The Twins lost 12-6 to the Tampa Bay Rays. It was not a pretty game. Sure, Joe Mauer had three hits, and Ryan Doumit had a home run, but that was not a pretty game. Down 8-1 after an inning and a half makes for a long game. At least we have plenty of positives throughout the Twins farm system, so let’s just jump right into that!

Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from the Friday games in the minor leagues.

ROCHESTER 3, PAWTUCKET 9

A couple of former Twins were instrumental in a big loss for the Red Wings on Friday night. Eric Hurley started and gave up seven runs on eight hits and three walks while recording just six outs. He did have three strikeouts. David Bromberg came in and provided three scoreless innings. He gave up two hits, walked one and struck out two. Luke French went the next three and gave up two runs. He gave up four hits and one walk. Anthony Slama made his first Red Wings appearance since June 6 when a Miguel Tejada line drive broke his fibula. He didn’t miss a beat. The righty walked one, but struck out three, in a scoreless inning to drop his ERA to 0.38.

Chris Parmelee hit a 2-run homer, his 13^th, in the first inning off of Daisuke Matsuzaka that gave the Red Wings an early lead. He went 2-3 with a walk. Ray Chang was 3-4. Pedro Florimon knocked his 15^th double.

For Pawtucket, Jason Repko hit a double and his seventh home run. Danny Valencia went 3-3 with two walks and two doubles.

NEW BRITAIN 5, READING 1

BJ Hermsen continues to impress. Despite not throwing real hard or recording “enough” strikeouts, Hermsen continues to get people outs and eat innings. He is now 10-5 with a 3.09 ERA in New Britain after yet another terrific start on Friday night. The lanky right-hander pitched a complete game. He gave up one run on ten hits. He walked just one and struck out four. He needed just 94 pitches to complete the game, and 71 of those were strikes.

Aaron Hicks led the offense. He was 2-4 with a walk and drove in a run. Rene Tosoni went 1-2 with two walks and hit ninth double. Chris Colabello hit his 33^rd double and drove in his 85^th run for the Rock Cats. Pretty impressive debut in affiliated ball for the 28 year old who was the independent leagues’ MVP last year according to Baseball America.

FT. MYERS 1, ST. LUCIE 2

Cole Nelson gave up two runs in the first inning. And that was it. Those were the only two runs scored by the St. Lucie Mets. Unfortunately, the Miracle bats were only able to score one run. The run came on an RBI double off the bat of Anderson Hidalgo which scored Danny Ortiz. The Miracle managed just four hits.

Nelson gave up those two runs on six hits and two walks over the first four innings. The lefty struck out four. Miguel Munoz went the next two innings, giving up just one hit while striking out three. Ryan O’Rourke pitched the final three innings. He gave up two hits, walked one and struck out three.

BELOIT 2, QUAD CITIES 1

It was a very quiet game for the Snappers on Friday night. In fact, both offenses in this game were quite quiet. David Hurlbut was terrific. He gave up just one run on six hits in seven innings. He walked none and struck out five. He left with his team down 1-0.

However, in the top of the 8^th, the Snappers finally got on board and tied the game. Drew Leachman singled to score Wang-Wei Lin.

Corey Williams pitched a scoreless eighth inning.

In the top of the ninth, AJ Pettersen, who went 2-3 as a replacement for Miguel Sano who got a rare day off, came up and drilled a single up the middle to score Stephen Wickens. The hit gave the Snappers a 2-1 lead.

Williams returned to the mound for the 9^th. He got one out before being replaced by hard-throwing Zach Jones. Jones gets his fourth save by getting the final two outs.

Nate Roberts continues to be an on-base machine. He got on via a walk and a single and stole his 19^th base. Wickens was 1-2 and was twice hit by a pitch.

GAME 1 – ELIZABETHTON 3, BRISTOL 2

Pitching is the name of the game, and in this one the E-Twins got a great start and a nice finish. Angel Mata started and gave up just two hits and one walk in five shutout innings. He struck out five. He gave way to Christian Powell who threw a scoreless sixth frame. In the seventh, he got one out, but a two-run double put the game in jeopardy. With the tying runner on second and one out , Tyler Duffey was brought in. He recorded the final two outs, one on a strikeout, to get the save.

Byron Buxton continues to show he’s not intimidated by his recent promotion. In this game, he was 2-3 with his first double and an RBI. Adam Walker and Jorge Polanco were each 2-3. Niko Goodrum added his tenth double.

GAME 2 – ELIZABETHTON 5, BRISTOL 2

The E-Twins were able to complete the double-header sweep in the second game. Ricardo Arevalo started and gave up only an unearned run on two hits in four innings. He walked one and struck out five. Chris Mazza came in and worked the next two innings. He gave up one run on two hits. He struck out two. Luke Bard came in to start the seventh inning. He faced one batter and walked him. He came out of the game, replaced by Kaleb Merck. Merck gave up one hit, but struck out three, in his inning to record his second save. (Note – I am trying to find out why Bard left the game and will report as soon as I have any information.)

Travis Harrison led the way in this game. He was 3-3 with his ninth and tenth doubles. Adam Walker hit a two-run double, his sixth. Jorge Polanco hit his 14^th double.

GCL TWINS 4, GCL RED SOX 8

Randy Rosario started, and the lefty went the first three innings. He gave up three runs (1 earned) on three hits. He walked two and struck out three. Josue Montanez came in next. It was his first appearance since June 11 when he threw five shutout innings. On this day, he struckout five in two perfect innings. Trent Higginbotham came in and gave up four runs on five hits in 2.1 innings. He walked three, hit one and struck out one. Gerardo Ramirez gave up one run on four hits in 1.2 innings. He struckout one.

Joel Licon went 2-4 with two RBI. Logan Wade drove in the other two runs. Jorge Fernandez and Brian Compton each hit a double.

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Players of the Day for Friday, August 10, 2012

Pitcher of the Day – BJ Hermsen

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Hitter of the Day – Travis Harrison

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A Look Ahead – Saturday, August 11, 2012 Schedule

Rochester vs Pawtucket – LHP Pedro Hernandez

New Britain vs Reading – LHP Blake Martin

Ft. Myers vs St. Lucie – RHP Tom Stuifbergen

Beloit vs Peoria – LHP Taylor Rogers

Elizabethton @ Bristol – TBD

GCL Twins @ GCL Red Sox – LHP Austin Malinowski

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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!