June 5th Wrap
Memphis
Redbirds Toppled by Tacoma, 10-4
The Memphis Redbirds (24-36) opened the contest by scoring in the first inning against the Tacoma Rainiers (Mariners) for the second straight night in Tacoma, Wash., but the Rainiers scored seven times in the bottom half and never looked back in their 10-4 win over the Redbirds.
Adolis Garcia drove in Rangel Ravelo with a two-out single in the opening frame to give the Redbirds an early 1-0 lead, but the Rainiers (30-30) responded with seven runs their first time up, all with two outs, knocking Memphis starter Anthony Shew out of the contest after just 0.2 innings of work.
Jose Godoy notched his first career Triple-A hit, a two-run blast to right, but Redbird bats went silent the rest of the night, scoring just one more run over the final seven innings.
Godoy ended his night going 2-for-3 with two RBI and walk.
Chris Ellis made his longest relief outing of the season, tossing 3.0 scoreless frames, allowing two hits while striking out three and issuing two walks. Chasen Shreve also had a scoreless appearance out of the bullpen, tossing 2.1 shutout innings and allowing just a single batter to reach.
Six of the nine Redbird batters recorded a hit in the contest, but Tyler O'Neill was the only other batter besides Godoy to have multiple hits.
Memphis allowed a season-high four stolen bases and hit into four double plays.
Springfield
Tulsa tops Cardinals in Wednesday matinee, 4-1
The Tulsa Drillers (32-26) completed the series sweep with a 4-1 win against the Springfield Cardinals (23-36) at ONEOK Field on Wednesday afternoon.
DECISIONS:
W: LHP Victor Gonzalez (1-1)
L: LHP Austin Warner (2-5)
S: RHP Jordan Sheffield (1)
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED:
-Tulsa CF DJ Peters broke the scoreless tie with a two-out, two-run home run in the bottom of the third inning, swinging the Drillers into the 2-0 lead.
-The Cardinals cut the deficit in half, 2-1, when 1B Zach Kirtley belted a solo home run to start the fourth inning, his first home run in Double-A.
-The Drillers added a pair of insurance runs in the seventh with an RBI walk from Peters and a run-scoring wild pitch, opening their lead to 4-1.
NOTABLES:
-C Chris Chinea went 3x4 with three singles.
-2B Irving Lopez added a pair of base hits in a 2x5 day.
-LHP Austin Warner allowed only two runs in 6.0 innings, marking his sixth straight outing of at least 6.0 frames and his fifth quality start overall this season.
-RHP Connor Jones tossed a 1-2-3 eighth inning out of the bullpen.
Palm Beach
Fagalde, Ortega spur Palm Beach to 3-1 win over Lakeland
Dennis Ortega singled three times, and Alex Fagalde pitched seven scoreless innings as the Palm Beach Cardinals topped the Lakeland Flying Tigers 3-1 on Wednesday. The win snapped a five-game losing streak for the Cardinals and a four-game winning streak for the Flying Tigers.
Fagalde (6-3) allowed four hits while striking out five and walking one to pick up the win.
Palm Beach got on the board first with a run in the third inning. After being hit with a pitch, Justin Toerner advanced to third on a double by Luken Baker and then scored on a double by Baker.
After Palm Beach added two runs, the Flying Tigers cut into the deficit in the eighth inning when Brady Policelli hit an RBI single, bringing home Reece Hampton.
Jesus Rodriguez (2-7) went 5 1/3 innings, allowing three runs and eight hits while walking two in the Florida State League game.
Peoria
Big Second Inning Gives Chiefs Second Straight Win
Continuing their strong offense from Tuesday night, the Peoria Chiefs defeated the Quad Cities River Bandits 6-2 Wednesday night while playing as the road team at Dozer Park. The Chiefs improve to 26-31 on the season with the series finale set for Thursday at 6:35 p.m.
The Chiefs drew first blood in the top of the second against River Bandits starter Jose Alberto Rivera. After his 4-for-4 performance Tuesday, Juan Yepez continued his hot hitting with a leadoff double. He scored from second on a double from Bryce Denton to put the Chiefs ahead 1-0. Brandon Benson reached on a throwing error by Quad Cities catcher Orlando Marquez and Wadye Ynfante hit a solid single to load the bases. Brendan Donovan knocked a single to right field to score Denton and Benson to push the Chiefs lead to 3-0 and Ynfante scored on a wild pitch for the 4-0 lead.
Peoria added a run to their lead in the top of the fourth. Benson, who also returned to the Chiefs on Tuesday, led off the inning with his first homerun of the season to increase the lead to 5-0.
The Chiefs extended their lead in the top of the sixth against River Bandits reliever Matt Ruppenthal. Ynfante doubled with one out, Donovan walked and Delvin Perez singled to load the bases. Nolan Gorman ripped a single to right to extend his hit streak to 10 games as Ynfante scored to increase the Chiefs lead to 6-0.
The River Bandits ended the Chiefs shutout with a run against Mike Brettell in the sixth. They added another run in the ninth on a groundout against newcomer Parker Kelly.
Brettell (2-2) earned his first win as a starter, pitching six innings allowing one run on five hits with four walks and two strikeouts. Cole Aker pitched two perfect innings with one strikeout. Parker Kelly pitched the final inning in his Chiefs debut, allowing one run on one hit.