photo: Francisco Justo (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
The St. Louis Cardinals farm system went 2-5 on Wednesday with Palm Beach and State College providing the only wins, and only decent pitching. The five vanquished affiliates — Memphis, Peoria, Johnson City, and the DSL teams — allowed more than nine runs per game, and the two DSL squads were especially dismal with more errors than base hits. Player of the Day was Johnson City starter Francisco Justo who spun a one-hitter over 6 1/3 innings. Springfield and the Gulf Coast League Cardinals had the day off.
Results for games played Wednesday, June 26th.
Memphis took a six-run lead after five innings before completely collapsing and losing by six, in a 17-11 home loss at the hands of the Nashville Sounds, dropping the Redbirds to 33-46 on the year.
Right fielder Randy Arozarena led the potent attack with three hits and a stolen base, while other multi-hit games were contributed by Edmundo Sosa, Tyler O’Neill, Irving Lopez, and Andrew Knizner, who homered and drove in four runs on the night against Nashville starter and former Cardinal Seth Maness, who allowed all 11 Redbirds runs in his four innings of work.
Harold Arauz started and allowed eight runs in 5 2/3 innings despite allowing just five hits and a walk, in part due to four hit batters. He was followed to the bump by five relievers, each of whom conceded at least one run, save for a shutout inning from Mike Mayers, making his initial rehab appearance. Losing pitcher Ryan Helsley truly earned the distinction, giving three free passes, a double and four earned runs without retiring a batter in his first rehab outing.
Thursday’s game: vs. Nashville, Genesis Cabrera (3-3, 5.84) 7:05 CT.
Springfield OFF
On Wednesday, Springfield had their final off day for the Texas League All-Star break. The club is just 1-5 in the second half.
Thursday’s game: vs. NW Arkansas, pitcher TBA, 7:10 CT.
Palm Beach improved to 3-5 in the second half with an 8-3 drubbing of the homestanding Fire Frogs. The middle infield led the charge, with shortstop Michael Perri and second baseman Nick Dunn collecting three hits apiece and scoring four runs between them. Right fielder and leadoff man Lars Nootbaar continued his hot hitting away from Roger Dean Stadium, going 2-for-4 and lifting his Palm Beach road slashline to .375/.429/.500. A Dunn double and Nolan Gorman triple were the only extra base hits for the Beach Birds.
Perry DellaValle (winner, 3-3, 2.65) posted five efficient and effective innings for Palm Beach, yielding just one run and spending 78 pitches. Righty reliever Zach Prendergast permitted two unearned runs across two innings, and a single shutout inning each was twirled by fellow righties Mitchell Osnowitz and Ronnie Williams, who closed out the proceedings.
Thursday’s game: at Florida, Diego Cordero (0-0, 1.80) 11:00 a.m. CT.
Clinton 5, Peoria 4 (10 innings)
In a seesaw contest, Peoria tied it in the ninth but succumbed in the 10th, falling to 2-4 in the second half with the 5-4 road defeat to the LumberKings. Southpaw starter Colin Schmid was roughed up for four runs on four hits, five walks, a hit batter and wild pitch in 2 2/3 innings but the bullpen bailed him out, conceding just one tally over the remainder of the game — and that, the 10th-inning run, scored by the runner placed at second to start the inning. Lowering his ERA to 0.69, Parker Kelly contributed 3 1/3 shutout innings with four whiffs, and Thomas St. Clair contributed two spotless stanzas with a trio of strikeouts. Edgar Escobar took the loss.
Left fielder Wadye Ynfante and shortstop Delvin Perez each had a pair of hits for the Chiefs, while second sacker Brendan Donovan doubled and walked in his only two trips to the dish. Leadoff hitter Perez also committed his 16th error.
Thursday’s game: at Clinton, Michael Brettell (2-4, 4.22) 6:30 CT.
State College 8, Mahoning Valley 4
State College continued their strong start to the 2019 campaign, thumping the Mahoning Valley Scrappers on the road Wednesday night by an 8-4 score, appropriately raising their record to 8-4.
Every member of the lineup had at least one hit and the left side of the infield reached safely six times in all, with third baseman Edwin Figuera singling and drawing two hit-by-pitches, and 19-year-old shortstop Moises Castillo singling, doubling, and also drawing a plunking. (Castillo may be a sleeper to watch, as he finished last year’s Appalachian League season in style, going .310/.430/.560 with more walks than whiffs over his final two weeks at Johnson City.)
