photo: Jason Savacool (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
On Monday, the St. Louis Cardinals system was 4-1. The Cardinal Nation’s Player of the Day, Palm Beach starter Jason Savacool, threw seven shutout innings on three hits and a walk with four strikeouts. Other standouts include Thomas Saggese, Jeremy Rivas, Brandon Komar, Won-Bin Cho, Tanner Jacobson, Trey Paige and Rainiel Rodriguez.
Results from the games played Monday, July 1, 2024.
Memphis 1 vs. Nashville 6
A late offensive surge against the Redbirds pen broke open a tight game as Memphis (4-3) (42-40) fell to division rival Nashville (4-3) (42-40) (MIL), 6-1, at AutoZone Park Monday evening.
The contest was tied at one all through five innings, but the Sounds blew the game open with a four-run sixth then added another tally the next frame. Reliever Nick Raquet (L, 0-5) allowed five of the six scores, permitting seven hits, a base-on-balls and a walk in 2 2/3 innings.
Raquet’s last three base runners crossed home plate with Kyle Leahy on the mound. Leahy was also charged with a run of his own via a solo blast during his three-inning stint, one of four hits and two walks allowed. It was the right-hander’s first action since being optioned from St Louis on June 28th.
Fill in starter Packy Naughton kept Nashville off the board over the first 2 1/3 frames, giving up two hits and a walk, striking out three. Nick Robertson hurled a clean ninth, fanning two of three batters faced.
Memphis’ only run came in the fourth, compliments of a two-out triple by shortstop Thomas Saggese and an RBI double by designated hitter Nick Dunn. Saggese garnered three of his squad’s five hits, going 3-for-4 with a run scored. He was the only Redbird with more than one hit.
Tuesday’s game: vs. Nashville, 7:05 pm CT, Michael McGreevy (4-7, 4.55)
Springfield 4 at Northwest Arkansas 2
Middle-of-the-order offensive production led the S-Cards (3-4) (40-36) to a 4-2 road win at Northwest Arkansas (4-3) (39-37) in game one of a six-game series. One game separates first from last in the tight second half standings of the Texas League’s five-team North Division.
Seven of eight Cardinals hits were produced by the four through eight slots in the batting order. First baseman R.J. Yeager and shortstop Jeremy Rivas both went 2-for-4 with a run scored. Rivas doubled once with an RBI.
Second baseman Dakota Harris and designated hitter Ramon Mendoza, the seven and eight batters, scored one run each with an RBI, singling once in four and three at bats. Harris swiped a base, his first since being promoted from High-A Peoria.
St. Louis outfielder Lars Nootbaar continued his rehab assignment, participating in his third Double-A contest. The right fielder was hitless in four plate appearances out of the two hole, working a free pass but striking out three times before being replaced in the field in the bottom of the seventh.
Reliever Brandon Komar was credited with the win, his second in as many decisions, holding the Naturals scoreless over 4 1/3 frames, scattering four hits and not issuing a free pass. Komar also escaped a bases-loaded with two away jam, stranding three inherited runners. Matt Svanson retired Northwest Arkansas’ seven through nine hitters in order to earn his 11th save.
Komar and Svanson pitched in relief of starter Edwin Nunez who was touched for two runs, earned, on three hits and two walks in 3 2/3 innings. The righty hit one batter.
Tuesday’s game: at first place (tie) Northwest Arkansas (KC), 7:05 pm CT, LHP Cooper Hjerpe (2-1, 3.55) vs RHP Luinder Avila (6-3, 3.76)
Peoria 5 at South Bend 2
Peoria (4-6) (30-45) began a new week in the second half of the Midwest League with a 5-2 win at South Bend (CHC). The Chiefs and Cubs are in a three-way tie with Beloit (MIA) for fourth in the West Division standings, three games behind Cedar Rapids (MIN).
The Chiefs never trailed, generating a two-run first before the Cubs halved the lead to 2-1 after two frames. Daytona knotted the game at two all in the fifth, but Peoria went back up, 3-2, after six innings. A two-run eighth capped the scoring.
The visitors were outhit, five to nine, but capitalized on six free passes issued and three wild pitches by South Bend hurlers to outscore their hosts. Center fielder Won-Bin Cho and catcher Leonardo Bernal each reached base three times but in differing fashions. Cho singled and doubled in three at bats with a walk and two RBI, batting fifth, while number three batter Bernal went 1-for-2 with two walks and two runs scored.
CHO laced out to left center to find the gap and it's an RBI double!!!
PEO 2 | SB 0
– – –#peoriachiefs #TopDogs@CardsPlayerDev pic.twitter.com/H17PbDdCfO— Peoria Chiefs (@peoriachiefs) July 1, 2024
Starter Pete Hansen (W, 2-6) tossed five-plus solid frames, permitting two runs on seven hits and two walks with five K’s. One of the two tallies yielded came on a solo home run.
