photo: Dakota Hudson (Scott Rovak/USA TODAY Sports)
On Thursday, St. Louis’ minors went 2-2. Palm Beach and Peoria were both victorious but starter Dakota Hudson’s outstanding effort could not prevent Memphis’ hard-luck loss. Elehuris Montero sparked Peoria’s offense and Palm Beach received great work from its bullpen.
Results from the games played Thursday, May 3rd.
An unearned run in the eighth resulted in the Redbirds’ 1-0 loss to Oklahoma City (19-6) (LAD). The two division leaders each won two of the four-game set.
Player of the Day Dakota Hudson was saddled with the tough loss, his first in four decisions. Hudson faced just 29 batters during his eight innings on the mound, permitting five hits and one walk. The winning runner reached on a fielding error by first baseman Patrick Wisdom. A single and sac bunt advanced him to third and he scored on a fielder’s choice. Preston Guilmet struck out two in the ninth but did commit a throwing error.
Second baseman Max Schrock swung the team’s best bat, going 3-for-4 with two doubles out of the two hole. Both clean-up hitter Yairo Munoz and number six batter Steven Baron went 2-for-4 with a double. Memphis (19-9), however, went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
Friday’s game: at second-place Nashville (12-14) (OAK), 6:35 pm CT, Jack Flaherty (3-0, 2.25)
Springfield 2 at Northwest Arkansas 9
The S-Cards managed just five hits as they were trounced by the Naturals, 9-2. Springfield (14-11) has won only one of the first three series games with one remaining.
The visitors’ offense consisted primarily of John Nogowski and Victor Roache. Nogowski singled twice in four at bats, knocking in one while Roache went 2-for-3 with a walk and run scored.
Unfortunately, the pitching had an off night too. Jake Woodford went five innings, permitting five runs, three earned, on eight hits and a hit batsman. He struck out five.
Estarlin Arias recorded five outs, yielding two hits and a walk. His outing was scoreless thanks to Yeison Medina, who stranded two inherited runner. But Medina was touched for four runs on three hits and two free passes in just two-thirds of an inning. Two of the runs scored under Jacob Evans’ watch, one on a wild pitch and the other via a sac fly.
Friday’s game: at fourth-place Northwest Arkansas (9-17) (KC), 7:05 pm CT, Chris Ellis (1-0, 2.08)
Miscues played a key role as the Beach Birds edged the Fire Frogs, 3-2, on Thursday. Palm Beach (15-12) claimed the road series over Florida (9-18) (ATL), two-games-to-one.
In a contest consisting of only five runs in all, each team’s pitching staff yielded just one earned run. The Fire Frogs out-errored the PB-Cards, three to two, and that was the difference in the game.
Ian Oxnevad (W, 2-2) hurled his second straight solid effort, holding the opposition to two runs, one earned, on seven hits and a walk in 5 2/3. He fanned three.
Palm Beach’s bullpen was absolutely superb, allowing no baserunners over the game’s balance. Jacob Patterson retired all four batters faced, aiding Oxnevad’s stat line by leaving his final two runners aboard. Colton Thomson and Austin Sexton both went a frame, Sexton earning his second save in as many appearances for the PB-Cards.
The visitors generated six hits, with Evan Mendoza logging the only multi-hit effort. The third baseman singled twice in four at bats. Andy Young (double), Stefan Trosclair and Matt Fiedler each went 1-for-4 with a run scored. Defensively, both second baseman Young (fielding) and shortstop Kramer Robertson (throwing) were charged with an error.
Friday’s game: vs. St Lucie (11-15) (NYM), 6:30 pm ET, Anthony Shew (1-1, 2.55)
Elehuris Montero’s big night at the plate led Peoria (12-12) over West Michigan (15-11) (DET), 10-5, in the decisive third game of the series at Dozer Park.
Montero accounted for four tallies and reached base four times. The designated hitter went 3-for-4 with a walk and solo shot, scored three times and drove in two.
Seven other Chiefs had at least one of the team’s 13 hits. Bryce Denton and Juan Yepez had two hits apiece, Denton blasting his second long ball of 2018 and Yepez doubling for the ninth time this season. The latter swiped a base as well.
That was more than sufficient offense for Evan Guillory (W, 3-1), who went six solid frames. All three tallies off the 22-year-old were via two fourth-inning home runs, two of the six hits and three free passes issued. Fabian Blanco struck out three over two scoreless innings but Bryan Dobzanski was charged with two runs on a double, hit batsman and two ground outs in the ninth. It was only the second time in eight outings that the righty has been scored upon.
Friday’s game: vs. South Bend (9-14) (CHC), 6:30 pm CT, Alvaro Seijas (0-2, 5.71)
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