Cardinals Minor League Notebook – May 22, 2021

photo: Nolan Gorman (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)

The St. Louis Cardinals system was 2-3 on Friday.  Our Player of the Day is Springfield infielder Nolan Gorman, who hit a walk-off three-run home run in the Cardinals 8-7 suspended game win and went 4-for-5 with three runs scored as they lost in their regularly scheduled contest.

Results for games played Friday, May 21.

Memphis 4, Louisville 3

The Redbirds (7-9) came back to edge Louisville 4-3 on Friday night at AutoZone Park with all runs coming via the long ball.

Lars Nootbaar’s second home run of the season, a two-run shot in the bottom of the third gave Memphis the 2-0 lead.  The Bats responded in the top of the fourth with a single run off starter Johan Oviedo.

In the fifth, Oviedo surrendered two additional scores to give Louisville the 3-2 lead. John Nogowski thumped a two-run long ball in the sixth to give the Redbirds a 4-3 cushion.  That score held through the remainder of the game.

No Redbird had multiple hits. Nootbaar and Nogowski drove in all four runs, two each.

After Oviedo pitched 5 1/3 innings, Austin Warner took over and was the pitcher of record when the Redbirds took their final lead.  The bullpen of Warner, Jesus Cruz, and Junior Fernandez tossed 3 2/3 scoreless innings.  The pitching staff fanned nine.

Ali Sanchez was caught stealing for the first time this season. Nogowski committed a dropped foul error.

Saturday’s game:  vs. Louisville, Tommy Parsons RHP (0-0, 3.29) v. Braden Shipley RHP (1-3, 7.27) 6:15 CT.

Springfield 8, NW Arkansas 7 (completion of suspended game)

The Cardinals (3-11) beat the Naturals in walk off fashion in the completion of Wednesday’s game suspended due to rain.  The game-ending blow was a three-run home run by Player of the Day Nolan Gorman.

When stopped on May 19, the score was 5-5 in the top of the seventh inning. The road to get there began with a five-run first inning for the Cardinals. Back to back singles by Delvin Perez and Gorman followed by a walk from Ivan Herrera was finished with a grand slam by Juan Yepez. The next hitter, newly promoted Alec Burleson, hit a solo home run to left field.

The Naturals began chipping away at the lead with two runs in the third off starter Alvaro Seijas.  Seijas did not return for the fourth inning, replaced by Ramon Santos who surrendered a run to cut the lead to 5-3.  NW Arkansas tied it up in the sixth off reliever Grant Black, who was charged with a blown save.

The game remained at 5-5 when the rain came and the game was suspended.  The game resumed three days later and neither team scored until the ninth inning.  The Naturals took a 7-5 lead in the top of the ninth off reliever Edgar Escobar.  Jake Walsh relieved with two outs and was awarded the win, his second of the season.

The Cardinals answered in the bottom of the ninth.  Justin Toerner drew a walk to begin the inning. Perez followed with a single, and Gorman followed with his two-run blast to left field to walk it off 8-7.

Perez, Gorman, and Luken Baker each had two hits.  Yepez led with four RBI followed by Gorman with three.  Springfield pitchers overcame 12 walks issued.

Perez and Imeldo Diaz made throwing errors.

Springfield 5, NW Arkansas 15

The Cardinals were the victims of a thrashing at the hands of the Naturals in the second game of the night, the regularly scheduled game.

Springfield starter Kyle Leahy was rocked for 11 runs on 10 hits in 3 2/3 innings pitched. The right hander did fan seven and walked only one as he took the loss.

Down 11-0, the Cardinals got on the board in the fourth.  Alec Burleson led off with a double and scored on a Nick Dunn single.  The Naturals added to their lead with a 12th run in the fifth off Springfield reliever Patrick Dayton.

The Cardinals offense added a second run in the bottom of the fifth on a single by Nolan Gorman, a double by Luken Baker, and a Burleson single that plated Gorman.  The offense continued to chip away with an RBI single by Baker in the seventh and another score on a single by Aaron Antonini in the eighth.

NW Arkansas was not done, however, with three runs in the top of the ninth against Jacob Patterson.  Grant Black got the final out of the inning and became the only Springfield pitcher to not give up runs.  The Cardinals scored their fifth and last run in the bottom of the ninth on a single by Nick Plummer.

Gorman went 4-for-5 with three runs scored. Burleson was 3-for-5 with an RBI. Baker was 2-for-5 with one driven in and Dunn was 2-for-4 with an RBI.

Nolan Gorman

Cardinals pitching surrendered 15 runs on 16 hits, including six home runs.  Delvin Perez committed a fielding error, his fourth miscue of 2021.

Saturday’s game:  vs. NW Arkansas, Andre Pallante RHP (1-0, 2.84) vs. Stephen Wood Jr RHP (0-2, 13.50) 6:05 CT.

Peoria 1, Quad Cities 5

The Chiefs (6-10) fell to the River Bandits on Friday in the Game 4 of a six-game series at Dozer Park. Peoria’s offense was meager with only one run scored on five hits.

Quad Cities took the lead early with three runs in the second inning against starter Nick Trogrlic-Iverson, who took the loss in his High-A debut.  The River Bandits increased their lead with single scores in the fourth and sixth with reliever Jacob Schlesener pitching.

Peoria finally got on the board in the home sixth.  Jhon Torres led off with a double and later scored on a double by Brendan Donovan.  Donovan was the only Chief hitter with multiple hits, as he went 2-for-4.

Brendan Donovan

Donovan was caught stealing for the first time this season.  Brady Whalen made a fielding error, and Zade Richardson was charged with a passed ball.  Chandler Redmond had an outfield assist at second base.

Saturday’s game:  vs. Quad Cities, Nathanael Heredia (0-1, 4.76) vs. Angel Zerpa (0-0, 3.07) 6:35 CT.

Palm Beach 4, St. Lucie 8

The Cardinals (5-11) did not have to hit against another Mets major leaguer but nevertheless met a similar fate as in the previous three games against the Baby Mets on Saturday.

St. Lucie got on the board in the first inning with a run against starter Inohan Paniagua.  Palm Beach answered with three runs in the second. Tommy Jew and Donivan Williams singled, Matt Koperniak walked, and Jew scored on a wild pitch. Williams came home on a sac fly by Terry Fuller.  Koperniak was plated by Roblin Heredia’s double.

Matt Koperniak

Paniagua surrendered two more runs in the fourth.  Reliever Yordy Richard yielded four runs in the fifth, Luis Tena gave up the eighth and final run in the sixth.

The Cardinals tacked on a one more run in the bottom half of the sixth on a solo home run by Koperniak.

The offense scored four runs on six hits.  No Cardinal had multiple hits. Koperniak’s long ball and Heredia’s double were the only extra base hits.

Richard took the loss. Despite all the runs given up, Cardinals pitching struck out 15 Mets.

Saturday’s game:  vs. St. Lucie, Levi Prater LHP (0-1, 2.45) vs. Luis Moreno RHP (0-0, 1.69) 5:30 CT.

For more

To track the status of the Cardinals’ 40-man roster as well as all players in the system by position and level, check out the Roster Matrix, always free and updated here at The Cardinal Nation. Also included is every player transaction across the full organization all year long.

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