JUPITER, Fla. — As innings get more scarce and at-bats get more important late in spring training, some of the major-league players — or, more precisely, those battling for major-league jobs — have to find their swings and their pitches elsewhere. Enter the minor-league games.

The trip across the state and a couple other assignments put me a couple days behind on the Vuch Reports. How better to spend an overcast Sunday back here at the ballpark then to catch up. The Vuch Report, as a reminder, is a (mostly) daily recap of that day’s action on the backlots, where the minor leaguers play. But you will see in Friday’s menu of stats some familiar names. Joe Mather. Jason LaRue. A couple days ago it was Ryan Franklin and Brad Thompson.

Major-leaguers looking for swings, or extra at-bats, will pop by the back fields for some playing time. some will leadoff every inning — as Skip Schumaker did a few years ago, if memory serves — and then hustle back to the main-stage game for game. Keep that in mind when you come across a familiar name as you read through these numbers.

Also: Tyler Greene. His numbers are below, but he remains in the minors for the same reason Brian Barton does. Sure, Shane Robinson has gotten a lot of main-stage time, but that’s because he can. Barton and Greene cannot. Once optioned out of big-league camp players on the 40-man must remain in minor-league camp.

On to catching up with the Vuch Reports:

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Springfield 5, Memphis 3

– Shaun Garceau pitched three innings, allowing four hits, two runs (one earned) and walking two. … … Ryan Bird had a line of 3 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB. … Kristhiam Linares followed with 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 K, and Eduardo Sanchez finished the final 2/3 of the camp game with two earned runs and three walks for Memphis.

– For Memphis at the plate, outfielder Brian Barton was 3-for-3 with a double, a triple, a walk and two RBIs. … Joe Mather, getting the extra at-bats described above, went 1-for-3 with an RBI. … Jason LaRue was 1-for-2 with a double. … Mark Shorey was 1-for-3 with a run scored.

– Pitching for Springfield, in part, to face the hitters from the higher level, Blake Hawksworth went 3.1 IP, with three hits allowed, no runs and three walks against two strikeouts. … Matt Scherer had a line of 2 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K. … Lefty Sam Freeman pitched a scoreless couple innings with one hit, one walk and a strikeout.

– Tyler Greene, the presumptive starter at shortstop in Class AAA, was 3-for-4 with three doubles and four RBIs. … Antonio DeJesus tripled, and made a difficult catch at the fence in foul ground. … Tony Cruz, having himself a good Curt Smith-like spring training, doubled, walked and had an RBI. … Brett Wallace was 1-for-3.

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Palm Beach 4, Quad Cities 2

– Scott McGregor pitched four scoreless innings for Palm Beach and allowed just three base runners — two hits and one walk. … LaCurtis Mayes followed with an impressive outing of two perfect innings with five Ks. … Andres Rosales had a line of 1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 1 K.

– Shortstop Pete Kozma doubled and hit a sacrifice fly. … Paul Vasquez, who should not be confused with Niko (no relation), doubled and walked in his only two plate appearances. … Curt Smith continued just being Curt Smith. He went 1-for-3 with a run scored and his average this spring plunged to .452. … Tommy Pham was 1-for-2 with a walk, a run scored and he had the game-winning RBI. … Adron Chambers walked and beat out a bunt single. Given very little latitude when the Cardinals signed him a year or so ago, Chambers has been a model citizen by all accounts and has started gaining traction within the organization’s thick outfield depth chart. He’s an athlete. Raw athlete may not blossom as fast as others (see Daryl Jones, Joe Mather …), but Chambers’ baseball development is starting to intrigue. … Francisco Rivera executed a squeeze bunt for an RBI. … Shane Peterson singled and walked twice.

– For Quad Cities, Reynier Gonzalez pitched  four shutout innings and allowed three hits. … Joel Pichardo had a line of 2 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 1 K, and Senger Peralta followed with a line of 1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 1 BB. … Recent draft pick Niko Vasquez went 2-for-2 with a walk. … Osvaldo Morales had a two-run double that drove in Quad Cities only runs. … Jose Garcia’s doubled.

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