The St Louis Cardinals were on the good side of a 6-1 game with the Diamondbacks and Carlos Beltran provided the offense. Beltran hit two home runs and drove in all six runs. Jake Westbrook was very good as the starter in seven innings of work. St Louis goes for the sweep today.

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TRIPLE A Affiliate— A throwing error by catcher Bryan Anderson in the top of the 13^th allowed the winning run to score for Reno as they defeated Memphis 9-8. Ryan Jackson had four singles and Cedric Hunter and Adron Chambers each collected three hits in the loss. Pete Kozma added a triple. Brian Broderick last four innings as the starter and gave up six runs. RJ Swingle was the tough luck loser in the 13^th but did allow a walk in the inning to lead to his downfall.

DOUBLE A BASEBALL—-Left-hander John Gast lowered his ERA to 2.03 after holding Arkansas to five hits and a walk over seven scoreless innings in Double-A Springfield’s 4-0 win on Tuesday afternoon. Sam Freeman struck out the side in the eighth and Eric Fornataro added another strikeout in a perfect ninth to seal the five-hitter for Springfield.

Oscar Taveras, Springfield’s center fielder, slugged his ninth homer in the eighth inning, a three-run shot off Travs reliever Chris Scholl that moved him into a tie for second place in the Texas League in home runs.

CLASS A BALL—Seth Maness (3-1) the right hander, had not surrendered more than three runs in any game. On Tuesday night, Maness was rocked for five runs on nine hits in six innings of work and Palm Beach lost 5-1 to Lakeland.

CLASS A BALL—- Jonathan Cornelius (0-1) struck out five batters through the first three innings of his debut for Quad Cities (17-15), but he couldn’t get an out in the fourth against the Chiefs. Peoria was the winner 7-2 in front of 1,407 fans at Modern Woodsman Park. Anthony Garcia went 3 for 5 and Roberto De La Cruz had two hits including a home run.

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St Louis Cardinals Fall Asleep after One Inning

The big club, the St Louis Cardinals, actually became anemic on Thursday. After scoring in double digits for the previous two games, the team scored two in the 1^st inning and laid down their bats. Everybody’s talkin’ bout, talkin’ bout the offense. Today they read their own press clippings and forgot how to drive runners in from scoring position. Bases loaded twice and nothing happened. Two on in the 9^th and put up a goose egg. Westbrook was ok but not like his starts earlier in the season. If we want, we can blame it on getaway day and the decision to rest Beltran and Molina. We let the “crafty left-hander”, as noted by Ricky Horton, out finesse us after the 1^st inning of play.

On to Houston.

Memphis scores in 9^th to defeat Iowa Cubs

Steven Hill, playing in his first game for Memphis since April 8^th, hits a home run and garnered two hits to lift the Redbirds to an 8-7 win over the Iowa Cubs. Ryan Jackson and Eugenio Velez each drove in two runs in the affair. Velez is now hitting .303 and Jackson is up to .313 on the season.

Brian Broderick did not have a good start as he pitched five innings and game up 6 runs on seven hits before he gave way to three relief pitchers that shut the door on the Cubs. Barett Browning hurled for 2 innings and gave up a hit and no runs then Adam Keifer pitched a scoreless inning. Nick Greenwood was the recipient of the win tonight with one inning and one hit allowed.  BOX SCORE

• Cedric Hunter had a good start but is now in a tailspin hitting .207
• Zach Cox pinch hit and grounded out to dip to .181
• Adron Chambers pinch hit and doubled to start the winning rally in the 9^th inning
• Brian Broderick has a 5.90 ERA
• Eugenio Velez leads the team with 8 stolen bases
• Brandon Dickson has a 1.39 WHIP in 35.1 innings
• Shelby Miller leads the pitchers with 29 strikeouts but has given up 5 homers

Springfield Commits 3 Errors Contributes to 4-3 Loss

The Springfield Cardinals got a home run from Xavier Scruggs but he received two errors on pickoff throws to lead to the loss. The team got two hits from Audry Perez  to up his average to .245. John Gast started on the mound and finished 6 innings and allowed 3 runs on five hits with 4 walks and 3 strikeouts in his work. Jesse Simpson took the loss and Jorge Rondon faced four batters and fanned three of them.  The two teams will wrap up their four game series on Friday night at 7:08 P.M. The Northwest Arkansas  Naturals will send left-hander Chris Dwyer (1-3, 5.64) to the hill against the Cardinals Trevor Rosenthal (1-3, 3.86).

