Daily Farm Report: Where’s the offense?

Offense was a bit of a problem for the Cardinals farm system Thursday as six of nine games saw the team post two runs or less.

Memphis Redbirds 4, Sacramento River Cats 0

Adolis Garcia (RF): 2-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI’s

Lane Thomas (CF): 2-4, 2 2B

Wilfredo Tovar (2B): 2-4, R

Patrick Wisdom (3B): 1-4, HR, 2 RBI’s

Jake Woodford (SP): 6 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 1 BB, 6 K’s

Pitching dominated and Memphis did enough to pull out the victory.

They got on the board in the bottom of the third with a 2-RBI double by Adolis Garcia. Patrick Wisdom provided some insurance with a two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth.

Jake Woodford (3-2) was stellar pitching six scoreless innings and gave up three hits, one walk, and struck out six.

Matt Bowman pitched 1 ¹⁄₃ scoreless innings with two strikeouts and Tommy Layne got his third save of the season with 1 ²⁄₃ scoreless innings, also having two strikeouts.

Memphis moves to 69-41 and is 14.5 games ahead of second place Nashville in the American Southern. The magic number to clinch the division is 17. They’ve split the first two games with Sacramento and the series finale is tonight at 7:05.

Northwest Arkansas Naturals 9, Springfield Cardinals 1

Tommy Edman (2B): 2-4

Andrew Knizner (C): 2-5

Matt Pearce (SP): 5 IP, 6 R, 9 H, 1 BB, 3 K’s

It was a really long night for Springfield.

Northwest Arkansas scored three in the bottom of the first and never looked back. Two more came in the fourth, one run in the fifth and sixth, and an additional two in the seventh. Springfield finally scored in the top of the ninth when John Nogowski walked with the bases loaded.

Matt Pearce (0-3) pitched through five innings and gave up six runs, nine hits, one walk, and struck out three. Roel Ramirez gave up the run in the sixth. Eric Carter gave up the two in the seventh and also pitched the eighth inning.

Springfield falls to 51-60, 18-23 in the second half, and is 6.5 games behind first place Tulsa in the North. The second game of this series is tonight at 7:05.

Palm Beach Cardinals 1, Daytona Tortugas 0

Stefan Trosclair (2B): 1-4, RBI

Alex Fagalde (SP): 6 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 1 BB, 6 K’s

While the offense struggled, pitching was supreme to lead Palm Beach to victory.

Stefan Trosclair hit an RBI single in the bottom of the second and that ended up being all Palm Beach was going to need.

Alex Fagalde threw six scoreless innings and gave up two hits, one walk, and struck out six. He started the seventh but was removed after walking the first batter and hitting the next. John Kilichowski faced two batters, the first reaching base on a single and the second striking out.

Austin Sexton took over for the remainder of the seventh, got out of the jam, and pitched the eighth as well. Bryan Dobzanski pitched the ninth and got a four-out save after one batter reached base on a wild third strike.

Palm Beach moves to 57-46, 18-21 in the second half, and is 6.5 games behind first place Charlotte in the South. They won two of three over Daytona and start a three-game series at Jupiter tonight at 5:30.

Peoria Chiefs 3, Cedar Rapids 2

Wood Myers (LF-2B): 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI’s

Rayder Ascanio (SS): 2-4

Kolten Wong (2B): 0-3, BB

Jake Dahlberg (SP): 7 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 6 K’s

The offense wasn’t bad, but good pitching helped lead the way once again for the Cardinals farm system in Peoria.

Cedar Rapids struck first with a run in the top of the first. Peoria quickly responded with an RBI double by Zach Kirtley in the bottom of the first. A 2-RBI double by Wood Myers in the bottom of the third gave Peoria a 3-1 lead. Cedar Rapids’ other run came in the fifth.

Jake Dahlberg pitched seven innings and gave up two runs, one earned, six hits, one walk, and struck out six.

Zach Prendergast pitched a scoreless eighth and Fabian Blanco a scoreless ninth.

Peoria moves to 63-45, 24-14 in the second half, and is 2.0 games behind first place Cedar Rapids in the Western. They look for the three-game sweep of the division leaders tonight at 7.

Game 1: Auburn Doubledays 7 at State College Spikes 1

Justin Toerner (LF): 2-3

Michael Baird (SP): 5 IP, 3 R, 6 H, 1 BB, 4 K’s

State College was never fully out of it until Auburn turned in a big final inning.

Auburn struck first with a run in the second and another in the third. State College cut that in half with an RBI single by Wayde Ynfante in the bottom of the fourth. Auburn made it 3-1 in the top of the sixth, but took it home with four runs in the top of the seventh.

Michael Baird (0-2) went five innings and gave up three runs, six hits, one walk, and struck out four. Kevin Hamann pitched the final two innings and gave up four runs, four hits, two walks, and struck out two.

Game 2: Auburn Doubledays 6 at State College Spikes 0

Edgar Gonzalez (SP): 1.2 IP, 3 R, 6 H, 1 BB, 1 K

The offense got even worse in the second game of the doubleheader.

Auburn picked up right where they left off with three runs in the top of the first. They tacked on three more runs in the top of the fifth.

Edgar Gonzalez (1-1) was pulled after just 1 ²⁄₃ innings and gave up three runs, six hits, one walk, and struck out one. Winston Nicacio threw 2 ²⁄₃ and gave up one run, Eli Kraus also pitched 2 ²⁄₃ and gave up two runs.

State College falls to 19-27 and is 10.0 games behind first place Mahoning Valley in the Pinckney. The series with Auburn continues tonight at 6:05.

Game 1: Johnson City Cardinals 5, Elizabethton Twins 3

Leandro Cedeno (1B): 2-3, HR, 3 RBI’s

Nolan Gorman (3B): 2-4, 2B, HR, 2 RBI’s

Jonatan Machado (CF): 2-4, 2B, 2 R

Donivan Williams (2B): 2-3

Tommy Parsons (SP): 6 IP, 3 R, 6 H, 0 BB, 5 K’s

Johnson City turned in the most productive night in the farm system in terms of runs scored.

Nolan Gorman hit a two-run shot in the bottom of the first to give Johnson City a 2-0 lead. Elizabethton tied it with two in the top of the second. Johnson City regained the lead on an RBI single by Leandro Cedeno in the bottom of the fifth.

Again, the momentum didn’t last long as Elizabethton tied it back up in the top of the sixth. Leandro Cedeno came through again with a two-run walkoff bomb in the bottom of the seventh.

Tommy Parsons went six innings and gave up three runs, six hits, and struck out five while walking none. Parker Kelly (4-1) pitched a perfect seventh and took home the win.

Game 2 was suspended after two innings, tied at 1.

DSL Mets1 4 at DSL Cardinals Blue 2

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

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

Darlin Moquete (RF): 2-4

Julio Puello (SP): 6 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 BB, 4 K’s

DSL Tigers1 5, DSL Cardinals Red 2

Jesus Orecchia (C): 2-4, RBI

Joerlin De Los Santos (CF): 2-5

Martin Cordova (SP): 5 IP, 5 R, 4 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 1 K

Friday’s Probables

MEM: Austin Warner

SPR: Casey Meisner

PMB: TBD

PEO: Johan Oviedo

SC: Diego Cordero

JC: Kyle Leahy