Cardinals Minor League Notebook – September 16, 2023

photo: Thomas Saggese (Springfield Cardinals)

The St. Louis Cardinals system was 1-2 on Friday. Peoria was eliminated in the Division Series. The Cardinal Nation’s Player of the Day Thomas Saggese was 3-for-5 with a three-run home run in Memphis’ win. Other standouts include Moises Gomez, Matt Koperniak, Juan Yepez and Sem Robberse.

Results for games played on Friday, September 15.

Memphis 13 at Norfolk 4

The Memphis Redbirds administered a nine-run thrashing of the Tides on Friday. Starter Sem Robberse pitched 5 1/3 innings, gave up one run on three hits, struck out nine and walked four to earn his second win with Memphis.

Sem Robberse

Ryan Loutos relieved Robberse and threw 1 2/3 scoreless innings. Logan Sawyer tossed a scoreless inning. Andre Granillo surrendered three runs, one earned, in the ninth.

Memphis scored one run in the first inning. Michael Siani walked and later came home on a single by Juan Yepez. The Redbirds made it 2-0 in the second. Matt Koperniak reached on an error and crossed the plate on a double by Moises Gomez.

In the top of the sixth, Ivan Herrera doubled and was driven in by another double from Gomez. Norfolk scored their first run in the home half of the sixth to cut the lead to 3-1.

Moisés Gómez

Koperniak’s three-run home run in the seventh widened the lead to 6-1. They made it 7-1 in the eighth. Thomas Saggese doubled and scored on a single by Yepez.

Matt Koperniak

Memphis blew the game wide open with a six-run top of the ninth. Herrera walked. Koperniak singled. Herrera scored on a single by Gomez. Nick Dunn walked. Kramer Robertson plated Koperniak and Gomez on a single. Saggese followed with a three-run home run.

Thomas Saggese

The Tides shrunk the final score to 13-4 in the bottom of the ninth.

Saggese was 3-for-6 with three RBI and two runs scored. Gomez was 3-for-5 with three RBI. Koperniak was 2-for-5 with three RBI and three runs scored. Yepez was 3-for-6 with two RBI. Dunn was 2-for-3. Robertson drove in two.

On the base paths, Herrera stole his 11th base. In the field, Robertson had a missed catch error. César Prieto had a fielding miscue.

Memphis Redbirds (28-39) are 15 games out of first place in the International League West. They have been eliminated from playoff contention.

Saturday’s games:  at Norfolk, LHP Connor Thomas (4-4, 5.68) vs. Cade Povich LHP (2-3, 6.03) 5:35 CT.

Springfield 2 at San Antonio 3

The Springfield Cardinals were edged by the Missions in a 3-2 road loss on Friday. Starter Connor Lunn pitched five innings, gave up three runs on 11 hits and struck out one. Lunn took the loss.

Ryan Shreve threw three scoreless innings of relief.

Ryan Shreve

Springfield went up 1-0 in the first inning. Arquimedes Gamboa walked and later came home on an error. San Antonio scored two runs in the third to lead 2-1, then made it 3-1 in the fifth.

The Cardinals plated their final run in the eighth to cut the lead to 3-2. Victor Scott II singled and later crossed the dish on a wild pitch.

Scott II was 2-for-5. Mike Antico was 2-for-4. The Cardinals were 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base.

On the base paths, Scott stole his 45th base for Springfield and 95th overall and was caught stealing. In the field, Jose Alvarez had two outfield assists, at third base and home plate.

Victor Scott

In the Texas League North, the Springfield Cardinals (37-30) are in first place, one game ahead of Wichita. With the Cardinals loss and Wichita win on Friday, the Cardinals magic number remains two with two games to play.

Saturday’s game:  at San Antonio, Brandon Komar RHP (4-6, 4.49) vs. Jairo Iriarte RHP (0-1, 4.07) 7:05 CT.

Peoria 3 at Cedar Rapids 9 (Division Series, Game 3)

The Chiefs were defeated by the Kernels in Game 3 on the Division series on Friday. Cedar Rapids moves on to the Championship Series and Peoria’s season is over.

The Chiefs were behind from the start as the Kernels sent nine batters to the plate and scored four times in the opening inning. Starter Zane Mills pitched 1 1/3 innings, gave up four runs on six hits and walked two. Mills took the loss.

All three Chiefs relievers were scored upon as well. Joseph King relieved Mills and surrendered one run in 3 2/3 innings. Edwin Nunez relinquished three runs, two earned, in two innings pitched. Andrew Marrero yielded one run in the eighth.

Peoria scored one run in the second to cut Cedar Rapids’ lead to 4-1. Alex ladisernia singled and came home on a single by Brody Moore.

The Kernels added one run in the fifth, three in the seventh, and one in the eighth to widen the lead to 9-1.

The Chiefs rallied for two runs in the ninth on a two-run home run by Maikel Hernandez to shrink the final score to 9-3.

Maikel Hernandez

In the field, Jimmy Crooks was charged with catcher interference.

Peoria was 1-2 in the Division Series, with the home team winning each game.

Saturday’s game:  None, season over.

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Memphis Redbirds Notebook – 2023 Week 24

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