St. Louis Cardinals: Memphis Redbirds Check-in

The St. Louis Cardinals must count themselves lucky to have such an outstanding AAA team in the Memphis Redbirds. But how have the Redbirds fared this season?

The Memphis Redbirds, the St. Louis Cardinals’ AAA-affiliate team, completed their eighteenth game on Tuesday night with a loss. While disappointing, one might wonder if this team is falling prey to the ups-and-downs that the big club has encountered. Let’s take a look at the season thus far in this recap.

Colorado Springs Series

The Redbirds opened the season on April 7 starting a four-game series against the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, the AAA-affiliate of the Brewers. The Redbirds dropped the first game 4-3 with Sam Tuivailala taking the loss. In this first game, the birds posted six hits to Colorado’s eight hits.

The second game was won by a score of 2-1 on six hits by the birds to Colorado’s four hits and single error. J. C. Sulbaran took the win in the second game.

The third game of the series was won by the birds by a score of 4-0 on a massive 10-hit day. Jeremy Hefner was awarded the win.

Unable to hold their winning ways, the Redbirds dropped the final game of the series 6-4 while surrendering fifteen (yes, 15) hits to the Sky Sox. Thomas Lee was saddled with the loss.

At the conclusion of the Colorado series, the Redbirds set at exact .500-baseball with the record of 2-2.

Oklahoma City Series

Oklahoma City came next into town bring the AAA-affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers for a four-game set. On April 11, the Redbirds dropped the first game of the set with a score of 4-0 while surrendering seven hits. Arturo Reyes took the loss.

Continuing on the losing streak, the birds dropped the second game to the Dodgers 4-2 after surrendering nine hits. Miguel Socolovich was responsible for the loss coming out of the pen.

Desperately wanting a win, the Redbirds plowed into the third game of the series and defeated the Dodgers with a score of 8-1 on an eleven-hit day! Sulbaran posted his second win of the season. Still reeling from the win, the Redbirds posted 4 runs on ten hits to defeat the Dodgers in the final game of the series.

Still reeling from the win, the Redbirds posted 4 runs on ten hits to defeat the Dodgers in the final game of the series. Heath Wyatt was awarded the win.

At the conclusion of the Oklahoma City series, the Redbirds set with a record of 4-4 and still at .500-baseball.

Colorado Spring Series @ Colorado

After enjoying a lengthy homestand, the birds took flight (a happy one at that) to Colorado Springs where they faced a tough a competitor in the Sky Sox AND a tough competitor in Mother Nature. A four-game set was in store, yet only two games were played.

In the first game played- on April 15- the Redbirds continued their winning ways by posting twelve hits and ten runs in the thin Colorado air downing the Sky Sox who also posted high numbers: 9 runs on twelve hits. Jonathan Gonzales was awarded the win.

After the first game, Mother Nature took over and postponed the second game which was rescheduled as part of a doubleheader to take place a day later. When Mother Nature was still in charge the next day, thus postponing the third game of the series and preventing the doubleheader, the third game was pushed to a later date in June.

On what was to be the final game of the series, the Redbirds slated to play two but were able to only complete one of the two scheduled due to weather. In the game they were able to play, a seven-inning contest, the birds lost by a score of 3-1 with Deck McGuire taking the loss.

After the Colorado Springs series, the Redbirds held a record of 5-5: .500-baseball.

Oklahoma City Series @ Oklahoma

Staying on the road, the Redbirds next traveled a little further south geographically to Oklahoma City to take on the Dodgers in their home stands. This four-game set seemed to have the promise of being uninhibited by Mother Nature yet she had other plans.

In the first game of the series, Memphis was forced to settle for a loss in this rain-shortened game by the score of 4-0 after only five innings. Sulbaran took the first loss of his season in this contest.

In the second game of the set, Memphis smashed seven runs on ten hits to best the Dodgers by the score of 7-2. Hefner was awarded his second win of the season.

The third game continued the winning ways of this scrappy team via the final score of 6-5. Lee was awarded his first win of the season in this game.

Unable to keep the winning going, the birds dropped the final game of set by the score of 7-1 after surrendering ten hits. Arturo Reyes took his second loss of the season.

After the Oklahoma City series, the Redbirds maintained their .500-baseball record by having won seven and lost seven.

Round Rock Express Series

Returning home to the confines of AutoZone Park, the Redbirds welcomed the AAA-affiliate team of the Texas Rangers, the Round Rock Express into town. This four-game set was set to show whether the birds were a .500-team like their major league counterparts or whether they might string together enough wins to bump above this trend.

What’s Next

To close out the month of April, the Redbirds will travel to New Orleans to face the AAA-affiliate of the Miami Marlins, the Zephyrs for a four-game set.

Questions that I often toss around such as are there great pitchers here to watch, are there great bats here to watch, are there players on the rise, etc. will be examined in tomorrow’s post as a quick recap of the Redbirds season thus far. I can tease by telling you that the answer to each of these questions is a resounding YES.

Next: 1-on-1 with Schildt

Today, Wednesday 4/27, is an off-day for travel for the Redbirds. As such, I will get you another recap article tomorrow examining individual players of interest as exemplified at this point in the season. Moving forward, I plan to provide you with a recap of each of the Redbirds series upon the conclusion of the series so watch for those. Follow me on Twitter and let’s discuss some baseball!

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