Kennys Vargas made his Target Field debut on Tuesday night and did not disappoint. The big fella hit a three-run home run to give the Twins a 3-1 victory, despite being out hit by a tally of 12-5. Phil Hughes once again looked like the Phil Hughes that was exciting Twins fans in the first half.

The Twins won on Tuesday, but throughout most of the Minor League system, there was not a lot of excitement, as only the Kernels managed a victory.

Red Wings Report

Rochester 0, Louisville 1

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Tommy Milone's career with the Minnesota Twins organization started in earnest on Tuesday night. The first two batters he faced hit singles, then he walked the third hitter. Bases loaded with no outs in his first appearance, not exactly the start he was hoping for. The next batter hit into a run-scoring double play, and then Milone induced another ground ball to end the inning. That would be the only run he gave up all night, he'd scatter four more hits and a walk over the next six innings and left the game down 1-0 after seven. Aaron Thompson pitched a scoreless eighth, but the Red Wings could not muster a run in the top of the ninth and Milone was tagged with a loss, despite pitching well in his debut.

The Red Wings hitters were completely flummoxed by Louisville's Dylan Axelrod, who pitched a complete game two hitter. Eric Farris picked up the first hit of the night, but was thrown out attempting to steal two batters later. James Beresford had the other Wings hit, a double. In his first game back at AAA after a promotion, Aaron Hicks was 0-2 and had the lone base on balls of the evening.

Rock Cats Review

New Britain 2, Akron 3

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Jason Wheeler was given a 2-0 lead before he threw a single pitch, but ended up surrendering three runs over six innings and earning the loss despite a quality start. Those two first inning runs were the only two the Rock Cats would score all evening. Wheeler gave up seven hits, struck out four, and walked two during the quality start. Adrian Salcedo pitched two innings of relief and struck out two and gave up just one hit.

All of the Rock Cats runs came off the bat of Reynaldo Rodriguez, who hit a two-run dinger in the first inning. Nate Hanson had a nice night at the plate, he was 2-3 with a walk and scored on the Rodriguez home run. Tony Thomas hit a double and was 2-4 with a strike out. Eddie Rosario was 0-4 and is hitting just .232/.269/.382 over 52 Double-A games this year. He has just eight hits (but five for extra bases, including two home runs) in his last 44 at bats.

Miracle Matters

Scheduled Off Day

Kernels Nuggets

Wisconsin 0, Cedar Rapids 9

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With Joe Mauer and Ricky Nolasco starting their rehab assignments in Cedar Rapids, Kernels fans filled up Veterans Memorial Stadium. Nolasco started the game and pitched 3.2 scoreless innings. He walked 1 and struck out two. He was replaced by Ryan Eades, making his first relief appearance of the year, who held the Timber Rattlers scoreless over 4.1 innings. He struck out five, walked three, and gave up just two hits. Hudson Boyd mopped up in the ninth inning with the Kernels leading 9-0 and pitched a scoreless inning.

Joe Mauer was 1-3 and drove home a run in the first inning by grounding into a double-play. Chad Christensen hit a two run home run in the fourth inning as part of his 1-5 day. Engelb Vielma was 2-5 with two runs scored and two RBIs hitting leadoff for the Kernels. Bryan Haar and Alex Swim were both 2-4 with an RBI. The Kernels totaled eleven hits, two walks, and only three strike outs in total. Only Mitch Garver (0-1, pinch hitting for Joe Mauer) and Michael Quesada (0-3 with a walk) failed to record a hit.

E-Town E-Notes

Johnson City 3, Elizabethton 2

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The E-Town Twins tied up the game in the bottom of the ninth but could not bottle up Johnson City in the tenth and let one get away. Randy LeBlanc pitched 3.1 innings as the starter and scattered five hits and an earned run. Keaton Steele pitched 2.2 innings, he struck out four, walked one and gave up a solo home run. Cameron Booser pitched a scoreless seventh. Dereck Rodriguez pitched three innings and was tagged with the loss when he gave up a run in the top of the tenth. He gave up just two hits and a walk while he struck out three, but both hits and a walk came in the top of the tenth and a sacrifice fly scored the winning run.

Brett Doe was the only Twins player with multiple hits, he was 2-4 with a double, the only extra base hit for the Twins on Tuesday. Nick Gordon entered the game in the eighth as a pinch hitter, he picked up an RBI on a sac fly before being lifted for a defensive replacement in the tenth.

GCL Twins Takes

GCL Orioles 2, GCL Twins 1 - Game 1

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Josh Burris gave up one run in three innings, but because of yet another low scoring output in the Twins farm system, was tagged with a loss. Jhon Silva pitched two innings, struck out one and gave up an earned run on two hits. Zach Tillery pitched the final two innings of this seven inning game, giving up just two hits.

Manuel Guzman led off for the GCL Twins and produced half of their hits with a 2-4 night. Ariel Montesino and Rainis Silva each had one hit. The GCL Twins had no extra base hits, no walks, and nine strike outs. Ouch.

GCL Twins 1, GCL Orioles 2 - Game 2

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The GCL pitchers again pitched well in the second game, but again a lack of offense wasted their efforts. Michael Theofanopoulos pitched three innings, walked two, struck out one, and gave up three hits, including a solo home run. Alexis Tapia pitched two scoreless innings. Zack Jones pitched 0.2 scoreless before Miles Nordgren took over and pitched 2.1 scoreless to bring the game to the ninth inning. In the bottom of the ninth, with the game tied, Leonel Zazueta was victimized by a couple of errors. With one out the runner on first (Daniel Franco) took off for second base, and then advances to third on a throwing error b Gabriel Ojeda. Zazueta then struck out the next batter for the second out of the inning but a passed ball by Gabriel Ojeda allowed the winning run to score.

The GCL Twins had just three hits. One each from Amurys Minier, Nelson Molina and Manuel Guzman. Minier's hit was a solo home run, giving the Twins their only run of the game. In addition to going just 3-30 as a team, the GCL Twins also struck out eight times and walked only twice.

DSL Twins Dialed In

DSL Twins 3, DSL Reds 14

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Down in the Dominican, the DSL Twins were throttled b the DSL Reds 14-3. Jadison Jiminez started and earned the loss, giving up five runs (three earned) over five innings. Johan Quezada gave up three unearned runs in the sixth, and Erick Balbuena gave up five runs, four earned in just a third of an inning to start the seventh. Argenis Silva finished the game for the Twins, pitching 1.2 innings of one run ball. Ouches all around for the pitching staff.

The DSL Twins had twelve hits and four walks, but could not keep pace with the DSL Reds and their fourteen runs. Emmanuel Morel was 2-5 with a run scored, and Edgar Herrera was 2-3 with a walk, a triple, and two runs scored. No other player had multiple hits, but every starter had at least one, and only a pinch hitter (Jorge Parra) and a pinch runner (Jorge Andrade) failed to record a hit.

Twins Daily Minor League Players of the Day

Pitcher of the Day - Tommy Milone, Rochester

Hitter of the Day - Reynaldo Rodriguez, New Britain

Wednesday's Probables

Rochester - Off (Listen)

New Britain @ Akron (6:05 C) – Virgil Vasquez (Listen)

Ft. Myers @ St. Lucie (5:30 C)– Matt Tomshaw (Listen)

Cedar Rapids vs Wisconsin (6:35 C) - TBD (Listen)

Elizabethton - Off

GCL Orioles @ GCL Twis (11:00am C) – TBD

DSL Twins @ DSL Padres (9:30am C) – TBD