photo: Diego Cordero (Dominican Summer League)
The St. Louis Cardinals system went 5-4 on a Monday that included three extra-inning contests. Player of the Day Diego Cordero jumped from the Gulf Coast League to throw six-plus strong innings for Palm Beach and Memphis’ Luke Voit continued his hot hitting.
Results from the games played Monday, July 2nd.
Coming off his Sunday cycle, Luke Voit continued his hot hitting, reaching base five times as the Redbirds flew past the Cubs, 7-3. Memphis (52-32) has won the first four games of the series with one to play.
Batting third, Voit went 3-for-3 with two walks and two runs scored for nearly half of his team’s eight hits. Lead-off batter Max Schrock doubled twice in three at bats while touching home once but Paul DeJong was hitless in four at bats including two strikeouts and added a sacrifice fly in his third rehab appearance for the Redbirds.
All three tallies charged to Chris Ellis (W, 1-0) over five innings occurred in the first, two produced by a home run. Ellis yielded six hits and two walks with four strikeouts. Landon Beck, Tommy Layne and Edward Mujica shut down Iowa’s offense the rest of the game.
Tuesday’s game: at Iowa (29-53) (CHC), 7:08 pm CT, Dakota Hudson (11-2, 2.10)
A six-run ninth propelled the S-Cards to a 6-3 comeback win over the RockHounds, halting a six-game losing skid and evening the road series at one game apiece with one on tap.
Held scoreless through eight frames, Springfield (2-9) hit four straight singles and scored twice before Midland retired a batter in the final frame. The visitors generated 11 hits in all, led by Chris Chinea, the newly named Texas League Player of the Week, who went 3-for-4 with a run scored and two RBI. Tommy Edman and Lane Thomas both went 2-for-5 while crossing home once, with Edman’s double the only S-Card hit to go for extra bases. Defensively, Springfield executed two double plays and catcher Andrew Knizner was charged with two passed balls.
Sam Tewes hurled a quality effort in his return to Double-A, limiting his opponents to three tallies in his sixth and final inning of work. Tewes battled control issues during his stint, however, issuing four free passes and hitting a batter against just three hits given up.
The only batter to reach against Ian McKinney (W, 3-2) over two innings was via a base-on-balls and that baserunner was eliminated on one of the aforementioned double plays. Yeison Medina pitched a clean ninth for his fourth save.
Tuesday’s game: at Midland (2-8) (OAK), 6:30 pm CT, Connor Jones (4-2, 4.03)
Palm Beach 4 at Bradenton 2 (10 innings)
Palm Beach used three 10th-inning walks to down Bradenton, 4-2, in the opener of a brief two-game road set.
The second of the three free passes was intentional but the third certainly was not. It put the Beach Birds (6-5) ahead and came before Andy Young’s sac fly that scored the game’s last tally. Young was one of four PB-Cards with two hits apiece, along with Kramer Robertson, J.B. Woodman and Jose Godoy. Young, Robertson and Woodman all crossed home once, Young on a solo shot. Palm Beach had 10 hits in all.
Player of the Day Diego Cordero was impressive in his maiden full-season effort, allowing just three hits and a base-on-balls in six plus frames. The 20-year-old yielded a first-inning score then retired 17 straight before surrendering a game-tying lead-off home run in the seventh. Cordero threw 50 of his 73 pitches for strikes.
Will Latcham tossed two shutout frames, striking out two. Junior Fernandez (W, 1-0) recorded four outs and needed the assistance of Jacob Patterson, who stranded two inherited runners in the bottom of the 10th for his second save.
Tuesday’s game: at Bradenton (3-8) (PIT), 6:30 pm ET, Evan Guillory (1-0, 4.76)
Burlington 9, Peoria 8 (10 innings)
Peoria (7-4) could not hold a late lead and suffered a 9-8 walk-off loss at Burlington in 10. The game is the first of a two-away-and-two-home game series versus the Bees.
Down 8-4 at the seventh’s midpoint, Burlington reeled off tallies in each of the next four innings. All five Chiefs’ hurlers were scored upon, beginning with Franyel Casadilla who gave up three runs on eight hits and a walk through three. Levi MaVorhis and Fabian Blanco both permitted a tally with six outs recorded while C.J. Saylor allowed more runs (two) than batters retired (one). Kodi Whitley (BS, 1) (L, 3-1) left Saylor’s last two runners on base but allowed two runs, one earned, in two innings.
Elehuris Montero and Julio Rodriguez each had three of their squad’s 11 hits. Montero went 3-for-4 with a walk, double, two runs scored, a stolen base and two knocked in while Rodriguez drove in two in five at bats. Nick Plummer singled and doubled in three at bats with two free passes and touched home twice to raise his batting average to .281 over his last 10 games.
Tuesday’s game: at Burlington (2-10) (LAA), 6:30 pm CT, Johan Oviedo (3-6, 5.22)
Mahoning Valley 9 at State College 7
In what quickly turned into a bullpen game, State College (6-11) rallied from an early deficit only to fall at home to Mahoning Valley, 9-7. The series is even at one game each with one contest yet to come.
Starter Winston Nicacio allowed all five batters he faced to reach, two on hits, one on a base-on-balls and two when he hit them. Four scored, the last after Nicacio got the hook in favor of Gabe Gentner.
Gentner escaped that jam relatively intact but permitted three more runs, two earned, on three hits and a free pass in four innings. Troy Montemayor (L, 0-1) gave up the go-ahead run in the sixth, the middle of his three innings on the bump, breaking a seven-all tie. Edgar Gonzalez was charged with another score over the last two frames.
The Spikes outhit the Scrappers, 12 to 11, with four players having two hits apiece: Nick Dunn, Edwin Figuera, Brady Whalen and Walker Robbins. Dunn and Figuera both scored twice and Whalen and Robbins doubled, with Whalen driving in four.
