The Baby Birds officially went 2-3 on Monday. Memphis resumed a suspended game from April 10th which resulted in a very unusual scenario. Nick Greenwood was the pitcher of record in the suspended game and took the loss. Since that game, Greenwood has been transferred to Double-A Springfield and was also the pitcher of record for Springfield on Monday, where he took the loss. So, Greenwood officially took the loss in 2 games in one day.
In other news, the Palm Beach Cardinals keep winning. The Cards have won four of five and seemed to have figured out things. Kurt Heyer and Zach Petrick, two Peoria imports, played key roles in Monday’s win. The Peoria Chiefs were playing with heavy hearts on Monday as Mr. Peoria Baseball, Pete Vonachen, passed away early Monday morning. Mr. Vonachen had been involved with the Peoria minor league team since buying it in 1983. In the game, Hector Hernandez threw 7 strong innings and Patrick Wisdom had 2 hits. After the game, Carson Kelly was sent to a short season team, presumably State College, for regular playing time. This move allows both Wisdom and Kelly to play at their natural positions, third base.
Here are the results from Monday’s action:
New Orleans 7, Memphis (2-5) 2 – Game 1
Game 1 was the completion of a suspended game on April 10th. The Redbirds ended with 6 hits as Adron Chambers, Oscar Taveras, Ryan Jackson, J.R. Towles, Jermaine Curtis, and Kolten Wong each had a hit. J.R. Towles, who has since been released, hit his first home run of the season.
The pitching lines are really interesting as John Gast started the game, he is currently on the major league disabled list. Gast went 6 innings and allowed 4 hits, no runs, 1 walk, and struck out 5. Eduardo Sanchez, now in the Cubs organization, pitched 2 scoreless innings. Nick Greenwood, now at Double-A Springfield, allowed 5 runs in 1/3 of an inning and took the loss.
Player of the Game: John Gast
New Orleans 5, Memphis (32-31) 4
In the regularly scheduled game, the Redbirds scored a run in the ninth, but it wasn’t enough. Ryan Jackson and Justin Christian each had 2 hits, while Adron Chambers hit is 4th home run, Kolten Wong hit his 5th, and Brock Peterson hit his 12th. Peterson’s HR was a 2-run home run. Oscar Taveras went 1-for-5 with a run scored.
Maikel Cleto, in his return to Memphis, went 6 innings and allowed 8 hits, 4 runs, 1 walks, and struck out 7. Jorge Rondon allowed a run in 2 innings and Marc Rzepczynski closed out the game with a perfect ninth where he struck out the side.
Player of the Game: Brock Peterson
Springfield (30-31) 3, Tulsa 5
The Springfield Cardinals were led by infielder Ruben Gotay who had 3 hits on Monday. Luis Mateo also added 2 hits and a an RBI. Chris Swauger went 1-for-3 with an RBI as well. Mike O’Neill struggled out of the lead-off spot going 0-for-4 with a walk and James Ramsey was 1-for-5 with a double and run scored.
Nick Greenwood started and took his fourth loss, second of the day. Greenwood went 5 innings and allowed 5 hits, 2 earned runs, 2 walks, and struck out 1. Justin Wright allowed 2 runs in 2/3 of an inning in relief. Jose Almarante pitched a scoreless 1 and 1/3 innings and Lee Stoppelman closed it out with a scoreless 8th.
Player of the Game: Ruben Gotay
Dunedin 3, Palm Beach (26-36) 4
The Palm Beach Cardinals have won their 4th out of their past 5 games with the win over Dunedin. Jonathan Rodriguez led the way with 2 hits, 2 runs, and his 3rd home run in the second inning. Juan Castillo also had 2 hits. The other Palm Beach hits came from Alex Mejia, David Popkins, and Ronald Castillo.
Kurt Heyer picked up his first High-A win on Monday, going 5 and 1/3 innings and allowing 7 hits, 2 run, 1 walk, and struck out 2. Iden Nazario pitched 1 and 2/3 scoreless innings in relief of Heyer. Zach Petrick picked up his first High-A save with 2 scoreless innings in relief.
Player of the Game: Jonathan Rodriguez
Quad Cities 1, Peoria (34-27) 5
In an emotional game due to the passing of a Peoria baseball icon, the Chiefs came out victorious. Patrick Wisdom led the way with 2 hits including a triple, a run scored, and an RBI. Breyvic Valera also had 2 hits and a run scored. The rest of the Chiefs starting line up had a hit and Jacob Wilson had 2 RBI’s. Jimmy Parque recorded his first hit for an affiliated professional team.
Hector Hernandez went 7 strong innings and allowed 7 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, and struck out 6. Joe Scanio pitched a scoreless inning and 1/3 in relief and Robert Stock picked up his first save while recording 2 strikeouts.
Player of the Game: Hector Hernandez
