photo: Matt Szczur (Memphis Redbirds)
The lone bright spot in St. Louis’ minors on Sunday was Memphis breaking through for its first victory of 2021 behind Matt Szczur’s timely hit. Springfield and Palm Beach both fell while Peoria was on the wrong end of a twin bill affair.
Results from games played Sunday, May 9th.
Memphis 7 vs. Durham 6 (10 innings)
Player of the Day Matt Szczur’s two-out 10th-inning single gave the Redbirds a 7-6 walk-off victory over Durham in the series finale. It was the first win of 2021 for Memphis (1-5) and prevented a six-game sweep by the visiting Bulls (5-1) (TB).
Szczur’s liner to left scored Scott Hurst who began the 10th on second. Max Moroff led off with a single up the middle, advancing Hurst to third. The second baseman stole second during the next at bat which ended with a swinging K by Jose Rondon. After Rayder Ascanio’s pop out to short did not drive in the run, Lars Nootbaar was intentionally walked, bringing Szczur to the plate and he came through.
The veteran’s single was the center fielder’s second hit in four at bats comprising two of the Redbirds’ 10 hits. Szczur was joined in the two-hit column by Moroff and Nootbaar with all three connecting for extra bases. Szczur and Moroff both doubled once and Nootbaar banged out his first Triple-A triple.
Dennis Ortega and Rondon each went yard with the bases empty. It was the infielder’s third blast in six games, but the catcher’s shot was majestic.
The visual evidence…
We think pummeled was a good verb choice 😉 pic.twitter.com/qpPqpc9Fsa https://t.co/NKMUgLCmYR
— Memphis Redbirds (@memphisredbirds) May 9, 2021
Szczur’s hit made a winner out of Austin Warner (W, 1-0), the third Redbirds reliever. The lefty worked around a hit and two walks for two clean frames.
Johan Oviedo tossed his maiden effort for Memphis and retired eight batters. The Cuban was tagged for five scores on four hits and a walk in 2 2/3 innings. Two of the five runs permitted came via one home run.
Thomas Parsons recorded the next 12 outs, limiting the opposition to one run despite allowing four hits and five walks. The Ohio native stranded his only inherited runner. Junior Fernandez retired all four batters faced, leaving Parsons’ last two runners aboard.
Monday’s game: There are no scheduled MiLB games on Mondays this season
Tuesday’s game: at Nashville (MIL) (3-2), 6:35 pm CT, TBA (was Parsons)
Springfield 2 vs. Wichita 3
Springfield could not hold a lead thru six, falling to the Wind Surge, 3-2 in the series finale. The S-Cards (1-5) managed to win just one of the six-game home set versus Wichita (5-1) (MIN).
Starter Domingo Robles held his Game 1 foes to a single tally on six hits and a free pass issued through 5 1/3 before giving way to Salvador Justo with two on (error, single) and one gone. Justo (L, 0-1) (BS,1) maneuvered around a leadoff walk by notching two swinging strikeouts.
Another lead off free pass issued came back to haunt the righty the next frame when Justo served up his first home run of 2021. That bomb flipped a 2-1 lead into what proved to be the final score.
The contest ended on a positive pitching note due to Jake Walsh’s performance. Walsh struck out five during his three-inning stint, retiring the side in order all three times.
The only Springfield player with more than one hit was leadoff batter Delvin Perez who went 2-for-4 with a double, run scored and two stolen bases. Defensively, the shortstop’s errant throw was his first miscue of 2021.
Acting as the team’s designated hitter, Nolan Gorman reached base three times. Gorman doubled once in two at bats, driving in two with two base-on-balls. He joined Perez by swiping two bases.
Monday’s game: There are no scheduled MiLB games on Mondays this season
Tuesday’s game: at Arkansas (SEA) (2-3), 11:00 am CT, Andre Pallante (0-0, 6.00)
Peoria 0 at Cedar Rapids 3 (7 innings) – Game 1
Peoria 2 at Cedar Rapids 3 (8 innings) – Game 2
The Chiefs absorbed a double-header sweep at Cedar Rapids on Sunday, getting shut out in Game 1, 3-0, before the finale ended in walk-off fashion, 3-2, in eight. Peoria (1-5) limps home having gained just one victory in six tries against the Kernels (5-1) (MIN).
