From the Southern Illinois Miners

The Southern Illinois Miners closed out the month of June with a bang, rebounding from a 3-0 first-inning deficit to score eight unanswered runs in front of a huge crowd at Rent One Park on Friday night for an 8-4 win over the Normal CornBelters.

After a pregame ceremony honoring the nation’s military, the CornBelters took the lead on a three-run homer by Nolan Meadows off of Ethan Gibbons in the top of the first inning. But Southern Illinois would strike back in the second for two runs on a bases-loaded walk by Ryan Sluder followed by an RBI single by Craig Massey to make it 3-2. In the third inning, Southern Illinois drew even at 3-3 on a passed ball with men at first and third base. Kurt Wertz, Jr. then gave the Miners the lead for good with a drive to right-center field that was lost in the sky by Diego Cedeno and turned into a two-run, inside-the-park home run and a 5-3 lead.

Gibbons (5-2), meanwhile, settled down in a big way, working six innings in the game and allowing just one hit after the homer by Meadows in the first. The Miners’ offense scored insurance runs on the lead as well- after Brett Wiley led off the fifth inning with a double, Craig Massoni singled him home to make it 6-3, then Wiley knocked in Ryan Lashley in the sixth with an RBI single after Lashley had tripled to left-center for a 7-3 advantage. The Miners’ final run came in the eighth on a sacrifice fly by Wiley, with Normal scoring a run on a groundout against Corey Sessions in the ninth for the final margin.

The Miners pounded out 13 hits as a team in front of 6,177 fans in attendance, with Wertz going 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBIs to lead the way. Wiley finished 2-for-4 with a run scored and two runs batted in, with Lashley and Massey adding two hits apiece in the balanced offensive attack to secure the team’s fourth win in a row at Rent One Park. Gibbons got the win on the mound for the Miners, his team-leading fifth of the season, walking two and striking out seven while Sessions secured his second save by pitching the final three innings in relief.

Southern Illinois will look to take the series on Saturday night at 7:05 p.m., with Tyler Stubblefield taking the mound against Normal’s Julio Vivas.

The Southern Illinois Miners are the 2016 Frontier League West Division Champions, the 2014 and 2015 Frontier League East Division Champions and the 2012 Frontier League Champions. They have been awarded the Frontier League Organization of the Year award three times since their inception, and also set a new Frontier League attendance record in 2007, their inaugural season. For ticket information, contact the Rent One Park box office at (618) 998-8499. For any additional information, visit our website at www.southernillinoisminers.com.

Box Score

Batting Stats

Batting
2B: J.Solorzano (5).
HP: S.Chirino (2).
HR: N.Meadows (2).
RBI: N.Meadows 3 (23), D.Cedeno (13).
SB: J.Fletcher (4).
Team LOB: 4.

Fielding
A: S.Chirino (130), J.Fletcher 5 (82), M.Torres (66).
DP: 2 (J. Fletcher(2B) – S. Chirino(SS) – A. Dudley(1B),J. Fletcher(2B) – A. Dudley(1B)).  PB: C.Lepre (8).  PO: S.Chirino 3 (67), A.Dudley 7 (351), J.Solorzano 3 (15), J.Fletcher 2 (54), D.Cedeno 3 (87), C.Lepre 6 (270).
TC: S.Chirino 4 (204), A.Dudley 7 (387), J.Solorzano 3 (18), J.Fletcher 7 (141), D.Cedeno 3 (90), M.Torres (98), C.Lepre 6 (294).

Batting
2B: B.Wiley (3).  3B: R.Lashley (1).  HR: K.Wertz Jr. (5).
RBI: C.Massey (18), B.Wiley 2 (8), C.Massoni (30), K.Wertz Jr. 2 (11), R.Sluder (3).  SF: B.Wiley (2).  Team LOB: 8.

Fielding
A: C.Massey 7 (97), R.Lashley (52), B.Wiley 3 (28), C.Massoni (3), C.Sessions (8).  DP: 2 (C. Sessions(P) – C. Massey(SS) – C. Massoni(1B),B. Wiley(2B) – C. Massey(SS) – C. Massoni(1B)).  E: B.Wiley (7).
PO: C.Massey 2 (74), B.Wiley (19), C.Massoni 10 (35), N.Earley 2 (65), K.Wertz Jr. 2 (19), Z.Taylor 8 (29), R.Sluder (9), E.Gibbons (5).
SBA: Z.Taylor (3).  TC: C.Massey 9 (173), R.Lashley (76), B.Wiley 5 (54), C.Massoni 11 (38), N.Earley 2 (69), K.Wertz Jr. 2 (21), Z.Taylor 8 (32), R.Sluder (9), C.Sessions (12), E.Gibbons (9).

