It was a veritable clash of the titans tonight, as the Twins took on the Royals. Without Joe Mauer and Denard Span in the lineup, the Twins were still able to plate some runs. As I publish tonight's TwinsDaily minor league report, the good guys are on top 4-2, so let's hope it stays that way!

All of the affiliates were in action tonight, so let's see how they fared.

ROCHESTER 4, NORFOLK 1

Steve Hirschfeld did well in his first AAA start of the season, going 5 innings, giving up 3 hits, striking out 2 and walking 2. Anthony Slama came out of the bullpen, but left almost immediately with a leg injury. He gave up 1 run on 1 hit, and struck out 1. Brendan Wise came on thereafter, throwing 1 and 2/3 scoreless innings, surrendering 2 hits, and striking out 1 and walking 1. He earned the win. Lester Oliveros threw 2 scoreless innings, striking out 2 and walking 1, and picked up the save, his third of the season.

On offense, Rochester didn't get going at all until a 6th inning home run by Wilkin Ramirez. The other 3 runs came on a Sean Burroughs home run that also scored Chris Parmelee, who had walked, and a Tsuyoshi Nishioka single. That was Burroughs' first AAA home run this season, and Nishioka's first hit in professional baseball in the western hemisphere (OK, I made that last part up).

Nishioka and Slama each had an error for Rochester. Interestingly, former Twin J.C. Romero pitched 1/3 of an inning for Norfolk, inducing a fly out.

Here's the link to the box score.

NEW BRITAIN 4, AKRON 6

Starter Brett Jacobson allowed too many hits tonight -- 10 in 4 and 1/3 innings. He gave up 5 runs, striking out 1 and walking 1. Out of the bullpen, Daniel Turpen pitched 1 and 2/3 scoreless innings, striking out 1. Bruce Pugh struck out 2 in an inning of relief. Luis Perdomo gave up 1 run in the 8th inning, striking out 2, walking 2, and giving up a single.

The Rock Cats scattered 9 hits tonight. James Beresford had 2 singles, Rene Tosoni had a solo home run (his first of the season at AA), Chris Herrmann had 2 hits, and Matt Rizzotti, Deibinson Romero, Shawn Roof and Evan Bigley each had singles, as well. Beresford, Tosoni, Bigley, and Minnesota's own Nathan Hanson had RBIs tonight. The Rock Cats did walk 6 times in this game, so at least that was encouraging.

Here's the link to the box score.

FT. MYERS 3, TAMPA 0 (Game 1)

In game 1 on this day that was supposed to feature two 7-inning contests, the Miracle prevailed thanks in part to good pitching. Cole Nelson picked up the win (2-0 on the season), throwing 5 scoreless innings. He only allowed 2 hits, struck out 9 and walked 3. Ricky Bowen picked up his fifth save on the season, throwing 2 innings, allowing 4 hits and striking out 3. Solid performances for both -- 12 strikeouts combined in 7 innings is a good way to get things done!

On offense, the Miracle tallied 5 hits all day, 3 of those coming off the bat of third baseman Anderson Hidalgo, who was 3-for-3 with 3 singles and a run. Michael Gonzalez had a double, a walk, scored 2 runs and had an RBI, Daniel Ortiz had a single, and and Levi Michael had a sacrifice fly. Second baseman Daniel Santana also drove in a run tonight.

Here's the link to the box score.

FT. MYERS ??, TAMPA ?? (Game 2)

The evening game was officially suspended in the 4th inning. Ft. Myers was leading 2-0. Starting pitcher Marty Popham had thrown 3 scoreless innings, allowing 3 hits, and striking out 1 and walking 1 along the way.

The offense had 4 hits on the evening, one each by Oswaldo Arcia, Daniel Santana, Josmil Pinto and Anderson Hidalgo. Arcia and Pinto each also had a walk, and Pinto and Hidalgo each had an RBI.

According to the Miracle, play will resume tomorrow at 6 p.m., and tomorrow's originally scheduled game will be another 7 inning contest beginning a half hour after the resumed game finishes.

Here's the link to the box score.

BELOIT 0, BURLINGTON 5

Jason Wheeler was just OK tonight, giving up 5 runs (3 earned) in 5 innings, allowing 9 hits, striking out 4 and walking 2. He was charged with the loss. Out of the bullpen, Tim Atherton was very good, throwing 3 innings, allowing only 1 hit, striking out 6 and walking 1.

Beloit compiled only 6 hits all night, all singles. Nate Roberts had 2 hits, and Wang-Wei Len, Miguel Sano, Jonathan Goncalves and Drew Leachman were each responsible for a single.

Shortstop Tyler Grimes and Jason Wheeler were each charged with errors.

Here's the link to the box score.

----------------------------------------------------------

Wednesday's Minor League Hitter and Pitcher of the Day

Hitter of the Day: Anderson Hidalgo (photo courtesy of Jim Crikket from Knuckleballs)

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1155[/ATTACH]

Pitcher of the Day: Edina's own Cole Nelson

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1154[/ATTACH]

----------------------------------------------------------

A Look Ahead: Thursday, June 7 Schedule

Rochester vs. Norfolk --- LHP Lucas French

New Britain @ Akron --- LHP Logan Darnell

Ft. Myers @ Tampa --- ???

Beloit @ Burlington --- RHP Matt Summers

---------------------------------------------------------

Please leave any questions or comments, and either Seth or I will respond.