Palm Beach Blanks Fort Myers 5-0

Chris Corrigan pitched six innings of one hit ball while fanning four to lower his ERA to 2,40 and pick up the win. Zach Russell, Ricky Martinez and Logan Billbrough each took turns blanking them for the rest of the game.

Ronny Gil, from the 9 spot in the order, picked up two hits including a double to see his average jump to .286 on the season. Second baseman Vance Albitz gathered two RBI’s in the game and Travis Tartamella single home another RBI to set the tone for the win.

• Mike O’Neill singled to raise his average to .323
• Nicholas Longmire is struggling at .161
• Starlin Rodriguez leads the team in RBI’s (10), triples (2) and stolen bases (3)
• Seth Maness is 3-0 with 34 innings pitched and a 1.32 ERA
• Carlos Martinez has the team lead in strikeouts with 23

Quad Cities River Bandits win 3-1 over Burlington Bees

The River Bandits scored a single run in three different innings to propel the team to a 3-1 victory. Luis Mateo hammered two hits including a double to lead the offense and four pitches went to the mound to allow only one run. Todd McInnis started and gave up one run in 4.1 innings but the bullpen shut the door. Ethan Cole, Danny Miranda and Heath Wyatt finished it off with Cole getting the victory.

• Quad Cities River Bandits pitcher Todd McInnis took a line drive off his head and was helped off the field.
• Juan Castillo is the only regular batting over .300 with a .309 average
• David Medina made his 5^th error at first base
• The two teams will conclude their three-game series Friday with a doubleheader of seven-inning games beginning at 5:30 p.m. River Bandits left-hander Kyle Hald (0-2) will oppose Bees right-hander Jonathan Joseph (0-1) in the first game, and right-hander Sam Gaviglio (1-2) is scheduled to start the nightcap against Burlington right-hander Drew Granier (4-0), who ranks third in the Midwest League with a 1.33 ERA in 27 innings pitched.

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Team Statistics for the 2012 St Louis Cardinals

• Batting Ave.       .290                        1st
• Runs-                     135                        2^nd
• Hits                        243                         2^nd
• Triples                   9                              Tied 2nd
• RBI                         131                         Tied 1^st
• Stolen Bases       25                          2^nd
• OBP                       .358                        1^st
• SLG                        .462                        2nd
• ^·          OPS                        .821                        1^st

Minor Musings; Looking at the Affiliates

 Brandon Dickson had a fantastic night on the mound for the Memphis Redbirds has he tossed a 3-hit shutout for 8 innings and struck out 10 Iowa Cubs to lead his team to a 2-1 win on Wednesday. Eduardo Sanchez closed out the game with a perfect ninth inning.

Palm Beach Cardinals allowed a run in the 9^th inning off the arm of losing pitcher Chase Reid, a Vanderbit right-hander, to find his record fall to 2-3 on the season. Richard Castillo pitched 6 innings and struck out six and allowed one run in the game.

Kolten Wong and Jake Shaffer each banged two hits as the Springfield Cardinals defeated the Northwest Arkansas Natural 2-1 with single runs in the 7^th and 8^th inning. Scott Gorgen pitched four innings and fanned four and allowed no runs in the start to be followed to the mound by Kevin Thomas, Sam Freeman and Keith Butler.

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Plowing Through the Farm System – May 14-20                    

By Tom at Cardinalsgm.com

Let’s took a look at how the St. Louis Cardinals affiliates fared this week in baseball action.

