Daily Farm Report: Andrew Knizner Goes Deep Twice

Plenty of action happened down on the farm while the big leaugue club squandered Daniel Poncedeleon’s stellar debut on Monday. Springfield and the DSL Blue squad picked up wins while Palm Beach, Peoria and Johnson City all dropped close contests. Meanwhile, Memphis and State College enjoyed the night off. The DSL Red team got one inning into their game before having play suspended.

Springfield Cardinals 8 at Tulsa Drillers 0

Austin Warner (SP): 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K’s

Andrew Knizner (C): 3-5, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 R

Lane Thomas (RF): 3-5, 3B, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R

John Nogowski (1B): 2-5, HR, 2 RBI, R

Springfield enjoyed an offensive surge on Monday, tallying thirteen hits and four home runs in Tulsa.

Outfielder Johan Mieses tripled to lead off the top of the second inning, before being driven in by an Andrew Knizner single to open the scoring. Starter Austin Warner closed out the frame by striking out the side in the bottom of the second.

After a Lane Thomas groundout to open the third, Blake Drake was hit by a pitch. Following an Evan Mendoza fly out, John Nogowski stung a liner over the left field wall. 3-0 Springfield.

Andrew Knizner added a home run of his own as the leadoff man in the fourth inning. Two more runs would come Springfield’s way in the top of the sixth. With one on and two outs, Lane Thomas tripled to score Luke Dykstra. Thomas came in to score on a single by Drake in the next at bat. Knizner added his second home run of the game (sixth of the season) in the seventh. Lane Thomas joined the home run party in the eighth with a fly ball to left.

The win improves Springfield’s record to 45-56.

Daytona Tortugas 6, Palm Beach Beach Cardinals 4

Casey Meisner (SP): 3.1 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 1 K

Dylan Carlson (RF): 1-3, 2B, 2 BB, R

Irving Lopez (2B): 1-4, HR, RBI, R

Kramer Robertson (SS): 1-5, 2B

Daytona struck first, plating top-100 prospect Taylor Trammell with a two out double. The Cardinals didn’t help there cause, allowing a second runner to score on a fielding error by infielder Danny Hudzina. The Tortugas led 2-0 early on.

Palm Beach waited until the top of the fourth to tie the game up. A double, a single, and a walk loaded the bases with only one out. Ryan McCarvel singled on a line drive back to the pitcher and scored Dylan Carlson. Karma would net Palm Beach the tying run when Daytona allowed a run to score on a fielding error of their own.

The tie was short lived. A single, a walk and a sac bunt put runners on second and third with just one out. Both would come into score on a Randy Ventura single. Jacob Patterson came in to reliever Casey Meisner and closed out the frame with a strikeout and a line out.

Palm Beach mounted a charge late but couldn’t ultimately overcome the Tortugas. The Cardinals dropped to 52-42 on the season.

Great Lakes Loons 2, Peoria Chiefs 1

Alex Fagalde (SP): 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K’s

Luken Baker (1B): 2-4

Mariel Gonzalez (3B): 1-4, RBI

Patrick Dayton (RP): 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K

This Chiefs-Loons contest was painfully lacking in offense on Monday. Alex Fagalde (5-3) and Alfredo Tavarez (1-3) dueled scoreless starts but both left the game without gaining the decision. The entire game featured only eight hits between both teams, none of which went for extra bases.

The game wasn’t decided until scoring started in extra innings. Luken Baker started on second, per MiLB extra inning rules. Andres Luna immediately subbed in to pinch run for Baker, because, you know, Baker is built like a fridge and runs like one. Zach Kirtley drew a walk to put two runners on with no outs. Yariel Gonzalez singled to center to score the go ahead run.

With Fabian Blanco on the mound, Great Lakes tied the game with a sac fly. In the very next at bat, a ground ball single to left scored the game winning run. The loss moves Peoria to 57-42.

Danville Braves 4, Johnson City Cardinals 2

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

Brandon Riley (CF): 1-4, HR, 2 RBI, R

Luis Flores (2B): 1-2, BB, R

Danville jumped out to an early lead in the bottom of the first. With the bases loaded and one out, Ricardo Rodriguez brought in Brian Sanchez with a sac fly. Leahy then recorded a strikeout to end the Braves’ threat.

Johnson City wouldn’t threaten the Danville lead until the sixth inning. After a pitching change, infielder Luis Flores drew a walk to lead off the inning then stole second. Outfielder Brandon Riley then homered to put Johnson City up 2-1.

Danville struck back in the bottom of the seventh, using a walk, a single, a double and a throwing error by Michael Perri to tally three runs. Johnson City couldn’t come back, and is now 14-17 on the year.

DSL Cardinals Blue 6, DSL Twins 5

Francis Ventura (SP): 5 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 3 K’s

Carlos Soler (CF): 2-5, 2B, RBI, R

Malcom Nunez (3B): 1-2, 2B, 2 RBI, BB

Diowill Burgos (RF): 1-4, HR, 2 RBI, R

Malcom Nunez is still laying waste to the DSL. That is all.

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Tuesday’s Probables

MEM: Kevin Herget

SPR: TBD

PMB: Jesus Cruz

SC: Diego Cordero

JC: TBD