Thursday’s opponents: New York Mets (Memphis and Springfield at Jupiter with Palm Beach and Quad Cities at Port St. Lucie) plus Quad Cities 2 entertained Gildea’s Rangers, a traveling squad.
Friday’s opponents: Another camp day with Memphis facing Springfield and Palm Beach taking on Quad Cities. There is a twist however. The MLB players not taking the Ft. Myers trip are joining the Memphis squad for an 11 a.m. game against Springfield. The other game should be at the regular 1 p.m. time.
Memphis defeated New Orleans, 3-2
Memphis pitching
Brad Thompson, 2 IP 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
Ryan Franklin, 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K’s
Jess Todd, 4 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K’s
Katsuhiko Maekawa, 1 IP, 2 K’s
Fernando Salas, 1 IP, 1 BB, 1 K
Memphis hitting
Justin Knoedler, 3-for-4 including, 9th inning 2-out, 2-strike, 2-run game-winning double down the LF line – made good throw to nail basestealer
Amaury Cazana, 2-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI
Shane Robinson doubled
Bryan Anderson and Nick Stavinoha singled and walked
Casey Rowlett added a singled and SB.
Springfield lost to Binghamton, 9-5
Springfield pitching
Brad Furnish 3.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 K’s
Tyler Herron, 2.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R
Elvis Hernandez 1 IP, 2 H, 2 unearned runs, 2 K’s
Francisco Samuel 1.1 IP, 3 ER, 3 K’s
Springfield hitting
Brett Wallace, 2-for-4, doubled and had an RBI
Tyler Henley and Brandon Buckman 2-for-4
James Rapoport and Daniel Descalso both singled and walked
Palm Beach tied with St. Lucie, 4-4
Palm Beach pitching
Brian Broderick 4 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K’s
J.D. Stambaugh, 2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
Blake King, 0.2 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
Pete Parise, 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R
Adam Reifer 1 IP, 1 H, 1 BB
Palm Beach hitting
Paul Vasquez 2-for-2 with 2 RBIs
Tommy Pham 2-for-4 with two triples
Curt Smith 2-for-4 with a double
Shane Peterson tripled
Colt Sedbrook singled and walked
Charlie Kingrey and Francisco Rivera singled
Quad Cities #1 lost to Savannah, 5-4
QC#1 pitching
Deryk Hooker, 2.2 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 K’s
Ramon Delgado 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1K
Dylan Gonzalez 2 IP, 2 H
David Carpenter, 1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 K
Jorge Rondon 1 IP, 2 H, 1 K
QC #1 hitting
Niko Vasquez 2-for-2 with a walk
Jose Garcia doubled
John Cawley had a two-run single
Paul Cruz and Ryde Rodriguez singled for the only other hits
Quad Cities #2 defeated Gildea’s Raiders, 13-5
QC #2 pitching
Josh Hester, 2 IP, 2 H, 1 unearned run, 1 K
Jose Rada, 2 IP, 0 H, 1 unearned run, 2 BB, 4 K’s
Santo Maertz 1 IP, 1 K
Daniel Richardson 1 IP, 1 H, 1 BB
Jason Buursma, 1 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 3 K’s
QC #2 hitting
Travis Mitchell, 4-for-4 with a walk, run scored and two RBIs
Oliver Marmol 2-for-4, with 3 runs scored and 2 RBIs
Roberto De La Cruz 2-for-5 with an RBI
Ivan Castro RBI double in his only AB
Brian Buck doubled
Michael Swinson singled, and walked twice
Edgar Lara and Beau Riportella each had RBI singles
These reports as above are provided through the courtesy of the St. Louis Cardinals by Director of Minor League Operations John Vuch.
As I reported earlier, the Cardinals released nine minor leaguers on Thursday. They are Hyang-Nam Choi, Russ Haltiwanger, Brian Cartie, Zach Pitts, Matt Spade, Wayne Daman, Jose Mateo, Jon Mikrut and Jameson Maj.
Memphis notes
Brad and Brad starting. Major leaguer Brad Thompson pitched two innings starting for Memphis. Springfield’s starter was another Brad, Brad Furnish. As expected, the Mets’ Triple-A club didn’t get a ball out of the infield until the second, when Thompson gave up an RBI double deep to left center.
Catchers were everywhere as Nick Stavinoha moved behind the plate, Justin Knoedler started at first and Bryan Anderson was the designated hitter.
Fellow MLBer Ryan Franklin also came over and pitched a quick third inning. Teammate Kyle McClellan along with bullpen coach Marty Mason and bullpen catcher Jeff Murphy were among us looking on.
The original starter, Jess Todd, looked simply dominating. I don’t get those who are whispering he will have to convert to relief.
Bryan Anderson led off one inning with a single, but Shane Robinson, Brian Barton and Tyler Greene whiffed in succession. The Mets’ pitcher was Eddie Kunz.
Third baseman Allen Craig was hit on the elbow earlier in the week and is being kept out as a precaution. It is not baseball news, but Barton has a new shorter hairdo, pulled back in sort of a short ponytail.
Springfield notes
Furnish gave up a bases loaded single up the middle, but averted further damage when Jim Rapoport nailed a Mets runner at the plate.
After stroking an RBI double early, third baseman Brett Wallace was handcuffed on a hard-hit ball right at him. Later with the bases loaded, Pete Kozma drew a walk and Wallace should have had a sac fly to medium center, but Antone DeJesus was nailed at the plate by another great throw.
I saw Tyler Henley foul off pitch after pitch, seeing at least nine in one at-bat before striking a single between first and second.
Tyler Herron was the second pitcher and yielded a triple on his first pitch. Though he allowed several more runners, I only saw the one cross the plate. (clarification: It was an inherited runner from Furnish. In an unusual move for a spring minors game, Pop Warner made a mid-inning pitching change.) When I shot a photo of Herron dragging a weighted sled the other day, he was rehabbing a tight hamstring.
Second baseman Jose Martinez has been excused from camp to attend to a serious family matter that may keep him away for awhile.
Palm Beach notes
Catcher Blake Murphy is out of action due to some minor elbow soreness.
Quad Cities notes
I saw what is likely my first-ever 2-4-6 play as catcher Kevin Moscatel ran out to catch a runner napping off first. He ran the runner toward second, but waited too long to throw the ball. It plunked off the second baseman and dropped into the covering shortstop’s glove.
GM John Mozeliak and VP Jeff Luhnow were among those taking in the game.
| Lineup | Memphis | Springfield | Quad Cities 2 |
| 1 | Robinson cf | Rapoport cf | Mateo cf |
| 2 | Barton rf | Kozma ss | Marmol 2b |
| 3 | Greene ss | Wallace 3b | Mitchell rf |
| 4 | Stavinoha c | Hill c | Lara dh |
| 5 | Cazana lf | Descalso 2b | De La Cruz 3b |
| 6 | Hoffpauir 2b | Brown lf | Riportella lf |
| 7 | Shorey dh | Henley dh | Martinez 1b |
| 8 | Knoedler 1b | Buckman 1b | Swinson dh |
| 9 | Rowlett 3b | De Jesus rf | Castillo ss |
| 10 | Anderson dh | Moscatel c | |
| Pitchers | Thompson | Furnish | Hester |
| Franklin | Herron | Rodriguez | |
| Todd | Freeman | Rada | |
| Maekawa | Samuel | Maertz | |
| Ostlund | Richardson | ||
| Salas | Buursma | ||
The photo depicts the pair of former first-round draft picks playing on the left side of the Springfield defense, third baseman Brett Wallace and shortstop Pete Kozma.
