Cardinals Minor League Notebook – July 19, 2019

photo: John Nogowski (Frank Ramirez/The Cardinal Nation)

St. Louis’ minors went 5-4 on Thursday. Three of the four full season teams scored at least 10 runs, but only two won, as Peoria’s pitching woes continue. Player of the Day John Nogowski homered twice in Memphis’ road win.

Results from games played Thursday, July 18th.


Memphis 10 at Round Rock 5

John Nogowski (Memphis Redbirds)

The Redbirds stymied the Express on Thursday, 10-5, gaining a split of the four-game set.  Memphis (39-59) remains in fourth and last place in the American Northern Division standings, 16 games in back of Iowa (CHC).

Player of the Day John Nogowski went yard twice to pace his team’s 14-hit attack.  The first baseman added a single, crossed home twice and drove in three.

Four Redbirds gathered two hits each:  Randy Arozarena, Lane Thomas, Joe Hudson and Jose Martinez.  Arozarena, Thomas and Martinez all doubled once. Arozarena worked a free pass, scored three times in four at bats and joined Thomas with a stolen base.  Thomas went 2-for-3 with two walks and two runs scored.  Johan Mieses’ only hit in five at bats was a solo blast.

Austin Warner tossed six frames, permitting four runs on seven hits, including a two-run home run, and four walks for his first Triple-A win of 2019.  Junior Fernandez and Chris Ellis each tossed a clean frame but Chris Beck was touched for a run on two hits and a base-on-balls in the ninth.

Friday’s game:  at second-place Omaha (45-53) (KC), 7:05 pm CT, Harold Arauz (5-2, 6.13)


Springfield 10 at Amarillo 9

Zach Kirtley (Palm Beach Cardinals)

The S-Cards’ bats overcame sub-par pitching to take the rubber game of their road series at Amarillo, 10-9.  Springfield (14-13) climbs into a second-place tie with Tulsa (LAD) with the victory, two games behind Arkansas (SEA).

The outcome hinged on Zach Kirtley’s lead-off homer in the ninth that broke a 9-9 tie.  It was the first baseman’s fifth Double-A bomb and one of his two hits in five at bats.

Kirtley was one of five Springfield players with two hits apiece, along with Yariel Gonzalez, Irving Lopez, Brian O’Keefe and Justin Toerner.  Gonzalez, who was named the Texas League Player of the Week on Monday, launched one out of the park with two aboard, his fifth Texas League home run.  Gonzalez, Lopez and Toerner joined Dylan Carlson by touching home twice. Carlson reached base three times on a 1-for-3 effort that included two walks.

Tommy Parsons held the Sod Poodles (14-13) scoreless in the first, second and sixth innings but allowed five runs in all on seven hits.  Three runs were generated by two long balls.

Parsons turned over a 9-5 lead to the pen, but the gap closed considerably in the home seventh when Jacob Patterson was tagged for three runs on three hits without retiring a batter.  Two of the three tallies scored under Connor Jones’ watch, who finished the inning without inflicting damage on himself.

Bryan Dobzanski (W, 1-0) (BS, 1) surrendered a solo shot in his inning of work, knotting the game at nine all.  Kodi Whitley tiptoed around a one-out single for his seventh save.

Friday’s game:  at Corpus Christi (13-14) (HOU), 7:10 pm CT, Evan Kruczynski (2-5, 6.64)


Florida 4 at Palm Beach 2

Diego Cordero (Peoria Chiefs)

The Palm Beach Cardinals were downed by the Fire Frogs, 4-2, in the decisive third game of the series at Roger Dean.  Palm Beach (9-20) has a firm grip on last place in the six-team South Division standings and trail Charlotte (TB) by 13 ½ games.

Diego Cordero took the hard luck loss, his second against one win, despite holding the opposition to an unearned run on three hits and two free passes over 6 2/3.  Cole Aker recorded the seventh’s last out, stranding two inherited runners but yielded three scores of his own, two earned, on three hits the next frame.  Edgar Escobar held Florida (10-19) scoreless in the eighth.

The home squad was held scoreless on just three hits through the first eight innings before pushing across two runs on four ninth-inning hits.  Catcher Dennis Ortega was the only PB-Card with a multi-hit effort, going 3-for-4 with a double and run scored.  Zack Gahagan and Nolan Gorman doubled, with Gorman driving in one.