Memphis Redbirds (AAA)    Team Stats

Mon. Colorado Springs 5 Memphis 3

Adron Chambers moved his average up to .318 and Mark Hamilton hit a home run as starter Joe Kelly tossed 6.1 innings and allowed 11 hits and 4 runs for the loss to move his ERA to 3.18.

Tue. Memphis 6 Colorado Springs 0

Shelby Miller help snap a 9 game losing streak from the mound as he struck out 5 and gave up 3 hits and lowered his ERA to 3.79 with the shutout. Ryan Jackson collected 2 hits and Matt Adams slammed his 7^th homer of the season.

Wed. DNP

Thu. Memphis 8 Las Vegas 1

Starter Nick Addition piggybacked off the pitching of Shelby Miller with his 7 innings of 1 run,7-hit performance to get his ERA to 5.32. Pete Kozma smacked two doubles and Ryan Jackson tripled along with two hits by first baseman Matt Adams to lead the team to victory.

Fri. Memphis 9 Las Vegas 6

Matt Adams homered twice and drove in 5 runs with 4 hits to lead Memphis to victory and seal his pending call-up to the major league squad. Zach Cox and Ryan Jackson contributed two hits each in the offense. Starter Brian Broderick garnered his 2^nd win of the season in 6 innings of work by allowing 6 runs in the game. Chuckie Fick got the save.

Sat. Las Vegas 5 Memphis 3

Right-fielder Jamie Romak got two hits and Matt Adams singled before he was removed from the game due to his call-up to the St. Louis Cardinals. John Gast gave up 9 hits and 3 runs before he departed after 6 innings of work. Sam Freeman received the loss with 1 inning of work and allowed 2 hits and 2 runs and a home run in the bottom of the 8^th to sink his team to defeat.

Sun. Las Vegas 5 Memphis 2

Bryan Anderson got two hits and still has a batting average at .194 for the season. Steven Hill homered in this game and prospect Joe Kelly dropped his record to 1-5 on the season as he pitched five innings and gave up 9 hits and 4 runs in the game. Nick Greenwood blew his first save of the season with one inning on the mound and allowing 3 hits and one run to see his ERA go up to 5.48 on the season.

FYI: Currently in 3^rd place (out of 4) in the Pacific Coast League American Northern with a record of 16-27 (.327). They are 9-14 at home and 7-13 on the road and have won 3 of their last 10 games.

SPRINGFIELD CARDINALS (AA)   Team Stats

Mon. Springfield 3 Arkansas 2

John Gast started for the Cardinals and pitched 5 innings and allowed 2 runs and fanned five but did not figure into the decision. Keith Butler threw 2 shutout innings and gave up 3 hits to get his second win of the season. Kolten Wong and Chris Swauger each collected two hits and Oscar Taveras doubled to aid in the win.

Tue. Springfield 3 Arkansas 1

Trevor Rosenthal threw 1-hit ball in six innings to gain the victory and moved his record to 3-4 and lower his ERA to 3.94 for the year. Kyle Conley (right-fielder) got 2 hits including a homer and Jermaine Curtis and Koten Wong each added 2 hits to the win.

Wed. Arkansas 3 Springfield 2

Richard Castillo was the starter with 7 innings of work allowing 6 hits and two runs but did not receive the win or loss as Richard Blazek allowed one run in the 9^th inning to absorb the loss. Kolten Wong continued his hot hitting with 2 hits and moved his average to .313 on the season while catcher Audry Perez got two hits and Xavier Scruggs homered in the loss.

Thu. Arkansas 9 Springfield 8

There was lots of offense in this game as the Cardinals came from 5 down to make it close with 4 hits from the red-hot Kolten Wong’s 4-hit night only to fall short by one run. A parade of pitchers went to the mound as Tyler Lyons received the loss and move his season record to 3-4.

