I’ve been following the Twins minor league system pretty much daily for the past eight years. I can honestly say that I have not seen a pitcher have a stretch like DJ Baxendale has to start this season. His May numbers (see below) have been incredible. But there were other great performances including a 22-year-old southpaw throwing eight innings in New Britain. And Ft. Myers continues to get offense from unlikely sources.

Check out what happened in the Twins minor league system on Thursday:

Rochester Red Wings 4, Charlotte Knights 3

Box Score

Rochester got another Quality Start from Andrew Albers. The left-hander gave up three runs on ten hits. In six innings, he walked one and struck out six. Then Aaron Thompson came on for his second Red Wings appearance. The lefty worked three perfect innings and struck out three for the save.

Brian Dinkelman led the offense. He went 3-3 with his sixth and seventh doubles. Doug Bernier went 2-3.

New Britain Rock Cats 1, Binghamton Mets 0

Box Score

Lefty Logan Darnell pitched a tremendous game on Thursday morning. He gave up no runs on six hits and a walk in eight innings. He struck out nine to drop his season ERA to 2.47. He has given up just one run in his past two starts (15 innings). Need innings? The 24-year-old Darnell, the Twins 6^th round pick in 2010 out of the University of Kentucky, has thrown 23 innings over his past three starts.

Michael Tonkin came on and pitched a perfect ninth for his sixth save of the year.

There was very little offense from the Rock Cats in this game. James Beresford raised his average to .346 by going 2-4, but Danny Ortiz’s sixth home run of the year was all the offense the team would need. Twins Daily’s AJ Pettersen went 1-3. He now has a modest three game hitting streak and is hitting .375 in it.

Ft. Myers Miracle 6, Lakeland Tigers 1

Box Score

The DJ Baxendale story just continues to get better and better. On this night, the 22-year-old righty gave up only an unearned run over seven innings. He gave up three hits, walked two and struck out four. It reduces his season ERA to 0.94. After being the choice for Pitcher of the Month of April, he has not yet allowed an earned run in 28 innings in May.

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Nelvin Fuentes came on and struck out one in a scoreless inning. Then Corey Williams gave up a walk and a hit in a scoreless ninth inning.

Aderlin Mejia was a GCL All Star a year ago, the lone member of last year’s GCL Twins team to do that. He was at Extended Spring Training, waiting for the Elizabethton season to begin. The Miracle had a need, and Mejia was called upon for a short time. Well, that short time has now become 13 games, and he is doing the job. He is now hitting .360 after going 3-5 on Thursday. He also stole three bases in the game and has seven on the year.

Angel Morales should soon be promoted to New Britain. He went 2-4 with his fourth home run and third stolen base. Kyle Knudson went 3-4 with his third double. Levi Michael went 2-5. Miguel Sano and Kennys Vargas each hit their 12^th double. Sano stole his seventh base.

Cedar Rapids Kernels 3, Beloit Snappers 5

Box Score

It was a rough one for Mason Melotakis. The lefty gave up five runs on seven hits. He walked four and struck out three in 4.1 innings. Alex Muren came on and got the next five outs. He walked two and struck out one. Josh Burris and David Hurlbut each gave up a hit and struck one out in his inning.

Byron Buxton went 2-4 with a walk, his 11^th double and his 21^st stolen base. Candido Pimentel was 2-4 with a walk and his eighth stolen base. JD Williams was 2-4 with his ninth stolen base.

Note also that the Twins Dominican Summer League schedule is about to get started. On Thursday, they played an exhibition game against a Canadian national team.

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