Sammy Hernandez Walks It Off, Tanner Franklin Deals, Báez Goes Deep Again
THE CARDINAL CHRONICLE
Farm Report: Sammy Hernandez Walks It Off, Tanner Franklin Deals, Báez Goes Deep Again
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur
Friday night on the farm came down to one affiliate finding a way.
Peoria was the only full-season Cardinals affiliate to land in the win column, beating Quad Cities 8-6 on a walk-off home run from Sammy Hernandez. Memphis rallied late but fell short against Nashville, Springfield lost after a late San Antonio rally, and Palm Beach dropped its sixth straight.
The full-season affiliates finished 1-3.
Memphis Redbirds — Triple-A
Overall Record: 62-50
Second Half: 15-22, 8.0 GB in the International League West
Streak: L2
Nashville 5, Memphis 3
Memphis fell behind early and could not quite climb all the way back in a 5-3 loss to Nashville at AutoZone Park.
Nashville scored four runs in the first inning and added another in the sixth. Memphis stayed quiet until the eighth, when Joshua Báez launched a three-run homer to make it a game.
Báez finished 1-for-4 with his 33rd home run and three RBIs, pushing his season total to 87 RBIs. The homer also lifted his OPS back to .900.
Colton Ledbetter had a strong night at the top of the order, going 3-for-4 with a stolen base, his 18th of the season. Andy Yerzy singled and walked, while Chase Davis, Ramon Mendoza and Thomas Saggese added hits.
On the mound, Quinn Mathews had a difficult first inning and finished with three innings, allowing four runs, three earned, on four hits and six walks while striking out four. Pete Hansen helped stabilize the game with four innings of relief, allowing one unearned run on three hits. Cade Winquest and Brycen Mautz each worked scoreless frames.
Takeaway: Memphis had a late swing from Báez and a three-hit night from Ledbetter, but the early hole was too much.
Springfield Cardinals — Double-A
Overall Record: 55-50
Second Half: 24-13, 1st in the Texas League North
Streak: L1
San Antonio 6, Springfield 2
Springfield was tied late, but San Antonio broke the game open with four runs in the eighth inning and beat the Cardinals 6-2.
Tanner Franklin earned Cardinal Chronicle Pitcher of the Day honors despite the loss. Franklin worked 4.2 innings, allowing five hits, two runs, one earned, two walks and striking out seven.
His final line: 4.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K
That was a strong Double-A outing.
The offense was limited to five hits. Rainiel Rodriguez hit his 14th home run of the season and drove in his 38th run. Jack Gurevitch singled and scored, while Zach Levenson drove in Springfield’s other run. Tai Peete, Deniel Ortiz and Tre Richardson III also had hits.
Won-Bin Cho walked, but his hot bat was held hitless after a four-hit night Thursday.
After Franklin exited, Chen-Wei Lin covered the final 3.1 innings but was charged with four runs in the eighth.
Takeaway: Franklin gave Springfield a chance, but the offense never fully broke through and San Antonio’s eighth inning decided it.
Peoria Chiefs — High-A
Overall Record: 52-53
Second Half: 20-19, 5th in the Midwest League West, 3.5 GB
Streak: W1
Peoria 8, Quad Cities 6
Peoria was the system’s lone winner Friday night, and the Chiefs did it in dramatic fashion.
Quad Cities scored four runs in the top of the ninth to tie the game, but Sammy Hernandez answered in the bottom half with a walk-off two-run homer to give Peoria an 8-6 win.
Hernandez earned Cardinal Chronicle Player of the Day honors after going 1-for-3 with a home run, two RBIs, two runs scored, a walk and a stolen base.
His final line:
1-for-3, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, BB, SB
The homer was his ninth of the season, and it could not have come at a better time.
Peoria also got home runs from Jalin Flores and Tristan Bissetta. Flores hit his 14th homer and drove in his 68th run. Bissetta hit his first home run with Peoria and drove in his first run. Ian Petrutz went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs, while Michael Dattalo had two hits, including a double, and scored twice. Yordalin Peña drove in a run, and Brayden Smith doubled and stole a base.
On the mound, Cade Crossland gave Peoria four innings, allowing one run on two hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Rubén Menes was excellent in relief, throwing 2.1 scoreless innings with three strikeouts. The ninth got messy for Patrick Galle, but Bobby Olsen came in to get the final out before Hernandez ended it.
Takeaway: Peoria nearly let it slip away, but Hernandez saved the night. A walk-off homer is a pretty good way to stop a short losing streak.
Palm Beach Cardinals — Low-A
Overall Record: 52-53
Second Half: 19-20, 2nd in the Florida State League East, 5.5 GB
Streak: L6
Jupiter 10, Palm Beach 2
Palm Beach’s losing streak reached six games with a 10-2 loss to Jupiter.
The Cardinals trailed 5-0 before scoring twice in the eighth, and Jupiter answered with five more in the ninth to put the game away.
Alexander Frias had one of the better nights for Palm Beach, going 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, a run scored and a stolen base. Miguel Hernández doubled, drove in a run and walked twice. Cristofer Lebrón singled and walked, while Ryan Mitchell and Yairo Padilla added hits.
On the mound, Gabriel Chinchilla allowed four runs over 2.2 innings. Liam Best gave up one run in 1.1 innings. Jacob Haley and JR Fordham gave Palm Beach some clean middle relief, combining for four scoreless innings, but the game got away again in the ninth when Jesús García allowed five runs, three earned.
Palm Beach also committed four errors.
Takeaway: Frias reached base three times, but Palm Beach was hurt by early runs, late runs and four more errors. The skid is now at six.
Cardinal Chronicle Player of the Day
Sammy Hernandez, 1B/C, Peoria Chiefs
Hernandez earns the honor after delivering the biggest swing of the night.
His final line:
1-for-3, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, BB, SB
The homer was a walk-off two-run shot in the bottom of the ninth, his ninth of the season, and it gave Peoria the only win in the system.
That will get the spotlight.
Cardinal Chronicle Pitcher of the Day
Tanner Franklin, RHP, Springfield Cardinals
Franklin gets the nod after giving Springfield 4.2 strong innings in a loss at San Antonio.
His final line: 4.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K
The pitch count kept him from working deeper, but the strikeout stuff played, and he kept Springfield in the game.
The Final Word
Friday was not a strong night across the system, but Peoria made sure the report had a finish worth talking about.
Memphis got a three-run homer from Joshua Báez, now up to 33 home runs and 87 RBIs. Springfield got a solid start from Tanner Franklin and another Rainiel Rodriguez homer. Palm Beach continued to struggle, losing its sixth straight.
But the night belonged to Sammy Hernandez.
Quad Cities tied it in the ninth.
Peoria needed an answer.
Hernandez sent everyone home.
That is how you own the headline.
The Cardinal Chronicle, in association with Gateway Sports & MiLB Today
Preserving the Past, Promoting the Present, and Projecting the Future.
Check out The Cardinal Chronicle for more St. Louis Cardinals coverage, daily farm reports, prospect updates and old-school baseball commentary:
www.cardinalchronicle.com
Photo Credit: Joshua Báez, Memphis Redbirds | MLB