The Farm Report : The Good, the Bad & the Ugly
Cardinal Chronicle
Morning Farm Report
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur
Memphis Carries the Night as Cardinals Affiliates Go 1-3 Tuesday
The St. Louis Cardinals’ four full-season affiliates went 1-3 Tuesday night, with Triple-A Memphis providing the lone win while Springfield, Peoria and Palm Beach all came up short.
Memphis beat Charlotte 10-5 in a game the Redbirds controlled early. Springfield lost an 8-7 slugfest to Arkansas despite hitting five home runs. Peoria dropped another tight one, falling 5-4 to Wisconsin after rallying back from an early deficit. Palm Beach was held quiet in a 7-1 loss at Lakeland.
It was not the cleanest night across the system, but there were still several individual performances worth noting, especially in Springfield, where the Cardinals’ bats produced plenty of thunder even in defeat.
Memphis Redbirds
Memphis 10, Charlotte 5
Memphis: 49-33, 1st, International League West
The Memphis Redbirds opened their series against the Charlotte Knights with a 10-5 win Tuesday night, using an early offensive eruption to take control.
Charlotte jumped ahead with a first-inning solo home run from Dustin Harris, but Memphis answered immediately. The Redbirds scored five runs in the bottom of the first inning, added two more in the second and pushed two across in the fourth to build a 9-1 lead. Charlotte made some noise with a four-run sixth, but the Redbirds had already done enough damage to keep the game in hand.
The win moved Memphis to 49-33 on the season, keeping the Redbirds at the top of the International League West standings.
This was the kind of game good clubs are supposed to win. Memphis did not let an early deficit linger. The Redbirds answered right away, kept adding on and forced Charlotte to chase the game the rest of the night.
Old School Take: Good teams do not wait around after getting punched first. Memphis gave up a run in the opening inning, then came right back with five of its own. That is how you take the air out of the other dugout.
Springfield Cardinals
Arkansas 8, Springfield 7
Springfield: 5-2, T-1st, Texas League North, Second Half
Springfield lost the game, but the Cardinals’ bats put on a show.
The Cardinals fell 8-7 to the Arkansas Travelers in a wild game that featured nine combined home runs. Springfield hit five of them, matching a season high for team homers in a game. Miguel Ugueto, Won-Bin Cho, Travis Honeyman, Jesús Báez and Rainiel Rodriguez all went deep for Springfield. Arkansas took the lead in the top of the eighth inning and held on from there.
Ugueto’s home run carried some added meaning. It came in his first game back after being placed on the temporarily inactive list following the earthquakes in Venezuela. He homered, then Cho followed with another blast, giving Springfield back-to-back home runs and one of the better moments of the night.
Rodriguez also continues to make his presence felt at Double-A. The 19-year-old catcher added another home run, further showing that the jump to Springfield has not overwhelmed the bat.
The loss stings because Springfield had enough offense to win. Five home runs usually get you a handshake line. This time, the pitching could not quite hold the line, and Arkansas found the final answer late.
Old School Take: You hit five home runs, you expect to win. That is baseball’s cruel little sense of humor. Still, Springfield’s lineup showed real thump, and seeing Ugueto homer in his return was the kind of moment bigger than the final score.
Peoria Chiefs
Wisconsin 5, Peoria 4
Peoria: 36-39 overall; 4-5, Midwest League West, Second Half
The Peoria Chiefs dropped another tough one Tuesday night, falling 5-4 to the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers in the series opener.
Wisconsin built an early lead, scoring in the second inning and adding a two-run homer in the third. Peoria answered with a four-run third inning of its own. Ian Petrutz and Luis Pino singled, Anyelo Encarnación walked, and the Chiefs received run-scoring hits from José Suárez, Jack Gurevitch and Josh Kross to move in front.
The lead did not last. Braylon Payne hit a two-run homer for Wisconsin in the fourth inning, putting the Timber Rattlers back ahead 5-4. That score held the rest of the way.
Blake Aita had a rare uneven outing, allowing five runs on eight hits over 3.2 innings while walking two and striking out five. It snapped a strong stretch for Aita, who had gone eight straight starts without allowing three earned runs.
The bullpen gave Peoria every chance to come back. Jawilme Ramírez struck out three of the four batters he faced, and the group of Ramírez, Christian Worley, Jason Savacool and Nolan Sparks combined for 5.1 scoreless innings. The Chiefs had late chances, including bases-loaded opportunities, but could not push across the tying run.
Old School Take: Peoria had the kind of bullpen work that should have stolen this one back. The Chiefs just could not cash in late. Sometimes baseball gives you the opening, and sometimes you leave the bases full and stare at the scoreboard all the way back to the clubhouse.
Palm Beach Cardinals
Lakeland 7, Palm Beach 1
Palm Beach: 40-36 overall; 7-3, 1st, Florida State League East, Second Half
Palm Beach had a rough night at Lakeland, falling 7-1 to the Flying Tigers in the series opener.
Lakeland did its damage steadily, scoring early against Palm Beach starter Cade Crossland before breaking the game open late. The Flying Tigers got a big night from Jesus Pinto, who drove in a career-high four runs. Palm Beach entered the game at 40-36 overall and 7-3 in the second half, still sitting atop the Florida State League East.
The Cardinals’ lone run came in the fifth inning when Heriberto Caraballo hit a solo home run. That cut into the deficit, but Palm Beach could not build anything else offensively. Lakeland added three more runs in the seventh on Pinto’s three-run homer and another run in the eighth to put the game away.
Crossland took the loss after allowing two runs over 2.1 innings. Lakeland’s bullpen did the rest, with Pedro Garcia earning the win after throwing three hitless innings with four strikeouts.
This was one of those nights where Palm Beach never really found its rhythm. Caraballo gave the Cardinals a swing to remember, but the offense was otherwise held down.
Old School Take: Sometimes the other club gets the big swings and the clean innings. Palm Beach still leads the second-half race, but this was a reminder that even a first-place club has to flush a bad one and come back ready the next night.
Cardinal Chronicle Player of the Day
Miguel Ugueto, OF, Springfield
Miguel Ugueto gets the nod as the Cardinal Chronicle Player of the Day.
Springfield had several candidates after hitting five home runs, but Ugueto’s night stands out. In his first game back after being away on the temporarily inactive list following the earthquakes in Venezuela, Ugueto homered and helped set the tone in Springfield’s 8-7 loss to Arkansas. His blast was followed by a Won-Bin Cho home run, giving the Cardinals back-to-back shots.
That is more than a box-score note. That is a player returning to the field, stepping back into competition and making an immediate impact.
Springfield did not win the game, but Ugueto gave the Cardinals one of the best moments of the night.
Cardinal Chronicle Pitcher of the Day
Jawilme Ramírez, RHP, Peoria
Jawilme Ramírez earns Cardinal Chronicle Pitcher of the Day honors after helping stabilize Peoria’s game out of the bullpen.
Ramírez struck out three of the four batters he faced, setting the tone for a strong relief effort after Wisconsin had built its lead. He was part of a Peoria bullpen group that combined for 5.1 scoreless innings, keeping the Chiefs within one run the rest of the way.
The Chiefs did not finish the comeback, but Ramírez did his job. He came in, missed bats and gave Peoria a chance.
That is exactly what a bullpen arm is supposed to do.
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: Miguel Ugueto, OF, Springfield Cardinals | PJ Maigi