MARION, IL –  The Southern Illinois Miners got two home runs on Sunday from Kurt Wertz, Jr. and a game-tying, two-run shot in the bottom of the ninth by Ryan Lashley, but Rock Shoulders’ two-run home run in the tenth inning gave the Joliet Slammers an 8-6, extra-inning win at Rent One Park to complete a series sweep.

The Miners grabbed an early advantage in the first inning as Lashley hit an RBI single following a walk by Craig Massey and a single by Nolan Earley. Later in the inning, with the bases loaded, a wild pitch by Shane Bryant brought home Earley and made it 2-0. Joliet would score four runs in the next two innings, three of which were unearned thanks to three Miners errors. With the score 4-2, Wertz clubbed a home run over the right field wall leading off the bottom of the fourth for his first hit of the year after being activated from the injured list on Sunday.

Ridge Hoopii-Haslam got that run back leading off the next inning with a solo shot of his own to make the score 5-3, and the Slammers would go ahead 6-3 on an RBI single by Chaz Meadows with two outs in the sixth inning. Wertz again led off the bottom half of the frame with a solo home run, this time to left field, to make the score 6-4. The ballgame then stayed 6-4 through the late innings as neither team could score off the other’s bullpen. Southern Illinois loaded the bases with none out in the eighth, but three straight strikeouts by Danny Concepcion held them off the board.

In the ninth, Earley tripled with one out down the right field line, setting up Lashley, who homered to left field off Joliet closer Confesor Lara to tie the game at 6-6. That sent the game to extra innings, and in the tenth, after a diving catch by Lindley in right-center field robbed Juan Silva for the first out, Edwin Gomez doubled and went to third on a flyout. With two down in the inning, Shoulders then hit a go-ahead, two-run homer to right field to give the Slammers the lead, and eventually the win when Southern Illinois got the tying run on base in the bottom half of the inning with nobody out, but failed to score.

Lashley went 2-for-5 with three RBIs, while Wertz, Massey and Earley had two hits apiece, with Wertz homering twice in the game, but it was not enough as the visiting Slammers swept the weekend series in Marion. Southern Illinois will take the field next on Wednesday night at 6:05 p.m. for a doubleheader against the Traverse City Beach Bums. Ethan Gibbons and a starter to be named will pitch for the Miners while Reinaldo Lopez and Augie Gallardo will toe the rubber for Traverse City.

Box Score

Batting Stats

Batting
2B: E.Gomez (5). HR: R.Shoulders (6), R.Hoopii-Haslam (5).
RBI: D.Zardon (10), R.Shoulders 2 (21), M.Rodriguez (19), R.Hoopii-Haslam (15), A.Rodriguez (11), C.Meadows (7). SF: M.Rodriguez (1). CS: J.Silva (4). SB: J.Silva (6), R.Hoopii-Haslam (5).
Team LOB: 3.

Fielding A: D.Zardon (21), M.Rodriguez 3 (71), C.Meadows (36). PO: J.Silva 6 (43), R.Shoulders 8 (210), M.Rodriguez (47), R.Hoopii-Haslam 4 (60), A.Rodriguez 2 (49), C.Patterson 9 (39).
TC: J.Silva 6 (45), D.Zardon (29), R.Shoulders 8 (223), M.Rodriguez 4 (122), R.Hoopii-Haslam 4 (94), A.Rodriguez 2 (51), C.Meadows (56), C.Patterson 9 (45).

S Illinois
#	Batter	P	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
23	Massey, C	2B	5	1	2	0	1	1	.290
15	Earley, N	RF	4	2	2	0	1	0	.268
19	Lashley, R	3B	5	1	2	3	0	0	.229
27	Flores, M	LF	4	0	0	0	1	0	.242
25	Martin, W	1B	3	0	1	0	0	1	.289
11	McKeithan, J	PR	0	0	0	0	0	0	.178
7	Moore, B	C	1	0	0	0	0	1	.190
8	Wertz Jr., K	DH	3	2	2	2	2	0	.667
26	Plant, C	SS	5	0	1	0	0	1	.385
6	Moore, R	C	3	0	0	0	0	1	.000
30	Germaine, B	1B PH	2	0	0	0	0	2	.309
2	Lindley, L	CF	5	0	0	0	0	2	.306
			40	6	10	5	5	9

Batting
3B: C.Massey (2), N.Earley (2).  HP: W.Martin (1). HR: R.Lashley (3), K.Wertz Jr. 2 (2).
RBI: R.Lashley 3 (19), K.Wertz Jr. 2 (2).
Team LOB: 10.

Fielding  A: C.Massey 6 (60), R.Lashley (31), W.Martin 2 (2), C.Plant 3 (26), R.Moore 2 (6), N.Palacios (4), C.Washington (1). CS: R.Moore (1). DP: 2 (C. Plant(SS) – W. Martin(1B),N. Palacios(P) – C. Massey(2B) – W. Martin(1B)).  E: M.Flores (1), W.Martin (1), C.Plant (2), R.Moore (1). PO: C.Massey 3 (43), N.Earley (42), R.Lashley (10), M.Flores (19), W.Martin 9 (9), C.Plant 2 (13), R.Moore 4 (36), B.Germaine 2 (18), L.Lindley 6 (70), C.Sessions (3). SBA: R.Moore 3 (17). TC: C.Massey 9 (104), N.Earley (45), R.Lashley 2 (47), M.Flores 2 (20), W.Martin 12 (12), C.Plant 6 (41), R.Moore 7 (43), B.Germaine 2 (20), L.Lindley 6 (71), C.Sessions (8), N.Palacios (5), C.Washington (1).