Pitching Stats

Normal
#	Pitcher	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
34	Hasenbeck, M	3.0	7	5	5	3	3	6.75
	Gendron, C	3.0	4	2	2	1	1	6.00
4	Herrera, A	2.0	2	1	1	1	2	1.42
		8	13	8	8	5	6

Pitching
BF: M.Hasenbeck 17, C.Gendron 14, A.Herrera 9.
P-S: M.Hasenbeck 62-28, C.Gendron 44-25, A.Herrera 31-20.

S Illinois
#	Pitcher	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
17	Gibbons, E	6.0	3	3	3	2	7	5.00
18	Sessions, C	3.0	3	1	1	0	1	4.53
		9	6	4	4	2	8

Pitching
BF: E.Gibbons 24, C.Sessions 11. P-S: E.Gibbons 107-63, C.Sessions 44-29.  WP: E.Gibbons (1).

MINERS ROSTER MOVE:   Activated RHP Jared Messer from the injured list.

From the Southern Illinois Miners

The Southern Illinois Miners held a 2-1 lead entering the bottom of the ninth inning against the Gateway Grizzlies on Thursday night in Sauget, but could not hold it, as the home team came back and won on a walk-off base-on-balls by Dan Holst by a score of 3-2, denying the Miners a series sweep.

In the 1,000th game in Miners franchise history, Southern Illinois grabbed the lead right away, as Craig Massoni hit an RBI infield single against his former team in the top of the first with two outs to make it 1-0. Thanks to the pitching of Zach Cooper, who tied his season and career-high with eight strikeouts, the Grizzlies trailed by that score until the fifth inning, when Blake Brown’s sacrifice fly brought home Matt Hearn and tied the game at 1-1. The unearned run, with an error in the frame by the Miners, would be all that Cooper allowed in the contest in addition to five hits and three walks in six innings of work.

Meanwhile, the Miners got that run back immediately, as Hearn’s error in center field allowed Ben Moore to go to second base. After a sacrifice bunt by Kurt Wertz, Jr., Southern Illinois took a 2-1 lead on a sacrifice fly by Culver Plant to deep right. After Cooper departed, Kyle Tinius and John Lollar kept the Grizzlies at bay, with Tinius striking out the side in the seventh inning and Lollar working out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth.

In the ninth, however, Gateway would come back against Chris DeBoo. After a lineout for the first out, back-to-back walks put the tying run in scoring position at second base. DeBoo struck out Terry McClure looking for the second out, but in the next at-bat, on a 2-2 pitch, Jack Hranec singled to tie the game at 2-2. After Chase Simmons followed with a walk to load the bases, Holst came up against Nick Palacios and drew a walk to force in the winning run.

Southern Illinois won the series against the Grizzlies to finish 5-4 on their nine-game road swing, and will next head home for a series against the Normal CornBelters over the weekend. All three games of the series will start at 7:05 p.m., and include postgame fireworks as well, with Ethan Gibbons taking the hill for the Miners against Normal in the first game on Friday night.

The Southern Illinois Miners are the 2016 Frontier League West Division Champions, the 2014 and 2015 Frontier League East Division Champions and the 2012 Frontier League Champions. They have been awarded the Frontier League Organization of the Year award three times since their inception, and also set a new Frontier League attendance record in 2007, their inaugural season. For ticket information, contact the Rent One Park box office at (618) 998-8499. For any additional information, visit our website at www.southernillinoisminers.com.

Box Score

Batting Stats

Batting  2B: C.Massoni (7), N.Earley (6).  HP: L.Lindley (2).  RBI: C.Massoni (29), C.Plant (4).  SF: C.Plant (1).  SB: C.Massey (5), K.Wertz Jr. (2).  Team LOB: 7.

Fielding
A: B.Wiley 3 (25), C.Massoni (2), C.Plant 2 (38), Z.Cooper (3).
DP: 1 (B. Wiley(2B) – C. Plant(SS) – C. Massoni(1B)).  E: R.Lashley (9), B.Wiley (6).  PO: B.Wiley (18), C.Massoni 6 (25), N.Earley (63), B.Moore 12 (236), C.Plant 3 (25), L.Lindley 2 (94), Z.Cooper (5).  TC: R.Lashley (75), B.Wiley 5 (49), C.Massoni 7 (27), N.Earley (67), B.Moore 12 (251), C.Plant 5 (66), L.Lindley 2 (95), Z.Cooper 2 (8).

