Cardinals Minor League Notebook – August 25, 2018

photo: Lars Nootbaar (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)

The St. Louis Cardinals system was 9-1 on Friday. Our Player of the Day is outfielder Lars Nootbaar, who drove in seven runs, four in a grand slam, in State College’s win. Nootbaar had a two run single and a sac fly in addition to the grand slam. Kevin Herget, Jesus Cruz and Dionis Zamora were among strong pitching performers and the DSL Cardinals Blue clinched their division.

Results for games played Friday, August 25.


Memphis 9, Nashville 3

Kevin Herget (Memphis Redbirds)

The Redbirds earned their 78th victory with a win over the Nashville Sounds, reducing their magic number to one.  The offense was rolling in the first three innings.  Adolis Garcia led with a double in the first and scored on Patrick Wisdom’s single.  A big second began with Wilfredo Tovar’s single.  Walks by Lane Thomas and Randy Arozarena loaded the bases.  Edmundo Sosa was hit by a pitch and Tovar scored.  Thomas came home on Garcia’s single.  Ramon Urias’ double cleared the bases.

Lane Thomas singled in the third to set up Arozarena’s two-run home run to make it an 8-0 Memphis lead. The Sounds would score two in the fourth and seventh, but Memphis increased the lead in the eighth when Tovar singled and scored on Sosa’s single.

Kevin Herget earned his ninth win by pitching six one-run innings, allowing four hits, fanning seven and walking one.  Conner Greene surrendered a run in 2/3 of an inning of relief. Tommy Layne pitched one scoreless inning, and Dominic Leone continued his rehab by pitching the ninth and allowing one run.

The Redbirds are 78-52 on the season and are in first place in the PCL American Southern.

Saturday’s game:   vs.  Nashville, Austin Warner (1-1, 3.33) 6:35 CT.


Springfield 3 at NW Arkansas 9

Junior Fernandez (USA TODAY Sports Images)

The Cardinals lost the series finale to the Naturals 9-3 at Arvest Park on Friday night.  The Cardinals scored first with back to back singles by Johan Mieses and John Nogowski followed by a walk from Blake Drake to load the bases.  Jeremy Martinez grounded into a double play and Mieses scored.

Down 3-1 in the third, Tommy Edman, Evan Mendoza and Andy Young hit consecutive singles with Edman coming home on Young’s hit.  In the sixth, Drake doubled and was plated by Victor Roache’s double.  Those were the only Springfield scores, as the Naturals put the final nail in the coffin with five additional runs to take the 9-3 victory.

Genesis Cabrera took his third loss after 4 2/3 innings in which he gave up four runs on nine hits.  Roel Ramirez and Hector Mendoza surrendered the final five in a combined two innings of relief.  Only Junior Fernandez stemmed the tide with 1 1/3 scoreless innings.

The Cardinals are 57-72 overall, 24-35 in the second half, and are in last place in the Texas League North.

Saturday’s game:  at Tulsa, Anthony Shew (6-7, 4.24) 7:05 CT.


Palm Beach 2, Jupiter 0

Jesus Cruz (Andrew Miller/Palm Beach Cardinals)

The Cardinals blanked the Hammerheads 2-0 at home with an excellent pitching performance by Jesus Cruz, who pitched six scoreless innings to earn his second win.  Cruz allowed two hits, fanned two and walked two.  The relief squad of Austin Sexton, Will Latcham, and Bryan Dobzanski combined for the final three scoreless innings.

Two Palm Beach runs in the third were the difference. The inning began with consecutive singles by Ryan McCarvel, Kramer Robertson, and Connor Capel. McCarvel scored on Capel’s hit. Elehuris Montero then grounded out to plate Robertson.

The Cardinals are 70-54 overall and 31-29 in the second half and are in third place in the FSL South.

Saturday’s game:   vs. Jupiter, TBA 4:30 CT.


Peoria 10 at Beloit 0 (Game 1 DH)

Elehuris Montero (Peoria Chiefs)

The first game of a twin bill was a return the July 1 suspended game that was resumed in Peoria’s Dozer Park with the Snappers as the home team.  It was a rout for the Chiefs, as they blanked the Snappers 10-0.

