Daily Farm Report: Austin Gomber deals, Springfield wins third straight

The Cardinals farm system showed a lot of resiliency on Tuesday. Memphis, Springfield, and State College all pulled out one-run victories. Palm Beach came back from a big deficit, but imploded in extra innings.

Memphis Redbirds 3, Iowa Cubs 2

Luke Voit (1B): 3-4, R

Austin Gomber (SP): 5 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 2 BB, 6 K’s

Memphis gave Redbird fans plenty of blood pressure checks late in the game, but ultimately came away with a W.

Oscar Mercado led off the bottom of the first with a single, stole second (his 24th of the season), advanced to third on a Luke Voit single, and scored on a wild pitch to put the first runs on the board.

Austin Gomber (7-3) pitched through five scoreless innings and only surrendered one hit, two walks, and struck out six. His only hint of trouble came in the top of the fifth when he walked the leadoff batter then gave up a single, but an Iowa double play helped him escape damage.

Conner Greene replaced Gomber in the sixth and got two groundouts before allowing two walks, prompting Stubby Clapp to put Tommy Layne in the game, who got a strikeout to end the slight threat.

Memphis added some insurance in the bottom of the sixth with Carson Kelly driving in Voit with a double and scoring on a Patrick Wisdom single one batter later.

Layne continued pitching in the seventh and his only blunder was a throwing error that allowed Iowa to score to make it 3-1. The real drama started in the top of the eighth.

John Brebbia took over on the mound and got the first out before allowing two straight singles and a double to bring Iowa within one. He intentionally walked the bases loaded and found a way to get the final two outs without allowing another run.

Andrew Morales gave up two hits to start the bottom of the ninth but followed that up with three straight outs to give Memphis the dramatic victory.

Memphis has won the first two games of the series and is 61-35, 14.0 games ahead of Nashville in the PCL American South. Game 3 is tonight at 7:05.

Springfield Cardinals 3, Northwest Arkansas Naturals 2

Tommy Edman (SS): 2-4, 2 2B, RBI

Anthony Shew (SP): 7 IP, 1 R, 5 H, 2 BB, 7 K’s

A stellar outing from Anthony Shew helped lead Springfield to its third straight victory despite missing out on a few opportunities.

The missed opportunities started early, with Springfield failing to cash-in on leadoff doubles in the first and second innings.

NW Arkansas used some two out magic to take a 1-0 lead in the top of the third. Springfield tied things up in the bottom of the fifth, but should’ve came away with much more.

After loading the bases to begin the inning, Blake Drake drove in a run on a sac fly, Tommy Edman flew out, and Ramon Urias grounded into a force out.

Anthony Shew did all he could going seven innings and allowing the one run, five hits, and two walks with seven strikeouts. It’s Shew’s third straight seven inning outing and his seventh quality start in 11 Springfield starts since being called up in mid-May.

Springfield gave him a chance to pick up the win with two out magic of their own in the bottom of the seventh. Edman drove in Drake with a double to give Springfield the 2-1 advantage.

Elniery Garcia (1-1) had other plans, and got the win for himself. He gave up a run while pitching the eighth. The bats, and NW Arkansas’ miscues, bailed him out in the bottom half.

NW Arkansas committed the baseball sin of walking the leadoff batter, Evan Mendoza, in the bottom of the eighth. He advanced to second on a passed ball, third on a groundout, and scored on a fielding error by the third baseman, which should’ve been the third out.

Will Latcham picked up his second save of the season and allowed one hit while pitching the ninth.

Springfield’s third straight win moves them to 41-54 and they are 10.5 games back of first place Tulsa in the Texas League North. They look for the four-game sweep tonight at 6:30.

Lakeland Flying Tigers 15 at Palm Beach Cardinals 7

Chase Pinder (CF): 4-5, RBI, R

Shane Billings (LF): 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI’s, R

Andy Young (2B): 2-4, HR, 2 R

Brian O’Keefe (C): 1-2, HR, 2 BB

Stefan Trosclair (1B): 1-4, 2 RBI’s, BB, R

Jesus Cruz (SP): 4.2 IP, 2 R, 4 H, 3 BB, 6 K’s

Palm Beach used a four-run inning to tie things up and eventually send it to extras, then completely imploded in extra innings.

Palm Beach got on the board first with a solo home run by Brian O’Keefe in the bottom of the second. Starter Jesus Cruz escaped trouble in a big way in the top of the fourth.

