photo: Zach Levenson (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
The St. Louis Cardinals minor league season ended with Memphis’ loss on Thursday. The Cardinal Nation’s Player of the Day Zach Levenson homered. Other standouts: Bligh Madris, Ramon Mendoza and Sandro Santana.
Results for the game played on Thursday, September 24, 2026.
Memphis Redbirds 2, Rochester Red Wings 3 (Championship Series, game three)
The Triple-A Memphis Redbirds lost a close winner-take-all game three of the International League Championship Series to the Rochester Red Wings at AutoZone Park on Thursday.
Hancel Rincon started for Memphis. The right-hander threw two innings and allowed one run on three hits, one walk, and one strikeout.
Ryan Fernandez struck out two in a scoreless third inning in relief. Pete Hansen followed with a shutout fourth. Sandro Santana fired two scoreless frames with a pair of strikeouts. Jared Shuster secured two outs. Matt Svanson struck out four and yielded two runs over 2 ⅓ innings, taking the loss.
Rochester struck first with a run in the top of the top of the first inning.
Memphis tied the game in the bottom of the fifth. Zach Levenson crushed his second playoff home run, a solo shot, to knot the game 1-1.
LEVENSON!@LennysSubs LONGBALL!
TIE GAME!#LennysLongball pic.twitter.com/fqdaSUh8jc
— Memphis Redbirds (@memphisredbirds) September 25, 2026
The Redbirds grabbed the lead with a run in the seventh. Ramon Mendoza began the frame with a double. Bligh Madris hit a second consecutive double to score Mendoza and put the Redbirds in front 2-1.
BLIGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH pic.twitter.com/oikROqLonx
— Memphis Redbirds (@memphisredbirds) September 25, 2026
Madris advanced to third on a groundout but was stranded.
The Red Wings scored a pair of runs in the eighth against Svanson to move ahead 3-2.
In the bottom of the frame, Brody Moore and Jimmy Crooks walked but both were left on base. The Redbirds were retired in order in the bottom of the ninth to end their season.
The Redbirds scored two runs on just three hits. Levenson homered. Madris walked, doubled, and tallied an RBI. Mendoza doubled and scored. Moore and Crooks walked.
Noah Mendlinger was caught stealing second base.
The Redbirds turned two double plays to highlight an errorless game.
Memphis went 1-2 in the International League Championship Series to conclude its 2026 season.
Editor’s note
This is Michael Goff’s final article with The Cardinal Nation as he continues his career with a full-time job in the radio business. His many contributions over the last two years have been greatly appreciated.
Thank you, Michael!
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