photo: Michael McGreevy (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
The St. Louis Cardinals system went 1-4 on Thursday. The Cardinal Nation’s Player of the Day, Memphis RH Michael McGreevy, threw a one-run complete game with 11 strikeouts. Other standouts include Ramon Mendoza, Bryan Torres, Osvaldo Tovalin, Dionys Rodriguez, Miguel Villarroel, Ruben Menes and Yancel Guerrero.
Results from games played on Thursday, May 23.
On Thursday, the Memphis Redbirds (25-23) were shut out by the Durham Bulls (20-28, TBR) 1-0 at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Starter Michael McGreevy threw a complete game while taking his fifth loss this season, throwing eight innings, allowing one run on five hits while striking out 11.
The game’s lone run came in the fifth when McGreevy threw a wild pitch that plated the runner on third.
Gavin Collins was 1-for-2 with a double. Jordan Walker went 1-for-4 with a double. Thomas Saggese was 1-for-4. The Redbirds totaled no runs on four hits with two walks and eight strikeouts while hitting 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position.
Friday’s game: at Durham, RHP Adam Kloffenstein (1-4, 4.84) vs. Nathan Wiles RHP (4-2, 6.21) 5:35 CT.
The Springfield Cardinals (23-19) were crushed by the Tulsa Drillers (19-22, LAD) 9-3 on Thursday at Hammons Field. Starter Ian Bedell took his second loss this season, pitching five innings, allowing seven runs on six hits while walking two and striking out six.
The Drillers broke the game open in the top of the second with two three-run homers for the early 6-0 lead.
The Cardinals responded in the bottom half of the inning with a two-RBI double from Ramon Mendoza.
We play nine innings for a reason. Ramon Mendoza starts the comeback with a two-run double to answer back in the second. pic.twitter.com/Tti1fB6jIv
— Springfield Cardinals (@Sgf_Cardinals) May 24, 2024
A solo home run from Tulsa in the third extended their lead to 7-2.
Jacob Buchberger’s RBI single in the eighth brought the deficit to four.
The Drillers added two more insurance runs with an RBI double and an RBI single in the ninth while reliever Jack Ralston was pitching.
St. Louis rehabber Keynan Middleton threw one inning, allowing no runs and no hits while walking three and striking out one. Ralston threw three innings, giving up two runs on four hits while walking one and striking out one. Springfield yielded nine runs on 10 hits while walking six and striking out eight.
Leadoff man Bryan Torres was on base all five times, going 3-for-3 with two walks, raising his average to .328 on the season. R.J. Yeager went 4-for-5 with a double and a run scored. Mendoza was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI. The Cardinals totaled three runs on 12 hits with four walks and 11 strikeouts while stranding 10 men on base.
Friday’s game: vs. Tulsa, RHP Tink Hence (3-2, 3.18) vs. Justin Wrobleski LHP (2-1, 2.45) 7:05 CT.
The Peoria Chiefs (14-28) were at the wrong end of a perfect game until the ninth inning and lost to the Cedar Rapids Kernels (26-15, MIN) 8-5 on Thursday at Dozer Park. Starter Brycen Mautz took his fifth loss against no wins this season, pitching 4 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on four hits while walking two and striking out six.
A two-RBI single from the Kernels in the fifth gave them a 2-0 lead, ending Mautz’s night on the mound. Reliever Roy Garcia took over the bump and gave up a three-run longball to right field in the sixth. Garcia was left in the game for in the seventh as Cedar Rapids’ two-RBI single and RBI single extended their lead to 8-0.
The Chiefs first broke up the perfect game and then the no-hitter in the ninth with Joshua Baez’ walk and William Sullivan’s single. The late rally continued with Zach Levenson’s RBI forceout, then Alex Iadisernia reached on an error that plated Sullivan and Osvaldo Tovalin hit a two-RBI double. Darlin Moquete’s RBI single brought the score to within three, but it was not enough to take down the Kernels.
