Cardinals Minors Spring Training Report: 3/22

Saturday’s St. Louis Cardinals minor league spring training game results. Pitcher and Player of the Day are Jess Todd and Allen Craig, respectively.

With the threat of precipitation in the Saturday afternoon forecast for Jupiter, Florida, the St. Louis Cardinals and Florida Marlins jointly agreed to move their scheduled games up by 2 ½ hours, to 10:30 A.M,. to ensure they beat the rain. The Cardinals made the best of the early wake-up call, with a five-game sweep of the “away” Marlins.

Sunday’s opponents for the Cardinals minor leaguers will be their New York Mets counterparts. Memphis and Springfield are traveling to Port St. Lucie while the single-A teams stay home at the Roger Dean Stadium complex in Jupiter, Florida.

Scout.com Cardinals Pitcher of the Day – Saturday

Jess Todd was the winner for Quad Cities #1 on Saturday, with five very impressive shutout innings. The right-hander yielded just one hit and no walks and struck out five. Our 18^th-ranked Cardinals prospect joined the organization in the second round of the 2007 draft from Arkansas. No need to convert him to relief at this point!

Scout.com Cardinals Hitter of the Day – Saturday

Playing third base for Springfield, Allen Craig reminded all that he is a dangerous hitter, going 3-for-4 on the day for the Double-A club. Our 11^th-ranked Cardinals prospect collected two doubles, a single and an RBI.

(Reminder: Click on any the highlighted names in this or any other article on Scout.com to be taken to the Player Profile Page for that player. There, you can find photos, biographical information, career highlights, links to past feature articles and stats and much more – an exclusive resource not available from other Cardinals-oriented sites!)

Memphis 6, Albuquerque 1

After leading Springfield in innings pitched last season, Mitchell Boggs is continuing his durable performances with Memphis this spring. On Saturday, our 13^th-ranked Cardinals prospect was the winning pitcher for the Triple-A club, spinning five shutout innings. The right-hander allowed just two his and two walks and punched out seven Marlins.

Lefty Ron Flores is serving notice to his coaches he may be able to contribute in St. Louis before too long in either a situational or extended role after striking out four batters in two scoreless innings.  Mark Worrell allowed the only enemy run in his inning of work. Jason Motte finished up with a scoreless inning, walking one and registering two K’s with that renowned fastball.

Infielder Jose Martinez continues to make his case that be belongs in Triple-A as he collected two extra base hits, a double and a three-run home run. Gabe Johnson and Reid Gorecki doubled, with Johnson also scoring.  

Springfield 5, Carolina 1

Brad Furnish allowed just one run over five innings and was credited with the win. He allowed four hits, but no walks. Four relievers each contributed one scoreless inning, Matt Scherer’s inning was perfect, and Nick Webber, Bob Zimmerman (2 K’s) and Luke Gregerson (2 K’s) were the others.

Outfielder Shane Robinson and utilityman Casey Rowlett each had a pair of hits. Robinson doubled and drove in three. Rowlett scored once and drove in one.

Palm Beach 5, Jupiter 3

The Cardinals came back from a 3-1 deficit by scoring four runs in the bottom of the seventh for the win. Offensively, Daniel Descalso and Jon Edwards each had two hits and added an RBI. Isa Garcia had just one hit, but maximized his result, with three RBIs.

Gary Daley, Jr. started with three solid innings. He was charged with one run on just one hit. Eddie Degerman struggled, getting just one out. He yielded two runs on one hit and two walks.

Armando Carrasco and Elvis Hernandez picked up the club, with 2.2 and one scoreless inning, respectively. Josh Dew slammed the door in a 1-2-3 ninth, including one strikeout.

Quad Cities #1 10,  Greensboro 1

Andres Rosales followed Todd with just an unearned run occurring on his three-inning watch. Rosales gave up two hits. Justin Fiske took care of the ninth with one hit and a strikeout.

With ten runs scored, there was plenty of offense. Charlie Pelt went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and and RBI and Domnit Bolivar also had three hits (in five at-bats) with a double and run scored. Travis Mitchell contributed two hits while Beau Riportella and Luis DeLaCruz each had a pair of RBIs.

Quad Cities #2 5, Marlins’ 5^th club 0

Deryk Hooker and Mark Diapoules each spun three scoreless innings. Hooker was creditied with the win, yielding two hits, two walks and fanning two. Diapoules also gave up two hits, but walked just one and struck out four. Jose Mateo (two innings) and David Riddle (one) protected the shutout.

Matt Arburr had two singles, a double, two runs scored and an RBI in four at-bats. Outfielder Ryde Rodriguez slugged a three-run home run for a nice cushion.

Basic player stats provided through the courtesy of Cardinals Director of Minor League Operations John Vuch.

Brian Walton can be reached via email at [e-mail].

© 2008 stlcardinals.scout.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten or redistributed.