Michael Baird went four innings and allowed just two hits and an unearned run for the Spikes. The 6′ 5″ righty has now yielded just three base runners while whiffing nine men over his past eight innings. Smaller righty Adrian Mardueno (5′ 10″) followed with two firm innings, allowing only a harmless double while fanning four. After Rodard Avelino was lit up for three runs in 1/3 of an inning, Mexican lefty Hector Villalobos closed it out with 2 2/3 scoreless frames, keeping his season ERA at 0.00 through four appearances and seven innings.
Thursday’s game: vs. Mahoning Valley, Enmanuel Solano (0-1, 8.44) 6:05 CT.
Johnson City carried a 2-0 lead into the seventh inning at Greeneville before falling apart and losing 6-2 Wednesday, dropping to 4-3 on the season. Starting pitcher and Player of the Day Francisco Justo was masterful, setting down the first 12 batters without incident and finishing with 6 1/3 innings of one-hit baseball. The strapping 20-year-old righty needed only 79 pitches to fan seven, hit a batter, walk nobody, and permit one unearned tally. 2019 31st-round draftee Dylan Pearce took the loss after retiring no one while allowing two singles, a double, and a triple, for four runs.
First baseman Todd Lott had his second straight three-hit game for Johnson City, which managed just six hits in all and failed to record an extra base knock. Lott plated one of the two runs, and massive 19-year-old Venezuelan right fielder Victor Garcia (6′ 3″ 235) the other. Second baseman Liam Sabino achieved the dreaded golden sombrero in just four trips to the plate. At least he was consistent.
Thursday’s game: at Greeneville, Julio Puello (0-0, 1.59) 5:30 CT.
GCL Cardinals OFF
The Gulf Coast League Cardinals had a scheduled day off Wednesday. The defending East Division champion is still looking for its first win of 2019 after two games played.
Thursday’s game: at GCL Astros, pitcher TBA, 11:00 a.m. CT.
DSL Phillies White 9, DSL Cardinals Red 6
The struggles of the DSL Cardinals Red team continued in a 9-6 road loss at the hands of the Phillies White squad, leaving the Red 8-14 on the year. Designated hitter Diowill Burgos kept on dominating with a single, double, sacrifice fly, and stolen base, but he received scant batting help from his teammates, none of whom mustered a multi-hit game. (Burgos had half the Red hits, in fact.) Shortstop Bryan Matute did have a double, a pair of free passes, and an eventful day on the infield with two double plays, his first error, and a seventh-inning triple play from a lineout.
Righty Miguel Yedis started and took the loss, allowing six runs, five earned in five frames. The 18-year-old Dominican whiffed three and walked the same. A pair of just-turned-17-year-old relievers finished up by yielding three runs — albeit all unearned — over the final three innings. Venezuelan lefty Hemerson Cordero fanned two in one inning of work, and Dominican righty Oliver Lopez twirled the final two stanzas, nimbly working around two hits and two walks.
Thursday’s game: at DSL Cubs2, pitcher TBA, 9:30 a.m. CT.
DSL Nationals 9 at DSL Cardinals Blue 5
The DSL Cardinals Blue affiliate fell to 13-6 on the year as they committed eight errors while bowing at home to the Nationals 9-5 on Wednesday morning. Righty Engels Martinez made the start and went 4 1/3, allowing two earned runs and two unearned. The 17-year-old Dominican took the loss and struck out three and walked three. Benjamin Arias and Victor Villanueva both yielded no earned runs, the former going 1 2/3 innings and the latter 2/3 of one. Struggling the worst was 18-year-old Dionys Rodriguez, who allowed five hits and three earned runs in just 1 2/3 innings.
The Blue only accrued six hits, none for extra bases, but did draw nine walks on the day. Second baseman and leadoff man Elvin DeJesus went 2-for-5 with a run scored, fellow 17-year-old Carlos Arcia (shortstop) and 16-year-old Jose Rodriguez (left field) each singled and walked, and center fielder Hansel Otamendi walked and was hit by a pitch. Backstop Jose Zapata drew a trio of walks but had a busy bad day behind the plate, with three throwing errors and was 0-for-5 gunning base stealers. His staff also threw four wild pitches.
Thursday’s game: at DSL Mets1, pitcher TBA, 9:30 a.m. CT.
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