Cardinals Minor League Notebook – August 16, 2019

photo: Daniel Ponce de Leon (Memphis Redbirds)

On Thursday, the St. Louis Cardinals system went 4-2. Player of the Day Daniel Ponce de Leon continued his strong pitching for Memphis, with seven scoreless innings including nine strikeouts. Alexis Wilson’s eighth-inning home run powered Peoria to a road win.

Results from games played Thursday, August 15th.


Memphis 5 vs. Iowa 0

Daniel Ponce de Leon (Steve Mitchell/Imagn)

A trio of Redbirds hurlers combined on a three-hitter, blanking first-place Iowa, 5-0 in the series opener.  The victory kicked off the final home stand of the season for second-place Memphis (56-66), which trails the Cubs by 10 games in the American Northern Division standings.

Player of the Day Daniel Ponce de Leon (W, 6-4) was masterful over seven frames, striking out nine with two hits and two walks allowed.  The right-hander threw 68 of his 108 pitches for strikes.  Kodi Whitley and Mike Mayer each tossed an inning, with Whitley yielding a hit and base-on-balls before Mayers faced the minimum.

The home team banged out 10 hits, paced by Rangel Ravelo and Justin Williams, who both went 2-for-4.  Ravelo got the scoring started with a two-run home run in the first and Williams doubled for the third time in his injury-shortened Triple-A season.

Harrison Bader reached base three times, going 1-for-2 with two free passes and a two-run bomb that was one of his two runs scored.  Dylan Carlson singled and touched home once, playing in left field in his Triple-A debut.

Friday’s game:  vs. first-place Iowa (66-56) (CHC), 7:05 pm CT, Jake Woodford (7-7, 4.15)


Springfield 1 at Tulsa 7

Kramer Robertson (Memphis Redbirds)

The S-Cards fell to the Drillers in the series finale, 7-1, having claimed only one victory in the four-game road set.  Tulsa’s (30-23) (LAD) victory moved them into a first-place tie with Arkansas, with both teams six games ahead of fading Springfield (24-29).

All three Springfield pitchers were scored upon as they surrendered four solo shots in all.  Evan Kruczynski (L, 2-8) served up two long balls, yielding four runs on five hits and two walks, one intentional, in four innings.

Roel Ramirez pitched the next two frames, giving up two tallies, including a solo bomb, on two hits, a base-on-balls and a plunked batter.  Jacob Patterson’s solo shot yielded was one of three hits with five strikeouts in two innings.

The visitors generated eight hits, all singles, and the team went 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position, stranding 10.  Conner Capel and Yariel Gonzalez had two hits apiece. Capel also had three strikeouts and left three on base.

Kramer Robertson went 1-for-5 in his Double-A return and scored his squad’s only run.  The shortstop swiped his seventh Texas League bag as well.

Friday’s game:  vs. co-leader Arkansas (30-23) (SEA), 7:10 pm CT, Jorge Rondon (4-4, 3.19)


Palm Beach at Tampa – cancelled

The fourth and final game between the Beach Birds (18-36) and Tarpons (27-26) (NYY) was not played due to wet grounds.  Since it is the final meeting of the year between the two squads, the game will not be rescheduled.  Palm Beach lost the first three series games and has been eliminated from second-half post-season contention.

Friday’s game:  at Daytona (24-32) (CIN), 7:05 pm ET/6:05 pm CT, TBA


Peoria 3 at Kane County 2

Alexis Wilson (The Cardinal Nation)

Alexis Wilson’s long ball was the difference as the Chiefs clipped the Cougars, 3-2, clinching the three-game road series with one contest remaining.  Still, Peoria (16-36) is 18 games behind Kane County in the Western Division standings and has an elimination number of four.

Wilson’s blast led off the eighth, unravelling a 2-2 tie and was the catcher’s only hit in three at bats.  Delvin Perez spearheaded the eight-hit attack, going 3-for-4 with a double, run scored and stolen base while batting second.  Second baseman Brendan Donovan singled twice in four at bats, crossed home once and knocked in one.

Colin Schmid tossed five solid frames permitting two runs on six hits and two walks.  Franyel Casadilla (W, 4-4) held Kane County at bay on one hit over the next three innings before Freddy Pacheco faced the minimum, fanning two, for his third save.

Friday’s game:  at first-place Kane County (34-18) (ARI), 6:30 pm CT, Michael Brettell (4-8, 5.54)


State College 5 at Mahoning Valley 2

Terry Fuller (State College Spikes)

The Spikes downed the Scrappers on Thursday, 5-2, evening the away series at one game apiece with one on tap.  Third-place State College (30-29) gained a game on division-leading Batavia (MIA), a tean they trail by four games in the Pinckney Division standings.

