Memphis, Springfield and Palm Beach Close the Week Strong

The Cardinal Chronicle
Memphis, Springfield and Palm Beach Close the Week Strong
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur

The St. Louis Cardinals’ farm system closed the week with three wins in four games Sunday, with Memphis, Springfield and Palm Beach each putting together strong finishes, while Peoria ran into a Wisconsin offense that never let up.

Memphis used a late offensive push and strong pitching to beat Toledo, Springfield rallied from an early deficit to take care of Corpus Christi, and Palm Beach avoided a six-game sweep with its most complete win of the week. Peoria, meanwhile, gave up a season-high 19 hits in a rough series finale against Wisconsin.

For a Sunday slate, there was plenty to like — especially from the affiliates that finished strong after uneven stretches.

Memphis Redbirds — Triple-A
Memphis 8, Toledo 1
Record: 25-14

Memphis finished its road trip at Toledo with an 8-1 win Sunday, using a late offensive surge and a well-managed pitching effort to put away the Mud Hens.

The Redbirds did most of their damage after the middle innings, scoring all eight of their runs from the sixth inning on. Bligh Madris had the big day at the plate, going 3-for-4 with three RBIs, while Ramon Mendoza added a two-run home run in the eighth inning to give Memphis additional breathing room.

On the mound, the Redbirds pieced together a strong game. Scott Blewett, Luis Gastelum, Max Rajcic and rehabbing right-hander Matt Pushard combined to keep Toledo off the board through the first 7 1/3 innings. Rajcic earned the win and continued to give Memphis quality innings, improving to 3-1 with a 1.78 ERA.

That is the kind of pitching performance that can get overlooked because it was not a traditional starter-heavy win, but Memphis handled the game cleanly. The Redbirds finished the series with a split and remain one of the steadier clubs in the International League.

Old School Take: Memphis has enough offense to win loud, but Sunday was a reminder that pitching depth still carries a club over the long haul. You do not need a headline-grabbing start every night if the staff keeps passing the baton.

Springfield Cardinals — Double-A
Springfield 11, Corpus Christi 5
Record: 12-21

Springfield’s offense came alive late Sunday afternoon in an 11-5 come-from-behind win over the Corpus Christi Hooks.

The Cardinals trailed 4-1 before taking control of the game, outscoring Corpus Christi the rest of the way and closing the series with one of their better offensive showings of the season.

Jurrangelo Cijntje struck out seven batters over 4 2/3 innings, though he was tagged for four earned runs on seven hits. The strikeouts were encouraging, but the Hooks were able to do enough damage early to put Springfield in a hole.

The offense picked him up.

Travis Honeyman launched his second home run of the season in the fourth inning, helping ignite the comeback. Jon Jon Gazdar went 2-for-4 with three runs scored and three RBIs, giving Springfield production from the lower half of the lineup. Ryan Campos added his first three-hit game at Double-A, while Jeremy Rivas went 2-for-5 with a double and two RBIs, extending his hitting streak to eight games.

Darlin Saladin earned the win with 1 1/3 perfect innings out of the bullpen, striking out three. Springfield pitching finished with 11 strikeouts.

For a club that has spent much of the early season trying to find consistent traction, Sunday’s win had the right kind of feel. The offense did not fold after falling behind, the bullpen stabilized the game, and several bats contributed.

Old School Take: That is a clubhouse win. Starter does not have his cleanest day, the lineup keeps grinding, and the bullpen shuts the door long enough for the bats to take over. No panic, just baseball.

Peoria Chiefs — High-A
Wisconsin 15, Peoria 8
Record: 14-18

Peoria ran into trouble early and never fully escaped it in a 15-8 loss to the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers on Sunday at Dozer Park.

Wisconsin scored five runs in the first inning and kept adding on, finishing with 15 runs on 19 hits — the most hits allowed by the Chiefs in a game this season.

The Timber Rattlers set the tone with a five-run, five-hit rally in the opening inning, including an RBI triple from Andrew Fischer and a three-run double from Luiyin Alastre. Fischer later added two home runs, part of a big day that helped Wisconsin keep the game out of reach.

Peoria did show some fight. Won-Bin Cho hit a two-run homer in the second inning, his fourth of the season and second in as many games. The Chiefs scored three runs in the fourth while taking advantage of three walks and six wild pitches from Wisconsin pitcher Jose Nova, briefly cutting the deficit to 9-5.

Josh Kross added an RBI single in the seventh, and Tai Peete hit a two-run homer in the eighth. But the Chiefs’ pitching could not slow the Timber Rattlers enough to give the offense a real chance at a comeback.

