photo: Johan Mieses (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
On Monday, the St. Louis Cardinals system went 3-5. Springfield’s Johan Mieses is a rare consecutive Player of the Day. Adam Wainwright made another strong rehab appearance, his fifth. The GCL and DSL Blue clubs dropped their playoff games due to defensive miscues.
Results from the games played Monday, August 27th.
A pair of St. Louis hurlers on the comeback trail combined on a four-hitter as the Redbirds blanked the Sounds, 2-0. Memphis (80-53) won three of the four-game set, having sealed the American Southern Division title over second-place Nashville (69-64) (OAK).
Making his first rehab start for the Triple-A Redbirds after stops in Palm Beach and Springfield, Adam Wainwright threw four solid frames, his longest outing to date. The tall Georgian held the opposition to three hits and two walks over four with 38 of his 61 pitches going for strikes.
Tyler Lyons (W, 1-1) followed Wainwright to the mound and was impressive in his five-inning stint. The southpaw struck out seven while yielding just one hit and one base-on-balls. Lyons threw 73 pitches, 43 for strikes.
The home team generated seven hits, including three in their two-run third. Randy Arozarena lined a single to left to open the frame prior to stealing his 16th bag. Lane Thomas worked a free pass followed by Rangel Ravelo’s RBI single to left that drove in Arozarena. Alex Mejia came to the plate with runners at the corners and sent a two-out single to right, bringing Thomas home.
Arozarena and Mejia each singled twice in three and four at bats, respectively. Arozarena was active on the base paths as well, swiping his 16th and 17th bags of the Triple-A season.
Tuesday’s game: at fourth-place Round Rock (61-72) (TEX), 7:05 pm CT, Jake Woodford (4-4, 4.42)
Johan Mieses led the S-Cards over the Drillers, 5-3, in the decisive third game of the series. Springfield (26-36) has been reduced to the role of spoiler after having been eliminated from postseason contention.
Consecutive Player of the Day honoree Mieses followed up Sunday’s grand-slam performance with a 3-for-5 effort. The right fielder doubled twice, scored once and drove in three to account for four of his team’s five tallies. Ramon Urias and Victor Roache each had two of the squad’s 10 hits. Urias touched home once in four at bats with a base-on-balls and going 2-for-5 with a double. Andy Young singled once in five at bats with a run scored and has hit safely in his last six games.
Both tallies charged to Casey Meisner (W, 2-1) over five innings came via a two-run home run in his initial inning of work. The very tall Texan gave up four hits and three base-on-balls.
The bullpen then got to work and held first-place Tulsa (34-27) to a single score over the last four frames. Roel Ramirez issued two free passes during his two innings on the bump while Hector Mendoza faced the minimum in the eighth. But Seth Elledge (S, 3) surrendered a solo shot, his first allowed as an S-Card.
Tuesday’s game: vs. second-place Arkansas (32-30) (SEA), 6:30 pm CT, Michael Wacha (rehab)
Monday was a cold night for the Beach Birds’ offense in their 6-0 loss to the Blue Jays in the road series opener. Palm Beach (32-31) stands just two games away from second-half elimination but has already qualified for the postseason, thanks to winning the first-half division race.
The PB-Cards had just five base runners the entire game, via three singles and two walks. No Beach Bird managed to accomplish both. Defensively, right fielder Conner Capel and left fielder Dylan Carlson were each credited with an outfield assist at second.
Meanwhile, a quartet of Palm Beach pitchers combined for 14 hits allowed, beginning with Alex Fagalde. Fagalde (L, 3-2) yielded four runs on six hits, including two solo shots, and two walks in 5 1/3.
Austin Sexton was next up and permitted a run on two hits with two outs recorded. Mike O’Reilly navigated around three hits for a clean seventh but Yeison Medina’s three-hit effort produced another Dunedin run.
Tuesday’s game: at Dunedin (35-28) (TOR), 6:30 pm ET, TBA
The Chiefs pounded out 15 hits in their 9-4 victory over fifth-place Beloit (33-30) to take the home series, four games to one. The win allowed second-place Peoria (37-26), whose first-half performance has already qualified them for the postseason, to remain 3 ½ games behind first-place Cedar Rapids (MIN).
The offense was led by Dennis Ortega and Zach Kirtley, who had three hits apiece in four at bats. One of Ortega’s hits was his sixth home run, which comprised one of his two runs scored and both of his RBI. Kirtley smashed his 15th double, crossed home three times and drove in one.
Three Chiefs each went 2-for-4 with a run scored: Justin Toerner, Luken Baker and Nick Dunn. Toerner’s triple was the only hit to go for extras while Ortega drove in two to Toerner and Baker’s one RBI. Third baseman Wood Myers doubled and scored in his only at bat before being replaced by Nolan Gorman in the visitor half of the second. Gorman was hitless in four at bats.
It took four Peoria hurlers to complete nine frames. Angel Rondon tossed the first three, permitting two solo bombs making up two of his four hits and one walk yielded. Ben Yokley went the next two, allowing two runs on two hits and a free pass.
Kodi Whitley was credited with the win, his fourth against one loss, and gave up three hits in 2 1/3 scoreless frames. Fabian Blanco induced a double play ball to erase Whitley’s final runner and retired all four batters faced.
