Cardinals Minor League Notebook: May 2, 2018

photo: Casey Meisner (Chris Lockard/Oakland Clubhouse)

In a 2-2 Tuesday across the St. Louis Cardinals minor league system, Palm Beach pitcher Casey Meisner and Peoria second baseman Irving Lopez share top honors. Memphis and Peoria chalked up narrow home wins.

Results from the games played Tuesday, May 1st.


Memphis 5 vs. Oklahoma City 4

Patrick Wisdom (Steve Mitchell/USA TODAY Sports)

Memphis (18-8) edged Oklahoma City, 5-4, evening the series between the Pacific Coast League’s two top teams at one game apiece with two yet to play.

The Redbirds never trailed, leading 3-0 after four and 5-2 through six. The balanced offensive effort featured six Memphis players with at least one of the team’s nine hits, paced by Patrick Wisdom and Yairo Munoz, with two hits each. Wisdom went yard with Munoz aboard for his fourth home run of 2018. The third baseman added a single in three at bats with a base-on-balls while Munoz singled twice in four at bats with two RBI.

John Gant (W, 4-0) tossed six solid frames in his return to Triple-A, limiting the Dodgers to two runs on five hits and two walks with four strikeouts. Ryan Sherriff pitched a shaky seventh, yielding two tallies on four hits. The southpaw needed an outfield assist at home by right fielder Tyler O’Neill to keep the tying run from scoring and finish his third rehab appearance. Sam Tuivailala fared better in his third rehab outing, holding the opposition to a single over the final two innings for his first save.

Wednesday’s game: vs. Oklahoma City (18-5), 6:35 pm CT, Daniel Poncedeleon (1-2, 1.59)


Springfield 2 at Northwest Arkansas 4

The S-Cards (13-10) were clipped by the Naturals, 4-2, the first of four games between the two squads.

Conner Greene (L, 2-2) fell one out shy of six frames, permitting four runs on eight hits and a base-on-balls. Jacob Evans went 1 1/3 with one free pass issued and one inherited runner stranded. In his Double-A debut, Yeison Medina worked around a one-out single for a scoreless eighth.

Springfield’s six through nine hitters garnered seven of the team’s eight hits with three players each going 2-for-4: Victor Roache, Blake Drake and Luke Dykstra. Roache touched home once while Drake doubled twice and Dykstra once. Despite all that hitting, the team only scored twice because they were a pathetic 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position and left 11 on.

Wednesday’s game: at Northwest Arkansas (8-16) (KC), 11:05 am CT, Mike O’Reilly (1-0, 0.00)


Palm Beach 2 at Florida 3

Casey Meisner (Stockton Ports)

A late-inning bullpen meltdown squandered Casey Meisner’s outstanding start as Palm Beach (13-12) fell to Florida, 3-2, in the road series opener.

Co-Player of the Day Meisner was superb through six, limiting the Fire Frogs to just three hits and a walk. The 22-year-old struck out six with five ground- and five fly-ball outs.

The righty was in line for his first Cardinals system win after the Beach Birds broke through for two in the top of the seventh. That lead was halved in the home half of the frame via an unearned score with Paul Balestrieri pitching. But the victory evaporated when Will Latcham (BS, 1) (L, 1-2) yielded two runs on two hits, an intentional base-on-balls and a hit batsman.

Kramer Robertson led his team’s seven-hit attack, going 3-for-4 with a double and one knocked in. The shortstop was the only PB-Card with more than one hit.

Wednesday’s game: at Florida (9-16) (ATL), 6:31 pm ET, Austin Warner (1-1, 5.66)


Peoria 5 vs. West Michigan 4 (10)

Irving Lopez (Peoria Chiefs)

Twice the Chiefs came from behind, with the latter rally giving Peoria (11-11) a 5-4 walk-off victory in 10.

The Whitecaps struck fast, scoring three runs against Jake Walsh, who did not finish the first inning. Levi MaVorhis doused the fire, tossing 3 2/3 scoreless frames and leaving Walsh’s last two runners aboard.

Peoria backed MaVorhis with a two-run fourth then tied the game in the sixth. Reliever Noel Gonzalez, just activated from Extended Spring Training and making his Class-A debut, recorded the first two of his four outs to end the fifth, leaving a MaVorhis runner on. But Gonzalez interspersed two outs with three free passes the next inning, giving way to Kodi Whitley.

Whitley (W, 2-0) kept the ball the balance of the game, keeping West Michigan off the board until the 10th when he was touched for a run. However, Peoria kicked off their second rally, with Irving Lopez doubling home Edwin Figuera after the latter began the inning at second, to re-tie the game at four all. Yariel Gonzalez’ line drive single to left brought Lopez across for the walk-off win.

Lopez, one of three Chiefs with a multi-hit night, went 3-for-5 with said double, driving in the tying run and scoring the winner. The second baseman also swiped his first bag of 2018. That earns him a co-Player of the Day nod. Gonzalez and Juan Yepez had two hits apiece, the latter doubling and scoring once.

Wednesday’s game: vs. West Michigan (14-10) (DET), 11:00 am CT, Johan Oviedo (1-1, 6.35)


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