Photo: Kramer Robertson (Memphis Redbirds)
The St. Louis Cardinals system was 3-3 in five games on Saturday. The two DSL teams played each other. The FCL Cardinals finished their season on Friday. The Players of the Day are Memphis infielders Kramer Robertson and Nolan Gorman, who drove in five of the Redbirds six runs between them. Robertson was 2-for-3 with three RBI and Gorman was 2-for-5 with a two-run home run in the Memphis win over Louisville.
Results from games played Saturday, Sept 18.
The Redbirds came from behind in the final innings of the game on Saturday night at Auto Zone Park to defeat the Louisville Bats by the score of 6-4.
Starter T.J. Zeuch pitched six innings and gave up two runs, one earned, on six hits, fanned five and walked one. Ramon Santos started the seventh and surrendered two runs. Santos was replaced with only one out in the inning by Connor Jones, who got the final two outs of the inning. Angel Rondon tossed a scoreless eighth to earn his sixth win of the season. Jacob Bosiokovic threw a scoreless ninth to earn his second save.
Louisville took a 1-0 lead in the first inning off Zeuch. Nolan Gorman blasted a two-run home run in the third inning to give Memphis a 2-1 lead.
Gorman. Gone.
The top #STLCards prospect drills a go-ahead blast for the @memphisredbirds. pic.twitter.com/vb1QG1g0Jk
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) September 19, 2021
The Bats tied the game 2-2 in the fifth, then regained the lead 4-2 with two runs in the seventh. The Redbirds answered with two runs in the home half of the seventh. Dennis Ortega led off with a single and Nick Plummer followed with a walk. Brendan Donovan walked to load the bases. Kramer Robertson then hit a single to plate Ortega and Plummer.
With the game tied at 4-4 going into the eighth, Memphis added two more runs to take a 6-4 lead. Ortega walked and Plummer reached on catcher interference. Rayder Ascanio walked, and the base were juiced again. Donovan drew a walk to score Ortega and Robertson plated Plummer with a walk.
Robertson was 2-for-3 with three RBI. Gorman was 2-for-5 with two RBI.
In the field, Gorman made a fielding error.
Memphis is 57-62 on the season and is in fifth place in the Triple-A East Southeast Division, 19 games back of the Triple-A Champion Durham Bulls.
Sunday’s game: vs. Louisville, Matthew Liberatore LHP (7-9, 4.45) vs. TBD 2:05 CT.
Springfield 4 at NW Arkansas 7
The Cardinals lost the fifth game of the final series of the season to NW Arkansas at Arvest Ballpark on Saturday night. The Naturals took an early lead, forcing Springfield to play catch up. The comeback attempt fell short of the goal.
NW Arkansas got on the board with three runs in the first inning, and then added two runs in the second and one run in the third. In the top of the fifth the Cardinals finally scored, putting two runs on the board on an RBI double by Nick Raposo and an RBI single by Matt Koperniak.
The Naturals quickly answered with one more run in the home half of the fifth to give them a 7-2 lead. In the seventh, Springfield added two more on singles by Luken Baker and Leandro Cedeno. Neither team scored further.
Nick Dunn went 3-for-4 in the game. Baker was 2-for-5 with an RBI.
Starter Tyler Pike pitched three innings and gave up six runs, one earned, on four hits, struck out four and walked one. The Cardinal defense made three errors in the game, which led to unearned runs, and one of the errors was by Pike. Kyle Leahy threw the final five innings and yielded one run on three hits. Pike took the loss, his fourth of the season.
The errors in the game were two fielding errors by Baker and a throwing error from Pike.
Springfield has a record of 45-74 and stands in last place in the Double-A Central North Division, 23 games back of first place Wichita.
Sunday’s game: at NW Arkansas, TBD (SPR) vs. Angel Zerpa LHP (0-3, 6.05) 2:05 CT.
The Chiefs were defeated by the Cedar Rapids Kernels in the next to last game of the season at Dozer Park. Peoria tried to chip away at an early lead, but Cedar Rapids outlasted them.
Starter Mac Lardner pitched 6 2/3 innings and gave up four runs, three earned, on six hits, struck out five and walked two. Jacob Schlesener relieved Lardner and surrendered two runs in 1 2/3 innings of relief. Leonardo Taveras got the final two outs of the ninth. Lardner took the loss, his sixth of the season.
Cedar Rapids scored one run in the second and two runs in the third to go up 3-0. In the fourth, the Chiefs scored one run on a solo home run by Todd Lott to cut the lead to 3-1.