Three Spikes accumulated two hits each:  David Vinsky, Martin Figueroa and Dariel Gomez.  All three players crossed home once while Vinsky doubled with an RBI and Gomez tripled.  Terry Fuller’s only hit in four at bats was a two-run blast that was part of State College’s three-run fifth.

Adrian Mardueno (W, 3-2) limited the opposition to a run on four hits through five innings.  Hector Villalobos’ impressive appearance consisted of nine up and nine down with three strikeouts but Fabian Blanco was touched for a tally on three hits in his inning on the bump.

Friday’s game:  vs. fourth-place Mahoning Valley (27-31) (CLE), 7:05 pm ET/6:05 pm CT, Michael YaSenka (1-0, 1.42)


Johnson City 4 at Burlington 14

Liam Sabino (Robert Kell)

The JC-Cards were slammed by the Royals, 14-4, in the opener of the three-game road series.  Johnson City (28-26) maintains a one-game lead over second-place Elizabethton (MIN), which also lost Thursday.

Jose Moreno (L, 3-4) could not work around two teammates’ bobbles, yielding nine runs, two earned, on eight hits and two walks in 2 1/3 innings. Wilberto Rivera finished the third but not before allowing two inherited runners to score.  Rivera allowed two hits and three walks against five outs recorded.

All three runs charged to Dylan Pearce over 2 2/3 frames resulted from a home run, one of four hits and three walks given up.  Blake Drake retired three batters but permitted two tallies on two hits and a base on balls.  Alex Gallegos retired his only batter.

Johnson City’s offense was shut out until the eighth, when they capitalized on four walks and a double to score four runs.  William Jimenez and Mateo Gil both drew one-out free passes, advancing a base via a wild pitch.  A ground out brought Jimenez across before Liam Sabino (who extended his hitting streak to 11 games) doubled in Gil.  Back-to-back walks to Chandler Redmond and Trejyn Fletcher enabled Sabino to score on a wild pitch.

It also brought a new hurler into the game who loaded the bases when he hit Aaron Antonini.  Yet another free pass to Kyle Skeels forced Redmond across home for the final tally.  Overall, the offense had more total walks (six) than hits (five), with no Appy Bird garnering more than one.

Friday’s game:  at Burlington (33-22) (KC), 6:30 pm ET/5:30 pm CT, Hector Soto (0-0, 3.57)


GCL Cardinals – off

The fifth-place Gulf Coast League Cardinals (19-24) have an opportunity to move out of the cellar of the East Division standings with a victory over the Astros, a team they trail by a half-game.  Overall, the Gulf Birds are six games behind the division-leading Marlins.

Friday’s game:  at fourth-place GCL Astros (19-23), 12:00 pm ET/11:00 am CT, TBA


DSL Cardinals Blue – off

The DSL Cardinals Blue (38-17) take a nine-game winning streak into the season’s final nine contests.  The C-Blue are tied with the Rockies (39-18) atop the South Division standings, with the latter having seven games remaining on their regular season schedule.

The two teams meet one more time, in the C-Blue’s second-to-last contest and the Rockies’ finale.  Lurking in the shadows is the third-place DSL Phillies Red, which trail both by 2 ½ games with the other six division rivals being essentially reduced to the spoiler role.

Friday’s game:  vs. seventh-place DSL Angels (21-36), 10:00 am ET/9:00 am CT, Wilmer Ortega (4-0, 1.90) or Eduar Pimentel (0-2, 6.05)


DSL Cardinals Red 6 vs. DSL Phillies White 4

A balanced offensive effort by the C-Red resulted in a 6-4 victory over the third-place Phillies White (36-27).  The Cardinals Red (26-38) are in seventh place in the eight-team San Pedro division and have been eliminated from post-season contention.

Seven of nine Cardinals Red starters garnered at least one of the team’s 10 hits with three players having two hits apiece:  Smith Vargas, Luis Andujar and Roblin Heredia.  Vargas singled twice, touched home twice and swiped his 22nd bag of 2019 while Andujar went 2-for-4 with a double, run scored and two RBIs.  Heredia reached base three times, going 2-for-3 with a walk and matched Andujar’s run scored and two knocked in.

Diorys Guerrero tossed the first four frames, holding his opponents to a tally on three hits, three free passes and a balk.  As a result, the lefty did not qualify for the win despite his team never trailing.

Credit for the victory went to Miguel Yedis (W, 1-3), who yielded two runs on four hits and a wild pitch over two innings.  Righty Ramon Fernandez pitched the final three innings, permitting a score on three hits for his first professional save.

Friday’s game:  at second-place DSL Cubs2 (37-27), 10:00 am ET/9:00 am CT, Angel Cuenca (5-1, 1.95) or Henry Gomez (0-1, 5.00)


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