Fri. Springfield 6 Tulsa 3

Kolten Wong, Jose Garcia and Greg Garcia each smacked two hits in the game to lead the Cardinals over the Drillers. Wong has seen his average balloon to .338 for the season and is expected to get a move to Triple A Memphis very soon. Scott Gorgen got his first win of the season as he struck out 10 batters and allowed 3 runs on 6 hits.

Sat. Springfield 1 Tulsa 0

The Cardinals managed 7 hits in the game and scored their only run in the 3^rd inning from a homer by Kolten Wong. Four pitchers shutout the Tulsa Drillers as Michael Blazek picked up the win in relief and Keith Butler closed the game out to keep them scoreless.

Sun. Tulsa 3 Springfield 2

Cardinals fall to Drillers 3-2. Wild pitch by Kevin Thomas allows two to score in the 8th inning. Trevor Rosenthal pitches 7 scoreless innings.

FYI: Springfield is currently in 3^rd place out of 4 in the Texas League North Division. They are 13-7 at home and 6-17 on the road and have won 5 of their last 10 games.

PALM BEACH CARDINALS (A Advanced)   Team Stats

Mon.  Jupiter 7 – Palm Beach 0

Outfielder Mike O’Neill got two hits and moved his batting average to .331 and Alan Ahmady doubled but the team was shutout. Prospect Carlos Martinez was rocked by allowing five runs in four innings to take the loss. Later in the week Martinez was placed on the DL.

Tue.   DNP

Wed. Jupiter 2 – Palm Beach 1 (game 1)

Left-fielder Chris Edmondson was the only offensive weapon that showed up for the game as he collected the lone RBI and got 3 hits in the game. Seth Maness started the game on the mound and hurled for 6 innings and allowed 7 hits and one run while fanning five but did not get a decision. Dean Kiekhefer got the loss in the ninth inning.

Wed.  Jupiter 4 – Palm Beach 2 (game 2)

Palm Beach managed two hits and two runs in the 1^st inning but was blanked the rest of the game to take a doubleheader loss to the Hammerheads. Todd Mc Innis started with five innings and registered five hits and allowed two runs to post his ERA at 1.88 on the season.

Thu.  Palm Beach – 8 Dayton 2

Anthony Ferrara, Chris Corrigan and Aidan Lucas combined on the mound to keep the Dayton Cubs in check with Ferrara getting the win. Geoffrey Klein homered as the designated hitter and Luis De La Cruz poked two hits to lead the offense.

Fri.   Dayton 8 – Palm Beach 4

Palm Beach scored four runs in the first but was shutout for the last eight innings to go down in defeat. Mike O’Neill moved his batting average to .324 with two hits and Geoffrey Klein doubled in a run.

Sat.  Palm Beach 5 – Dayton 3

A five-run 5^th inning was all that was needed to secure the victory in this contest against the Dayton Cubs. Rainel Rosario and Vance Albitz each knocked in two runs in the game and Kevin Siegrist got his 2^nd win with no losses for Palm Beach.

Sun. Palm Beach 8 – Dayton 4

Palm Beach scored 5 runs in the 3^rd inning on its way to the victory over Dayton. Mike O’Neill moved his average to .333 for the season with 3 hits but Nicholas Longmire went 4-for-4 in the game to lead the offense. Ryan Sheriff tossed 7 innings of work and allowed 4 runs with 7 hits. Aidan Lucas came on for the Cardinals for work a scoreless 8^th inning.

FYI: Palm Beach Cardinals are currently in 3^rd place out of 6 teams in the Florida State League North Division with a 22-21 record as they are 12-10 at home and 10-11 on the road. They have won five of their last 10 games.

Quad Cities (A)    Team Stats

Mon. Cedar Rapids 5 – Quad Cities 3

Colin Walsh, Tyler Rahmatulla and Juan Castillo each collected two hits in the loss. Heath Wyatt blew his 3^rd save of the season and saw his record fall to 0-2 by allowing 4 runs in one inning.