LOTT TROT TIME!@toddlott9 goes deep to cut the Kernels lead to 3-1!#SoundTheAlarm x @CardsPlayerDev pic.twitter.com/UxeZpZrtWh
— Peoria Chiefs (@peoriachiefs) September 19, 2021
The Kernels got that run back in the fifth to lead 4-1, but Peoria responded with one run in the home half of the fifth on a solo home run by Zade Richardson to take the score back to a two-run deficit.
The Chiefs made it 4-3 in the seventh. Aaron Antonini doubled and scored on a double by Jacob Buchberger. Cedar Rapids added one run in the eighth and one in the ninth for the final score of 6-3.
Lott was 2-for-4 on the night with one RBI. Richardson had one RBI and was 2-for-3.
On the base paths, Lott was caught stealing for the fourth time in the season. Francisco Hernandez was caught stealing for the sixth time.
In the field, Lardner picked a runner off first base. Antonini had a passed ball.
Peoria has a record of 45-74 and is in last place in the High-A Central West Division, 33 games back of first place Quad Cities.
Sunday’s game: vs. Cedar Rapids, TBD (PEO) vs. Aaron Rozek LHP (0-1, 5.19) 1:35 CT.
The Cardinals beat Daytona in the fifth game of the six-game series at Roger Dean Stadium by the score of 6-1. The game was scoreless for the first three innings, but the Beach Birds got it going with the bat to the tune of six runs in the fourth and fifth innings.
Palm Beach posted four runs in the fourth inning. Brady Whalen singled and Carlos Soto followed with a double. Patrick Romeri drew a walk to load the bases. Whalen was thrown out at home attempting to score on a force out by Mack Chambers. With the bases still juiced, Osvaldo Tovalin blasted a grand slam to right field.
The Beach Birds added two runs to the tally in the fifth. Mike Antico doubled and advanced to third on a throwing error. L.J. Jones drew a walk. Whalen singled to score Antico, and Soto singled to plate Jones.
The Tortugas scored their only run in the sixth inning. The 6-1 Cardinal lead held through the end of the game.
Whalen was 2-for-4 in the game with an RBI. Soto was 2-for-3 with an RBI. Tovalin drove in four on the grand slam.
Starter Dionys Rodriguez pitched five scoreless innings, allowed three hits, fanned four and walked one to earn his fourth win of the season. Luis Ortiz surrendered one run in three innings of relief. Andrew Marrero threw a scoreless ninth.
In the field, Tovalin made a fielding error.
Palm Beach is 37-79 and is in last place in the Low-A Southeast East Division, 24 games back of first place Jupiter.
The Cardinals will play their final game of the season tomorrow.
Sunday’s game: vs. Daytona, TBD vs. TBD, 9:00 am CT.
DSL Cardinals Blue 8, DSL Cardinals Red 3
The Cardinals Blue (17-32) defeated their sister team the Cardinals Red (23-24) in an 8-3 contest on Saturday morning. Blue surged to a 7-0 lead in the first inning and never looked back.
Adari Grant led off the bottom of the first for Blue with a double to left field. A wild pitch sent Grant to third, and a second wild pitch brought him home for the first run of the inning. Maycol Justo drew a walk and scored on a double by Fernando Diaz. Jose Cordoba reached on an error and Diaz scored on a wild pitch. Keshawn Rombley walked and Robelyn Lopez walked to load the bases. Bryan Encarnacion cleared the bases on a triple. Encarnacion scored on a single by Grant.
Red finally got on the board in the fourth inning with two runs scored on a two-run home run by Samil De La Rosa. Red added their third run in the sixth on an RBI double by Carlos Carmona.
Blue scored their eighth run in the home half of the sixth on a triple by Maycol Justo and a wild pitch.
Grant was 2-for-5 with an RBI for Blue. Encarnacion had three RBI.
For Red, Elias Reynoso was 2-for-4, and De La Rosa drove in two.
Blue starter Juan Salas pitched two scoreless innings with no hits allowed and two strikeouts. Alexander Beltre surrendered two runs in his two innings pitched. Omar Lopez tossed a scoreless fifth. Miguel Martinez yielded one run in the sixth. Uriel Curvelo, Marlyn Almonte, and Juan Peralta each threw a scoreless inning. Lopez got the win, his first of the season.
Red starter Engels Martinez suffered his fourth loss of the season. The right hander gave up five runs, two earned, on two hits and four walks in 1/3 of an inning. Fraimin Marte surrendered two runs in 2 2/3 innings of relief. Eduar Pimentel yielded one run in his three innings of relief. Juan Severino and Americo Lugo each threw a scoreless inning.
In the field for Blue, Leonardo Bernal made an error on a pickoff and Javier Bolivar made a throwing error. For Red, Reynoso made a throwing error. Jose Rodriguez had an outfield assist at second base.
Sunday’s game: No game scheduled.
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