photo: Luken Baker (Springfield Cardinals)
The St. Louis Cardinals system was 1-3 on Friday. The Cardinal Nation’s Player of the Day, DH Luken Baker, was 3-for-4 including two home runs and three RBI in Memphis’ win. Other standouts include Tink Hence, Edgar Escobar and Hancel Rincon.
Results for games played on Friday, May 12.
The Memphis Redbirds beat the IronPigs in a three-run road victory on Friday. Starter Matthew Liberatore pitched seven innings, gave up four runs on five hits, struck out five and walked two to earn his fourth win of the season.
JoJo Romero relieved Liberatore and threw a scoreless eighth. Guillermo Zuniga tossed a scoreless ninth to receive his fourth save.
Lehigh Valley took a 1-0 lead in the second inning. Memphis went ahead 2-1 in the fifth. Kramer Robertson began the inning with a walk and stole second base. Taylor Motter singled. Luken Baker singled, and Robertson scored. Motter came home on a wild pitch.
The IronPigs answered with three runs in the home half of the fifth to retake the lead 4-2. The Redbirds made it 4-3 in the sixth. Irving Lopez, Aaron Antonini and Motter walked to load the bases. Lopez scored on a wild pitch.
Memphis regained the lead with two runs in the seventh on a solo home run by Baker and a single by Lopez. The Redbirds increased the lead to 7-4 in the ninth on the second long ball by Baker, his 14th of the season, and a Lopez double.
GUYS HE DID IT AGAIN!
LUKEN BAKER HAVE A DAY!@NobodyTrashesTN pic.twitter.com/Tu38bUdCUR
— Memphis Redbirds (@memphisredbirds) May 13, 2023
Baker was 3-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored. Lopez was 2-for-2 with two RBI. Motter was 2-for-3.
Oscar Mercado stole two bases. Robertson stole his fifth of the season. Jordan Walker took his third base of 2023 at Triple-A.
In the field, Motter made a throwing error. Antonini had a passed ball.
Memphis is 23-14 on the season and is in second place in the International League West, a half game back of Iowa.
Saturday’s game: vs. Lehigh Valley, LHP Connor Thomas (4-2, 5.21) vs. Nick Nelson RHP (0-0, 0.00) 5:35 CT.
The Springfield Cardinals were thumped by the Drillers by 10-5 score on Friday. Starter Logan Gragg pitched three innings, gave up six runs on seven hits, struck out one and walked three. Gragg took the loss, his first.
Edgar Escobar allowed one run in four innings of relief. Chris Roycroft relinquished three runs in the eighth.
Springfield scored one run in the top of the first. Mike Antico led off with a single and stole second base. Antico advanced to third on a fly out. Pedro Pages plated Antico on a single.
Tulsa answered in the home first to tie the game. The Drillers added five runs in the second and one in the fourth to lead 7-1.
Tulsa made it 10-1 in the eighth. The Cardinals rallied in the ninth, scoring four runs to cut the lead to 10-5. Chandler Redmond led off with a double. L.J. Jones reached on an error and Redmond scored. Nick Dunn walked. Jose Alvarez grounded into a force out, eliminating Dunn. Noah Mendlinger singled and Jones scored. Antico walked and Alvarez scored. Mendlinger scored on a sac fly by Matt Koperniak.
Pages was 2-for-5 with an RBI. Dunn was 2-for-3.
On the base paths, Antico stole his third base of the season.
Springfield is 13-18 on the season and is in last place in the Texas League North, eight games back of Tulsa.
Saturday’s game: vs. Tulsa, Brandon Komar RHP (1-2, 5.11) vs. Kyle Hurt RHP (2-1, 1.69) 7:05 CT.
The Peoria Chiefs were defeated by the Dragons in a 3-1 contest at Dozer Park on Friday. In his return from the injured list, starter Tink Hence pitched three scoreless innings with one hit and five punchouts. The prospect walked none and threw 25 of his 32 pitches for strikes.
Welcome back, Tink 🥰 pic.twitter.com/rEibo5eaic
— Peoria Chiefs (@peoriachiefs) May 12, 2023
Dionys Rodriguez surrendered three runs, one earned in 4 2/3 innings of relief. Matt Hickey tossed the final 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
The game was scoreless until the fifth when Dayton put one run on the board. Peoria scored their only run in the sixth to tie it. Francisco Hernandez singled. Nathan Church doubled. Hernandez came home on a wild pitch.
The Dragons scored single runs in the seventh and eighth to go up 3-1.
The Chiefs offense tallied just one run on five hits. They were 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position and left four men on base.
Victor Scott II stole his 24th base of the season. Scott was also caught stealing. Jeremy Rivas and Jimmy Crooks each were picked off first base.
In the field, Scott II made a throwing error. Osvaldo Tovalin had a fielding miscue.
Peoria is 17-14 on the season and is tied with South Bend for second place in the Midwest League West, two games back of Beloit.
Saturday’s game: vs. Dayton, Alex Cornwell LHP (3-1, 3.19) vs. Julian Aguiar RHP (1-0, 2.42) 6:35 CT
Palm Beach 4 at Jupiter 5 (10 innings)
The Palm Beach Cardinals lost a heartbreaker in extra innings as the away team at Roger Dean Stadium on Friday. Starter Hancel Rincon pitched six innings, gave up one unearned run on four hits and struck out five.
Jose Davila surrendered three runs in 1 1/3 innings of relief. Edwin Nunez relinquished one run in the 10th to take the loss.
The Beach Birds scored all four of their runs in the second inning. Won-Bin Cho drew a walk and stole second base. Tre Fletcher singled, and Cho scored. Lizandro Espinoza doubled to plate Fletcher. Espinoza scored on a single by Chris Rotondo. Michael Curialle singled to bring in Rotondo.
The Hammerheads cut the lead to 4-1 in the sixth and tied it with three runs in the eighth. The game went into the 10th but Palm Beach failed to score. The Hammerheads plated the winning run via a single to bring home the ghost runner in the bottom of the 10th.
Rotondo went 2-for-4 with an RBI. R.J. Yeager was 2-for-5.
On the base paths, Cho stole his 10th base of the season. Yeager swiped two bags. Fletcher stole his fifth base of the season.
In the field, Espinoza made a throwing error. Fletcher and Brandon Hernandez had fielding miscues.
Palm Beach is 18-13 on the season and is tied with Jupiter for first place in the FSL East.
Saturday’s game: at Jupiter, Brycen Mautz LHP (1-1, 4.26) vs. Jacob Miller RHP (1-1, 5.73) 5:00 CT.
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