Farm Report: Memphis Sweeps Into First Place Behind Mathews, Mendlinger
The Cardinal Chronicle
Daily Farm Report
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur
Farm Report: Memphis Moves Into First, Peoria Pounds South Bend
The Cardinals’ full-season minor league affiliates went 3-2 on Thursday, with Memphis and Peoria carrying the night.
Memphis swept a doubleheader at Norfolk, winning 7-0 and 6-2, to move into first place in the International League. Peoria broke out in a big way, pounding first-place South Bend 16-7 in a rain-shortened game. Springfield dropped another rough one to Amarillo, and Palm Beach was shut out by St. Lucie one night after scoring 17 runs.
The top headline belonged to Memphis, but Peoria made sure this was not a one-affiliate night.
Memphis Redbirds
Record: 41-25, International League
Standings: 1st place, International League
Results: Memphis 7, Norfolk 0 — Game 1
Memphis 6, Norfolk 2 — Game 2
Memphis did exactly what a first-place club is supposed to do Thursday afternoon.
The Redbirds swept both ends of a doubleheader at Norfolk, beating the Tides 7-0 in game one and 6-2 in game two, and moved into first place in the International League. After the final out of game two, Memphis held a half-game lead over Nashville and Rochester.
That is a good day’s work.
Game one belonged to Quinn Mathews and an offense that gave him more than enough support. Mathews delivered six shutout innings, allowing just three hits and one walk while striking out two. The strikeout total was modest by his standards, but the control of the game was not. He kept Norfolk off the board, worked efficiently, and handed the bullpen a clean path to finish the shutout.
Mathews has now worked 12.1 consecutive scoreless innings and has allowed one earned run or fewer in three straight starts. That is the kind of stretch Memphis needed, and it is the kind of stretch that puts him back into the big-league conversation.
Austin Love finished the shutout with a scoreless seventh inning, striking out two in his Triple-A debut.
The Memphis offense gave Mathews room to breathe. Victor Scott II, playing in his first Triple-A game of the season, went 2-for-4 with a double, a triple, two RBIs, a walk and a run scored. Noah Mendlinger had the biggest run-production line of the opener, going 3-for-4 with four RBIs, two runs scored, a double and his first Triple-A home run of the season. Yohel Pozo also added three hits.
In game two, Memphis wasted no time. César Prieto opened the scoring with an RBI double in the first inning, and Blaze Jordan followed three batters later with a two-run homer, his 11th of the season. Ramón Mendoza also drove in a run as Memphis put together another five-run inning, continuing a week in which the Redbirds have been able to change games quickly with one big frame.
Bruce Zimmermann started game two and gave Memphis 5.2 innings, allowing two runs, one earned, on three hits with three walks and four strikeouts. Luis Gastelum handled the final 1.1 innings, striking out two and earning his third save.
The sweep pushed Memphis to 41 wins, making the Redbirds the first Triple-A club to reach that mark this season.
Springfield Cardinals
Record: 26-33, Texas League North
Standings: Texas League North
Result: Amarillo 13, Springfield 4
Springfield had another rough night against Amarillo.
One day after taking a 14-4 loss, the Cardinals were beaten 13-4 by the Sod Poodles at Hammons Field. That is back-to-back lopsided losses, and there is not much need to dress it up.
The Cardinals did get an early spark from Rainiel Rodriguez, who crushed a solo home run in the first inning to give Springfield a 1-0 lead. He later added a two-run homer in the seventh, accounting for the biggest bright spot of the night for the Cardinals’ offense.
But Amarillo took over in the middle innings.
The Sod Poodles scored five runs in the fifth and five more in the sixth, turning a close game into another runaway. Springfield had opened the series with a strong comeback win behind Trey Paige’s grand slam, but Amarillo has controlled the two games since.
For Springfield, the problem is not complicated. When a pitching staff gives up that many runs in consecutive games, the offense has to be nearly perfect to keep up. The Cardinals were not.
This is the kind of stretch Double-A clubs have to flush quickly. Springfield has enough talent to answer back, but the Cardinals need a cleaner night on the mound and a better start early in the game to keep Amarillo from dictating the terms again.
Peoria Chiefs
Record: 31-29, Midwest League West
Standings: 3rd place, Midwest League West
Result: Peoria 16, South Bend 7 — seven innings, rain-shortened
Peoria broke out Thursday night.
After being held to three runs in three straight games, Peoria’s offense erupted for a 16-7 win over first-place South Bend at Four Winds Field. The game was shortened to seven innings after storms moved through the area, but by then the Chiefs had already done more than enough damage.
Peoria jumped out early in the first inning. José Suárez opened the scoring with an opposite-field RBI single, Tre Richardson III followed with a two-run double to the left-field wall, and Anyelo Encarnación added a sacrifice fly to give the Chiefs a 4-0 lead.
South Bend answered with three runs in the second, but Peoria kept swinging. Josh Kross launched a solo home run over the left-field seats, and Encarnación added another sacrifice fly later in the inning to make it 6-3.
