The Twins got just one run off of Royals’ starter Luis Mendoza and found themselves down 4-1 going into the bottom of the ninth. Jonathan Broxton came in the Twins scored two off of him. They had the tying run at third base with two outs but were unable to score. The Twins lost 4-3. Saturday will be a long day as the Twins and Royals will play a double header with Game 1 at noon and Game 2 scheduled for 6 p.m.

Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from Friday:

ROCHESTER 5, LEHIGH VALLEY 6 (10 innings)

The Red Wings had an early lead but the IronPigs scored three in the eighth to tie the game and send it to extra frames. It was just one extra frame as the IronPigs scored in the bottom of the 10^th.

Luke French started for the Red Wings and wen the first seven innings. He gave up two runs (1 earned) on five hits and four walks. He struckout five and left the game with a 5-2 lead. Casey Fien came in and gave up three runs (2 earned) on three hits and recorded just two outs in the 8^th. Caleb Thielbar came in and walked two (one intentionally) in his scoreless frame. Luis Perdomo got the final out of the ninth and one out in the tenth. Unfortunately, he gave up the winning run on two tenth inning hits to take the loss.

Sean Burroughs went 3-4 with his second stolen base. Clete Thomas was 2-4 with his 13^th double and third stolen base. Brian Dinkelman went 2-5.

NEW BRITAIN 8, TRENTON 4

New Britain got a big win in this game and won three out of four games from a team trying to move in front of them in the division race. The Rock Cats got five runs in the third inning to take a 7-0 lead and were able to hold on. The big blow in that big inning came off of the bat of James Beresford. The Aussie drilled a two-run double. Beresford was 2-4 in the game with three RBI. Estarlin de Los Santos was 2-4 with his fifth double. Chris Colabello went 2-4 with his first triple. Aaron Hicks went 3-5.

Logan Darnell got the start and improved to 7-6. The lefty went the first six innings and gave up four runs on four hits and three walks. He struckout four. Shairon Martis came on and made his Rock Cats debut throwing a perfect inning. Daniel Turpen threw two shutout innings despite giving up a hit and three a walks. He also struckout three.

FT. MYERS 5, CHARLOTTE 0

Matt Hauser made his second professional start, and he was terrific. He threw five shutout innings, and in fact, he had a no-hitter through four innings. He gave up two hits, walked one and struck out four. AJ Achter came in and struck out four in two perfect innings. Michael Tonkin gave up a hit and a walk, but no runs, in the final two innings. He struck out three.

The Miracle offense helped Hauser out by giving him five first inning runs of support. Levi Michael and Kyle Knudson each went 2-4 with a double. It was Michael’s sixth double and Knudson’s fourth. Jairo Perez and Angel Morales were each 2-3.

BELOIT 3, CLINTON 6

Seven Snappers batters had one hit a piece, but could not piece together enough runs to capture a win on this night. Steve Liddle was 1-3 with a walk and his first home run. Jhon Goncalves went 1-2 with two walks. Miguel Sano had an 0-fer and committed his 28^th error.

Steven Gruver started for the Snappers. The lefty gave up four runs (3 earned) on seven hits in five innings. He walked none and struck out just one. Tim Atherton dropped his ERA to 0.44 with three more shutout innings. He gave up just one hit, walked none and struck out four. Corey Williams gave up two runs on two hits and a walk in the ninth inning.

ELIZABETHTON 1, PULASKI 9

2011 supplemental 1^st round pick Hudson Boyd started for the E-Twins on Friday night. Through four innings, he had given up just one hit and no runs. In fact, he got the first two batters out in the fifth frame. However, a walk and a single were followed by fellow 2011 supplemental 1^st round pick Travis Harrison’s seventh error at third base. It was followed by Jorge Polanco’s second error of the season. And the flood gates were opened. Boyd’s line score says that he gave up seven runs (ZERO earned) on four hits and two walks in 4.2 innings. He struck out three. Steve Evans came in and gave up one run on four hits and a walk in two innings. Kaleb Merck, the Twins 33^rd round pick from Texas Christian made his professional debut. The right-hander faced five batters. He struck out four of them, but gave up a solo home run to the other. Zach Jones came on and struck out two in his inning.

The E-Twins managed just four hits in this game. Jorge Polanco hit his third doubles. Stephen Wickens went 1-2 with a walk.

GCL TWINS 2, GCL RED SOX 5

Dereck Rodriguez continues to hit well, but it wasn’t enough in this game. The outfielder went 2-4 with his third double and first home run of the short season. Jorge Fernandez went 3-4. Aderlin Mejia went 2-5 with his fourth double. Joel Licon was 2-5. Byron Buxton was 0-2, but he did walk two times.

Randy Rosario got the starting nod on Friday. He gave up one run on one hit in 2.2 innings. He walked three and struck out four. Felix Jorge came on and gave up two runs (one earned) on four hits and three walks in two innings. He struck out three. J.O. Berrios gave up a run on two hits and a walk, but all three outs he recorded were strikeouts. Chris Mazza gave up only an unearned run on one hit in 2.1 innings. He struck out three. Markus Solbach pitched a 1-2-3 inning.

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Players of the Day for Friday, June 29, 2012

Pitcher of the Day – Matt Hauser

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Hitter of the Day – Dereck Rodriguez

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A Look Ahead – Saturday, June 30, 2012 Schedule

Rochester vs Empire Island – Bullpen Game (with Cole De Vries starting for Twins)

New Britain vs Bowie – RHP Brett Jacobson

Ft. Myers @ Charlotte – RHP Tom Stuifbergen

Beloit vs Clinton – LHP Jason Wheeler

Elizabethton vs Pulaski – RHP Ricardo Arevalo

GCL Twins @ GCL Red Sox – TBD

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If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, players, teams, etc., leave them in the Comments and I’ll try to answer them!