The game began on July 1 in Wisconsin with a solo home run to center off the bat of Nick Plummer.  Irving Lopez doubled and scored on a fielding error that put Elehuris Montero (now with Lopez on the Palm Beach roster) on second base.  Yariel Gonzalez then punched a two-run home to right center field.  The Chiefs added one in the second when Lopez walked, advanced to second on Montero’s single, and scored on Lopez’ double.

When the game resumed in Peoria on Friday, four more runs came home in the fourth inning.  First rounder Nolan Gorman hit a three-run shot over the wall in right.  Zach Kirtley singled and scored on Rayder Ascanio’s line drive single to left.  Gorman led off the sixth with a solo home run, his second of the game, to add the final Peoria score.

Johan Oveido earned the win with 7 1/3 shutout innings and Fabian Blanco tossed 2/3 of a shutout inning to preserve the win.


Peoria 3, Beloit 1 (seven innings, Game 2 DH)

Robbie Gordon (The Cardinal Nation)

In the regular game of the twin bill, the Chiefs won the seven-inning game 3-1.  A solo home run by Dennis Ortega in the second inning tied up the game after Beloit scored in the first inning.  The Chiefs took the lead in the sixth with a leadoff single by Wood Myers followed by a bunt single from Nolan Gorman. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Luken Baker.

Alvaro Seijas started on the mound and took a no decision with four innings in which one unearned run scored.  Robbie Gordon tossed the final three scoreless to earn the win.

The Chiefs are 74-56 overall, 35-25 in the second half and are in second place in the Midwest League Western.

Saturday’s game:  vs. Beloit, Paul Balestrieri (7-5, 5.04) 6:30 CT.


State College 11, Auburn 10

Lars Nootbaar (State College Spikes)

The Spikes mounted a record comeback in a slugfest against the Auburn Doubledays.   Spikes starter Chris Holba was shellacked for six runs in the first inning and came out having recorded only one out.  Winston Nicacio replaced Holba, and during his outing two of Holba’s runs scored, on a fielding error and a wild pitch.  Nicacio was responsible for a run of his own when he issued a bases loaded walk, but he did manage to finish the inning.  Nicacio continued pitching for three more scoreless innings.  Hector Villalobos gave up two runs in three innings of relief, both scoring in the eighth, as Nicacio was unable to retire the two batters he faced in that inning.  Both of those batters scored after Nicacio was replaced by Troy Montemayor.  Thought he allowed two inherited runners to score, resulting in a blown save, Montemayor finished the inning and ultimately was given the win.  Edgar Gonzalez surrendered a run in the ninth but earned his second save.

Down 7-0, the Spikes got on the board in the fourth inning, when Wadye Ynfante led off with a triple and scored on Alexis Wilson’s double.  The scoring picked up in the fifth and sixth, with four runs in each.   Lars Nootbaar was the offensive highlight reel with a grand slam in the fifth.  Walks by Wilson and Jonatan Machado began the sixth.  Edwin Figuera was hit by a pitch.  Stanley Espinal singled to plate Wilson.  Brady Whalen hit a sac fly to score Machado.  Nootbaar stepped up again with a two-run single.

Two more Spikes runs came home in the eighth on a sac fly by Nootbar and a single by Delvin Perez.  Player of the Day Nootbaar was 2-for-3 with seven RBI.

The Spikes are 34-32 on the season and are in third place in the New York-Penn League Pinckney Division, but just 1.5 games back of the wild card.

Saturday’s game:  vs.  Auburn, Diego Cordero (2-3) 6:05 CT.


Johnson City 7 at Greeneville 2

Dionis Zamora

Early scoring, featuring a four-run third inning, helped Johnson City to a win over the Greeneville Reds.

The offense began with one run in the second inning, when Dariel Gomez walked, Liam Sabino doubled, and Zach Jackson’s sac fly plated Gomez.  In the big third inning, Luis Flores led off with a double and scored on Michael Perri’s single.  Leandro Cedeno followed with a two-run home run to right field.  Andrew Warner and Gomez walked, Jackson singled to load the bases and Sanel Rosendo walked to bring Warner home.

The Cardinals added two more runs in the ninth.  Perri was hit by a pitch and Warned walked.  Both runners advanced on a wild pitch.  Gomez then singled to plate Perri and Warner.

Dionis Zamora was on the bump for the Cardinals and pitched very well.  Zamora went eight innings, giving up only one run four hits.  He fanned seven and walked one to earn his second win.  Michael Bretell gave up one run in the ninth.

