitchell were the two hits. The offense was 1-for-4 with runners in scoring position and left three men on base.

Mejía and Smith stole a base. Smith made a throwing error and Haskins had a fielding miscue.

First place Palm Beach is 9-2 on the season.

Thursday’s game: vs. Jupiter, TBD (PB) vs. Julio Mendez LHP (0-0, 2.25) 5:30 CT.

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