Cardinals Minor League Notebook – May 17, 2021

photo: Andre Pallante, Edgar Escobar, Grant Black (Springfield Cardinals)

Improved pitching on Sunday led to a rare winning day for the St. Louis Cardinals minor league system, at 3-1. Springfield pitchers Andre Pallante, Edgar Escobar and Grant Black share Player of the Day honors for their combined one-hit shutout.

Results from games played Sunday, May 16th.

Memphis 4 at Nashville 3

Miles Mikolas pitched six frames of shutout ball and reliever Jesus Cruz quashed a late rally as the Redbirds stopped the Sounds, 4-3, for a split of their six-game road set.  Sixth-place Memphis (4-8) trails division-leading Gwinnett (ATL) by five games in the seven-team Southeast Division of the Triple-A East.

Miles Mikolas

Mikolas’ (W, 1-1) third rehab start was his strongest by far. The right-hander blanked fourth-place Nashville (6-5) (MIL) on four hits and a walk with three strikeouts.

Garrett Williams was handed a 4-0 lead at the seventh’s onset which he held in a one-two-three manner.  But the southpaw issued two free passes around a hit batsman and line out the next inning, jamming the sacks full for Connor Jones.

Jones limited the damage to a single runner crossing that frame via a 5-4 force out but was not as effective when tasked with finishing the contest.  Three straight singles generated two runs, bringing both Nashville to within one run and Cruz into the game.  Cruz induced a 5-4-3 double play and fly out to center, securing his first 2021 save.

Memphis banged out 10 hits, led by John Nogowski and Matt Szczur with three hits each in four at bats.  Each player had one hit go for extra bases. Nogowski doubled and drove in one while Szczur tripled with a run scored.

Mikolas aided his own cause with a two-run home run.  The blast came in the sixth with Szczur aboard and is the right-hander’s first long ball since 2018.  Jose Rondon went hitless in five at bats, halting his nine-game hitting streak.

Monday’s game:  There are no scheduled MiLB games on Mondays this season
Tuesday’s game:  vs Louisville (CIN) (3-8), 6:45 pm CT, TBA

Springfield 1 at Arkansas 0

A trio of S-Cards hurlers combined on a one-hitter in their team’s 1-0 triumph over host Arkansas (7-4) (SEA).  The victory prevented a series’ sweep by the Travelers and gave Springfield (2-10) only their second win of the young season.  The fifth-place S-Cards trail Wichita (MIN) by six games in the five-team North Division of the Double-A Central.

Andre Pallante

Andre Pallante, Edgar Escobar and Grant Black collectively held second-place Arkansas to just four base runners over the minimum, earning shared Player of the Day honors.  Facing the Travelers for the second time in a week, Pallante (W, 1-0) limited them to a hit and walk over five innings while fanning four.

Edgar Escobar

Escobar struck out four during his three innings on the bump, issuing two free passes, raising his K total to 16 over 9 1/3 frames in four relief appearances.  Black pitched a one-two-three ninth for his first save in affiliated ball.

Grant Black

The contest’s sole score was generated when Nick Plummer led off the fifth with his first home run of the season and first at Double-A.  The bomb was the left fielder’s only hit in two at bats although he reached base a second time via a hit by pitch.

Nolan Gorman singled twice in four at bats for half of his squad’s total hits.  This effort was the third baseman’s second straight multi-hit performance after going 5-for-29 in his first 10 games.

Monday’s game:  There are no scheduled MiLB games on Mondays this season
Tuesday’s game:  vs. fourth-place Northwest Arkansas (KC) (5-6), 6:35 pm CT, TBA

Peoria 7 vs. Wisconsin 9

The Chiefs’ bullpen could not hold a ninth-inning lead at home, falling to the Timber Rattlers, 9-7, and snapping a four-game winning streak. Peoria (5-7) claimed the series with Wisconsin (6-6) (MIL), four games to two and are in fifth place in the six-team West Division, 3 ½ games in back of Quad Cities.

Wilfredo Pereira (L, 1-1) (BS,1) entered the ninth assigned to hold a 7-5 advantage but recorded just two outs.  The righty, who was charged with four runs in total, served up a long ball to his initial batter, one of the three hits permitted to go with a walk and hit batsman.  Cole Aker retired his only batter faced, preventing further damage.

Starter Jack Ralston has yielded just one earned run over his first two starts encompassing 6 1/3 innings.  On Sunday, the California native went four stanzas, his longest effort this season, allowing two runs.  Both scores occurred in the second inning on three of the five hits Ralston permitted overall.  The righty struck out six and did not issue a free pass.

Jacob Schlesener took the ball in the fifth with his team ahead 3-2, but the lead soon evaporated.  Schlesener was tagged for three runs on a hit, three walks, a plunked batter and two wild pitches in just 2/3 of an inning.

Fabian Blanco recorded seven outs, giving up a hit and base-on-balls with one of three inherited runners scoring.  Freddy Pacheco struck out the side in the eighth, yielding a hit.

The Chiefs maximized their five hits and five walks, scoring five of their seven tallies on two home runs.  Chandler Redmond’s second bomb of 2021 occurred with Brendan Donovan (hit-by-pitch) and Zade Richardson (walk) aboard, flipping a 2-0 deficit to a 3-2 lead after two.

Chandler Redmond

Wisconsin’s three-run fifth boosted them over Peoria 5-3 but left fielder Alec Burleson’s two-run blast with Jhon Torres (single) on base tied the game at five all through six.  Peoria took its last lead the next frame when Cristhian Longa and Torres led off with a single and double, respectively.  Sac flies by Burleson and Brady Whalen pushed across the two base runners.

Monday’s game:  There are no scheduled MiLB games on Mondays this season
Tuesday’s game:  vs. first-place Quad Cities (KC) (8-3), 6:35 pm CT, TBA

Palm Beach 4 ‘at’ Jupiter 1

Timely hitting by the Beach Birds generated a 4-1 Sunday victory over Jupiter.  Palm Beach (5-7) split the six-game series with their Roger Dean stablemates, with both squads tied for third place in the four-team Southeast Division, three games behind St. Lucie.

Although the score was knotted at 1-1 going into the seventh, the Hammerheads (5-7) (MIA) were tossing a no hitter as Palm Beach’s initial tally came on two plunked batters sandwiched around a wild pitch and two free passes.  But Terry Fuller, Roblin Heredia and Franklin Soto smashed consecutive two-baggers, the latter plating Fuller and Heredia.

Franklin Soto

A free pass issued to Carlos Soto drove Jupiter’s hurler from the game and Jacob Buchberger greeted his replacement with an RBI single.  Those four hits constituted the entirety of the PB-Cards’ hits on the day.  Top prospects Jordan Walker and Masyn Winn had the day off while outfielder Tommy Jew, a 2019 First-Year Player Draft selectee, made his professional debut, playing center.

Starter Levi Prater kept his opponents off the board for 3 1/3 frames, negating five walks by striking out five.  The lefty was also called for a balk.

Inohan Paniagua (W, 2-0) held the slim 1-0 lead until the sixth when he yielded a run on two of his three hits allowed plus a hit batsman and run-scoring wild pitch.  The 21-year-old fanned three in 2 2/3 innings.  Ramon Santos tossed a clean seventh before handing the ball off to Francisco Justo who notched three K’s over the final two frames for his first save of 2021.

Monday’s game:  There are no scheduled MiLB games on Mondays this season
Tuesday’s game:  vs. first-place St. Lucie (NYM) (8-4), 6:30 pm ET, TBA


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