John Nagel writes as the Prospect Preacher and is the owner of CardinalsFarm.com where he covers the Cardinals minor league system on a daily basis.
The Baby Birds had a winning night as Springfield and Peoria won while Memphis was on the short end. Palm Beach was rained out, go figure. Sunday was the day of rehab. Memphis faced Chris Narveson who was rehabbing for the Nashville Sounds, Milwaukee’s Triple-A team. Roy Oswalt was rehabbing for the Tulsa Drillers, the Colorado Rockies Double-A team, and Jake Westbrook was rehabbing with the Peoria Chiefs. Westbrook was very solid for 7 innings (results are below) and appears ready for a return to the majors. The question is, when and who’s spot does he take? Seth Blair had his best Double-A outing of the season on Sunday. A season that started out horribly for Blair, has turned around somewhat.
Jeremy Schaffer had 2 home runs for Peoria on Sunday. Schaffer broke his wrist the last week of spring training and was finally activated from the DL on June 3rd. Shaffer is now part of a Peoria Chiefs lineup that has been on a roll. Breyvic Valera is getting on base and Jacob Wilson is driving guys home. I really believe Wilson may not be around much longer in Peoria, Valera too.
Here are the results from Sunday’s action:
Nashville 5, Memphis (32-30) 3
The Memphis Redbirds couldn’t hold the lead against Nashville on Sunday. Justin Christian led the way for the Redbirds collecting 3 hits, including 2 doubles and an RBI. Jermaine Curtis added his 3rd home run in the second inning off of MLB rehabber Chris Narveson. The other Redbird hits came from Ryan Jackson, Jamie Romak, Greg Garcia, and a pinch hit double by Kolten Wong.
Scott McGregor started and allowed 4 earned runs on 8 hits over 6 innings. Sam Freeman relieved McGregor and walked 3 and struck out 4 in 2 scoreless innings. Michael Blazek pitched a perfect ninth while striking out 2.
Player of the Game: Jermaine Curtis
Springfield (30-30) 5, Tulsa 0
Like Memphis, Springfield was facing a MLB rehabber in Roy Oswalt. Xavier Scruggs got to Oswalt in the second by hitting his 16th home run of the season, a solo shot. Audry Perez had a solid day going 3-for-4 with his 4th home run. Perez is now hitting over .200 for the first time this year. Ruben Gotay added 2 hits and a run scored.
Seth Blair was outstanding for Springfield on Sunday. Blair went 7 innings and allowed 3 hits, no runs, 2 walks, and he struck out 7. Jonathan Cornelius and Kevin Thomas threw scoreless innings to close out the game.
Player of the Game: Seth Blair
Quad Cities 1, Peoria (33-27) 9
The Chiefs blew out the River Bandits behind Cardinals’ starting pitcher Jake Westbrook, who was on his second rehab assignment. The Chiefs pounded out 13 hits and Jeremy Schaffer led the way with his first 2 home runs of the year for the Chiefs. Shaffer, who returned from the DL this week, had missed the entire season. Breyvic Valera and Jordan Walton each added 2 hits and 2 RBI’s. Jacob Wilson and Gerwuins Velazco also had 2 hits each. The only Chiefs’ regular without a hit was 8th place hitter Carson Kelly.
Westbrook went 7 innings and allowed 4 hits, 1 run, and struck out 5. Thomas Lee threw 2 scoreless innings in relief to close out the game.
Player of the Game: Jeremy Schaffer
