Doyle shows electric stuff as Cardinals' Double-A team advances to Championship Series
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The Springfield Cardinals punched their ticket to the Texas League Championship Series with a late-inning comeback, backing one of MLB's top prospects on the mound.
Liam Doyle (St. Louis' No. 2 prospect and MLB's No. 43 prospect) started Game 2 of the best-of-three series and he tossed 3 2/3 no-hit frames with eight strikeouts for Springfield (the Cardinals' Double-A team) as it clinched a spot in the Texas League Finals in a 6-4 win over the Tulsa Drillers (the Dodgers' Double-A team) at ONEOK Field in Tulsa.
Doyle showcased his electric stuff, but his control was a factor, as he walked five batters (leading to a run) and threw a wild pitch. A Futures Game selection, he racked up 130 strikeouts in 103 regular-season innings and he held opponents to a .218 opponents' batting average.
Offensively, Doyle was backed up by Jesús Báez early. Báez (St. Louis' No. 15 prospect) got the scoring started in the fourth inning with a solo homer to left field off of Christian Zazueta (Los Angeles' No. 5 prospect, MLB's No. 35 prospect overall). For Báez, it was his second homer in as many games in the series, as he crushed a walk-off home run for the Cardinals to win Game 1 of the series.
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He had 39 HRs during the regular season (which tied the Cardinals' Minor League record since 1949) and was second most in the Minors this season to Milwaukee prospect Andrew Fischer, who hit 48 homers between High-A and Double-A this season.
Later with the Cardinals down, 3-2, in the eighth inning, Báez drew a leadoff walk. He scored on a single and an error to tie the game. Jack Gurevitch (St. Louis' No. 27 prospect) gave Springfield the lead after he hit an opposite-field double and Tulsa's second error of the inning. Tai Peete delivered the dagger in the ninth inning, though. Peete (the Cardinals' No. 17 prospect) drilled a two-run homer to give Springfield a three-run lead to clinch a spot in the Championship Series.
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This is the second consecutive season that Springfield has advanced to the Texas League Championship Series, as in 2025, it also swept Tulsa in the best-of-three series. The Cardinals went on to face Midland, where they won that best-of-three series in three games to win their first Texas League title since 2012.