Tuesday’s game: vs. Mahoning Valley (12-4) (CLE), 7:05 pm ET, Angel Rondon (0-2, 3.06)
Johnson City 13 vs. Greeneville 12 (10 innings)
Johnson City (6-6) scored six unanswered tallies to upend the Reds and walk off with a 13-12 victory in 10. Each team has won one of the series’ initial two contests with one on tap.
Appy Birds’ pitchers surrendered 12 runs before they retired 11 batters, beginning with Noel De Jesus, who was charged with eight runs, seven earned, on five hits and four walks through three plus innings. David Oca let De Jesus’ last two runners score plus four of his own while recording just one out, giving up three hits and walking three.
But the bullpen was rock solid from that point onward, combining for 6 2/3 scoreless frames. In his second professional outing, free agent signee Jacob Sylvester restored order during his 2 2/3-inning stint, stranding two inherited runners and striking out three. Juan Alvarez and Parker Kelly both tossed two clean frames, and 20th rounder Kelly picked up his first pro win.
The Cards pounded out 14 hits and somehow managed to win despite going just 3-for-19 with runners in scoring position. The number two hitter, left fielder Jonathan Machado, had three hits in six at-bats, scored a run and threw out a runner at second base, while raising his team-leading batting average to .432.
The big bats in the middle of the lineup did their thing, as Dariel Gomez (fourth of the season), Leandro Cedeno (fifth) and Nolan Gorman (fourth) all went deep. Gorman crossed home plate three times. First baseman Kevin Woodall doubled, walked twice and plated three.
The offense-heavy, extra-innings win was witnessed by 3,687 fans, setting a new single-game attendance record in Johnson City.
Tuesday’s game: vs. Greeneville (4-8) (CIN), 7:00 pm ET, Dionis Zamora (3-1, 1.93)
The first-place Gulf Cardinals (9-3) rallied for a 9-4 victory over the second-place Mets (7-5), a team they now lead by two games in the East Division of the Gulf Coast League.
Starter Enmanuel Solano (W, 2-0) gave the opposition the early lead when he allowed two tallies in each of his first two innings of work. His first-inning scores were created by two singles, a steal of home – the lead runner of a successful double steal – and a balk. The next frame, two runs scored via a walk, RBI triple and sac fly. But the 19-year-old held his foes scoreless over the next four innings, giving up six hits and a base-on-balls in total, and left with the score tied at 6-6 through six.
The seventh proved profitable for the visitors as they erupted for five tallies. The 12-hit attack included eight of nine starters garnering at least one hit, paced by hot-hitting center fielder William Jimenez, who went 3-for-4 with a double and three knocked in out of the nine hole. Third baseman Josh Shaw and designated hitter Raffy Ozuna had two hits apiece. Shaw doubled and tripled in five at bats while crossing home once and driving in two. Ozuna stole his first two bases while going 2-for 4 with a walk, three runs scored and an RBI.
Given a five-run lead with which to work, the bullpen blanked the Gulf Mets over the final nine outs. Chris Hunt, Wilberto Rivera and Jose Geronimo each tossed an inning.
Tuesday’s game: off
DSL Yankees 6 at DSL Cardinals Blue 0
The C-Blues were shut out by the DSL Yankees, 6-0, on Monday. The loss, combined with a Twins’ victory, drops the Cardinals Blue (18-8) into a first-place tie in the South Division.
The home team’s offense was held to just three singles, one each by Carlos Soler, Jean Selmo and Jose Zapata. Soler drew one of the team’s two walks but was caught stealing once and picked off first another time. Catcher Zapata and first baseman Selmo were each charged with a miscue, their third and second of the season, respectively.
The errors did not impact the final score as all six tallies scored by the Yankees (13-13) were earned. Hector Soto absorbed his second loss against three wins despite hurling a solid five-inning effort. The righty gave up three hits and two walks, resulting in one run.
The most damage was done by the pitching duo of Miguel Yedis and Derek Diaz who gave up a combined five runs on two hits, five free passes, a hit batsman and a wild pitch over the next four outs, all of them recorded by Yedis. Angel Ortega retired five batters, giving up a hit and two walks while stranding two of three inherited runners. Luis Tena pitched a clean ninth.
Tuesday’s game: at DSL Rockies (10-16), 10:30 am ET, Julio Puello (2-0, 1.25)
DSL Cardinals Red 4 at DSL Rangers2 13
The C-Reds were on the receiving end of a 13-4 pasting by the Rangers2 (16-8), co-leaders of the San Pedro Division along with the Brewers. The fourth-place Cardinals Red (13-13) trail both squads by four games in the standings.
The game went awry right from the opening as spot starter Wilman Madera (L, 1-2) only recorded two outs. Madera, who has started twice in eight appearances so far, yielded four runs on six hits. Miguel Maiz slowed the Rangers2’s offense down a tad, leaving Madera’s last two runners on board while giving up two tallies on a hit and three base-on-balls over four.
But pitcher no. 3, Augusto Calderon, retired just two batters while permitting three runs, two earned, on a hit, walk and two plunked batters. Two of his runners crossed home with Nelson Prada on the mound, as the southpaw gave up four tallies, one earned, on six hits over the last 2 2/3 innings.
The visitors mustered just five hits and one walk, with shortstop Sander Mora having the best day at the plate. The 17-year-old Venezuelan singled and doubled in four at bats and touched home once. Defensively, third baseman Francisco Hernandez and first baseman Cristhian Longa each committed a bobble.
Tuesday’s game: vs. DSL Brewers (16-8), 10:30 am ET, Martin Cordova (2-0, 0.79)
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