Pitching Stats

Pitching
BF: S.Bryant 30, B.McKenna 3, D.Concepcion 5, C.Lara 3, G.Russ 5.
P-S: S.Bryant 114-73, B.McKenna 16-6, D.Concepcion 16-12, C.Lara 8-5, G.Russ 23-13.
WP: S.Bryant (1).

S Illinois
#	Pitcher	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
18	Sessions, C	3.1	7	5	2	0	0	4.02
1	Palacios, N	2.2	1	1	1	2	1	5.06
16	Washington, C	2.0	0	0	0	1	3	0.00
40	Tinius, K	1.2	1	1	1	0	0	2.37
28	Werner, J	0.1	1	1	1	0	0	3.09
		10	10	8	5	3	4

S Illinois
#	Pitcher	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
18	Sessions, C	3.1	7	5	2	0	0	4.02
1	Palacios, N	2.2	1	1	1	2	1	5.06
16	Washington, C	2.0	0	0	0	1	3	0.00
40	Tinius, K	1.2	1	1	1	0	0	2.37
28	Werner, J	0.1	1	1	1	0	0	3.09
		10	10	8	5	3	4

Pitching BF: C.Sessions 17, N.Palacios 10, C.Washington 6, K.Tinius 6, J.Werner 2. P-S: C.Sessions 73-42, N.Palacios 40-23, C.Washington 18-13, K.Tinius 20-15, J.Werner 6-5.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E Joliet 0 1 3 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 8 10 0 S Illinois 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 6 10 4

My apologies for the layout of the Miners pitching line. -sd

by Steve Dunford

The Press Conference at 1 Stadium Plaza this afternoon still has social media, abuzz.  This has been one of the most ugliest stretches of Cardinal baseball that I can remember.

I take a daily walk.  Today I left my phone at home.  I get home and I have a few texts and a few messages on Facebook.  Over anyone, when I receive one from my son it takes top priority.  He said the Cardinals have called a press conference for 2:00 p,m,  I think something is going down big.   I got home about 2:30.

I figured Peralta would be released, that was no surprise.  I figured it would happen when Kolten Wong was activated.   I was wondering what was going down.  I was wondering if Matheny was fired, of if a trade was made for a bat.

Every St. Louis media source, Facebook and Twitter was very slow to load, especially the Post Dispatch and Fox Sports Midwest.  I provided a link for Fox 2 and you can hear John Mozeliak’s opening remarks.

As a GM, Mo has grown on me.  I used to call him the bow tied geek.  Even though I cried like a baby when it happened, he used his head in letting Albert Pujols walk.  Sometimes he wins doing this and sometimes he loses, but signing players long term, buying out some of their arbitration years and free agency years is frugal.

I read several St. Louis media sources that covered the press conference.  Most stories had three basic points to them.

1.  It is not time to blow it up yet. 

I know a lot of people whether it be the fans or even some in the press has called for Mike Matheny to be fired.  There were significant changes, but they were not earth shattering ones.  I think you could see Randall Grichuk traded in the next few days.  It the right set of prospects is offered, I think Tommy Pham could be dealt.   Greg Garcia might go if the right deal is offered.

It is not a matter if Magnerius Sierra will be back, it is a matter of when.  I see Jose Martinez and Chad Huffman as roster putty.  They are just filling gaps in the wall right now.  They are AAAA players.  They serve their purpose of providing pop off the bench right now.

The time to blow it up will lead into the next point.

2.  We will see where were at in 4-6 weeks

This will get us to around the All-Star break.  I have learned over the years to understand Mo Speak.  If the Cards get things back together, it would be the time to go out and get a bat.  I say if they are a few games over .500, the Cardinals will be buyers.

If they are a few games below .500 they will be sellers.  Some stories used the phrase, Matheny is put on notice.

The first one that will be gone, and I would hate to see him go is Lance Lynn.  He would be the most valuable piece in a deal.   I wish the Cardinals would have locked him up long term, similar to a deal that Mike Leake received.    Lynn will make a boatload of money pitching somewhere next year.  There is the same odds of him pitching in a Cardinal uniform in 2018 if loaned out as a rental, than if he would hit the free agent market.

Second would be Trevor Rosenthal, as he approaches his third year of arbitration and would be an unrestricted free agent in 2019.  He could bring two or three prospects in a fire sale.

I am intrigued how the name Matt Carpenter is floating out there.  Mo is a genius at this.  He knows when to hold ’em and when to fold ’em.  He is a sly poker player.  He leaks some names to the St. Louis media to see a reaction.  Sometimes he makes deals that comes out of nowhere.

Two players whose contracts are up, but the Cardinals still have team control is Seung Hwan Oh, and Aledmys Diaz.  They could be packaged.

If the Cardinals are out of the race by mid July, no telling what you will see.  There might be a new sheriff in town even.

3.  Johnny Peralta was a cancer

Mo did not put it as bluntly as I did.  But he basically said that he did not have time to seek a trade because the atmosphere of the clubhouse.

The last nail in the coffin for him was refusing to take balls at 1B.  I saw the red flag go up when he entered the game as a PH in the old fashioned butt kicking on Wednesday night.  When he stayed in at third and Gyroko moved to first, I was thinking if you were serious about staying around, he would have taken over at first.  I actually hated to see him get a hit on Wednesday.  I thought it might mean a few more days.

With the changes of the coaching staff, especially the reassignment of Chirs Maloney.  We will see what happens.  This is the second time Mo put the team on notice this year.  The other being during the Yankees series.  It worked last time. Hopefully it will work again.

As a side note, everything I have written about the Cardinals, on average has been increasing over 100 views each time.  I would like to thank you.

Lets hope for a sweep of the Phillies tonight.