Tue. DNP

Wed. Beloit 4 –Quad Cities 2

Beloit scored four runs in their last two innings to defeat the River Bandits. Juan Castillo moved his average to .326 for the year with 2 hits and Colin Walsh added two hits of his own. Brandon Creath blew his 2^nd save of the year and the second for the bullpen in two nights as he allowed 3 runs in two-thirds of an inning.

Thu. Beloit 7 – Quad Cities 3

Colin Walsh again had two hits and improves his average to .312 while Luis Mateo hit a home run in the loss. Samuel Gaviglio pitched four innings and gave up 7 hits and 6 runs to jack his ERA to 5.11 on the season.

Fri.  Quad Cities 7 – Beloit 6

Garret Wittels collected four hits as the designated hitter and Luis Mateo got three more hits for the offense. Heath Wyatt got his first victory of the year as the 4^th pitcher of the night for the River Bandits.

Sat. Clinton 5 – Quad Cities 3

Luis Mateo and Colin Walsh appear to be the only River Bandits capable of getting hits lately as each got two hits to lead the team to victory. Tim Griffin came on in relief to get the victory and Kyle Hunter got his 3^rd save of the year.

Sun. Clinton 12 – Quad Cities 11

Quad Cities scored 6 runs in the 5^th inning only to allow Clinton to score 7 runs in their half of the inning all with 2 outs. The Cardinals #5 prospect Tyrell Jenkins did not get through 5 innings as he allowed 8 runs in 4.2 innings with 7 hits to see his ERA climb to 4.01. Luis Mateo (second baseman) hit two home runs and drove in 5 runs and Colin Walsh also hit a homer in the game.

FYI: Quad Cities is currently 5^th out of 8 teams in the Midwest League Western Division with a 21-23 record and 6.5 games out of 1^st place. They have won 3 of their last ten games and are 10-10 at home and 11-13 on the road.

PROSPECT WATCH

1. Shelby Miller
2. Carlos Martinez
3. Oscar Taveras
4. Kolten Wong
5. Tyrell Jenkins

#6-20

Zach Cox

Trevor Rosenthal

Matt Adams

John Gast

Matt Carpenter

Maikel Cleto

Joe Kelly

Charlie Tilson

Michael Blazek

Robert Stock

Jordan Swagerty

Seth Blair

Justin Wright

Scott Gorgen

Andres Serrano

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Drew Benes pitches 3-hit shutout

The young right-hander from Arkansas State, Drew Benes, won his first game with Palm Beach over the weekend by striking out 5 and walking one in seven stellar innings to see his team win 3-0 over the Charlotte Stone Crabs. He was followed to the mound by Aidan Lucas and Logan Billbrough. The offense was led by shortstop Ronny Gil with two singles and two RBI’s as the PB Cardinals scored a single run in three different innings.

The Cardinals (10-13) return to action on Monday, as they finish their six-game road trip against the Charlotte Stone Crabs at 6:35 p.m. Carlos Martinez will take the ball for the Beach Birds as they try and secure their first sweep of the season at Charlotte Sports Park and the Stone Crabs hand the ball to righty Albert Suarez.

Tulsa Hands Springfield Cardinals 3-2 Loss

Kyle Conley and Oscar Taveras each punch a home run for the Springfield Cardinals but that was not enough offense to throttle the Drillers. Trevor Rosenthal picked up his third loss of the season by allowing three runs and walking six in five innings of work. Eric Fornataro blew a save in his inning on the mound. The Cardinals will conclude their series with Tulsa on Monday with a 11:05 AM start.

Memphis Wins on Kozma Walk-Off Homer

The Memphis Redbirds scored three runs in the 9^th with a Pete Kozma walk-off home run to defeat the Omaha Storm Chasers. A two out error by Omaha set the stage for the heroics but before that Amaury Cazana each reached base to place two runners on the base path. Earlier in the 7^th inning a blast by
Cedric Hunter amounted to the first two runs for Memphis. Five Redbird pitchers went to the mound before Barret Browning picked up his first win of the season.

