Palm Beach Cardinals Lone Survivors Friday Night

The Cardinal Chronicle
Morning Farm Report
Saturday, May 9, 2026
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur

The Cardinals’ farm system had one of those Friday nights that reminded you why they play nine innings — and why sometimes weather, walks and one crooked inning can rewrite the whole story.

Palm Beach carried the flag for the organization, rallying from a four-run deficit behind Trevor Haskins’ grand slam in a 9-5 win over Jupiter. Memphis, Springfield and Peoria all took losses, with each game turning on one damaging inning or one stretch of pitching trouble.

Memphis Redbirds — Triple-A
Record: 23-13 — First place, International League West

Memphis opened the scoring Friday night in Toledo, but the Redbirds could not hold the early edge in a 10-4 loss to the Mud Hens at Fifth Third Field.

Colton Ledbetter continued to swing a productive bat, driving in Memphis’ first run with a first-inning single and finishing 2-for-4 with a double. Nelson Velázquez and Matt Koperniak also had multi-hit games for the Redbirds, giving Memphis enough offense to stay in the conversation early.

The trouble came quickly in the second inning. Left-hander Pete Hansen was charged with seven runs on five hits and three walks over 1 2/3 innings, with all seven Toledo runs scoring in the second. Ryan Murphy and Ian Bedell covered the final 6 1/3 innings out of the bullpen, allowing three runs combined, but the damage had already been done. The loss trimmed Memphis’ lead in the International League standings to a half-game, though the Redbirds have still not spent a day outside at least a tie for first place this season. (MLB.com)

Springfield Cardinals — Double-A
Record: 10-21 — Texas League North

Springfield fell into an early hole, fought back, and then lost a rain-shortened 11-8 decision to Corpus Christi at Route 66 Stadium.

The Cardinals trailed 3-0 after the top of the first but answered immediately with three runs in the bottom half to tie the game. Springfield’s offense kept working from there, drawing two bases-loaded walks and getting two RBIs apiece from Chase Davis, Ryan Campos and Zach Levenson. Campos added one of the night’s bigger swings with a solo home run in the third inning.

The game had plenty of traffic, with 11 combined walks, and the Cardinals’ pitching staff still managed to strike out 12. But Corpus Christi did enough damage before the rain took over. A 41-minute delay after the top of the eighth eventually ended the game early because of wet grounds. Between the two delays, the total delay time reached 1 hour, 25 minutes. (OurSports Central)

Peoria Chiefs — High-A
Record: 14-16 — Midwest League West

Peoria jumped ahead early but could not survive Wisconsin’s eight-run third inning in a 12-7 loss at Dozer Park.

Jalin Flores, who delivered Thursday night’s walk-off single, stayed hot by launching a three-run homer in the first inning to give the Chiefs a 3-0 lead. Nate Dohm retired the first six Timber Rattlers he faced, and for two innings it looked like Peoria had a clean handle on the game.

Then came the third inning, and baseball did what baseball does when it decides to turn mean.

Wisconsin sent 14 batters to the plate in the inning, scoring eight runs on four hits and seven walks. The first nine Timber Rattlers reached before Peoria recorded an out. The Chiefs pushed back in the bottom half with an RBI single from Josh Kross and an RBI groundout from José Suárez, cutting the deficit to 8-5, but Wisconsin answered with four more runs in the fourth.

Sammy Hernandez added a solo home run in the sixth, his first of the season, and Jesús Báez drove in the final Peoria run with a sacrifice fly in the ninth. Nolan Sparks settled the game down after Wisconsin’s fourth-inning push, and Christian Worley followed with 2 1/3 scoreless innings to finish the night for the Peoria bullpen. (MLB.com)

Palm Beach Cardinals — Single-A
Record: 17-14 — Tied for first, Florida State League East

Palm Beach gave the system its win of the night, rallying from a 5-1 deficit to beat Jupiter 9-5 and move back into a tie for first place in the Florida State League East.

The Cardinals took a 1-0 lead in the second when Cameron Nickens singled, advanced on a balk and scored after Trevor Haskins lined a single to right that turned into a run-scoring play with the help of a Jupiter error. The Hammerheads answered with four runs in the bottom of the inning and added another in the fourth to take a 5-1 lead.

Palm Beach broke the game open in the fifth. After two walks and a loaded-bases hit-by-pitch to Alex Birge, Nickens was hit by a pitch to force in another run. Then Haskins delivered the swing of the night, clearing the bases with a grand slam to left field that put the Cardinals ahead 7-5.

Palm Beach added another run in the seventh when Haskins scored on a balk, then tacked on one more in the eighth after Ryan Mitchell doubled and Jonathan Mejía singled him home. The win snapped Jupiter’s four-game winning streak and pulled Palm Beach even with the Hammerheads in the division race. (MLB.com)

Old School Take

Palm Beach gets the nod for the night because that was a grown-up win. Down 5-1 on the road, against a club riding a four-game winning streak, the Cardinals did not give the game away. They waited out wildness, took the free bases, and then Haskins delivered the big blow. That is old-school winning baseball — make the other club throw strikes, punish the mistake, and keep adding on.

Player of the Night - Trevor Haskins, Palm Beach Cardinals

Haskins drove in the first Palm Beach run, then turned the game with a grand slam in the fifth inning. He also scored later in the game, giving the Cardinals the kind of middle-order impact that carried the night.

Pitcher of the Night - Christian Worley, Peoria Chiefs

On a rough night for Peoria’s staff, Worley gave the Chiefs 2 1/3 scoreless innings out of the bullpen and helped stop the bleeding after Wisconsin’s big middle innings.

The Cardinal Chronicle, in association with Gateway Sports
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