Farm Report: Memphis in 1st Place, Springfield Score 18, Peoria Wins

The Cardinal Chronicle
Daily Farm Report
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur

Farm Report: Memphis Stands Alone in First, Springfield Explodes for 18, Peoria Wins Pitchers’ Duel

The Cardinals’ full-season minor league affiliates went 3-1 on Friday night, with Memphis, Springfield and Peoria picking up wins while Palm Beach dropped another tight one to St. Lucie.

Memphis kept rolling in Norfolk, beating the Tides 10-2 to push its winning streak to five games and move into first place alone in the International League. Springfield answered two rough losses with an 18-3 rout of Amarillo. Peoria won a pitchers’ duel at South Bend, taking down the first-place Cubs 3-1. Palm Beach wasted a strong start from Brian Holiday in a 2-1 loss to St. Lucie.

It was a strong night across the system, led by Memphis tightening its grip on the International League race and Springfield flipping the script in a big way at Hammons Field.

Memphis Redbirds
Record: 42-25, International League
Standings: 1st place, International League
Result: Memphis 10, Norfolk 2

Memphis is no longer just hanging around the top of the International League.

The Redbirds are there.

Memphis beat Norfolk 10-2 Friday night at Harbor Park, pushed its winning streak to five games, clinched the series against the Tides, and moved into first place alone in the International League standings.

The Redbirds fell behind early, but Joshua Báez wasted little time changing the tone. Báez opened the Memphis scoring in the second inning with his 19th home run of the season, tying him for the International League lead. That solo shot tied the game and started another big inning for a Memphis club that has been living off crooked numbers this week.

Later in the second, Victor Scott II drove in two runs with a single, helping turn the inning into a five-run frame and putting Memphis in control.

The Redbirds kept adding on from there. Leo Bernal drove in a run with an RBI double in the third inning. Colton Ledbetter, back in the lineup, hit his fourth home run of the season, a two-run shot in the sixth. Thomas Saggese added an RBI double in the ninth.

Brycen Mautz started for Memphis and had to work around command trouble. The left-hander allowed two runs on two hits over 3.2 innings, walking six and striking out four. Hancel Rincón picked him up with 2.1 scoreless innings in relief, allowing two hits and striking out three to earn the win.

The bullpen did the rest, finishing the game without issuing a walk.

That matters. Mautz battled, the offense gave Memphis room, and the bullpen kept Norfolk from making it interesting.

With the win, Memphis holds a half-game lead over Rochester and a one-game lead over Nashville in the International League standings. The Redbirds have put themselves exactly where they needed to be with the first half winding down.

Springfield Cardinals
Record: 27-33, 3rd Place, 12.5 GB, Texas League North
Result: Springfield 18, Amarillo 3

Springfield needed a night like this.

After taking back-to-back lopsided losses to Amarillo, the Cardinals flipped the entire series script Friday night with an 18-3 win over the Sod Poodles at Hammons Field.

The Cardinals took control early. Dakota Harris launched a one-out, two-run homer in the second inning to put Springfield in front, and the Cardinals never let the game get away from them.

Braden Davis gave Springfield the early stability it needed on the mound, keeping Amarillo’s lineup under control while the offense started to build. After the Sod Poodles scratched across a run in the third, the Cardinals began stacking offense.

Jose Cordoba added a solo home run in the fifth, and Springfield added two more runs in the inning on an Amarillo error. The Cardinals broke the game open in the sixth with a five-run inning, scoring on a wild pitch, a Cordoba RBI single, and a Miguel Ugueto bases-clearing double.

Then Jon Jon Gazdar added a three-run homer in the seventh to make it 13-3.

Springfield added another crooked number in the eighth, turning the game into a complete runaway.

This was exactly the kind of response Springfield needed. Amarillo had controlled the previous two games, scoring 27 runs combined on Wednesday and Thursday. On Friday, the Cardinals returned the favor.

There are nights when a club simply needs to stop the bleeding. Springfield did more than that. The Cardinals turned the tables.

Peoria Chiefs
Record: 32-29, 3rd Place, 6.0 GB,  Midwest League West
Result: Peoria 3, South Bend 1

Peoria picked up one of its better wins of the week Friday night, beating first-place South Bend 3-1 at Four Winds Field.

After pounding the Cubs for 16 runs on Thursday, the Chiefs won in a very different way Friday. This time it was pitching, defense and enough early offense.

Peoria grabbed the lead in the first inning and never gave it back. With runners on second and third, Josh Kross drove in two runs with a single to center field, giving the Chiefs a 2-0 lead before South Bend had a chance to settle in.

