Cardinals Minor League Notebook – May 23, 2019

photo: Tommy Edman (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)

The St. Louis Cardinals farm system went 2-2 on Wednesday as Memphis and Palm Beach won blowouts, Springfield coughed up a huge lead late, and Peoria was routed. Player of the Day Tommy Edman reached base safely four times for Memphis, including his fifth long ball of the year.

Results for games played Wednesday, May 22nd.


Memphis 10 at Nashville 0

Tommy Edman (Steve Mitchell/Imagn)

Starter and winner Daniel Ponce de Leon twirled five shutout innings as the Redbirds returned to .500 with a 10-0 thumping of the host Sounds. Ponce de Leon allowed just three safeties and three walks while fanning six and lifting his ledger to 4-2 and a 3.48 ERA. Righty reliever Chris Ellis combined with lefties Hunter Cervenka and Chasen Shreve for four scoreless frames, with three strikeouts and just three baserunners. Cervenka recorded five outs and lowered his ERA to 2.21.

Player of the Day Tommy Edman went 3-for-4 with a three-run homer and a walk; all told the second baseman plated four runs and participated in a pair of double plays for Memphis (23-23). Designated hitter Tyler O’Neill returned to the lineup after a several days out and was nearly as productive as Edman, going 3-for-5 with a solo shot (eighth tater in 15 AAA games), a double, and three RBI. O’Neill is now hitting .316 for Memphis with a 1.115 OPS.

Thursday’s game: at Nashville, Evan Kruczynski (0-0, 6.23) 6:35 CT.


Tulsa 9 at Springfield 7

Williams Perez (Steve Mitchell/Imagn)

Springfield (18-28) led by five runs in the eighth and four in the ninth, only to watch their bullpen implode and send the team spiraling ten games below .500 for the first time this season, in a crushing 9-7 Hammons Field loss to Tulsa on Wednesday afternoon.

Veteran righty Williams Perez made the start and logged seven strong innings before handing off to the relief corps. Perez permitted only one run while whiffing eight befuddled Drillers. Ronnie Williams was fine in the eighth inning, but the righty was pulled after ten pitches and the final frame featured a trio of Tulsa homers, two off losing pitcher Merandy Gonzalez, who surrendered five runs and retired one hitter.

Left fielder Randy Arozarena singled, doubled, homered, and stole a base to lead the S-Cards attack, while third baseman Elehuris Montero homered and doubled to continue his climb back to respectability after a 4-for-27 start to his season. (The 20-year-old is batting .274/.328/.548 since that dreadful first week.) Dylan Carlson drew a walk in a pinch-hitting role, and over the past spectacular week has four homers, four walks, and four strikeouts. Moses Malone would be proud.

Thursday’s game: at Arkansas, Angel Rondon (0-0, 7.20), 7:10 CT.


Palm Beach 8 at Lakeland 1

Lars Nootbaar (Peoria Chiefs)

Palm Beach improved to 28-17 on the season, whipping the host Lakeland Flying Tigers 8-1 on Wednesday night. The Beach Birds were led by 21-year-old outfielder Lars Nootbaar’s 3-for-4 game. Nootbaar gunned a runner trying to stretch a single, drew a free pass, singled twice, doubled, and plated three runs to help his team jump to a big early lead they never relinquished. Catcher and cleanup hitter Julio Rodriguez committed his third passed ball of the year but continued his breakthrough batting campaign, walking, singling, and doubling home two runs. The 21-year-old backstop now sports a season line of .339/.397/.505 for the second best OPS in the Florida State League.

Righty starter Tommy Parsons improved to 3-0 since his promotion from Peoria, going 6 1/3 innings and allowing six scattered hits and one run. Parsons has righted the ship since a shelling in his Beach Birds debut, and now claims a 2.82 ERA across four starts in High-A. Lefty Patrick Dayton and righties Ben Yokley and Mitchell Osnowitz mopped up on behalf of the bullpen. Osnowitz impressed the most, yielding one harmless hit in a scoreless ninth.

Thursday’s game: at Charlotte, pitcher TBA, 5:30 CT.


Wisconsin 7, Peoria 2

Evan Sisk (Bret Jacomet photo)

Peoria (19-26) fell behind early and never caught up, dropping a 7-2 road decision to the Timber Rattlers on Wednesday evening. Lefty starter and loser Colin Schmid surrendered all seven runs, five earned, in six innings, despite permitting just eight singles plus a double, inducing two double plays, and picking a runner off first base (for the third time in just two Peoria starts). The decisive fifth inning included an outfield error, Schmid’s only walk, a bunt single, and a wild pitch. Fellow lefty Evan Sisk relieved and lowered his season ERA to 1.10 across 16 1/3 innings, with two shutout stanzas and a pair of strikeouts.

Right fielder Wadye Ynfante had the only multi-hit game for the Chiefs, singling and tripling, and second baseman Brendan Donovan hit his third homer. The team phenoms mostly took the night off, whether in the lineup or not. Nolan Gorman and Malcom Nunez went a combined 1-for-8, and Ivan Herrera and Jhon Torres took the night off.

Thursday’s game: at Wisconsin, Kyle Leahy (1-4, 4.97) 11:05 CT.


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