St. Louis Cardinals: Memphis Redbirds advance to championship

After an odd series of postponed, shortened, and extra inning games, the St. Louis Cardinals Triple A affiliate is heading to the PCL Championship series.

Memphis lost only a single game to the Oklahoma City Dodgers en route to securing their chance at a second straight title. The final game of the series went into extra innings, tied at one. Things didn’t look good for the St. Louis Cardinals minor league team when the Dodgers put two runs on the board in the 10th. However, the talented Redbirds put up three in the bottom half to win the series.

The Redbirds will take on either the El Paso Chihuahuas, or the Fresno Grizzlies, depending on the outcome of their game tonight.

To The Cardinals

Despite losing some of their key talent to the St. Louis Cardinals roster, Memphis is still playing at a very high level. It is a tough blow to lose the PCL Pitcher of the Year, the amazing Dakota Hudson, right before playoffs. Tyler O’Neill had also been instrumental for them all season before his promotion. Not to mention Patrick Wisdom and Adolis Garcia, who were also promoted.

Stepping Up

Losing players is common for Triple A teams, and the best ones can have other guys step up behind amazing coaching. That is something Memphis is blessed with having Stubby Clapp at the helm.

Some of the guys who came through when it mattered are guys that don’t show up on MLB Pipeline’s top 30 St. Louis Cardinals prospects. Tommy Edman and Lane Thomas both supplied multi-hit games in that final win. It is worth noting that Edman was removed from the prospect list in the mid-season update.

The highly-touted players came through as well. Genesis Cabrera, number 13, came through in relief by allowing no runs in his one inning. Prospect bat Max Schrock knocked a couple of doubles and hit .500 in the series. Those are just two of several more examples. This team is on fire.

Championship Series

Both the Grizzlies and the Chihuahuas finished with just one less win than the Redbirds in the regular season. So neither team will just roll over(No pun intended for El Paso). It will be a best of five series, the first game will be played on Tuesday, September 11.

This is the Memphis Redbirds title to defend, and they are playing well enough to do so. The success bodes well for the future of the St. Louis Cardinals, and winning another title would be amazing for the organization.