Sullivan went 1-for-3 with a run scored. Tovalin was 1-for-4 with a double, two RBI, and scored once. Moquete hit 1-for-4 with an RBI. The Chiefs totaled five runs on three hits with two walks and 12 strikeouts. All nine Chiefs batters fanned at least once.
Garcia pitched 1 2/3 innings, allowing six runs, five earned, on six hits while walking one and striking out two. Dionys Rodriguez threw 2 2/3 innings, giving up no runs on two hits while walking one and striking out five. Peoria yielded eight runs, seven earned, on 12 hits while walking four and striking out 13.
Friday’s game: vs. Cedar Rapids, LHP Quinn Mathews (0-0, 1.29) vs. Christian Macleod LHP (0-0, 2.84) 7:05 CT.
The Palm Beach Cardinals (24-18) fell to the Lakeland Flying Tigers (27-15, DET) 6-3 on Thursday at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium. Starter Ixan Hernandez threw four innings, allowing three runs on five hits while walking two and striking out six.
Lakeland struck first in the first with an RBI single.
The Cardinals responded in the top of the second with Jose Cordoba’s solo moonshot to left field to tie the game at one apiece.
Another RBI single in the bottom of the second gave the Flying Tigers a 2-1 lead.
Palm Beach took the lead with Miguel Villarroel’s two-RBI single to center field in the third.
The Flying Tigers tied the game in the fifth with an RBI single.
Reliever Benjamin Arias took the mound in the fifth, and in the sixth, he allowed a two-run shot to left field. Yordy Herrera took over in the eighth and allowed a sacrifice fly extending the Flying Tigers’ lead to 6-3.
Arias took his first loss this season, pitching three innings, and yielding two runs on three hits while walking one and striking out two. Herrera gave up one run on no hits in one inning while walking two. The Cardinals allowed six runs on eight hits while walking five and striking out eight.
Villarroel went 2-for-4 with two RBI and a stolen base. Cordoba hit 2-for-4 with a homer, an RBI, and a run scored. Chase Davis was 2-for-4 with a double and scored once. Palm Beach totaled three runs on eight hits with a walk and 11 strikeouts.
Friday’s game: at Lakeland, RH José Dávila (2-3, 3.78) vs. TBA 5:30 CT.
FCL Cardinals 9, FCL Nationals 1
On Thursday, the Florida Complex League Cardinals (8-7) dominated the Nationals (5-8, WAS) 9-1 at the Roger Dean Stadium Complex. Starter Ruben Menes threw four innings, allowing no runs on two hits while walking two and striking out four.
The Cardinals struck in the second with Felix Taveras’s solo homer to left field. They continued to add insurance with Yancel Guerrero’s RBI triple and Alejandro Loaiza’s RBI single. Yordalin Pena reached on a fielder’s choice that scored Loaiza, and Jose Suarez’s RBI single capped off an early five-run inning.
Guerrero’s RBI triple in the third tallied an extra insurance run for the Cardinals and made the score 6-0.
Yordalin Pena’s two-run bomb to left field in the sixth extended their lead to 8-0.
The shutout was ruined when reliever Antoni Cuello allowed a solo shot to left field in the top of the eighth inning.
Guerrero’s RBI single earned that run back in the bottom half of the inning.
Guerrero went 4-for-5 with two triples, three RBI, and a run scored. Pena hit 1-for-4 with a homer, a walk, two RBI, and scored once. Suarez was 2-for-3 with two walks and an RBI. The Cardinals totaled nine runs on 14 hits with four walks and nine strikeouts.
Alexander Beltre earned his first win this season, throwing one scoreless inning, and yielding one hit while striking out two. Cuello pitched 2 2/3 innings, giving up a run on two hits while walking one and striking out one. Victor Villanueva threw 1 1/3 innings, allowing no runs or hits while striking out one. The Cardinals gave up a run on five hits while walking three and striking out eight.
Friday’s game: at FCL Nationals, RH Leonel Sequera (0-1, 2.25) vs. TBA 11:00 CT.
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