Cardinals Minor League Notebook – April 25, 2025

photo: Tekoah Roby (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)

The St. Louis Cardinals minor league system was 3-1 on Thursday. The Cardinal Nation’s Player of the Day, Springfield’s Tekoah Roby, dominated over five scoreless innings and struck out two en route to his first win of the season. Other standouts include Andy Yerzy, Tanner Jacobson and Deniel Ortiz.

Results for games played on Thursday, April 24.

Memphis Redbirds 7 at Norfolk Tides 6

The Triple-A Memphis Redbirds edged the Tides in Norfolk on Thursday to take the first two games of the six-game road series.

Alex Cornwell made his second career Triple-A start for Memphis. The left-hander pitched three innings and allowed two runs on two hits, three walks, and one strikeout.

Right-hander Andre Granillo fanned two and yielded one run over 1 ⅔ innings in relief of Cornwell. Michael Gomez followed with 1 ⅓ innings of scoreless ball. Nick Anderson tossed a scoreless seventh inning. Roddery Muñoz surrendered two runs in two innings to finish the game. Granillo earned the win. Gomez has not allowed a run in his first 9 ⅓ innings of the year.

Michael Gomez

The Redbirds’ bats were hot from the start with three runs in the top of the first inning. Matt Koperniak lined a two-run double and came home on a Jose Barrero single.

Following back-to-back walks from César Prieto and Ryan Vilade to load the bases, Matt Lloyd singled to bring home Barrero and Prieto.

Matt Lloyd

Norfolk tied the game with three runs across the third and fourth innings, but the Redbirds quickly retook the lead in the fifth. José Fermín walked and swiped second base to begin the frame. Fermín moved to third on a Koperniak flyout. Barrero hit his first triple of 2025 to score Fermín for a 4-3 lead.

Jose Barrero

Memphis plated two more runs to extend their lead in the sixth.

Andy Yerzy and Michael Siani hit back-to-back singles. Fermín doubled them both home to extend the lead to 6-3.

Yerzy, making his Memphis debut, added an insurance run via a solo home run.

Andy Yerzy

The Tides scored three runs across the final two frames, as the Cardinals’ bullpen barely held the lead in the victory.

The Redbirds scored seven runs on eight hits. Yerzy was 2-for-2, plus two walks, two runs scored, and a home run. Barrero hit his first triple of the season and drove in two runs. Lloyd tallied a two-run single and drew a walk. Fermín tallied a double, a walk, and two RBI.

Yerzy swiped his first base. Fermín stole second and third base, increasing his steal total to six for the season.

Defensively, Vilade recorded an unusual outfield assist, throwing out a runner at first base from right field. Catcher Yerzy had two passed balls. First baseman Gavin Collins committed a fielding error.

Memphis is 12-9 on the season. They will play a doubleheader on Friday, with game two being the makeup of Wednesday’s postponement due to wet grounds.

Friday’s games: at Norfolk.

Game 1: RHP Gordon Graceffo (0-2, 7.94) vs. RHP Cameron Weston (0-1, 4.96) 4:35 PM CT.

Game 2: RHP Ian Bedell (0-1, 7.07) vs. LHP Raúl Alcantara (0-1, 3.86)

Springfield Cardinals 5 at Wichita Wind Surge 2

The Double-A Springfield Cardinals bested the Wind Surge in Wichita on Thursday to snap their six-game losing streak.

Tekoah Roby dazzled in his fourth start of the season for the Cardinals. The right-hander fired five shutout innings on two hits, three walks and two strikeouts. Roby lowered his ERA to 1.06 and picked up his first win of 2025.

Tekoah Roby

Sean Harney pitched two innings in relief of Roby and yielded one run. Austin Love threw 1 ⅔ innings and surrendered one run. Andrew Marrero recorded the final out of the game and received his first save of the season.

Springfield struck in the top of the first inning. Chase Davis smoked a lead-off double, and advanced to third on a Jeremy Rivas flyout. Davis scored on a Leonardo Bernal fielder’s choice.

The Cardinals doubled their lead in the second inning. Darlin Moquete singled, and scored via a throwing error on a Chase Davis single.

Springfield tacked on two more runs in the third inning. R.J. Yeager led off with a single. Fresh off the injured list, Noah Mendlinger doubled to move Yeager to third base. Dakota Harris knocked in Yeager on a single. Mendlinger scored on a double play to make it 4-0.

