Memphis Power Carries the Night as Palm Beach Wins Series

The Cardinal Chronicle
Farm Report: Memphis Power Carries the Night as Palm Beach Wins Series
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur

The Cardinals’ minor league system split the night Saturday, with Memphis and Palm Beach carrying the winning side of the ledger while Springfield and Peoria took losses on the road. The night belonged mostly to late offense in Memphis, a strong series-clinching effort in Palm Beach, and a couple of hard reminders that crooked innings still have a way of ruining a box score in a hurry.

Lars Nootbaar homered Friday night in his first rehab at-bat with Palm Beach and was not in the lineup Saturday as St. Louis continues to manage his workload.

Memphis Redbirds — 27-17, 1st Place, IL West
Memphis 7, Jacksonville 4

Memphis waited until the eighth inning to do its damage, but the Redbirds made it count.

Trailing 4-2 after Jacksonville pushed across two runs in the top of the eighth, Memphis answered with five runs in the bottom half and beat the Jumbo Shrimp 7-4 at AutoZone Park. Jimmy Crooks walked during the rally, Blaze Jordan followed with an RBI single, Bligh Madris tied the game with a two-out hit, and Nelson Velázquez delivered the knockout blow — a three-run homer that pushed Memphis in front for good.

Crooks also continued his loud start to the season, launching his 13th home run of the year earlier in the game to tie it 2-2 in the sixth. That swing kept Memphis alive long enough for the eighth-inning ambush, and Velázquez made sure it did not go to waste.

Scott Blewett picked up the win in relief, and Max Rajcic worked a clean ninth for his third save. Memphis has now taken back-to-back games from Jacksonville after dropping the early part of the series, and Saturday’s win had the feel of a club that knows how to hang around until the other side blinks. (MLB.com)

Springfield Cardinals — 16-22, 5th Place, 7.0 GB, Texas League North
Tulsa 10, Springfield 6

Springfield had the start it wanted. It just did not hold.

The Cardinals jumped out to an early 4-0 lead at Tulsa, but the Drillers answered back and eventually handed Springfield a 10-6 loss. It was the kind of night that stings because the opening punch was there. The Cardinals put pressure on Tulsa early, but the game turned once the Drillers found traffic and began stacking runs.

For Springfield, the takeaway is simple and old-school: early offense only matters if the pitching and defense protect it. The Cardinals have shown more life lately, but Saturday was a missed chance to turn a fast start into another road win.

Peoria Chiefs — 16-21, 6th Place, 7.0 GB, MidWest League West
Beloit 17, Peoria 5

One night after Peoria used the long ball to its advantage, Beloit turned the tables in a big way.

The Sky Carp hit six home runs, including four in a nine-run fourth inning, and buried the Chiefs 17-5 at ABC Supply Stadium. Peoria actually struck first when Jack Gurevitch hit a solo homer in the first inning, and the Chiefs briefly moved back ahead in the third on a Cade McGee sacrifice fly and a José Suárez two-run homer.

Then the game got away.

Beloit scored three runs in the third, nine more in the fourth, and three in the sixth. Leonel Sequera took the loss after allowing 12 runs on eight hits with five walks and five strikeouts over three innings. Peoria added one more run in the seventh on another McGee sacrifice fly, but by then the damage had long been done.

This one was not complicated. Beloit squared up too many baseballs, Peoria could not stop the inning from snowballing, and the Chiefs will have to flush it quickly before Sunday’s series finale. (MLB.com)

Palm Beach Cardinals — 21-17, 2nd Place, 2.0 GB, Florida State League East
Palm Beach 8, Daytona 4

Palm Beach bounced back from Friday’s extra-inning loss and handled Daytona 8-4 Saturday night at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium, clinching its first series win of May.

Playing as the Palm Beach Frozen Iguanas, the Cardinals got the night started with Yordalin Peña’s solo home run in the second inning. Ryan Weingartner later tripled in a run and scored on a Jonathan Mejia sacrifice fly to make it 3-0. Daytona trimmed the lead to 3-2 in the fifth, but Mejia answered with a two-run homer — his team-leading sixth — to give Palm Beach breathing room.

Cade Crossland earned his first career win, working a career-high five innings while allowing two runs on three hits with one walk and seven strikeouts. That was a strong step forward for Crossland and exactly the kind of start Palm Beach needed after Friday’s bullpen-heavy finish.

The Tortugas made it 5-4 in the sixth, but Palm Beach put the game away in the seventh. Weingartner doubled in a run, and Peña added a two-run double down the left-field line to stretch the lead to 8-4. Weingartner finished 2-for-2 with a double, triple, two walks, two RBIs and three runs scored. Peña continued his hot stretch with seven hits in his last 13 at-bats, including solo homers in back-to-back games.

Nootbaar did not play Saturday after homering Friday night in his first rehab game. That tracks with the Cardinals’ plan to gradually build his workload before a potential return to the major league roster. (MLB.com)

Old School Take

Saturday was a mixed bag, but not an empty one. Memphis showed late-inning punch. Palm Beach got a series win and a strong start from Crossland. Crooks keeps making noise at Triple-A. Peña and Weingartner carried Palm Beach’s offense. On the other side, Springfield let a lead slip away, and Peoria simply got run over.

That is the farm system in one night: some promise, some pain, and plenty for the development staff to work with before sunrise.

The Cardinals Chronicle, in association with Gateway Sports