Tuesday’s game: Off
Two big innings by the Muckdogs led to an 11-6 defeat for the Spikes, who have not won either of the first two of the three-game series. Third-place State College (34-35) is three away from division title contention and are in fifth place in the Wild Card standings, 2 ½ in back of Brooklyn (NYM).
After being named NYPL Pitcher of the Week Monday afternoon, Franyel Casadilla (L, 4-2) could not sustain the momentum that evening. The 21-year old was pounded for 10 of the 11 runs, surrendering eight hits and two walks plus two hit batsman in 4 2/3. Three of the eight hits were long balls generating six runs.
Will Changarotty was touched for three hits and a walk in 1 1/3 for Batavia’s final score. The righty also plunked a batter. Troy Montemayor allowed a hit over the last two innings.
State College outhit the Muckdogs, 13 to 12, but generated only two extra-base hits to Batavia’s seven. One of the hits to go for multi-bases was a double by Cameron Knight who went 3-for-4 with a run scored out of the eight hole. Lars Nootbaar went yard for the second time, a two-run bomb that was one of his two hits in five at bats. Edwin Figuera and Imeldo Diaz also had two hits apiece, with Figuera scoring two times with an RBI in five at bats while Diaz went 2-for-3 and knocked in one.
Tuesday’s game: at fourth-place Batavia (33-36) (MIA), 7:05 pm ET, Eli Kraus (2-1, 2.27)
Kingsport 8 at Johnson City 6 (10 innings)
A Cardinals rally sent the game into extra innings only for the home club to fall to the Mets, 8-6, in 10. The contest is the first of three versus Kingsport and Johnson City’s (29-37) final series of the season.
Jacob Sylvester took the loss, his second in four decisions, by allowing two runs, one earned, on two hits in his only inning on the bump. Sylvester was the fifth Appy Bird hurler taking the mound, pitching in support of David Oca.
Oca, making his second start in 18 appearances, could not manuever around miscues in the first and fifth. The lefty was charged with five runs, two earned, on seven hits over 4 1/3. The last unearned run charged to him scored under Michael Brettell’s watch. Brettell gave up a run on six hits with six outs recorded.
Evan Sisk limited further damage to Brettell’s line, issuing one base-on-balls and stranding two inherited runners in 2/3 of an inning. Enrique Perez kept the Mets off the board during his two-inning stint, permitting two hits and a walk, before handing the ball off to Sylvester.
The JC-Cards’ 10-hit attack was paced by Leandro Cedeno, who went 3-for-4 with a double and two-run home run that was one of his two runs scored and two of his three RBI. Donivan Williams and Dariel Gomez each had two hits, with Williams crossing home twice and Gomez driving in one. Andrew Warner’s only hit in four at bats was his third home run with JC, which came with the bases clean.
Tuesday’s game: vs. second-place Kingsport (33-33) (NYM), 7:00 pm ET, Kyle Leahy (3-3, 5.98)
GCL Cardinals 0 at GCL Tigers West 1
In the opener of their best-of-three semi-finals, the GCL Cardinals (0-1) pitched the Tigers West to a draw through eight frames – only to suffer a 1-0 walk-off loss.
The game’s sole tally resulted from two walks issued by Chris Rivera (L, 0-1) with two gone sandwiched around a steal of second. Rivera then uncorked a wild pitch followed by a throwing error on catcher Ivan Herrera that allowed the lead runner to score.
Connor Coward went the first seven innings, limiting the opposition to three hits, a base-on-balls and a plunked batter while fanning five. Rivera faced the minimum in the eighth.
The Gulf Birds managed just three hits, including two singles by designated hitter Carlos Soto in four at bats.
Tuesday’s game: vs. GCL Tigers West (1-0), 11:00 am ET, Brian Pirela (0-0, —)
DSL Rangers1 3 at DSL Cardinals Blue 2
The C-Blue fell to the DSL Rangers1, 3-2, the first game of their best-of-three quarter-finals.
Errors turned out to be the difference with the Cardinals Blue’s three miscues leading to two unearned tallies while their opponents’ two bobbles resulted in only one unearned score. The sole run charged to starter Francis Ventura in five innings was unearned due to a missed catch error by first baseman Malcom Nunez, the first of his two bobbles. Ventura yielded three hits and three walks with three strikeouts.
But Nunez redeemed himself with a two-run double, driving in Darlin Moquete (ground-rule double) and Adanson Cruz (walk) to give the home team a 2-1 lead after five. That lead evaporated the very next frame when a fielding error by right fielder Moquete allowed the leadoff batter to reach third. A sac fly brought the runner across home, tying the score at two all.
Angel Cuenca (BS, 1) was charged with that score, spoiling a solid two-inning effort in which the righty, who turned 17 in July, did not allow a hit but issued two free passes. Anthony Trompiz (L, 0-1) tossed a clean eighth but allowed a run on a single, sac bunt, intentional free pass, hit batsman and sac fly the next frame.
Tuesday’s game: vs. DSL Rangers1 (1-0), 10:30 am ET, Enmanuel Solano (7-1, 3.27)
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