Leonel Sequera protected that lead well. The right-hander shut out the Cubs through his first four innings and piled up seven strikeouts along the way. South Bend finally pushed across a run in the fifth after Sequera loaded the bases and hit Josiah Hartshorn to force in a run.

That cut the lead to 2-1 and put the game in a dangerous spot.

Jason Savacool entered with the bases loaded and one out and did exactly what Peoria needed. He retired the next two hitters, escaped the jam and kept the Chiefs in front. Savacool then worked a scoreless sixth and earned the win.

Jalin Flores added insurance in the seventh with a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Luis Pino to make it 3-1. Nolan Sparks worked the seventh and eighth, and Patrick Galle closed it out in the ninth, striking out two to earn the save.

South Bend entered the night as one of the better situational hitting clubs in Minor League Baseball, but Peoria held the Cubs to 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position.

That is how you win a tight one on the road.

Peoria has now taken back-to-back games from the first-place Cubs after dropping the first two games of the series. That is a solid bounce-back against the club everyone in the division is chasing.

Palm Beach Cardinals
Record: 31-30, 2nd Place, 4.0 GB, Florida State League East
Result: St. Lucie 2, Palm Beach 1

Palm Beach wasted a strong start Friday night in a 2-1 loss to St. Lucie at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium.

For five innings, this game belonged to pitching. Brian Holiday made his third start of the season for Palm Beach and gave the Cardinals five scoreless innings, allowing only one hit while striking out four. He did exactly what a starter is supposed to do — control the game, keep traffic limited and give his club a chance to win.

Palm Beach finally broke through in the seventh. After two walks issued by St. Lucie reliever Luis Alvarez, Brayden Smith lined an RBI single back up the middle to score Matthew Miura from second and give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead.

That lead did not hold.

Yadiel Bautista worked scoreless sixth and seventh innings, but St. Lucie got to him in the eighth. The Mets put two hits on the board, and Jackson Hauge delivered the swing that decided the game, lining a two-run double down the left-field line to put St. Lucie in front 2-1.

Jesus Garcia needed only four pitches to set the Mets down in order in the ninth, but Palm Beach could not answer against Zack Mack, who threw two perfect innings to earn the save.

The Cardinals stranded nine runners and went 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position. That was the difference.

Palm Beach has now gone through just about every offensive extreme in this series — no-hit, 17-run explosion, shutout, and now a one-run loss where the chances were there but the big hit did not come.

That is a tough week at the plate, but it is also the kind of week young hitters have to learn from.

Player of the Day
Joshua Báez, Memphis Redbirds

Joshua Báez is The Cardinal Chronicle’s Player of the Day after hitting his International League lead-tying 19th home run of the season in Memphis’ 10-2 win over Norfolk.

The home run came in the second inning and started another five-run Memphis frame. That swing tied the game, opened the Redbirds’ offense, and helped set the tone in a win that pushed Memphis into first place alone in the International League.

Springfield had several strong candidates in its 18-run outburst, including Dakota Harris, Jose Cordoba, Miguel Ugueto and Jon Jon Gazdar. Josh Kross also deserves mention for driving in two runs in Peoria’s 3-1 win over South Bend.

But Báez gets the nod because his home run carried both individual and team significance. Nineteen home runs. Tied for the league lead. Memphis in first place.

That plays.

Pitcher of the Day
Brian Holiday, Palm Beach Cardinals

Brian Holiday is The Cardinal Chronicle’s Pitcher of the Day after giving Palm Beach five scoreless innings in a 2-1 loss to St. Lucie.

Holiday allowed only one hit and struck out four in his third start of the season for Palm Beach. The Cardinals did not finish the game, but Holiday gave them exactly what they needed from the mound.

Leonel Sequera deserves strong mention after striking out seven and helping Peoria beat South Bend. Jason Savacool also deserves mention for escaping a bases-loaded jam and earning the win for the Chiefs. Hancel Rincón gave Memphis 2.1 scoreless innings in relief to help the Redbirds stay in control.

But Holiday’s five scoreless innings and one-hit effort stand out as the best starting line of the night.

Old School Take

This was a good night for the full-season affiliates.

Memphis moved into first place alone. Springfield stopped the bleeding with an 18-run answer. Peoria beat the first-place Cubs in a pitchers’ duel one night after beating them in a slugfest. Palm Beach lost a tough one, but Brian Holiday gave them five strong innings.

The Cardinal Chronicle, in association with Gateway Sports & MiLB Today
Preserving the Past, Promoting the Present, and Projecting the Future.

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Photo Credit: Joshua Baez, Memphis Redbirds | MiLB

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