Leonel Sequera took the loss, and Peoria fell to 14-18. The Chiefs now head to Beloit for a six-game road series beginning Tuesday.

Old School Take: The bats did not quit, and that matters. But when a club gives up five in the first and 19 hits for the day, the story is already written in ink before the late offense gets a chance to make it interesting.

Palm Beach Cardinals — Single-A
Palm Beach 11, Clearwater 0
Record: 16-11

Palm Beach avoided a six-game sweep in emphatic fashion Sunday afternoon, blanking the Clearwater Threshers 11-0 at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium.

It was Palm Beach’s third shutout win of the season and its second-largest margin of victory this year. More importantly, it allowed the Cardinals to close a difficult series on a strong note and remain in first place in the Florida State League East Division.

Jonathan Mejia gave Palm Beach an early lead in the first inning, launching a two-run homer down the right-field line. It was his team-leading fifth home run of the season at the time and gave the Cardinals one of their few early leads of the series.

Cade Crossland made his second start of the week and bounced back nicely, throwing four hitless, scoreless innings. Jake Shelagowski took it from there, earning the win with four scoreless innings of relief. He allowed three hits, walked one and struck out four.

Palm Beach added a run in the sixth on a Brayden Smith RBI groundout, then broke the game open in the seventh. Ryan Weingartner drove in a run with a sacrifice fly before Jack Gurevitch launched his fifth home run of the season, tying Mejia for the team lead and extending the lead to 6-0.

The Cardinals poured it on in the eighth, sending 11 batters to the plate and scoring five runs. Christian Martin had an RBI double, Gurevitch and Mejia each drew bases-loaded walks, and Smith capped the scoring with an RBI single.

Hunter Kublick made his season debut in the ninth and preserved the shutout.

Every hitter in the Palm Beach starting lineup reached base at least once, despite the Cardinals finishing with only six hits. That tells you how patient and opportunistic the lineup was in a game they badly needed to have.

Old School Take: That is how you stop a skid. Good starting pitching, clean relief, early power, patient at-bats and a crooked number late. Palm Beach did not just avoid the sweep. It kicked the door open on the way out.

The Cardinal Chronicle Player of the Day
Jon Jon Gazdar, Springfield

Gazdar gets the nod after going 2-for-4 with three runs scored and three RBIs in Springfield’s 11-5 comeback win over Corpus Christi.

There were several strong candidates. Bligh Madris drove in three for Memphis. Jonathan Mejia and Jack Gurevitch both homered for Palm Beach. Won-Bin Cho homered for the second straight game for Peoria.

But Gazdar’s production came right in the middle of Springfield’s rally, and the Cardinals needed every bit of that offensive push after falling behind early.

The Cardinal Chronicle Pitcher of the Day
Jake Shelagowski, Palm Beach

Shelagowski earns Pitcher of the Day honors after throwing four scoreless innings in Palm Beach’s 11-0 win over Clearwater.

Cade Crossland deserves mention for four hitless innings to start the shutout, but Shelagowski carried the middle and late innings, kept Clearwater off the board, and gave Palm Beach exactly what it needed to finish the job.

Four scoreless innings out of the bullpen in a shutout win is not window dressing. That is backbone work.

Honorable Mentions

Bligh Madris, Memphis — 3-for-4 with three RBIs in the Redbirds’ win at Toledo.

Max Rajcic, Memphis — Earned the win and continued his strong early-season work, improving to 3-1 with a 1.78 ERA.

Travis Honeyman, Springfield — Hit his second home run of the season.

Jeremy Rivas, Springfield — Went 2-for-5 with a double, two RBIs and extended his hitting streak to eight games.

Ryan Campos, Springfield — Recorded his first three-hit game at Double-A.

Won-Bin Cho, Peoria — Hit his fourth home run of the season and second in as many games.

Tai Peete, Peoria — Added a two-run homer in the eighth.

Jonathan Mejia, Palm Beach — Hit his fifth home run and drove in runs early and late.

Jack Gurevitch, Palm Beach — Hit his fifth home run and helped break the game open.

Cade Crossland, Palm Beach — Worked four hitless, scoreless innings in the shutout win.

Final Word

It was a good Sunday on the farm, with three affiliates closing the week with wins and several players giving the organization something to build on.

Memphis continues to look like the system’s most stable club. Springfield showed some needed fight. Palm Beach answered a rough series with its best kind of response — a shutout. Peoria had a rough day on the mound, but even there, Cho and Peete gave the Chiefs something positive at the plate.

That is the farm system in May. Some days are clean. Some days are messy. The trick is knowing which performances are noise and which ones are starting to tell a story.

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