The Quad Cities River Bandits were rained out. 

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Yesterday was an off-day for the St Louis Cardinals so let’s take a look around at how the affiliates fared on Thursday.

Palm Beach Cardinals Lose 2-0

The Palm Beach Cardinals only managed three hits for the game and were shut out by the Fort Myers Miracle. Starter Richard Castillo pitched eight innings and a great game but came away with the loss. He allowed 3 hits, 2 runs with two walks and 4 strikeouts on the evening to find his record fall to 1-3 on the season. Chris Corrigan will take the ball for the Cardinals on Friday as he will face left-hander Pat Dean of the Fort Myers Miracle.

Springfield Cardinals on the Wrong End of a 6-3 Affair

Oscar Taveras banged out two hits and an RBI to put his average at .321 but the team only managed five hits on the evening. Tyler Lyons fell to 0-3 on the year with five innings pitched and allowed 10 hits and five runs. Jesse Simpson and Kevin Thomas followed him to the mound by the damage had already been done by the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. The team travels to Tulsa for a three game series beginning on Friday.

Quad Cities Handle West Michigan 5-1

The River Bandits exploded for 3 runs in the first inning and cruise on to a 5-3 victory behind the strong pitching performance of Todd McInnis. The right-handed Southern Mississippi product tossed six shutout, two hit innings and fanned two and walked four to up his record to 2-0 on the year. The offense was led by Matt Williams with two hits including a double and two RBI’s from Juan Castillo for the win. The 12-8 River Bandits will send left-hander Kyle Hald (0-2) against Whitecaps right-hander Josue Carreno (0-2) at 7 p.m. Friday night at Modern Woodmen Park.

Memphis Loses in 9^th 3-2 to Omaha- Allen Craig gets Two Hits

Eduardo Sanchez allows a home run in the 9^th inning from David Lough to put the Redbirds down in defeat. The loss puts the former major leaguer at 0-2 on the year and spoils a fine six inning performance from starter Nick Addition.  The 25-yr old lefty from Davie, Florida threw six innings and allowed two runs on six hits and struck out seven.  The Redbirds amassed 10 hits on the game but could send many across the plate. Switch-hitting rightfielder Eugenio Velez had three hits on the night including a home run. Allen Craig, in rehab assignment for the big club, got two hits on the evening.  Adron Chambers also banged a pair of hits in the game. Pete Kozma went 0-3 and saw his average dip below .220 on the season.

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Hitting Leaders-Average (from Cardinal affiliates)

1. 1.       Castillo .365 QC
2. 2.       Velez    .355 MEM
3. 3.       Adams  .324 MEM
4. 4.       Shafer   .321 SPR
5. 5.       Taveras .321 SPR

Pitching Leaders – ERA

1              Maness                PMB      0.67

2              Castillo PMB      1.40

3              Gast      SPR        1.71

4              Hernandez          QC          2.01

5              Martinez              PMB      2.12

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Cardinals Defeat Pirates 4-1

The St Louis Cardinals took the series from Pittsburgh with a 4-1 win on Sunday. Kyle Lohse was phenomenal again. Furcal punched out a few hits and things are going well at the moment. The team is a bit banged up and have some questions to answer on health issues and the best way to proceed in bringing players up from the Minor Leagues.  The Cardinals start a 3 game series with the Cubs before coming home for 3 with the Milwaukee Brewers.

MINOR LEAGUE ACTION

Springfield Cardinals Lose 6-5 to Tulsa Drillers    BOXSCORE

The AA affiliate of the St Louis Cardinals held a 3-run lead going into the 5^th inning only to allow five runs to Tulsa. Pitcher Scott Gorgen pitched 5.1 innings and allowed four runs, five hits, walked three and struck out 4 batters to see his ERA for the season end at 3.79. He was followed to the mound by Kevin Thomas for 0.2 innings and gave up 2 hits and one run to record his 2^nd blown save for the season. Jesse Simpson pitched one inning and gave up a hit but Sam Freeman absorbed the loss by allowing two hits and one run in the final two innings of work.