Defensively, Ortega was one of four Palm Beach players committing bobbles, his on an errant pickoff throw.  Shortstop Imeldo Diaz could not pick one ball cleanly and neither could center fielder Wadye Infante.  One of third baseman Gorman’s throws went awry, and starter Cordero threw off line when trying to pick off a runner at first.

Friday’s game:  at fourth-place Jupiter (14-15) (MIA), 6:30 pm ET, TBA


Peoria 11 at Fort Wayne 12

Brendan Donovan (Peoria Chiefs)

The Chiefs’ bullpen could not hold an eighth-inning lead, as Peoria fell to the Wizards, 12-11.  Peoria (4-22) will try to salvage the third and final game of the series when the two last-place teams in their respective divisions meet again on Friday.

The visitors held an 11-7 advantage with six outs to go but that lead evaporated with five runs scored against the combination of Freddy Pacheco and Eli Kraus.  Pacheco tossed a one-two-three seventh but got the hook after sandwiching two one-out walks around a balk.  Kraus (L, 1-2) (BS, 2) allowed the first runner to score before coughing up a crushing grand slam.

Home runs had bitten Peoria earlier in the game when starter Colin Schmid served up two of his own, including one to the batter who later went yard against Kraus.  Those two blasts represented three of the six tallies on eight hits the lefty yielded in five innings.  Sebastian Tabata allowed two hits and a walk, resulting in a sixth-inning run.

Brendan Donovan and Brandon Benson each had three of the team’s 14 hits. Donovan tripled, crossing home three times and driving in two.  Benson doubled with two runs scored.

Ivan Herrera, like Donovan, also accounted for five tallies.  The Chiefs’ clean-up hitter blasted his seventh home run of 2019 that was one of his two hits.  It came with two aboard and accounted for three of his four RBIs.

Friday’s game:  at Fort Wayne (9-17) (SD), 6:05 pm CT, Michael Brettell (2-6, 5.50)


State College 1 at West Virginia 6

Carlos Soto (State College Spikes)

Starter Enmanuel Solano lasted just four innings as the Spikes fell to the Black Bears, 6-1.  State College (16-17) has lost the first two of the three-game series, dropping into a third-place tie with Mahoning Valley (CLE), 3 ½ behind Batavia (MIA).

All five runs charged to Solano (L, 1-4) came in the third, with three via a home run.  The bomb was one of seven hits and three walks yielded by the righty.  Solano was called for two balks.  Junior Gonzalez permitted a tally on three hits and a walk in four frames.

Carlos Soto singled and doubled, scoring his team’s only run on Terry Fuller’s RBI single in the fourth.  Overall, State College had just five hits.

Friday’s game:  at second-place West Virginia (17-15) (PIT), 7:05 pm ET, Dalton Roach (league debut)


Bristol 4 at Johnson City 3

Liam Sabino (Robert Kell)

The JC-Cards’ porous defense led to a 4-3 loss to the Pirates, evening the series at one game each with one to go.  Johnson City (15-13) remains in second in the West Division standings, 1 ½ games behind Elizabethton (MIN).

The four runs charged to Michael YaSenka (L, 0-1), the reigning Appalachian League Pitcher of the Week, occurred in four separate innings and all were unearned due to six Johnson City errors. The righty fanned seven in six plus frames, allowing four hits and walking his last batter faced to open the seventh.

Dylan Pearce permitted a hit in his inning on the bump.  Hector Soto retired all six batters faced.

Johnson City’s five hits were generated by five players and four went for extra bases.  Liam Sabino had a walk and a solo shot while Todd Lott, Zach Jackson and Jhon Torres each doubled. Lott and Jackson scored and Torres drove in one.

Friday’s game:  vs. fourth-place Bristol (13-16) (PIT), 6:30 pm ET, Francisco Justo (2-1, 3.95)


GCL Cardinals 9 vs. GCL Marlins 1

Luis Montano (Palm Beach Cardinals)

A meltdown by the visitors’ bullpen launched the Gulf Birds over the third-place (11-10) Marlins, 9-1.  The Cardinals (9-12) moved into fourth place in the East Division standings, four games in back of the Mets.