In the opener, the Chiefs were blanked for the second time in the season’s first five games. The offense was held to just four hits and three walks, going 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position.
Nathanael Heredia took the loss in his first full season start. The lefty worked around three free passes issued in the initial two frames but did not finish the third, yielding two runs on a hit, five walks and a sac fly over 2 1/3.
The last run charged to Heredia crossed under Evan Sisk’s watch via an RBI double. The southpaw induced a 6-5 double play, escaping further damage. That two-bagger was the only hit Sisk yielded in 1 2/3 innings although he did walk one.
Ian Bedell, who did not finish the first inning as the Opening Day starter, pitched the fifth and sixth. Bedell was touched for an unearned run with three hits given up plus a free pass issued.
Left fielder Matt Chamberlain accumulated half of his squad’s hits, singling twice in three at bats out of the nine spot. Designated hitter Alec Burleson went 1-for-2 with a base-on-balls for an early season line of .353/.476/.706/1.182 in 17 at bats over five contests.
Game 2 featured the 2021 and full season debut of right-hander Connor Lunn, who needed 34 pitches to record two outs. Lunn was tagged for a run on two hits and a walk in 2/3 of an inning.
Three of the four outs recorded by Fabian Blanco were strikeouts which the righty used to work around a hit and two free passes issued. Blanco stranded Lunn’s last two runners.
Leonardo Taveras tossed a clean third, walking one but Freddy Pacheco was touched for a run on two walks in 1 2/3 frames. That tally scored with Ian Oxnevad (BS, 1) on the mound, knotting the game at 2-2 after five.
Oxnevad issued three of his squad’s eight free passes during his two innings of work along with a hit yielded. Cole Aker (L, 0-1) began the extra-inning eighth with a runner at second and promptly gave up an RBI single to left.
Peoria generated nine hits but only one went for extra bases and the team went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position. Three Chiefs had two hits apiece: right fielder Jhon Torres, catcher Pedro Pages and shortstop Imeldo Diaz. Torres singled and doubled in three at bats with a sac fly and an RBI and Pages and Diaz both went 2-for-4, the latter touching home once and stealing his first base of 2021.
Monday’s game: There are no scheduled MiLB games on Mondays this season
Tuesday’s game: vs Wisconsin (MIL) (4-2) (home opener), 6:35 pm CT, Jack Ralston (0-0, 0.00)
Palm Beach 3 vs. Daytona 7
Starter Nick Trogrlic-Iverson could not duplicate his Opening Day gem as Palm Beach was downed by Daytona, 7-3. The Beach Birds dropped the opening series at Roger Dean, two games to four.
Trogrlic-Iverson (L, 0-1), who blanked the Tortugas (4-2) (CIN) through five frames on May 4th, allowed six runs, four earned, on four hits, a walk and a plunked batter in four-plus frames. The right-hander yielded a single score in the third, two-run four-inning bomb followed by four tallies in the fifth.
Reliever Jose Moreno allowed both inherited runners to cross home before surrendering a solo long ball, one of the two hits yielded against six outs recorded. Francisco Justo, Will Guay and Ramon Santos each tossed a scoreless frame.
Beach Birds bats squandered numerous opportunities, going a dismal 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and stranding 12. Catcher Roblin Heredia and first baseman Jacob Buchberger has two hits apiece, the former singling and doubling in four at bats with a run scored and the latter going 2-for-5.
Masyn Winn was one of four Palm Beach players to have one hit each and stole his third base of the season. However, the shortstop also committed a fielding error. Despite going hitless, Jordan Walker worked three free passes, raising his on-base percentage to .500.
Monday’s game: There are no scheduled MiLB games on Mondays this season
Tuesday’s game: at Jupiter (MIA) (2-4), 6:30 pm ET, TBA
Exclusively for members of The Cardinal Nation
Now Available – 2021 Cardinals Prospect Guide
Now available, The Cardinal Nation 2021 Prospect Guide is back for a fourth year. It includes over 250 pages of in-depth commentary about the very best St. Louis Cardinals minor leaguers, including dozens of color photos.
https://thecardinalnation.com/order-the-cardinal-nation-2021-prospect-guide-now/
Not yet a member?
Join The Cardinal Nation for the most comprehensive coverage of the St. Louis Cardinals from the majors through the entire minor league system.
© 2021 The Cardinal Nation, thecardinalnation.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.