After a rough, Mother Nature influenced series, in which the Twins were forced to use every one of their pitchers in a double-header vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday, they received a valiant effort from their prized off-season acquisition, Ricky Nolasco, on Friday night to stave off a catastrophic pitching predicament moving into the weekend.

Although Nolasco was able to save the bullpen with a complete game, 3-earned run effort, it wasn’t enough to save himself from taking a loss, as the Twins weren’t able to muster any offense against the Baltimore Orioles’ Ubaldo Jimenez, tallying only 4 hits in a disappointing effort for the first (semi) decent weather game I’ve been able to attend in section 107 at Target Field this year.

Minnesota’s Minor League affiliates, were able to fare somewhat better however, going 2-2 on the night, including a familiar extra innings marathon.

TRANSACTIONS

The Twins recalled SP Logan Darnell from Rochester before the weekend games kicked off. He is due to make his MLB debut in reprieve of an overused bullpen, and optioned SP Kris Johnson back to Rochester after his double-header spot start on Thursday.

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 6, Louisville 1

Box score

Scott Diamond took the hill for the Red Wings, and after an extremely disappointing start to his season, put together the first type of outing that that Twins fans remember from his staff-ace stretch of 2012. Diamond lasted 6.2 innings, scattering 6 hits and 2 walks, with only 1 earned run and 6 K’s. He was replaced by A.J. Achter, who finished the final 2.1 innings without surrendering a baserunner and finalized the victory for Rochester.

The offense was led by the recently on-fire Chris Parmelee, whom had a 1^st inning sac fly to score Doug Bernier, and a 5^th inning solo blast, his 5^th HR of the season, to make the score 4-1 in Rochester’s favor. DH Brad Nelson, and 3B Deibinson Romero added RBI doubles to contribute to the offense.

ROCK CATS REVIEW

New Britain 4, New Hampshire 2

Box score

The acquisition from the Atlanta Braves organization that the Twins received for dealing Ryan Doumit last season put together arguably his best start for his new organization on Friday night. Sean Gilmartin tossed 6 innings of 1 run ball, allowing only 3 hits and racked up 8 K’s to secure the win, although he did surrender 4 BB’s. Relievers Daniel Turpen (hold), Lester Oliveros (hold), and Adrian Salcedo (save) all pitched a single inning and ensured the victory for the Rock Cats. The trio of relievers added 6 K’s to the team’s total, allowing 1 hit each, 3 total BB’s, and only 1 ER. Notable, was the rough start for Turpen, who started the 7^th inning off with a single and stolen base to advance the runner to 2^nd, and subsequent wild-pitch that put him on 3^rd. But he then proceeded to K the next 3 batters looking to end the threat.

On the offensive side, DH Kennys Vargas slugged his 5^th HR on the season in the 6^th inning, plating Kenny Wilson for a 4-1 Rock Cats lead. 2B Tony Thomas and SS (and Twins Daily contributor) A.J. Petterson added doubles to the offense, while Nate Hanson (another Minnesotan) added his second HR on the year in the victory.

MIRACLE MATTERS

Fort Myers 2, Palm Beach 3 (14 innings)

Box score

The Miracle attempted to emulate the Twins from Thursday night, lasting nearly 4 hours into the 14^th inning. Unfortunately for them, the result was the same, a tally in the Loss column.

David Hurlburt started for the Miracle and put together a quality start effort. He pitched 6 innings, allowing 7 hits and 2 ER’s with no walks and 2 K’s. He was replaced by lefty Steven Gruver who pitched into the 9^th, then Tim Shibuya who tossed a much needed 4.1 innings in the extra effort. Tyler Jones became the recipient of the loss after giving up a single and HBP to start the 14^th, a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners, then sac fly to plate the walk-off run.

Fort Myers received multi-hit efforts from leadoff man (and subsequent keep-your-eye-on-prospect) 2B Levi Michael (2 doubles) and OF Adam Brett Walker II (double) in the extended game, but only 4 other hitters collected a hit on the evening. Although as a team they walked 9 times, they stranded all but 1 of them.

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 2, Peoria 12

Box score

The pitching staff for the Kernels had a rough night and were unable to limit an early, relentless attack from the Chiefs. Helium prospect Felix Jorge made the start, but was only able to last 3 innings. He allowed only 1 BB, but 8 hits including 1 HR, 2 3B’s, and a double, which resulted in a 5-0 lead for Peoria. He was replaced by Christian Powell, who fared even worse, surrendering 7 R’s (6 earned) in just 0.2 innings. He was relieved by Todd Van Steesel whom allowed every inherited runner to score in the 4^th inning before recovering to strike out 4 through the 6^th and 2.1 total IP. Brandon Bixler then provided the mop-up duty in the last 3 innings, allowing 1 BB, with 3 K’s.

The offense was stymied to the tune of 14 K’s from the Peoria pitchers, though they were able to collect 10 hits on the night. They were led by 2B Logan Wade who went 3-5 with 2 doubles and an RBI, CF Jason Kanzler who went 2-5 with a run scored, and 3B Bryan Haar who went 2-4.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Scott Diamond, Rochester Red Wings

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Logan Wade, Cedar Rapids Kernels

SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Louisville @ Rochester (12:05 PM CST) – Yohan Pino (Listen)

New Hampshire @ New Britain (5:35 PM CST) – Pat Dean (Listen)

Fort Myers @ Palm Beach (5:35 CST) – Alex Wimmers (Listen)

Peoria @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 CST) – Aaron Slegers (Listen)