Brett Andersen made his first start in just over a year since he had Tommy John surgery, and the lefty was back in fine form. He gave up just one run on four hits and no walks in seven innings. Sean Doolittle pitched a perfect eighth. Then former Twins reliever Grant Balfour recorded his 12^th save with a perfect ninth. In other words, the Twins offense just did not show up. Trevor Plouffe was again 0-4 and is now 2-29 in eight games since his return from the DL. Jamey Carroll was 0-3, and he now has one hit in his last 22 at bats over six games. Ryan Doumit is 3-22 in his last six games (yet still is hitting .290).

Cole De Vries struggled with his control early in the game, walking three in the first couple of innings. He gave up just two runs on six hits in 5.2 innings. Anthony Swarzak came on and got just two outs but not before giving up two runs on four hits and a walk. Jeff Gray got four outs, and Tyler Robertson got the final out.

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

ROCHESTER 0, PAWTUCKET 3

Daisuke Matsuzaka was on the mound for Pawtucket. The right-hander from Japan went seven shutout innings and gave up just one hit, to Eduardo Escobar. He also walked four batters, including Wilkin Ramirez twice. That was about it for the Red Wings offense.

Pedro Hernandez started and went just 2.1 innings. He gave up one run on two hits, walked none and struckout one. He left for unknown (at this time) reasons. He was replaced by Deolis Guerra who gave up two runs (1 earned) on three hits in 2.2 innings. He walked one and struck out two. Caleb Thielbar gave up one hit in two scoreless innings. Kyle Waldrop threw a scoreless innings.

NEW BRITAIN 2, PORTLAND 4 (15 Innings)

A night after playing ten innings, these two teams went even longer on Tuesday. Jose Gonzalez, in for his third innings, got the first out of the 15^th before allowing a single. He was replaced by Matt Hauser who got one out, but then gave up a long, two-run home run, and that was the difference.

The Rock Cats pitched well, but the offense did not hit much at all. Oswaldo Arcia was 2-6 with his 18^th double. Aaron Hicks was 2-5. James Beresford was 2-5 with a walk. Chris Colabello had a single, walked twice and drove in his 91^st run of the season.

Andrew Albers started this game with five shutout innings. He gave up two runs in the 6^th inning and only got the first two outs. David Bromberg got the next five outs, four of them on strikeouts. Edgar Ibarra got two outs, walked on and struckout one. Dakota Watts struckout four in two, one-hit innings. Bruce Pugh struckout two and walked one in two scoreless frames. Jose Gonzalez worked two scoreless innings and struck out three batters before the fifteenth inning.

FT. MYERS 3, BRADENTON 2

Since the All Star break, Josmil Pinto has been tremendous. He has hit .329/.404/.524 since then. On this night, he had just one hit, but it was a line drive single to left that drove in what proved to be the game-winning run. Jhon Goncalves scored the run. The outfielder was 3-4. Danny Ortiz went 2-4 with his 18^th double.

Matt Summers made the start for the Miracle. The right-hander went 5.2 innings and gave up two runs. He gave up five hits, walked three, hit two batters and struck out six. Nelvin Fuentes struck out two in two scoreless innings. He gave up three hits. Michael Tonkin got the final four outs, two of them on strikeouts.

BELOIT 11, QUAD CITIES 0

The Snappers scored 11 runs on 18 hits, but the lead story in this game is the left-handed arm of Jason Wheeler. Wheeler worked the first eight innings for the team. He gave up no runs. He allowed six hits, walked one and struck out three to improve to 14-6 on the season. DJ Baxendale struckout one in a scoreless ninth frame.

Stephen Wickens went 4-4 with a walk and his ninth double. Nate Roberts went 3-6 with his 15^th double and 24^th stolen base. JD Williams was 3-6 with his 20^th steal. Eddie Rosario was 3-6, as well. Kennys Vargas went 2-5 with a walk. AJ Pettersen was 2-5 and led the way with three strikeouts.

ELIZABETHTON 7, GREENEVILLE 5

The E-Twins offense got contributions from many on Tuesday night. Travis Harrison went 2-3 with a walk and his 12^th double. Rory Rhodes was 2-5 with his sixth home run. Byron Buxton was 2-5. Niko Goodrum hit his fourth home run. Candido Pimentel went 1-2 with two walks and his 15^th stolen base. Romy Jimenez was 1-2 with two walks and his 11^th double.

Hudson Boyd made the start for the Twins. He gave up four runs (3 earned) on five hits. In four innings, he walked four and struckout just one. Travis Huber came in and gave up one run on two hits in two innings. He walked none and struckout two. Andrew Ferriera got the next four outs. He allowed no hits, walked two and struck out one. JT Chargois came in and gave up a single, but he recorded the final five outs, all five of them by strikeouts.

GCL TWINS 5, GCL RAYS 2

Yorman Landa picked up his first win of the season. He gave up two unearned runs on four hits in five innings. He walked none and struck out six. Josue Montanez dropped his ERA to 0.40 with three shutout innings. The lefty gave up two hits and a walk, but he struckout five. Gonzalo Sanudo recorded his fourth save with a scoreless ninth frame.

Joel Licon led the offense. He went 2-4 with his eighth double, first home run and two RBI. Jeremias Pineda was 1-2 with a walk, was hit by a pitch, tripled for the fourth time and stole his 20^th base. Dereck Rodriguez hit his third home run.

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Players of the Day for Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Pitcher of the Day – Jason Wheeler

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(Photo from Jim Crikket of Knuckleballs)

Hitter of the Day – Stephen Wickens

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A Look Ahead – Wednesday, August 22, 2012 Schedule

Rochester @ Lehigh Valley – RHP Nick Blackburn

New Britain vs Portland – LHP Luke French

Ft. Myers vs Bradenton – RHP Tom Stuifbergen

Beloit vs Peoria – TBD

Elizabethton vs Greeneville – RHP Angel Mata

GCL Twins @ GCL Rays – 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!