Batting
RBI: B.Brown (34), J.Hranec (3), D.Holst (2).
SF: B.Brown (2).
Team LOB: 14.

Fielding
A: B.Sakurai 3 (17), J.Hranec (3), C.Simmons (12), E.Rogers 3 (82), M.Bartlett (13), W.Landsheft (5), J.Sigman (2).  DP: 1 (B. Sakurai(2B) – M. Bartlett(SS) – J. Hranec(1B)).  E: M.Hearn (4).  PB: C.Simmons (2).
PO: M.Hearn 2 (81), B.Sakurai 3 (10), B.Brown (38), T.McClure 2 (50), J.Hranec 10 (87), C.Simmons 7 (161), M.Bartlett (11), W.Landsheft (4).
SBA: C.Simmons 2 (25).  TC: M.Hearn 3 (102), B.Sakurai 6 (28), B.Brown (40), T.McClure 2 (52), J.Hranec 11 (90), C.Simmons 8 (173), E.Rogers 3 (137), M.Bartlett 2 (26), W.Landsheft 2 (10), J.Sigman (2).

Pitching Stats

S Illinois
#	Pitcher	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
39	Cooper, Z	6.0	5	1	0	3	8	4.23
40	Tinius, K	1.0	1	0	0	0	3	2.52
10	Lollar, J	1.0	1	0	0	2	0	6.10
12	DeBoo, C	0.2	1	2	2	3	1	5.27
1	Palacios, N	0.0	0	0	0	1	0	4.84
		8.2	8	3	2	9	12

Pitching
BF: Z.Cooper 27, K.Tinius 4, J.Lollar 5, C.DeBoo 6, N.Palacios 1.
P-S: Z.Cooper 115-76, K.Tinius 23-16, J.Lollar 16-7, C.DeBoo 31-16, N.Palacios 6-2.  WP: C.DeBoo (1).

Gateway
#	Pitcher	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
13	Landsheft, W	6.0	5	2	1	2	5	4.27
18	Sigman, J	2.0	0	0	0	0	2	1.54
25	Elwood, M	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	3.00
		9	5	2	1	2	9

Pitching
BF: W.Landsheft 27, J.Sigman 6, M.Elwood 3.  P-S: W.Landsheft 97-63, J.Sigman 29-19, M.Elwood 12-7.

From the Southern Illinois Miners

SAUGET, IL – The Southern Illinois Miners came back from a 2-0 early deficit on Wednesday night against the Gateway Grizzlies to clinch the series with a 4-3 win at GCS Ballpark in Sauget, going ahead for good on Willi Martin‘s pinch-hit RBI single in the seventh inning and holding that lead late in their eighth win in their last 11 contests.

After a scoreless first two frames, Austin Dubsky ran into trouble in the third inning, and Gateway was able to score two runs on RBI singles by Brent Sakurai and Terry McClure to take a 2-0 lead. On the Gateway side, Will Anderson held the Miners’ bats at bay through the first five innings, with Corey Sessions matching him in relief of Dubsky.

The Miners then surged ahead in the sixth inning, as Brett Wiley led off the frame with a double before being singled home by Craig Massoni to make it 2-1 Gateway. After Kurt Wertz, Jr. worked a walk, Nolan Earley then came through with a game-tying RBI double off the left field wall to score Massoni and knot the game at 2-2, chasing Anderson from the game. With runners at second and third base, Zach Taylor then hit a ground ball to former Miner Joel McKeithan at third base, which brought home the go-ahead run and made it 3-2 Southern Illinois.

Gateway would tie the game in the sixth when with the bases loaded and none out, Dan Holst hit an RBI groundout of his own to second base to make it 3-3, but Sessions was able to keep the game tied. The Miners then took the lead for good in the seventh inning, when with Wiley on second base and two outs, Martin was called upon off the bench to pinch-hit, and he delivered a single into right-center field that plated Wiley with the eventual winning run and made it 4-3.

Southern Illinois’ bullpen again made the late lead stand up, with John Werner striking out the side in the ninth inning for the second time in as many nights to nail down the victory. The Miners will next go for the road sweep in the series finale on Thursday night at 7:05 p.m., with Zach Cooper taking the mound against Gateway’s Will Landsheft.

The Southern Illinois Miners are the 2016 Frontier League West Division Champions, the 2014 and 2015 Frontier League East Division Champions and the 2012 Frontier League Champions. They have been awarded the Frontier League Organization of the Year award three times since their inception, and also set a new Frontier League attendance record in 2007, their inaugural season. For ticket information, contact the Rent One Park box office at (618) 998-8499. For any additional information, visit our website at www.southernillinoisminers.com.

