Jimmy Crooks had three hits and a 431-foot homer on Tuesday night, but Triple-A Memphis lost 4-3 to Rochester in Game 1 of the International League championship series. Meanwhile, Double-A Springfield was shut out 4-0 by Amarillo and it will play for the Texas League crown on Wednesday.
Triple-A Memphis and Double-A Springfield, Minor League affiliates of the St. Louis Cardinals, both fell behind early and never recovered in championship series losses on Tuesday night.
Springfield came into the night needing just one victory to repeat as Texas League champions, but Amarillo (Dbacks) scored once in the first inning and three times in the second in a 4-0 victory to force a deciding Game 3 on Wednesday night in Southwest Missouri.
As for Memphis, prized right-hander Jurrangelo Cijntje allowed four runs over six innings of work and the Redbirds failed on a scoring chance with the bases loaded and nobody out in the sixth inning in a 4-3 loss to Rochester (Nats) in Game 1 of the International League championship series at AutoZone Park.
Memphis, the first-half champions when they had current Cardinals’ rookie standouts Joshua Baez, Leo Bernal and Quinn Mathews, will need to win on Wednesday to extend their best-of-three series to a deciding game on Thursday in Memphis.
Jimmy Crooks, who hit five homers in his nearly three months with the Cardinals earlier this season, smashed a 431-foot homer that left the bat at 106.4 mph to lead off Tuesday’s sixth inning to get Memphis within 4-2.
Ramon Mendoza followed with a double and Bligh Madris and Chase Davis followed with walks to load the bases. Zach Levenson, who smashed a 379-foot solo homer in the second inning, struck out and Noah Mendlinger grounded into a rally-killing double play.
In the ninth inning, Crooks came through with another key hit – this time a single to score Trey Paige – but the Redbirds couldn’t get the potential tying run home from third when Madris struck out to end the game.
Crooks, 25, finished 3 for 4 with two RBU, a run scored and a stolen base. The Redbirds went 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position and they left 10 runners on base.
Cijntje, who was acquired from the Mariners in the trade that centered around Brendan Donovsan going to Seattle last February, struck out six, got 15 swings and misses and hit 98.3 mph with his four-seam fastball. He threw strikes on 60 of his 86 pitches.
Springfield’s Yhoiker Fajardo, the No. 13-ranked prospect in the Cardinals system, got 13 swings and misses against Amarillo, but he couldn’t overcome a shaky start. Two walks and a hit batter loaded the bases in the first inning, and Fajardo appeared poised to get out of the inning after striking out two, but he missed on a 3-2 pitch to Angel Ortiz to walk in a run.
Yassel Soler and Carlos Virahonda reached Fajardo – who was acquired from the Red Sox last December in a trade centered around Willson Contreras – for homers in the second inning to land Springfield in a 4-0 hole.
Daniel Eagen, who was acquired from the Dbacks in the Lars Nootbaar trade in November, pitched six innings of scoreless relief. He struck out seven and got 11 swings and misses.
A Springfield offense that dominated in a 7-2 Game 1 victory mustered just one extra-base hit (Jack Gurevitch’s double). Rainiel Rodriguez, the No. 1 ranked player in the Cardinals’ system and the top catching prospect in the Minor Leagues, went 1 for 4. Jesus Baez, who has 41 homers in the regular season and playoffs combined, also went 1 for 4 with a strikeout. Tai Peete, who had a 5-hit night in Game 1, went 1 for 4 with two strikeouts.
Hard-throwing left-hander Liam Doyle, the No. 2-ranked player in the Cardinals system, is scheduled to start Wednesday's winner-take-all Game 3.