The Cubs pulled within 6-5, but the Chiefs broke the game open in the fourth. Jesús Báez hit a three-run home run, extending his hitting streak to 11 games and tying the Chiefs’ single-season home run record in the High-A era with his 13th of the season.
Later in the inning, Encarnación added a three-run homer of his own, capping a six-run frame and pushing the lead to 12-5.
Peoria added four more runs in the sixth. Suárez doubled, Richardson drove him home with an RBI single, Richardson later scored on a wild pitch, Encarnación came home on a Cameron Nickens sacrifice fly, and Sammy Hernandez scored on a Báez sacrifice fly to make it 16-7.
That score held as the final after a tornado warning and weather delay stopped the game.
This was not just a win. It was a response. Peoria went into the home of the first-place Cubs and put up 16 runs after three straight quiet offensive nights. That changes the tone of the series in a hurry.
Palm Beach Cardinals
Record: 31-29, Florida State League East
Standings: 3 games behind Jupiter in the Florida State League East with six games remaining in the first half
Result: St. Lucie 2, Palm Beach 0
Palm Beach went from one extreme to the other.
One night after blasting St. Lucie 17-0 with 20 hits and four home runs, the Cardinals were shut out 2-0 by the Mets at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. It was Palm Beach’s second shutout loss of the week.
Cooper Hjerpe made his first start in a full-season minor league game since 2024 and tossed two scoreless innings. For Hjerpe, who is coming back from Tommy John surgery, the result matters less than the progress. Getting back on a full-season mound is a step.
Xavier Cruz followed in relief and made his Single-A debut. He struck out the first four hitters he faced and finished with six strikeouts, but the fifth inning got away from him. Cruz walked three hitters, left with the bases loaded, and St. Lucie scored its only two runs of the game on an error and a bases-loaded walk.
Anthony Watts kept the damage from getting worse, working 1.1 innings without being charged with a run. Antoni Cuello also gave Palm Beach 2.1 innings and struck out two.
The problem was the offense. St. Lucie’s pitching staff held Palm Beach scoreless and limited the Cardinals to four hits.
That is the strange part of baseball. One night, Palm Beach scores 17 runs. The next night, the Cardinals cannot push one across. Young hitters are still learning how to carry an approach from one game to the next, and Thursday was another reminder that development does not move in a straight line.
Player of the Day
Anyelo Encarnación, Peoria Chiefs
Anyelo Encarnación is The Cardinal Chronicle’s Player of the Day after driving in five runs in Peoria’s 16-7 win over South Bend.
Encarnación drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the first inning, added another sacrifice fly in the third, and then delivered the biggest swing of his night with a three-run homer in the fourth. That blast capped Peoria’s six-run inning and pushed the Chiefs’ lead to 12-5.
That is run production.
Noah Mendlinger deserves strong mention after going 3-for-4 with four RBIs, two runs scored, a double and his first Triple-A home run of the season for Memphis. Victor Scott II also deserves mention after a strong first Triple-A game of the season, and Jesús Báez belongs in the conversation after hitting his 13th home run and extending his hitting streak to 11 games.
But Encarnación gets the nod for driving in five runs in a 16-run win over a first-place club.
Pitcher of the Day
Quinn Mathews, Memphis Redbirds
Quinn Mathews is The Cardinal Chronicle’s Pitcher of the Day after throwing six scoreless innings in Memphis’ 7-0 win over Norfolk.
Mathews allowed three hits, walked one and struck out two. He has now worked 12.1 consecutive scoreless innings and has allowed one earned run or fewer in three straight starts.
The strikeout total was modest, but the control of the game was not. Mathews gave Memphis length, kept Norfolk off the board, and put the Redbirds in position to win the first game of a doubleheader they would eventually sweep.
Cooper Hjerpe deserves mention for two scoreless innings in his first full-season start since 2024. Xavier Cruz also deserves mention for striking out six in his Single-A debut, even with the command trouble that followed.
But Mathews gets the honor for six shutout innings in a win that helped move Memphis into first place.
Old School Take
This was a Memphis and Peoria night.
Memphis swept a doubleheader, got six shutout innings from Quinn Mathews, a big game from Noah Mendlinger, a strong return from Victor Scott II, and moved into first place in the International League.
Peoria went into South Bend, faced the first-place Cubs, and put 16 runs on the board after three straight quiet offensive games.
Springfield had another night to forget. Palm Beach followed a 17-run explosion by getting shut out.
But the headline belongs where it belongs.
Memphis moved into first.
Peoria punched back.
That is the Farm Report.
The Cardinal Chronicle, in association with Gateway Sports & MiLB Today
Preserving the Past, Promoting the Present, and Projecting the Future.
Check out The Cardinal Chronicle for more St. Louis Cardinals coverage, daily farm reports, prospect updates and old-school baseball commentary:
www.cardinalchronicle.com
Photo Credit: Quinn Mathews, Memphis Redbirds | Lighthouse Media