The bats had some life in them as second baseman Kolten Wong banged out three hits with two doubles to raise his average to .352 on the young season. Two RBI’s were swatted in by Oscar Taveras to run his average to .318 on the season. Springfield has evened their record at 8-8 and is currently 3 games back of the Texas League North leading Tulsa Drillers. Springfield has dropped two games in a row and will return to action on Monday at they travel to play the Northwest Arkansas Naturals.

Memphis Falls to Iowa 2-1

Adron Chambers and Cedric Hunter teamed for a single run in the 9^th inning but that was all the Redbirds could muster in the loss. Amaury Cazana got the other hit and the team only got 3 for the entire game. Brian Broderick pitched well but was tagged for the loss as he went six innings, allowed two runs, six hits, walked two and fanned three. The righthander from Phoenix saw his record tumble to 1-3 for the season.  BOXSCORE

Quad Cities Allow 2 Runs in 9^th to Fall 3-2

Centerfielder Nick Martini got 3 hits and the lone RBI for the River Bandits only to see the pitching fail in the bottom half of the 9^th inning. Dail Villenueva started the game and pitched six innings and struck out 6 as he allowed two runs. Brandon Creath hurled 1.2 innings and did not allow a runs but Danny Miranda blew the save and absorbed the loss with one inning of work and allowed 2 hits, 2 walks and struck out 1 batter only to see the team lose. The Quad Cities River Bandits are 10-7 and currently lead the Midwest League Northern Division.     BOXSCORE

Palm Beach Smashes Charlotte 11-1

Additional Notes:

The St Louis Cardinals have won 6 series in a row.

John Jay was sent back to St Louis for further examination of his shoulder.

Allen Craig has been out of the lineup while on a rehab situation.

Some bloggers are advocating putting Wainwright in the bullpen to get him stronger.

Memphis Redbirds are flat out struggling.

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It is early in the season but some players have established a HOT start and some are ice COLD so far in 2012. Let me take a look at those that have quite yet “cut the mustard” for their team.

Some Minor League LOW-LITES:

Memphis Redbirds have struggled to win games with a 4-11 record. One of the least inspiring performances comes from the anemic bat of Bryan Anderson. He has 44 plate appearances and only 2 hits on the season for a lowly .045 average and a whopping 16 strikeouts.  Another bat of concern in the early season is prospect Zach Cox. Currently he sports a .137 batting average with 18 strikeouts and 7 hits in 51 at bats.

Springfield Cardinals (7-6) has two bats that are still to arrive in their line-up. First baseman Xavier Scruggs finds his batting average has dipped to .160 as he has struck out 19 times and has only 8 hits on 50 at bats. Outfielder Thomas Pham is equally slow with his start as he has accumulated a .154 batting average with 19 strikeouts. Pham has 6 hits in 39 at bats.

Palm Beach (5-8) finds Nicholas Longmire mired in a batting slump with 18 strikeouts on the year with a .111 batting average in 45 plate appearances. Luis De La Cruz , a catcher, has two hits in 18 at bats for with two strikeouts and  .111 batting average.

Quad Cities River Bandits (10-4) roster finds Jesus Montero hitless in ten at bats as he has played in five games. Anthony Garcia is batting .222 with 11 strikeouts and 10-for-45 on the young season.

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St Louis Cardinals 2 – Cincinnati Reds 1

Matt Carpenter did it again. He drove in a run and it was the game winner. Did anyone notice that Lance Berkman had a smile and said something to Manager Mike Matheny right after the game? I would like to speculate that Lance told Matheny something like, “ this kid is good, he needs to play more” or “ I have been sucking lately, play the kid” and lastly “ I really am Wally Pipp”.