Box Score

Batting Stats

Batting
2B: B.Wiley (2), N.Earley (5), R.Sluder (1).
RBI: C.Massoni (28), W.Martin (12), N.Earley (16), Z.Taylor (2).
Team LOB: 12.

Fielding  A: C.Massey 4 (90), R.Lashley 2 (51), B.Wiley 3 (22), Z.Taylor 2 (3), B.Moore (14), C.Sessions (7).  DP: 1 (B. Wiley(2B) – C. Massey(SS) – C. Massoni(1B)).  E: C.Sessions (1).  PO: C.Massey 2 (72), B.Wiley (17), C.Massoni 11 (19), K.Wertz Jr. 3 (17), N.Earley (62), Z.Taylor 7 (21), B.Moore 2 (224).
SBA: Z.Taylor (2).
TC: C.Massey 6 (164), R.Lashley 2 (74), B.Wiley 4 (44), C.Massoni 11 (20), K.Wertz Jr. 3 (19), N.Earley (66), Z.Taylor 9 (24), B.Moore 3 (239), C.Sessions 2 (11).

Batting
RBI: B.Sakurai (1), T.McClure (20), D.Holst (1).  SB: B.Brown (5).
Team LOB: 9.

Fielding
A: M.Hearn (17), B.Sakurai 2 (14), J.McKeithan 7 (14), M.Bartlett 4 (12).
DP: 1 (B. Sakurai(2B) – M. Hearn(CF) – M. Hearn(CF) – J. Hranec(1B)).
E: B.Brown (1), J.Reynoso (2).  PO: M.Hearn 3 (79), B.Sakurai 3 (7), T.McClure 2 (48), J.Hranec 13 (77), B.Lees 6 (9).
TC: M.Hearn 4 (99), B.Sakurai 5 (22), B.Brown (39), T.McClure 2 (50), J.Hranec 13 (79), B.Lees 6 (10), J.McKeithan 7 (17), M.Bartlett 4 (24), J.Reynoso (5).

S Illinois
#	Pitcher	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
21	Dubsky, A	3.0	4	2	2	2	3	4.24
18	Sessions, C	3.1	5	1	1	0	3	4.63
1	Palacios, N	0.2	0	0	0	2	0	4.84
12	DeBoo, C	1.0	0	0	0	1	1	4.15
28	Werner, J	1.0	0	0	0	0	3	2.61
		9	9	3	3	5	10

Pitching
BF: A.Dubsky 14, C.Sessions 15, N.Palacios 4, C.DeBoo 3, J.Werner 3.
P-S: A.Dubsky 74-45, C.Sessions 49-34, N.Palacios 11-4, C.DeBoo 17-8, J.Werner 12-9.  WP: C.Sessions (1), N.Palacios (1).

Gateway
#	Pitcher	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
37	Anderson, W	5.1	7	3	3	3	2	5.36
22	Cable, T	1.1	1	1	1	2	1	3.00
27	Reynoso, J	1.1	0	0	0	0	1	2.19
10	Uhrich, K	1.0	0	0	0	2	3	3.00
		9	8	4	4	7	7

Pitching
BF: W.Anderson 25, T.Cable 8, J.Reynoso 5, K.Uhrich 5.
P-S: W.Anderson 105-63, T.Cable 29-15, J.Reynoso 25-18, K.Uhrich 23-12.
WP: T.Cable (1), J.Reynoso (1).

http://m.cardinals.mlb.com/news/article/239310386/cardinals-option-aledmys-diaz-to-minors/

PHOENIX, AZ – (Jenier Langosch – mlb.com.  Please click on the link for the full story.  Here is an excerpt below.

A day after describing himself as lost at the plate, Aledmys Diaz arrived at Chase Field on Wednesday to learn that not only was he out of the lineup again, but that he was headed elsewhere. Just as they did with Randal Grichuk last month, the Cardinals optioned Diaz to Triple-A Memphis in an effort to give the second-year shortstop a change of scenery as he works through a variety of issues with his swing.

Taking Diaz’s place on the 25-man roster is utility infielder Alex Mejia, who had his contract purchased from Memphis. The Cardinals cleared a spot for Mejia on the 40-man roster by transferring Alex Reyes to the 60-day disabled list. It was not immediately known if Mejia would arrive in Phoenix in time to be in uniform on Wednesday.

“As a player, you want to be here,” Diaz said before departing on Wednesday. “You want to help your team win games and get to the playoffs. I always think that everything in life happens for a reason. I have to take it the right way. I have to think this is for my good and it’s going to help me. I didn’t think it was going to happen, but it is what it is. I have to go out there and play.”