The first swing Cardinals prospect Chase Davis took on Tuesday night provided Class AA Springfield a lead. His last swing furthered that lead and punctuated a powerful night from the 22-year-old in Springfield’s 4-1 win over Arkansas in Game 1 of the Texas League Division Series.
Davis, the Cardinals’ first-round pick in the 2023 MLB draft, lined a single to the left-center field gap that scored Noah Mendlinger from third base with one out in the second inning. When Davis stepped to the plate to leadoff the eighth inning, he pulled an 0-2 changeup to right field for a towering 403-foot solo homer that cleared the right field berm and landed on the concourse of Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock, Arkansas.
The home run from Davis provided some insurance for Springfield in a win that gave it a 1-0 series lead over Arkansas. Springfield can clinch a series win on Thursday when the best-of-three series shifts to Hammons Field in Springfield, Missouri for Game 2. A Game 2 win would send the S-Cards to the Texas League Championship Series.
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Along with Davis’s homer, Springfield received RBI hits from Bryan Torres, who singled home Davis in the second inning, and Matt Lloyd, who homered to lead off the ninth and totaled three hits in the win. Springfield starter Brandon Komar allowed one run over six innings and struck out seven batters.
Davis's solo home run was his 13th home run this year across the regular season and postseason. The 22-year-old outfielder homered 12 times in 112 games across three levels of minor league baseball — eight of which came with Class Low-A Palm Beach. Davis connected on three homers and batted .301 in 30 games for Class High-A Peoria before he was promoted to Springfield on Sept. 6.
In eight games before the postseason began on Tuesday, the left-handed hitter totaled seven hits in 28 at-bats for .250 average and homered once.
Palm Beach forces winner-take-all Game 3
A four-run fifth inning highlighted by a three-run homer from 2024 draftee Josh Kross catapulted Class Low-A Palm Beach to a Game 2 win over Lakeland that evened the Florida State League Division Series against the Tigers’ Class Low-A affiliate.
With the home win in Game 2, Palm Beach and Lakeland are set for a decisive Game 3 on Wednesday back at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Florida.
Palm Beach trailed Lakeland 3-2 at the start of the fifth inning after Palm Beach starter Jose Davila allowed a run to score on a wild pitch. A two-out RBI single from 2024 draftee Bryce Madron scored Lizandro Espinoza to tie the game at three runs apiece.Â
Madron’s two-out hit was followed by a walk from 2024 first-round pick JJ Wetherholt. The first-round draftee drew two walks and went hitless in the win.
After working a full count, Kross provided Palm Beach with its biggest hit of Game 2 when he sent a slider place low-and-away to left-center field for a 392-foot home run that plated three runs.
The home run from Kross was his first in minor-league baseball. Kross, a 21-year-old switch-hitting first baseman taken in the sixth round of this year’s MLB draft, had not homered in 23 regular-season games and in the first three postseason he appeared in for Palm Beach.