Let’s not forget the great performance from Kyle Lohse. He has done it three starts in a row. Great start to the game from Carlos Beltran with a dinger! This team has the persona of its manager and that is the “don’t panic” when things go awry. Let’s continue the winning tonight!

From the Farm

Memphis 1 – New Orleans 3

It was a pitchers’ duel in Memphis with the Redbirds throwing Joe Kelly  for the first six innings where he allowed one run followed by a perfect inning from Adam Keifer  before two late runs off of Barret Browning allowed the New Orleans Zephyr to come away as the victors in the game.

The lone Redbirds RBI came off the bat of Matt Adams as the team manage three hits with Cedric Hunter and Bryan Anderson each get a single in the game. Memphis falls to 3-10 on the season and face the same team tonight at 7PM.

Springfield 2 – Midland 1

John Gast improved to 3-0 on the season as he tossed 6.1 innings and allowed one run with 3 hits and struck out 6 Midland RockHounds batters to finish with the win and a 1.33 ERA. Kevin Thomas, Sam Freeman and Jorge Rondon paraded to the mound to finish the game with a 2-1 victory.

Oscar Taveras doubled in a run and Kolten Wong tripled to lead the team at the plate. Springfield takes the night off as Tulsa comes to town on Thursday.

Palm Beach 9 – Bradenton 6

The Palm Beach Cardinals banged out 12 hits to defeat Bradenton 9-6. DH Chris Edmondson banged out three hits including a double and a home run to lead the hit parade. Jonathon Rodriguez also accumulated three hits.

Seth Maness pitched six innings and allowed one run and seven hits to pick up the victory and improve his record to 2-0. Aiden Lucas followed him to the mound and allowed 2 runs and walked three to struggle and Chase Reid pitched 1.1 and allowed 2 runs and struck a couple of Marauders to finish the game.

Quad Cities 2 – Clinton 1

The River Bandits defeated Clinton 2-1 on Tuesday evening behind stellar pitching from Tyrell Jenkins and Willy Paulino but the win goes to Robert Stock. Jenkins pitched four innings and allowed no runs with one hit, one walk and four strikeouts. Paulino pitched a scoreless inning and the USC grad Stock allowed one hit and one run in 1.2 innings on the mound. Heath Wyatt shut the door with two strike outs to garner his 2^nd save of the season.

The offense managed four hits but Luis Mateo doubled in one run and catcher Jesus Montero picked up the other RBI. The series concludes with a 7pm game against the same Clinton Lumberjacks.

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With Monday being an off-day for the Cardinals let’s take a look at the minor league teams and who has become their leader in the early part of the season.

Monday Results:

Quad City River Bandits (6-4)

Juan Castillo- Catcher for the Quad City Bandits is hitting .525 after 7 games and has 2 home runs, six  RBI’s and has only struck out 1 time in 25 at bats for the season.

Hector Hernandez, a lefthanded hurler, has started 2 games for the River Bandits and has tossed 11 innings and has allowed NO runs in the young season with seven hits and 9 strikeouts.

Palm Beach Cardinals (4-6)

Alan Ahmady, an outfielder, leads the team with a 4 RBI’s and 10 hits on the season for a .303 batting average and Seth Maness has a win in 14 innings and has fanned 8 for the season.

Springfield Cardinals (4-6)

Kolten Wong leads the team with a .424 batting average after appearing in 9 games. He has 14 hits with 2 doubles, 2 triples, 1 home run and has knocked in 7 RBI’s.

Left-handed hurler John Gast leads the Redbirds with 2 wins on 14 innings pitched while allowing 7 hots and accumulating a 1.56 ERA.

Memphis Redbirds ( 2-9)

Memphis is led by Eugenio Velez at the plate with a .419 batting average in 11 games. He has 13 hits with a double and a triple with 5 stolen bases.

Brandon Dickson,  6-5 right-hander, leads the team in some pitching categories as he has accumulated 12 strikeouts in 17 innings of work.

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REMEMBER to use GAMEDAY AUDIO for minor league games because it is FREE.

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