Following are the highlights from the second day of St. Louis Cardinals minor league games in 2011. Once again, a pair of intersquad games were held on Thursday in preparation for Friday’s initial contests against external competition.
Today’s photo is of Player of the Day Carlos Martinez, who excelled for Group #3. The Cardinal Nation subscribers should look for my exclusive interview with Martinez to be posted on Friday morning.
On Friday, the Mets’ top two teams will host Groups 1 and 2 in Port St. Lucie, while Groups 3 and 4 remain at home in Jupiter to take on their Mets counterparts. For the full state of minor league spring training schedules, The Cardinal Nation subscribers can click here.
As he has been doing the last few seasons, Cardinals farm director John Vuch is sharing game highlights with this site and several others with interest in Cardinals prospects. As always, the raw data is his, but the comments mine.
Working Group #1 1, Working Group #2 1 (tie)
Group 1 pitchers
Adam Ottavino started and yielded the one run on three hits. He fanned a pair.
Scott Schneider followed and posted an impressive two frames on just one hit. He struck out four.
Chuckie Fick and Ramon Delgado each tossed a perfect inning
Jason Buursma followed with a feast or famine frame, albeit scoreless. He allowed three baserunners on two hits and a walk and also striking out two.
Casey Mulligan finished up with a hit and a strikeout in his scoreless inning.
Group 1 hitters
Jarred Bogany picked up the only RBI on a single.
Two-base hits were collected by Pete Kozma, Aaron Luna, Nick Derba and Charles Cutler.
Xavier Scruggs was on base twice with a single and a walk plus he scored the lone run.
Group 2 pitchers
Mike Blazek and Daniel Calhoun each went two innings, allowing a pair of baserunners each, but none crossed the plate.
40-man roster righty Maikel Cleto fanned three in two perfect innings.
Eric Fornataro also went two innings, yielding a run, but also fanning three.
Brett Zawacki struck out the side in his lone inning.
Group 2 hitters
D’Marcus Ingram singled and tripled in three plate appearances.
Rainel Rosario’s sacrifice fly scored Ingram with the only run.
Working Group #3 1, Working Group #4 0 (seven innings)
Group #4 has yet to cross the plate in 17 spring innings while facing their more advanced pitching counterparts. Group #3 pitchers tossed five 1-2-3 innings in an impressive showing that included just two hits and a walk allowed.
Group 3 pitchers
Ho hum. Carlos Martinez threw a pair of perfect innings, with four of his six outs coming on strikeouts and the other two being grounders. In other words, the ball didn’t get out of the infield. Oh yeah, he struck out the side to end his day.
Cale Johnson fanned three in his pair of scoreless frames. He allowed three baserunners.
Nick Greenwood (two) and Hector Corpas (one) finished the game with a total of three perfect innings, making a nice bookend to Martinez.
Group 3 hitters
Jonathan Rodriguez tripled in two at-bats.
Alan Ahmady’s sacrifice fly plated Rodriguez for the game’s only run.
Kyle Conley and Nick Longmire each doubled in two plate appearances, but didn’t reach home.
Group 4 Pitchers
Trevor Rosenthal took the hard-luck loss, having yielded just two baserunners in two innings. He fanned three. Look for an upcoming Rosenthal interview at The Cardinal Nation.
Jose Rada (two innings), Aaron Terry and Drew Benes combined for four shutout frames.
Tryout player, 6-foot-9 Sean Watson struck out the side in his one inning.
Group 4 hitters
Packy Elkins and Pat Biserta doubled.
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