It’s almost like they know. Coming into Friday, Miguel Sano had 20 total home runs this season. Chris Colabello had 18. In his first two at bats on Friday, Colabello homered to catch up to Sano. But it wasn’t long before Sano hit his 21^st. Then, a little more than an hour later, Sano hit his 22^nd homer of the year. It’s almost like last year when Trevor Plouffe and Josh Willingham seemed to homer so frequently on the same day. The two are easily the top home run hitters in the organization. The next high home run hitters in the organization are Cedar Rapids third baseman Travis Harrison who hit his 13^th home run tonight, to tie Ft. Myers first baseman Kennys Vargas.

Check out what happened in the Twins farm system on Friday:

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Rochester Red Wings 2, Indianapolis Indians 4

Box Score

Andrew Albers was back on the mound for the Red Wings. The Canadian left-hander gave up four runs in six innings. He gave up eight hits, and three of them were home runs. He walked one and struck out four. Aaron Thompson came on and struck out one over two scoreless innings in relief.

The offense managed just four hits in the entire game. Chris Colabello went 2-4 with his 19^th and 20^th home runs of the season. He is now hitting .367 with an OPS right around 1.100. The thing that impressed me most about Colabello is that he talks a lot about only being able to control what he can control. And he lives that thinking. That’s the thought-process that he needed when he wasn’t given an opportunity in affiliated ball. It’s what he had to think in AA, and in his first big league spring training, and in the WBC, and when he was sent AAA. And, it is likely why he has maintained this performance throughout the season despite numbers that should have him in the big leagues now.

New Britain Rock Cats 5, Reading Fightin Phils 6

Box Score

So, it didn’t take Miguel Sano too long to figure out Eastern League pitching. Yes, he got off to a slow start, but his power numbers have been tremendous and, despite a loss in this game, he showed it in this game. The Rock Cats had just five hits in this game. Three of them came off of the bat of Miguel Sano. In the bottom of the fourth, he hit a long, two-run home run. In the bottom of the ninth, he came to the plate with two runners on base and the Rock Cats down by four runs. His second homer of the day, sixth home run with the Rock Cats, and 22^nd home run of his season, cut the deficit to just one, but that was all the team could muster. Sano drove in all five runs. The one time he got out, the centerfielder made a catch at the wall. Of his 13 AA hits, Sano has six home runs, two triples, one double and four singles.

Video of the second home run from Twins Fan from Afar (video of the 1st will be in the comments):

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Trevor May made the start and gave up a home run on the first pitch he three. In all, he went five innings and gave up four runs on five hits and a walk. He struck out six. Dan Turpen came on and struck out three in two scoreless innings. Bruce Pugh came off of the Disabled List. He gave up a solo home run, but that was the only blemish of the inning. AJ Achter pitched the ninth and gave up one run on three hits and a walk.

Ft. Myers Miracle, Jupiter Hammerheads (Suspended in 3^rd)

This game was suspended due to rain with one out in the bottom of the third inning. It will be resumed when the Miracle next heads to Jupiter, which will be in mid-August. Manuel Soliman had given up three hits and two walks but no runs in 2.1 innings when the game was called. He had struck out four.

Cedar Rapids Kernels 7, Burlington Bees 1

Box Score

The streak continues for the Cedar Rapids Kernels. They are now 8-0 since the All-Star break. They got off to a fast start and kept the lead. In the first inning, Travis Harrison hit a two-run double. Adam Walker soon followed with a two-run homer to make it 4-0. In the second innings, Harrison hit a two-run homer. Harrison was 2-4 with his 23^rd double, his 13^th homer and four RBI. Walker was 2-3 with a walk and the homer was his 12^th of the season. JD Williams was 2-4 with his 14^th stolen base. Jeremias Pineda went 2-3. Niko Goodrum (16), Dalton Hicks (26) and Jhonatan Arias (3) each doubled.

It was not just about the hitting on this night. Josue Montanez was terrific in the start. The young left gave up just two hits in five shutout innings. He walked none and struck out four. Hudson Boyd made his first appearance out of the bullpen. He gave up an unearned run on two hits and a walk in two innings. He struck out three. Madison Boer was activated from the Disabled List and sent to the Kernels. He had broken his hand (left-hand) and had made a couple of appearances with the GCL Twins. He gave up two hits, but no runs, in his inning. Steven Gruver came on and struck out two in a perfect ninth.

Elizabethton Twins 8, Princeton Rays 0

Box Score

This was a pitcher’s duel until the E-Twins scored seven runs in the bottom of the 8^th inning to finish an 8-0 win. The E-Twins got on the scoreboard just an inning earlier when shortstop Ryan Walker hit his first professional home run. The big hits in the eighth inning were two-run doubles off the bats of Rory Rhodes and Javier Pimentel. Walker, Pimentel and catcher Mitch Garver each went 2-4.

Yorman Landa was again terrific in this start. The young right-hander threw five shutout innings. He gave up just one hit, walked one and struck out eight. So, in his first two starts, he has thrown ten innings, walked two and struck out 15! Brian Gilbert made his Twins debut with a scoreless sixth frame. He struck out one. Kuo Hua Lo gave up one hit and one walk, but no runs, in two innings. He struck out two. Brandon Peterson struck out two in a scoreless ninth frame.

GCL Twins 5, GCL Red Sox 2

Box Score

Nick Blackburn returned to the mound in a game for the first time since 2012. The right-hander has been rehabbing all season. In October, he had bone chips removed from his elbow. Then in January, he had wrist surgery. On Friday afternoon, he made a start for the GCL Twins. He went four shutout innings. He gave up two hits, walked none and struck out four. He was replace by Damian Defrank who worked the next four innings. He gave up two runs on four hits. He struck out just on and walked none. Miguel Gonzalez came on for the ninth and recorded his second save. He gave up just one hit and struck one out.

Jorge Fernandez led the offense. He went 3-4 with his first double. Jason Kanzler went 2-4 and stole his second base. Lance Ray’s rehab continued and he had a two-run double.

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