The organization’s top two pitching prospects were on the mound tonight but were upstaged by Springfield starter Michael Blazek and Quad Cities starter Dail Villanueva. On the hitting side, Allen Craig makes a case for immediate activation from the DL, Oscar Taveras continues his assault on the Texas League, and Virgil Hill has a coming out party.
Hitting:
- Allen Craig would like to be in the major leagues, he went 3-for-4 w/ a 3-run homer and a 2-run homer
- Ryan Jackson went 2-for-4 w/ 2 R
- Pete Kozma went 1-for-1 w/ 2 BB
- Adron Chambers recorded the only other hit for Memphis, he went 1-for-4 w/ 1 R
Pitching:
- Shelby Miller needed 91 pitches to get through 5.0 shaky innings. His line included 7 H, 4 R, 4 BB and 5 K.
- Nicholas Greenwood pitched 2.0 innings that included 1 H and 2 K
- Adam Reifer (1 H, 1 K) and Eduardo Sanchez (1 BB, 3 K) pitched scoreless innings to close out the game
Hitting:
- Jose Garcia went 1-for-4 w/ 1 2B
- Oscar Taveras went 2-for-3 w/ 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 R and 1 RBI
- Kyle Conley went 1-for-3 w/ 1 BB and 1 RBI
- Xavier Scruggs and Audry Perez (1 R) went 1-for-4
Pitching:
- Michael Blazek pitched very well: 6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB and 2 K
- Keith Butler backed Blazek with 1.0 IP that included 1 BB
- Sam Freeman allowed 2 H in his scoreless inning
- Jorge Rondon was inserted into the game to earn the save and preserve the shutout, instead he allowed the game winning 3-run homer while managing to record only one out
Hitting:
- Mike O’Neill went 3-for-4 w/ 1 BB and 2 RBI
- Vance Albitz (1 RBI), Michael Swinson (1 R) and Luis De La Cruz (1 R) all went 1-for-5
- Jonathan Rodriguez went 3-for-5 w/ 1 2B, 1 R and 1 RBI
- Nick Longmire went 1-for-4 w/ 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 R and 1 RBI
- Neal Pritchard went 3-for-4 w/ 1 BB, 2 R and 1 RBI
Pitching:
- Carlos Martinez did not go deep into the game but did pitch relatively well: 5.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 BB and 3 K
- Zach Russell has struggled this season, but in this game, he pitched 2.0 scoreless innings that included 1 H and 1 K
- Logan Billbrough closed the game out with one scoreless inning that included 1 H
Hitting:
- The offense exploded in The Quad Cities as every starter recorded at least one hit.
- Matt Williams went 2-for-5 w/ 1 2B, 1 BB and 2 R
- Roberto De La Cruz went 2-for-5 w/ 2 R
- Colin Walsh continues to mash, he went 2-for-4 w/ 1 3B, 1 HR, 1 BB, 3 R and 1 RBI
- Anthony Garcia went 2-for-4 w/ 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 R and 4 RBI
- Virgil Hill displayed his speed by going 3-for-3 w/ 2 2B, 1 3B, 2 BB, 1 R and 4 RBI
- Luis Mateo went 2-for-5 w/ 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 R and 3 RBI
Pitching:
- Dail Villanueva was #2 in terms of starting pitching performances on the night: 6.0 IP, 8 H, 2 R (0 ER), 0 BB and 3 K
- Brandon Creath went 2.0 scoreless innings that included 1 H, 1 BB and 1 K
- Danny Miranda allowed 3 H and 1 R in his one inning
Entries (RSS)
Good for Virgil Hill, hope he can stick in Quad Cities this year.
I note that Kolten Wong wasn’t in the lineup at Springfield. Just a day off, or is something going on there? I was out of pocket for a week so I might have missed something.
Neal Pritchard had a strong first game at pb but I am surprised they didn’t send him to QC and promote Walsh who is in his 3rd season at low A. Kyle Conley is off to a good start in AA.
I’ve been saying for years that Rondon is a total disaster. No control at all. They just keep sticking him in critical situations because he has a live arm.
Prior to yesterday’s bad performance, he had been unscored upon in 7 of 8 games this season with 3 saves. Not a “total disaster”. The Cards obviously see something in him and thus are giving him a chance to close and or become a viable set up guy. He will either turn out to be Samuels (bad/injured) or Sanchez(who is shakey this season but should be alright to excellent, if he is not hurt). “Live arm” guys get many chances until they prove they can’t become 95+mph set up guys at a minimum. A guy like Marte has been around forever and is now getting another chance because he is a “live arm”, and he has been acceptable so far. Rondon is not holding anybody back so why not see if he can cut it. If he does improve his control, he apparently has the ability to become very good. Again, he has not been a total disaster this season other than yesterday. Cleto is a similar project (and he seems to be doing better as he adjusts to a middle reliever role). I can see both Cleto and Rondon becoming very good middle relievers or more in future seasons in St. Louis. If they don’t, not much lost (other than a good Robert DiNiro impersonator, who would rather argue a checked swing strikeout than save his team from a perfect game (“Are you talking to me?? Are you calling me out???”).
Cleto is on a different planet control-wise than Rondon not to mention the starter to reliever, apples to oranges comparison.. I understand WHY Rondon gets extra chances but he’s still a disaster.
Rondon was a starter too. A pretty bad one but a starter none the less.
I hope that my comment above was not one of the “chippy” one to which you were referring. It was certainly not intended to be so. I just don’t think Rondon has been a “disaster” so far, and I think his stuff merits seeing if he can improve his control. I don’t think he should be dis”carded” at this point.
Iowa only had 4 runs but Shelby gave up 5…which is correct?
Iowa. Shelby’s line is corrected.
Actually the answer is Shelby pitched 5 innings and gave up four runs. It does not say that Shelby gave up 5.
It said 5 runs this morning…azru corrected
It
My line is corrected then also.