Springfield & Palm Beach winners, Memphis & Peoria Suffer Loses
The Cardinal Chronicle
Farm Report
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur
The St. Louis Cardinals’ full-season affiliates split Sunday’s schedule, going 2-2 across the system.
Memphis continued to stumble in Jacksonville, Springfield walked off Northwest Arkansas, Peoria wasted a big day from Cade McGee, and Palm Beach stayed hot by taking another game from Bradenton.
It was not a clean day across the board.
But there were still individual performances worth noting.
Memphis Redbirds (Triple-A)
48-33 overall
1-5 second half, third place, International League West
Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 4, Memphis Redbirds 1
Memphis closed its six-game road trip with a 4-1 loss to Jacksonville at VyStar Ballpark.
The Redbirds struck first when Nolan Gorman hit a solo home run in the top of the first inning. It was Gorman’s second home run during his first week back at Triple-A this season.
That was about all the Memphis offense could find.
Colton Ledbetter had the lone multi-hit game for the Redbirds, going 2-for-3, but Memphis could not turn traffic into enough pressure.
Jacksonville answered in the second inning and took control in the third. Agustín Ramírez delivered the big swing, a three-run home run off Brycen Mautz that turned a 1-1 game into a 4-1 Jacksonville lead.
Mautz took the loss, allowing four runs on five hits over five innings. He walked five and struck out three.
There were still a couple of bullpen notes worth filing away. Ryan Fernandez, working on an MLB rehab assignment, threw a perfect sixth inning with a strikeout. Luis Gastelum also continued his strong run, extending his scoreless appearance streak to 15 games.
But the story was simple.
One swing gave Memphis an early lead.
One bigger swing gave Jacksonville the game.
Springfield Cardinals (Double-A)
36-38 overall
5-1 second half, first place, Texas League North
Springfield Cardinals 7, Northwest Arkansas Naturals 6
Springfield made Sunday’s loudest statement in the system.
The Cardinals beat Northwest Arkansas 7-6 on a walk-off solo home run from Won-Bin Cho in the bottom of the ninth inning at Route 66 Stadium.
That is a good way to end a series.
Springfield took five of six from the Naturals and moved to 5-1 to open the second half. More importantly, the Cardinals showed some backbone. They trailed 6-3 before scoring the final four runs of the game.
The bullpen made the comeback possible.
Darlin Saladin threw three scoreless innings in relief, allowing one hit and walking two. Michael Watson, Nelfy Ynfante and Andrew Schultz followed by combining for 3.1 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit.
That is how a game gets rescued.
Jesús Báez also delivered a big swing, hitting his second home run since reaching Double-A. The ball left the bat at 108 mph.
But the final swing belonged to Cho.
On the second pitch of the ninth inning, Cho sent one out and sent Springfield home a winner. It was Springfield’s second walk-off home run of the series and third walk-off home run of the season.
That is a winning clubhouse right now.
Peoria Chiefs (High-A)
36-38 overall
4-4 second half, fifth place, Midwest League West
Beloit Sky Carp 6, Peoria Chiefs 5
Cade McGee did everything he could.
It still was not enough.
Peoria lost 6-5 to Beloit on Sunday afternoon at ABC Supply Stadium despite a monster day from McGee, who went 3-for-4 with two home runs and five RBIs.
McGee drove in Peoria’s first run with a sacrifice fly in the second inning. He then hit a two-run homer in the fourth to make it 3-0 Chiefs. In the sixth, he struck again with a solo home run, pushing Peoria back ahead 4-2.
That is a full day’s work by the sixth inning.
He was not done.
After Beloit rallied, McGee came up again in the eighth and delivered an RBI single to cut the deficit to 6-5. But Peoria left two runners on base in the inning and could not finish the comeback.
Jacob Odle gave the Chiefs another strikeout-heavy start. He struck out eight batters over six innings, the second consecutive start in which he reached eight strikeouts. Odle was sharp early, cruising through four scoreless innings before Beloit began to square up mistakes.
The Sky Carp hit three home runs, including a two-run shot by Brandon Compton in the fifth, a two-run homer by Jesus Hernandez in the sixth and a two-run homer by Carter Johnson in the seventh.
That was the difference.
Peoria had the best individual hitter on the field.
Beloit had the bigger late swings.
Palm Beach Cardinals (Single-A)
40-35 overall
7-2 second half, first place, Florida State League East
Palm Beach Cardinals 8, Bradenton Marauders 3
Palm Beach bounced back Sunday with an 8-3 win over Bradenton at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium.
Bradenton scored first on a solo home run by Richard Ramirez in the second inning, but Palm Beach answered in the bottom half and took control with a four-run fourth.
That was the inning that changed the game.
After Bradenton cut the deficit to 5-2 in the fifth and 5-3 in the sixth, Palm Beach put the game away late. The Cardinals scored two more runs in the seventh and added another in the eighth to finish off the win.
Kaden Echeman picked up the victory in relief, allowing one run on three hits over 1.2 innings. He walked one and struck out two.
Palm Beach improved to 7-2 in the second half and 40-35 overall. The Cardinals also continued their strong season-long work against Bradenton, taking five of six in the series and staying on top of the Florida State League East.
This is what a good Single-A club does.
It does not let one rough night turn into two.
Player of the Day
Cade McGee, Peoria Chiefs
This one was not complicated.
Cade McGee went 3-for-4 with two home runs and five RBIs in Peoria’s 6-5 loss to Beloit.
The Chiefs did not win the game, but McGee had the best offensive performance in the Cardinals’ system Sunday. He drove in every Peoria run and gave the Chiefs a chance to steal a game that otherwise could have slipped away earlier.
Two homers.
Five RBIs.
A three-hit day.
That earns the headline.
Pitcher of the Day
Darlin Saladin, Springfield Cardinals
Darlin Saladin gets the honor for stabilizing Springfield’s comeback win.
The Cardinals were in trouble early, but Saladin gave them three scoreless innings out of the bullpen, allowing just one hit while walking two. His outing helped stop Northwest Arkansas long enough for Springfield to climb back into the game.
Sometimes the best pitching line of the day is not the flashiest one.
Sometimes it is the one that saves the game.
Sunday’s Farm Report Summary
Memphis lost to Jacksonville, 4-1.
Springfield defeated Northwest Arkansas, 7-6.
Peoria lost to Beloit, 6-5.
Palm Beach defeated Bradenton, 8-3.
Player of the Day: Cade McGee, Peoria
Pitcher of the Day: Darlin Saladin, Springfield
The Cardinal Chronicle, in association with Gateway Sports & MiLB Today
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Photo Credit: Cade McGee, Peoria Chiefs | MiLB