Hansen exited after allowing a single and walk to his first two sixth-inning batters, giving way to Tanner Jacobson. Jacobson came through, sandwiching a pop out to first between swinging K’s to strand two inherited runners.
The sixth was the first of Jacobson’s three shutout innings, with the righty allowing two hits and two walks overall. Osvaldo Berrios pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his third save.
Tuesday’s game: at South Bend (4-6) (31-45), 6:30 pm ET/5:30 pm CT, RHP Darlin Saladin (5-0, 1.94) vs. RHP Nick Dean
Palm Beach 7 at Jupiter 3
Palm Beach (5-4) (42-33) withstood a late surge by third-place Jupiter (5-5) (41-35), resulting in a 7-3 “road” victory at Roger Dean Stadium. The Beach Birds, winners of the first half Florida State League East Division title, are tied with Daytona (CIN) atop the second-half standings, ½ game up on Jupiter (MIA).
Palm Beach led 7-0 after eight frames thanks to single scores in the second, fourth and fifth innings plus two spots in the sixth and eighth. The visitors generated 10 hits in all, led by third baseman Trey Paige who went 3-for-5 with a double, triple, two runs scored and one knocked in, batting leadoff.
Designated hitter Jose Suarez and right fielder Brayden Jobert added two hits apiece in four and five at bats, respectively. Suarez’s Florida State League debut was impactful, as both of his hits went for extra bases, a double and solo shot. The 19-year-old crossed home plate twice, walked once and drove in one. Jobert singled twice, scoring one and knocking in another, batting eighth just behind Suarez.
A trio of Beach Bird pitchers took part in the action. Starter Jason Savacool (W, 2-3) put up zeros over seven frames, yielding three hits and a walk with four strikeouts. Augusto Calderon tossed a clean eighth but allowed three runs on three hits and two walks before departing with two away in the ninth. Henry Gomez (S, 4) struck out his only batter, stranding two Calderon’s final two base runners.
Tuesday’s game: at Jupiter, 6:30 pm ET/5:30 pm CT, RHP Gerardo Salas (4-4, 2.67)?
FCL Cardinals vs. FCL Astros
Monday’s contest between the fifth-place Florida Complex League Cardinals (15-24) and second-place FCL Astros (19-19) was postponed due to wet grounds. It has been rescheduled as a twin bill on Tuesday, July 2, 2024. The FCL Cardinals trail the East Division-leading FCL Marlins (MIA) by 14 games in the standings.
Tuesday’s games: Game 1 – 10:00 am ET/9:00 am CT, TBD; Game 2 to follow
DSL Cardinals 10 vs. DSL Giants Black 5
An offensive outburst and late rally led the fifth-place DSL Cardinals (10-11) past the first-place DSL Giants Black (16-5), 10-5, at home. The win snapped the Dominican Birds’ four-game losing skid, with the Cardinals accounting for three of the Central Division leader’s five losses.
The offense exploded for 13 hits, led by catcher Rainiel Rodriguez and third baseman Yoerny Junco with three hits apiece. Three of the 13 hits were home runs, accounting for five scores, with two during the Cardinals’ eight-run seventh inning.
Rodriguez had one of those three bombs, going 3-for-5 with a double and two-run home run accounting for one of his two runs scored and both of his RBI. Junco went 3-for-4 with a double, two runs scored and an RBI, while batting ninth.
Center fielder Facundo Velasquez added a two-run long ball in the seventh, one of his two hits in five at bats, batting ahead of Rodriguez. Right fielder Brayan Amoroso accumulated two hits in three at bats, touching home once. The final home run belonged to second baseman Bracewell Taveras who went yard with the bases empty, his only hit in four at bats.
Starter Jefferson Moran lasted just three innings, his shortest start since his season debut on June 4th. The righty was tagged five scores, four earned, in his first two frames, permitting five hits and two walks.
Brailyn Paulino led a trio of relievers who blanked the Giants Black over the final six innings. Paulino recorded nine outs, giving up two hits and three walks. Jarol Baez (W, 1-0) was the pitcher of record when his teammates broke loose in the seventh. Baez retired five batters, walking one and hitting another. Southpaw Bernard Mack went 1 1/3 innings, giving up a hit with three strikeouts and leaving an inherited runner aboard, for his second save.
In a potential injury alert, shortstop Yairo Padilla was hit by a pitch in the third inning and took the field in the fourth, but was replaced defensively in the fifth by Daniel Rojas.
Tuesday’s game: at second-place DSL Blue Jays (14-6), 11:00 am ET/10:00 am CT, Keiverson Ramirez (1-0, 1.00)
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