TOWER GROVE -- One of the reasons the St. Louis Cardinals opted to let top prospect Shelby Miller establish roots in the Quad Cities' rotation and spend the entire summer with the Low-A team was what happened Wednesday night.
Miller made his playoff debut one to remember.
The righthanded starting pitcher tossed seven shutout innings and struck out a career-high 13 as Quad Cities won, 4-0, at Kane County. Miller, 19, has lived up to the hype the entire season, going 7-5, 3.62 ERA overall in 24 starts and striking out 140 in 104 1/3 regular-season innings. The Cardinals kept him at their lowest full-season affiliate because they wanted him to a) establish himself within a rotation, b) get the opportunity at that level to refine his secondary pitches and c) experience the playoffs he helped the affiliate earn.
"A" happened quick. "B" followed late in the same. "C", the result.
Look no further than some of the Tweets from Kevin Goldstein, the minor-league and prospect guru for Baseball Prospectus and ESPN who attended the game in person:
#Cardinals rhp Shelby Miller strikes out side in fourth; Nine Ks through four and as dominant as I've seen him.
Shelby Miller at 5 2 0 0 0 10 right now; best breaking balls came in the fifth inning. #Justsick
#stlcards rhp Shelby Miller needs just ten pitches in 7th. Likely done at 7 2 0 0 1 13 in most dominating performance I've seen all year
Miller, the Cardinals' first-round pick out of a Texas high school last summer, allowed two hits and one walk in his seven innings. One of the hits was a bunt for a single, and the other was a double by Oakland farmhand Leonardo Gil.
The righty's final inning took all of seven pitches.
"I was really hyped up about this game," Miller told beat writer Steve Batterson at the Quad-City Times after the game (check out the story here, please). "I thought a lot coming into it about how good I can be when I put my mind to it, and I put it all together. I told J-Rod (manager Johnny Rodriguez) I was going to get him a shutout, and I did."
The win was the club's first since last appearing in the Midwest League's postseason, back in 2007. Infielder Luis Mateo had two hits, including a triple, and an RBI for the River Bandits, and Alan Ahmady doubled and scored to help QC extend its lead behind Miller.
The River Bandits take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three first-round series. The second game is tonight in Quad Cities. RHP Michael Blazek (8-4, 2.71) is scheduled to start for QC.
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MEMPHIS 7, OKLAHOMA CITY 5: The Redbirds began defense of their Pacific Coast League title with a couple home runs from outfielder Joe Mather and a victory at AutoZone Park. According to the Commercial Appeal, Mather is the first minor-leaguer in Memphis history -- all of Memphis baseball history; not just Redbirds history -- to hit at least two homers in the same playoff game.
Mather told the paper after the victory: "Albert's (Pujols) been here. (David) Freese had a good postseason last year, and (Allen) Craig. There's a lot of great players who have been here so it's an honor to have that."
Mather went 2-for-4 in the game with the homers and three RBIs. Shortstop Donovan Solano, who inherited the role when Tyler Greene moved to the majors in the past week, had two RBIs. Ruben Gotay, the forgotten third baseman, went 2-for-3 with a run scored and leadoff hitter James Rapoport also had two hits and a run scored. Starter Brandon Dickson got the victory for his work in 5 1/3 innings. The righty allowed five runs (four earned) on eight hits. He limited the damage by striking out five and walking none. Josh Kinney, the Redbirds' closer, swooped in to pitch a scoreless ninth.
The best-of-five series continues tonight in Memphis before shifting for a potential three games in OKC. RHP P.J. Walters is scheduled to start tonight for Memphis.
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SPRINGFIELD vs. NW ARKANSAS, ppd.: The first game of the S-Cards' best-of-five first-round series was postponed because of persistent rain in the Springfield, Mo., area. The game will be played tonight, weather permitting. RHP Scott McGregor is set to start for the S-Cards against the Naturals. As an example of how neighborly the Texas League is, the two teams have already played each other 32 times this season and split the season series, 16-16.
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