Daily Farm Report: Wisdom Powers Redbirds

Wins were hard to come by for the higher level affiliates on Wednesday. Memphis dropped on in a heartbreaker, while Palm Beach scuffled along to a loss. Meanwhile, Springfield, State College and Johnson City all had the night off.

Colorado Springs Sky Sox 9, Memphis Redbirds 8

Chris Ellis (SP): 5.1 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 2 K’s

Patrick Wisdom (3B): 3-5, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R

Tyler O’Neill (RF): 1-4, HR, RBI, BB, 2 R

Max Schrock (2B): 1-4, 2B, RBI

The theme for Memphis lately has been power. Lots of power. Tyler O’Neill, Luke Voit and Patrick Wisdom each launched home runs for the second day in a row. On Wednesday, the trio of blasts shot the Redbirds out to a 7-0 lead through five innings.

Colorado Springs closed the gap with a six run explosion in the bottom of the sixth. The rally was built not the back of a Domingo Santana triple and a Jacob Nottingham home run. The Sky Sox would add another run in the seventh to tie the contest 7-7. In the top of the ninth, Patrick Wisdom put the Redbirds back ahead with an RBI double to center field. The newfound lead was short lived. In the top of the ninth, an RBI triple tied the game before the next two batters were intentionally walked to load the bases. Tommy Layne came in the relieve Hector Mendoza, and promptly balked to lose the game. Yeah, you read that right.

A couple interesting state lines from Memphis as we near the halfway point:

Tyler O’Neill: 197 AB’s, .310/.371/.655, 8.6% BB%, 23.9% K%, 156 wRC+

Oscar Mercado: 311 AB’s, .295/.361/.428, 9.3% BB%, 14.5% K%, 109 wRC+

Patrick Wisdom: 296 AB’s, .300/.375/.512, 10.5% BB%, 25.7% K%, 130 wRC+

The heartbreaker drops Memphis’s record to 47-32 on the season. The Redbirds will close out the series against the Sky Sox later tonight at 7:30 CST.

Bradenton Marauders 2 at Palm Beach Cardinals 1

Sam Tewes (SP): 7 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 4 K’s

Andy Young (2B): 3-4, RBI

Jose Godoy (C): 1-3, 2B, BB

Dylan Carlson (LF): 1-4, R

The Palm Beach lineup was unable to figure out Bradenton start James Marvel on Wednesday. Marvel threw six scoreless frames to outdoes the Cardinal’s Sam Tewes. Tewes produced a very solid start in his own right, going seven and only allowing one earned run. Eric Carter took over for Tewes and provided two innings of scoreless relief.

Infielder Andy Young was one of a handful of Cardinal’s to find success in the batters box. Young created an early lead for the club with an RBI single to right to score Dylan Carlson. The former 37th rounder continues to thrive at High-A. Through 63 games this season, Young is slashing .291/.378/.444 for a 139 wRC+.

The loss moves Palm Beach’s record to 42-28 on the season. They will take on Bradenton again today 11:00 CST.

Peoria Chiefs 3, Kane County Cougars 2

Johan Oviedo (SP): 4 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 5 BB, 5 K’s

Elehuris Montero (3B): 3-4, RBI

Dennis Ortega (C): 1-4, 2B

Bryce Denton (LF): 1-3, HR, RBI, R

Johan Oviedo worked another inefficient start on Wednesday, limiting the damage to one run but walking five. The command struggles eventually pushed Oviedo out of the game after only four innings. He threw 81 pitches, only 44 of them for strikes. It’s been a rough year for the big Cuban righty, who’s ERA currently sits at 5.22. He’s striking out nearly a batter an inning, but hasn’t been able to stop giving away free passes.

Elehuris Montero got on base plenty, but it was Dennis Ortega and Bryce Denton that provided the juice. Both Ortega and Denton are running lines at or near league average. That is, of course, better news for a catching prospect like Ortega than it is for a corner bat like Denton. Montero, meanwhile, continues to build off his 2017 success. The 19 year-old is currently running a 137 wRC+ in the Midwest League.

The win improves Peoria’s record to 44-33 on the year. They open a series against the Beloit Snappers tonight at 7:00 CST.

GCL Mets 8 at GCL Cardinals 5

Wilfredo Pereira (SP): 4.1 IP, 11 H, 8 R, 1 BB, 1 K

TERRY FULLER (LF): 2-5, HR, RBI, 2 R

Ivan Herrera (C): 2-4, 2B, BB, R

Raffy Ozuna (3B): 1-4, RBI, BB

DSL Cardinals Blue 5 at DSL Nationals 2

Julio Puello (SP): 7.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 6 K’s

Jean Selmo (LF): 1-4, 3B, RBI, BB, R

Pablo Gomez (1B): 1-5, 2B, R

Jose Zapata (C): 2-4, 2B

DSL Cardinals Red 8, DSL Diamondbacks 4

Ludwin Jimenez (SP): 6 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 5 K’s

Claudio Ramirez (1B): 1-2, 3B, RBI, BB, 2 R

Elvin De Jesus (2B): 2-3, 2 RBI, BB, R

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Thursday’s Probables

MEM: Dakota Hudson

SPR: Connor Jones

PMB: Jake Walsh

PEO: Alex Fagalde

SC: Angel Rondon