The Cardinals are 28-35 on the season and are in fourth place in the Appalachian League West.

Saturday’s game:  vs. Greeneville, Tommy Parsons (5-1, 3.24) 6:00 CT.


GCL Cardinals 6 at GCL Marlins 5

Ty Cohen (Florida Tech)

The Cardinals claimed victory in a one-run game against the Marlins in Jupiter.  A crooked number in the third inning was the key to the win.  William Jimenez led off by doubling and Raffy Ozuna walked, to set up Carlos Soler’s triple that scored both.  Soler came home on Josh Shaw’s single.  A two-run home run off the bat of Jhon Torres sealed the deal.  The game winning run came home in the eighth due to sloppy Marlins defense and a wild pitch that sent Terry Fuller across the plate.

Francisco Justo started for the Cardinals and had a rough outing.  In 4 1/3 innings, Justo gave up five runs, four earned, on six hits, including a two-run home run.  Replacing Justo in the fifth was Ty Cohen, who struck out his only hitter.  Catcher Ivan Herrera picked a runner off third to end the inning.  Cohen returned to pitch a scoreless sixth and seventh.  Edgar Escobar added a run-free eighth and Chris Rivera tossed a scoreless ninth.  Cohen was the winner with Rivera getting the save.

The Cardinals are 39-16 on the season and are in first place in the GCL East.

Saturday’s game:  vs. GCL Nationals, TBA 9:00 am CT.


DSL Cardinals Blue 2 at DSL Twins 1

The Cardinals Blue were able to pull off the close one against the Twins1 and clinched the division in the process.  Slugger Malcom Nunez blasted his 13th home run, a solo shot, in the third inning for Cardinals initial score.   It wasn’t until the top of the ninth that the Cardinals put their second and winning run on the board.  It came when Pablo Gomez doubled to right, and Darlin Moquete followed with a double to left that brought Gomez home.

Hector Soto took the mound to start for the Cardinals.  Soto gave up the lone run of the game for the Twins on a single and a triple.  He pitched 3 1/3 innings, leaving in the fourth with one out and two runners on.  Angel Ortega induced a pop out, then hit his next batter with a pitch.  A line out produced the third out of the inning.  Ortega pitched 4 1/3 innings of scoreless relief, leaving in the eighth with two outs and a runner on.  Anthony Trompiz entered and gave up a single, but his second batter flied out to end the inning.  Trompiz returned to start the ninth, struck out his first batter and induced a fly out from his second.  A walk to the next hitter ended Trompiz’ outing, after he pitched a full inning.  Leonardo Taveras induced the ground out to end the inning and the game.  Trompiz got the win and Taveras the save.

The Cardinals Blue are 51-20 on the season and are in first place in the DSL South.

Saturday’s game:  vs. DSL Twins, TBA 9:30 am CT.


DSL Cardinals Red 5, DSL Cubs2 4 (11 innings)

The Cardinals Red edged the Cubs2 in an extra innings contest.  Starter Luis Ortiz gave up two runs on three hits in five innings.  Roy Garcia took over on the bump in the sixth and took it into the ninth.  Garcia gave up the leadoff single, then fanned the next batter.  A double to right scored a run, his second given up in his 3 1/3 innings of work.  Nelson Prada coerced two lineouts to end the inning.  Prada pitched a scoreless 10th and a scoreless 11th to earn his fourth win of the season.

The Cardinals offense was held scoreless until the sixth inning.  Franklin Soto led off with a single to right.  Soto stole second and Cristhian Longa singled to right to plate Soto.  Longa was caught stealing with Francsico Hernandez at the plate. Hernandez struck out, but a wild pitch allowed him to go to first base.  Claudio Ramirez came to the plate Hernandez stole second base.  Ramirez then singled on a line drive to right field and Hernandez scored.  Hernandez tripled in the eighth and scored on a Yowelfy Rosario single.  Rosario scored on an Erik Pena sac fly.

The game went into extra innings, and in the bottom of the 11th, with Ramirez starting at second base, Rosario bunted him to third, and he scored on a fielder’s choice ground ball to second base off the bat of Jesus Orrechia.

Soto had a good night, going 3-for-4.

The Cardinals Red are 39-31 on the season and are in third place in the DSL San Pedro Division.

Saturday’s game:  at DSL Cubs2, TBA 9:30 am CT.


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