This is always an interesting time of year, with the rampant trade speculation. Will the Twins trade Francisco Liriano? Denard Span? It's curious, but understandable, that they're listening on Josh Willingham. Make no mistake -- just two weeks from now, this team could, and probably will, look quite different. Let's take a look at how the affiliates performed today. With the potential for change in Minneapolis comes the likelihood of promotion for some of these kids.

ROCHESTER 4, NORFOLK 1

This game took forever -- 15 innings, in fact. Liam Hendriks had a great outing. He threw 7 innings and allowed only 1 run on 5 hits. He struck out 6 and walked 1. Lester Oliveros was also excellent out of the bullpen, throwing 3 scoreless innings, allowing 1 hit and striking out 3. Kyle Waldrop threw 1/3 of the 11th inning, allowing a single, getting a sac bunt, and intentionally walking Lew Ford before being removed in favor of Caleb Thielbar, who quickly induced a double play to get out of the jam. Thielber threw 3 and 2/3 innings, striking out 2 and allowing only 1 hit. Daniel Sattler threw a scoreless 15th.

Matt Carson got the scoring started with a solo home run in the first inning, and also singled later. After Carson's homer, the Red Wings did not score until the 15th inning. In the 13 innings between runs, Chris Parmelee doubled and walked twice, Ray Chang had 2 singles in 5 trips to the plate, and Tsuyoshi Nishioka was 1-for-5. In the 15th inning, Rene Rivera and Pedro Florimon each singled, then Matt Carson was intentionally walked to get to Parmelee. Parmelee doubled to left field to clear the bases, and that was that.

Here's the link to the box score.

NEW BRITAIN 8, NEW HAMPSHIRE 0

This game didn't quite make it 6 innings due to rain. Heavy rain, if New Britain's weather was the same that I saw in and around Hartford this afternoon. David Bromberg wasn't brilliant today, but he was effective enough to get the win. He threw all 6 innings, gave up 2 hits and struck out 2, but he walked 3 along the way. His ERA is 3.16 after today's performance.

In only 5 and 2/3 innings of offense, the Rock Cats did some damage. Deibinson Romero had 2 doubles, a walk, and scored twice. Chris Colabello also doubled and drove in 2 runs. That was his 28th double of the season. Aaron Hicks was 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI, and is batting .275 on the season. Chris Herrmann had a single and 2 walks. Estarlin De Los Santos was 1-for-2 with a single and an RBI, Joe Benson singled in 3 at-bats, and Minnesota's own Nathan Hanson singled and drove in 2 runs. Top prospect Oswaldo Arcia left the game in the third inning with stomach issues from the heat, but is expected back tomorrow.

Here's the link to the box score.

FT. MYERS 1, DUNEDIN 4

Pat Dean took a tough loss for the Miracle today. He threw 6 innings, giving up 2 runs on 6 hits. He struck out 5 and issued 0 free passes. Clint Dempster threw 1 scoreless inning in relief, allowing 1 hit and 2 walks while striking out 1. Ricky Bowen tossed the last 2 innings, and gave up 2 runs (1 earned) on 3 hits, walking 2 and striking out 1. Dean fell to 6-6 on the season, and his ERA is 3.89. Shortstop Daniel Santana committed his 21st error of the season.

There wasn't too much Miracle offense to speak of today. The team mustered only 5 hits, and 3 came off the bat of Levi Michael -- all singles. A good sign, though, that last season's first round pick is starting to hit the ball. Michael is batting .240 now. Daniel Santana and Daniel Ortiz both singled, as well. The Miracle's best chance was in the 8th inning, when the bases were loaded with no outs. But Rene Tosoni lined out to second, Josmil Pinto had a sac fly to right, and Daniel Ortiz struck out looking to end the threat.

Here's the link to the box score.

BELOIT _, LANSING _ -- CANCELLED

This game will be made up Thursday as part of a double-header. First game at 5:30.

ELIZABETHTON 4, JOHNSON CITY 6

Angel Mata got the start for E-Town, and went 4 innings, giving up 3 runs on 3 hits, striking out 2 and walking 3. Corey Kimes was up next, and only threw 2/3 of an inning, giving up 2 runs on 2 hits and 2 walks. Brett Lee threw 1 and 1/3 scoreless, allowing 2 hits, striking out 3 and walking 2. Luis Nunez tossed 2 innings, giving up 1 run on 3 walks and a strikeout. The final pitcher of the evening was J.T. Chargois, who threw 1 perfect inning. In all, there were 10 walks issued by E-Town tonight.

Young prospect Max Kepler hit his third home run of the season tonight, and is batting .312 on the season. Rory Rhodes and Adam Walker each had 2 hits, and Niko Goodrum, Travis Harrison, Joshua Hendricks, Michael Quesada and Romy Jimenez all had one hit. Jimenez drove in 2 and walked, as well.

Here's the link to the box score.

GCL TWINS 6, GCL RAYS 7

Kyle Gibson threw 2 innings and 27 pitches today on his way back from Tommy John surgery. Honestly, the stats don't even matter. But here they are: 2 runs on 2 hits, no strikeouts or walks. After the game, Gibson tweeted: "Another healthy day on the mound! 2 innings and by no means the #s I want but 27 more pitches closer to 100%. Going for a clean 1 inning on Saturday." After Gibson, Matthew Tomshaw threw 1 scoreless inning, Kuo Hua Lo gave up 2 runs (1 earned) in 2/3 of an inning on 2 hits and 2 walks, striking out 1. Thereafter, Yorman Landa tossed 2 and 1/3 scoreless innings and gave up 3 hits, walking 1 and striking out 1. Felix Jorge was very good, throwing 2 scoreless innings, allowing no hits or walks and striking out 2. Finally, Alexander Muren took the loss, giving up 3 runs (2 earned) in 1 inning of work. Muren gave up 2 hits and 2 walks, and struck out 1.

Right fielder Kelvin Ortiz was 2-for-4 with 2 doubles, first baseman Bryan Haar was 2-for-3 with an RBI, and catcher Jorge Fernandez was 2-for-4 with an RBI, as well. Second baseman Jose Ramirez doubled in 4 at-bats, and third baseman Aderlin Mejia, DH Joel Licon, left fielder Javier Pimentel and shortstop Will Hurt all singled.

Here's the link to the box score.

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

Players of the day for Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Hitter of the Day: Max Kepler (courtesy of JC from Knuckleballs Blog)

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1590[/ATTACH]

Pitcher of the Day: Liam Hendriks

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1589[/ATTACH]

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

Schedule for Thursday, July 19, 2012

Rochester @ Norfolk --- ???

New Britain @ Harrisburg --- ???

Ft. Myers @ Lakeland --- ???

Beloit vs. Lansing --- ???

Beloit vs. Lansing (game 2) --- ???

Johnson City vs. Elizabethton --- ???

GCL Twins @ GCL Rays --- ???

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

If you have any questions or comments, leave them here!