The teams battled evenly through seven frames with each squad breaking through for a fifth-inning run.  But the Cardinals put the game away with an eight-run eighth.

What makes the eighth’s scoring most interesting is that it was accomplished with only one hit and one Marlins’ miscue.  The first seven Gulf Birds to come to the plate all reached, six via free passes and one by the plunked route.  Luis Montano then lined a bases-loaded double to right for three more tallies.  The next batter reached on a throwing error by the Marlins’ shortstop before the visitor’s third pitcher of the inning issued two more free passes, forcing Montano across home for the final run.

The home team only mustered four hits to go with the nine walks.  Second baseman Ramon Mendoza got his team on the scoreboard with his first long ball of 2019 and was one of those who walked and scored in the eighth.  Eight of nine starters touched home at least once.

Nathanael Heredia worked just one frame, giving up a hit and base-on-balls.  Anthony Green maneuvered around five hits and a free pass for 2 1/3 clean innings.  Martin Cordova left Green’s last runner aboard but was touched for a run on three hits and two walks in 2 2/3.  Roy Garcia (W, 1-1) issued two free passes over the final three innings.

Friday’s game:  at second-place GCL Nationals (10-9), 12:00 pm ET, Luis Ortiz (1-3, 3.79)


DSL Cardinals Blue 7 vs. DSL Nationals 4

The C-Blue rallied from a 3-0 deficit to top the Nationals, 7-4.  The Cardinals Blue (22-13) are in third place in the South Division standings, 2 ½ games behind the Phillies Red.

Down 3-0 through four, the Blue’s four-spot in the fifth gave them their first lead.  The Nationals (9-27) tied the score at four-all in the sixth but the Blue responded with a seventh-inning tally before adding two more the next frame.

Shortstop Darlyn Del Villar accounted for three runs, going 3-for-4 with two doubles, a run scored and two knocked in.  Second baseman Elvin De Jesus took part in three tallies as well, doubling with three walks, an RBI and two runs scored. Designated hitter Fernando Diaz’s first professional home run led off the fifth and was one of his two hits.

The C-Blue committed six errors, led by catcher Jose Zapata with four, giving him a year-to-date total of 12 .  Third baseman Brandon Hernandez was charged with his seventh miscue and starting pitcher Engels Martinez made an errant pickoff throw.

Martinez went the initial four innings, yielding three runs, one earned, on four hits, a walk, one hit batsman and two wild pitches.  Hansel Marcelino tossed a clean fifth but Benjamin Arias (BS, 3) was tagged for an unearned run in his inning on the bump.

Dionys Rodriguez (W, 1-1) allowed a hit and two walks in two frames.  16-year-old Juan Peralta, a Texas native, worked around a one-out single for his first professional save.

Friday’s game:  at fourth-place DSL Mets1 (20-16), 10:30 am ET, Yordy Richard (1-0, 6.75) or Eduar Pimentel (0-2, 8.64)


DSL Cardinals Red 6 at DSL Mets2 5

The C-Red mustered 12 hits in their 6-5 road victory over the DSL Mets2 (17-23).  The seventh-place Cardinals Red (16-23) move within a half of a game of the Mets2 with the win but are still trail co-leaders Cubs2 and Phillies White by 7 1/2 in the San Pedro Division standings.

Center fielder Smith Vargas and shortstop Sander Mora, the one and two batters, each garnered three hits with a run scored, RBI and stolen base.  The latter added a free pass.

Third baseman Erick Thomas singled twice, crossed home once and drove in one.  The final C-Red with a multi-hit performance was second baseman Albert Inoa who went 2-for-5 with an RBI and stolen base.

Staff ace and DSL All-Star Angel Cuenca picked up the win, his fourth in five decisions, despite one of his less effective efforts.  The rookie right-hander permitted four runs, three earned, on five hits and a base-on-balls in six frames.  Cuenca has gone six innings in six of his eight starts to date and has permitted just eight earned runs in 42 total innings.

Miguel Yedis took over in the seventh and gave up a run on two hits and a free pass.  Hector De Los Santos fanned four over the last two innings for his second save.

Friday’s game:  vs. fifth-place DSL Rangers2 (20-20), 10:30 am ET, Henry Gomez (0-0, 2.81)


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