TOWER GROVE -- No stranger to the stress and glory of late-inning assignments in the postseason, Memphis Redbirds closer Josh Kinney has rapidly emerged this season as an ace in the ninth for the St. Louis Cardinals' Triple-A affiliate.
Kinney got his second save in as many nights for the Class AAA Redbirds as they took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five opening-round playoff series. Memphis won, 3-2, and now heads to Oklahoma City with three chances to win one game and advance in the Pacific Coast League postseason.
A year ago, Memphis won the PCL championship after the arrival of a rehabbing prospect pitcher boosted them through the playoffs.
That fall it was starter Jaime Garcia.
This fall it's closer Kinney.
The righthander was a key part of the Cardinals' Baby Bullpen (the Play 'Pen?) back in 2006's run to the World Series. Kinney had three sharp sliders and he used them to emerge from Class AAA as an effective, late-inning answer to righthanded mashers. The righty's three years were complicated by Tommy John surgery, a busted elbow and difficult rehabs from both. This season has been a good one for the righty with one massive exception -- he was removed from the 40-man roster earlier this summer and could go into the winter unprotected and available to all teams.
Kinney, a Quincy (Ill.) College alum, went 3-4 with a 1.80 ERA for Memphis this past season. He had cameo appearances in the ninth inning throughout the middle of the season before taking over late, as Memphis made its late rush for the playoffs. (They qualified with wins on the final two days of the regular season. Yes, Kinney pitched three scoreless innings in those games, too.) Kinney, 31, has 10 saves in his previous 12 appearances, including his 2-for-2 turn so far in the postseason. He has pitched two scoreless innings in the playoffs with two strikeouts and two hits allowed.
In his final 10 games of the regular season, Kinney allowed one run in 11 1/3 innings (0.79) and collected eight saves in 17 days.
Ruben Gotay, the forgotten third baseman, had the game-winning hit Thursday for Triple-A Memphis. He scored Joe Mather to snap a 2-2 tie in the sixth inning. The Redbirds bullpen then took over and pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings, with Kinney closing the door after the work by Adam Reifer and Rich Rundles. P.J. Walters got the victory after pitching 6 2/3 innings, walking five, striking out seven and allowing two runs on seven hits.
Check out the game coverage from Redbirds beat writer Marlon Morgan in this morning's Commercial Appeal. The Redbirds go for their third consecutive PCL postseason series sweep tonight with righthander Lance Lynn (13-10, 4.77) scheduled to start.
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SPRINGFIELD 4, NW ARKANSAS 2 (12 innings): Shortstop Pete Kozma ripped a two-run, two-out home run in the 12th inning Thursday to catapult the S-Cards to a Game 1 victory in their best-of-five series. The home run was Kozma's second of the game as he pulled a mini-Rasmus. Kozma, the Cardinals' first-round pick in 2008, went 2-for-6 with the two homers and three RBIs. As beat writer Kary Booher calculates in this morning's Springfield News-Leader, Kozma was 4-for-25 before cranking his eighth inning homer that put the S-Cards momentarily ahead, 2-1. In the 12th, center fielder Antonio DeJesus hit a leadoff triple and then watched as two hitters couldn't get him home. Kozma, the No. 2 hitter for Springfield, solved that with the second homer.
Springfielder starter Scott McGregor allowed two runs (one earned) in his 7 2/3 innings of work. McGregor struck two and allowed nine hits, including a homer. Scott Gorgen, a rising prospect before injury slowed him this season, got the win with a scoreless inning of relief work, and Blake King got the save by pitching around two hits and a walk in the bottom of the 12th.
The series continues tonight at NW Arkansas with David Kopp (12-4, 3.05) scheduled to start for the S-Cards. Read Booher's game story here, and then check out his advance of Game 2.
TRI-CITY 1, BATAVIA 0: The Batavia Muckdogs, the Cardinals' short-season Class A affiliate, were eliminated from the NY-Penn League playoffs with a scoreless showing Thursday. That hid what may have been the best pitching performance from a Cardinals' farmhand since Shelby Miller sat down Wednesday. Andrew Moss, a righty and Missouri native, pitched a complete game in the loss. The Cardinals took Moss out of Lincoln University in the 35th round of the 2009 draft; he was the 1,059th pick overall. On Thursday, he held Tri-City to one run on four hits through his ninth innings. He did not walk a batter, and he struck out five. Moss went 8-2 with a 3.35 ERA during the regular season for Batavia.
KANE COUNTY 5, QUAD CITIES 4: The River Bandits fell into a tie in their first-round series against the Cougars. All five of Kane County's runs came in the second inning as the Cougars tagged starter Michael Blazek for two two-run homers and an RBI double. Designated hitter Edgar Lara had two hits and an RBI as the Low-A River Bandits tried to rally, and first baseman Alan Ahmady scored twice and added an RBI. Blazek struck out seven around his one detrimental inning, and Justin Smith struck out two in his two scoreless innings of relief work.
Check out the coverage from the game by Steve Batterson in the Quad City Times. The best-of-three series will be decided tonight at QC's home ballpark, Modern Woodmen Park. Scheduled to start for the River Bandits is lefty Daniel Bibona (4-0, 1.91).
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