After Lakeland hit three straight singles to begin the inning, Cruz forced a flyout, Dylan Carlson threw out the runner attempting to score, and the next batter struck out.

To keep the momentum going, Andy Young led off the bottom of the fourth with a home run to give Palm Beach a 2-0 lead. Cruz wasn’t so lucky in the fifth.

He gave up a two-run shot to allow Lakeland to tie the game and end his night, being replaced by Thomas St. Clair. Cruz finished going 4 ²⁄₃ and giving up two runs, four hits, three walks, and struck out six. St. Clair had trouble while pitching the sixth.

The leadoff batter walked and advanced to third after the next batter reached base on a bunt single and Andy Young missed the catch. The runner scored on a sac fly and Lakeland put together three straight hits and ended with a 5-2 lead.

John Kilichowski relieved St. Clair and gave up a leadoff home run in the top of the seventh to make it 6-2. Palm Beach, however, didn’t call it quits.

They took advantage of a couple bases loaded situations with 2-RBI singles from both Shane Billings and Stefan Trosclair that lead to a tie game once again.

Kilichowski got the first two outs in the eighth with Estarlin Arias getting the final one. Jason Zgardowski gave up two hits in the ninth but escaped without giving up a run. Palm Beach failed to score in the bottom half and the game went to extras. It all went downhill from there.

Zgardowski gave up a leadoff double in the top of the 10th to give Lakeland a one-run lead and was replaced by Jacob Patterson after recording the first out. Patterson, who hadn’t given up more than a run in 34 relief apperances this season, was tagged for seven runs and eight hits. He didn’t record an out.

Taylor Bryant entered the game and quickly got the final two outs to stop the bleeding. Palm Beach scored one run in the bottom of the 10th on a Chase Pinder single, but that’s all they could get.

Palm Beach has split the first two games of the series and is 50-40, 4.0 games behind first place Charlotte in the FSL South. The final game of the series is tonight at 5:30.

State College Spikes 4 at West Virginia Black Bears 3

Lars Nootbaar (LF): 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI’s, BB

Stanley Espinal (DH): 2-5, 2 2B, R

Edwin Figuera (3B): 2-4, BB, R

Diego Cordero (SP): 6.2 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 3 K’s

The offense cooled down as the night went on, but a hot start was enough to give State College the victory.

Nick Dunn led off the game with a double and later scored on a Brady Whalen groundout to give State an early 1-0 lead.

Edwin Figuera led off the top of the second with a single, advanced to second when West Virginia’s pitcher committed a throwing error on a pickoff attempt, and Wadye Ynfante made him pay for it with an RBI double.

Lars Nootbaar hit a 2-RBI double in the top of the third to increase the lead to 4-0. Diego Cordero cruised through the first four innings before running into a little bit of trouble in the fifth.

He gave up a leadoff home run followed by a walk. The runner advanced to third after he committed a throwing error and scored on a sac fly. Not much went for either team until the bottom of the seventh.

Cordero retired the first two batters before giving up a double to end his night. He went 6 ²⁄₃ and gave up three runs, two earned, six hits, and two walks with three strikeouts. He was relieved by Gabe Gentner but his night didn’t last long. He faced three batters and walked all of them, the last one allowed West Virginia to come within a run.

Hector Villalobos entered the game and recorded the last out of the inning. He also pitched the eighth and the first two outs of the ninth with a double being the only damage he suffered. Cory Malcom gave up a walk before getting the final out of the game and his fourth save of the season.

State College is now 12-19 and 7.0 games back of first place Mahoning Valley in the Pinckney. The second game of the series is tonight at 6:05.

GCL Cardinals 1, GCL Mets 0

Victor Garcia (RF): 2-4

Brandon Purcell: 1-1, RBI

Perry DellaValle (SP): 5 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 0 BB, 7 K’s

DSL Cardinals Blue 4, DSL Mets1 2

Diowill Burgos (RF): 2-4, 2B, HR

Freddy De Jesus (DH): 1-4, 2 RBI

Francis Ventura (SP): 6 IP, 1 R, 6 H, 3 BB, 5 K’s

DSL Tigers1 10, DSL Cardinals Red 3

Luis Montano (LF): 2-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI’s

Allinson Benitez (SP): 0 IP, 5 R, 4 H, 2 BB

~

Wednesday’s Probables

MEM: Dakota Hudson

SPR: Sam Tewes

PMB: Evan Guillory

PEO: TBD

SC: Chris Holba

JC: TBD

DSL Blue: Inohan Paniagua

DSL Red: Martin Cordova