Wichita scored one run in the sixth inning, but Springfield took the run back in the eighth. Ramon Mendoza reached second base with two outs on a fielding error. Mendoza crossed home plate on a Ugueto single for a 5-1 Springfield lead.

Springfield never trailed in the victory. The Cardinals scored five runs on 10 hits. Davis was 3-for-5 with a run scored. Harris was 2-for-4, with one RBI. Moquete tallied two singles in four trips to the plate.

On the basepaths, Ugueto swiped his first base at the Double-A level. Moquete was caught stealing.

On defense, third baseman Mendoza committed a fielding error. Roby picked off a runner at first base. Bernal recorded a passed ball.

Springfield is 9-9 on the season.

Friday’s game: at Wichita, RHP Max Rajcic (1-1, 5.27) vs. RHP Darren Bowen (2-0, 1.38) 6:35 PM CT.

Peoria Chiefs 0 at Quad Cities River Bandits 5

The High-A Chiefs fell to the River Bandits in Davenport, Iowa on Thursday.

Cade Winquest started for the Chiefs. The right-hander tossed 3 ⅔ innings and surrendered four runs, three earned, on seven hits, one walk, and three strikeouts. Winquest took the loss.

Jawilme Ramirez struck out a pair of batters in 1 ⅓ innings in relief. Zack Showalter followed and allowed one run while securing four outs with two strikeouts. Tanner Jacobson pitched 1 ⅔ hitless innings following Showalter and struck out three. Jacobson has started his season with nine scoreless innings over six appearances.

Tanner Jacobson

The River Bandits scored once in the bottom of the first. They plated two more in the third and another in the fourth to extend their lead. The River Bandits added an insurance run in the seventh inning. The Chiefs failed to respond.

Peoria scored no runs on two hits, both singles. Levenson was 1-for-3 with a walk. Salazar tallied a single. Won-Bin Cho drew a walk.

Defensively, third baseman Salazar committed a throwing error. Second baseman Tre Richardson made a fielding error. Salazar made a bare-handed play to nail a River Bandit at first base.

Johnfrank Salazar

The Chiefs are 5-12 on the season.

Friday’s game: at Quad Cities, RHP Jose Davila (1-1, 7.53) vs. RHP Logan Martin (1-1, 2.51) 6:30 PM CT.

Palm Beach Cardinals 5 at Jupiter Hammerheads 4

The Low-A Palm Beach Cardinals won a thrilling contest against the Jupiter Hammerheads on Thursday.

Braden Davis made his fourth start for Palm Beach. The right-hander threw 3 ⅔ innings of shutout baseball on four hits, three walks, and five strikeouts.

Braden Davis

Right-hander Conor Steinbaugh made his system debut in relief of Davis and allowed two runs over one inning. Samuel Fabian pitched 2 ⅓ scoreless frames with a pair of strikeouts. Randel Clemente yielded two runs over the final two innings of the game and fanned three. Thanks to the offense, Clemente still received his first win of the season.

Palm Beach was first to enter the scoring column in the top of the first inning. Jonathan Mejia led off the game with a single and swiped second base. Mejia moved to third on a Christian Martin groundout. Cade McGee lined his third double of the season to plate Mejia for the Cardinals’ first run.

Palm Beach scored two more runs in the fourth inning. Just activated on Thursday, Jose Suarez singled and moved to third base on a Yordalin Pena double. Suarez came home on a Luis Pino groundout, with Pena to third base on the play. Sammy Hernandez smoked a single to plate Pena for a 3-0 lead.

Jupiter scored a pair of runs in the fifth and eighth innings to take a 4-3 lead into the ninth. Palm Beach was ready to respond. Hernandez began with a walk. Deniel Ortiz launched a two-run home run to put the Cardinals on top 5-4.

Deniel Ortiz

Palm Beach held its lead in the bottom of the ninth for the come-from-behind victory.

The Cardinals scored five runs on 10 hits. Martin was 3-for-5, including two doubles. Hernandez was 1-for-2, including two walks and one RBI. Ortiz hit the go-ahead two run home run in the ninth inning. McGee and Pena doubled.

On the basepaths, Mejia swiped his first base of the season. Hernandez was picked off at first base.

On defense, second baseman Martin committed a fielding error. First baseman Ortiz dropped a ball in foul territory. Pitcher Davis picked off a runner at first base.

Palm Beach is 11-7 on the season.

Friday’s game: at Jupiter. RHP Jose Davila (1-1, 7.43) vs. TBA, 5:30 PM CT.

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