Cardinals Minor League Roundup: Andrew Morales Shines

30th-ranked prospect Andrew Morales stood out for the Springfield Cardinals on Sunday, giving up just one run over seven innings.

Sunday wasn’t the greatest of days for the St. Louis Cardinals’ minor-league system, as the organization went 1-3 overall. Starting pitchers Jeremy Hefner and Sandy Alcantara had poor outings, and shortstop Oscar Mercado continued to have major problems in the field. It was a bright day, though, for players like David Washington, Anthony Garcia, and Brian O’Keefe.

Triple-A Memphis lost 11-5 to Las Vegas

• Starting pitcherJeremy Hefnerhad an extremely rough go of it at hitter-friendly Cashman Field, giving up six earned runs on 56 pitches (five hits, four walks) through 1.2 innings. Because of Hefner’s ineffectiveness, the Redbirds were forced to burn through five members of their bullpen–Justin Wright,Corey Littrell,Miguel Socolovich,Juan Gonzalez, andSam Tuivailala–and also called on backup catcherAlberto Rosarioto finish the eighth inning on the mound. Littrell, who went an inning and a third, and Socolovich, who threw two full innings, each collected three strikeouts.
• First basemanDavid Washingtonhit a solo home run in the sixth inning, his 13th in total this season and his eighth since being promoted to Memphis on May 5.
• ShortstopAlex Mejia, who has bounced back and forth between Memphis and Springfield over the past two seasons, had the only multi-hit effort of the day for the Cardinals, going 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI.

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Double-A Springfield won 4-1 over Frisco

• Starting pitcherAndrew Morales, ranked as the organization’s number 30 prospect by MLB Pipeline, was unquestionably the star for Springfield on Sunday, throwing seven innings while allowing just one earned run on aPreston Becksolo homer in the fourth. For the day, Morales allowed just three hits and one walk while striking out six.
• Surging prospectHarrison Baderextended his hitting streak to five games, remaining relatively cool at the plate by his recent standards, but still managing to collect a single.
• OutfielderAnthony Garcia, playing his third game for Springfield since being demoted from Memphis earlier this week, was the only Cardinals hitter to collect multiple hits, as he went 2-for-4.

High-A Palm Beach lost 8-7 to Jupiter

• Six of the Cardinals’ nine starters reached base at least twice, including second basemanDarren Seferina, left fielderCole Lankford, first basemanCasey Grayson, third basemanAllen Staton, DHAndrew Sohn, and shortstopOscar Mercado.
• Mercado had another rough day in the field, committing his 17th and 18th errors during a fifth inning that ended up netting six runs for the Hammerheads. All of those runs were unearned for Palm Beach starterJacob Evans, who ended up gutting it out and going 6 2/3 innings, allowing eight hits and two walks while giving up a modest two earned runs.

Next: How Will Cardinals Solve Upcoming Catching Conundrum?

Class A Peoria lost 7-3 to Quad Cities

• Starting pitcherSandy Alcantarawasn’t especially effective, allowing six hits and two walks over five innings. Alcantara, who struck out 14 batters in his last outing, matched his season low in strikeouts (minimum five innings) with four.
• Catcher Brian O’Keefe, who had a fantastic series against Quad Cities, going 4-for-13 with a homer and two RBI, was back in full force on Sunday. O’Keefe had two doubles and was the only Chiefs hitter to record multiple hits.
• DHChris Chinea, a 17th-rounder last year, hit his first homer of the 2016 season.

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