Tyler Lyons had another quality start and the hitters did not disappoint Saturday night as the St. Louis Cardinals’ Triple-A club did battle against the Chicago Cubs’ affiliate in Iowa, 7-2.
The scoring began in the top of the second inning when Rafael Ortega hit a sacrifice fly to give the Memphis Redbirds an early 1-0 lead. Greg Garcia extended the lead in the top of the third with a two-run single, making it 3-0. On the night, Garcia went 1-for-2 with two RBI, one run and three walks.
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The Redbirds would capitalize and score on a throwing error, and Garcia scored on a Ty Kelly sacrifice fly, giving Memphis a 6-0 lead after three innings.
Memphis scored again in the top of the fourth on a fielder’s choice play to extend the lead to 7-0, concluding the scoring for the Redbirds. The only Cubs’ runs would come in the bottom of the eighth on a Javier Baez two-run home run that bounced off the light tower at Principal Park.
Lyons was credited for the win in the game. He pitched six innings giving up just three hits, no runs, one walk, and having eight strikeouts. His record is now 5-2 and his ERA was lowered to 2.61 on the season.
Dean Kiekhefer would come in to pitch the seventh inning where he only surrendered one hit. Keith Butler started the eighth inning but was removed after giving up the two-run home run. Iowa tagged him for one hit, two runs and one walk in just two-thirds of an inning.
Heath Wyatt entered, pitching both the eighth and ninth innings, lowering his earned run average to 1.29 on the year.
As a team, the Redbirds tallied five hits. Garcia, Kelly and Ortega all had one in the win. Stephen Piscotty and Jacob Wilson had the other hits for the team.
Memphis will battle Iowa again Sunday afternoon in Des Moines and it’s shaping up to be a pitcher’s duel. Tim Cooney (5-2, 2.55) takes the ball for the Redbirds, while right-hander Donn Roach (6-0, 2.12) toes the rubber for Iowa.
First pitch is set for 1:08 CT.