Kyle Gibson continued his breakout campaign against the Detroit Tigers on Sunday afternoon, helping the Twins complete a series win against their division rival heading into the All Star Break. Miguel Sano also delivered his second career home run, avoiding the silent treatment in the dugout for the first of many more times.

Oh, and news flash: The Twins Have the Second Best Record in the American League!

In the minors on Sunday, there was one game that had a ton of offense, and a bunch more with not so much. One former first round pick (supplemental round) had a big day, the guy batting behind him added to his home run totals, and a converted outfielder continued to shine in Elizabethton’s starting rotation.

Read on to find out what happened and where!

TRANSACTIONS

First, there were a slew of transactions in Chattanooga before the games on Sunday.

In Chattanooga, Travis Harrison was activated from the disabled list and had a big impact on their game. Zach Jones was also sent down to Fort Myers after his recent struggles, with Matt Summers being called up in his place. First baseman

Mike Gonzales was also released by the Twins from the Lookouts roster. He is twenty-seven years old and had spent seven years in the Twins organization, reaching as high as AA.

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 1, Syracuse 4

Box Score

Greg Peavey was on the mound for the Red Wings, and dueled with the Chiefs’ Taylor Jordan for much of the early going. It was still tied at zero into the fourth inning, before the home team struck first against Peavey.

A two out double put a runner in scoring position, and the following single brought him home for the 1-0 lead. The Chiefs would add two more in the fifth, when the first three hitters all singled to score one, and a later double would score the second. Peavey would escape that inning without any more damage, and finished his day with a one-two-three sixth. He allowed the three runs on eight hits and one walk, while striking out two.

Rochester was unable to get on the board until the eighth inning, when Jorge Polanco led off with a double, and scored later on a Chris Herrmann sacrifice fly.

Polanco was a stud on Sunday afternoon, going 4-4 on the day with a double and a run scored, raising his average with the Red Wings to .366. He didn’t get much help from the rest of the offense however, as they were unable to string enough hits together behind him to make a difference on the scoreboard. As a team they were 1-12 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base.

Caleb Thielbar threw a scoreless seventh inning, allowing one hit and striking out two; while Aaron Thompson pitched the bottom of the eighth, allowing one run on two hits to make the score 4-1.

Danny Ortiz led off the ninth with a double, and Jose Martinez moved him to third with a single that brought the tying run to the plate with nobody out. But Wilkin Ramirez flew out to old friend Darin Mastroianni in center field, and Argenias Diaz grounded into a double play to end the game.

With the loss, Rochester finishes the first half of their International League season with a record of 49-42, and sit in first place in the North Division.

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Mississippi 11, Chattanooga 10

Box Score

The game in Chattanooga on Sunday afternoon was a roller coaster for each side, as they combined for twenty-one runs on twenty-nine hits, and changed leads four times.

Mississippi put a crooked number up in the first, as three singles and a wild pitch combined to plate two runs off Lookout’s starter Jason Wheeler.

They got both those runs back in the bottom of the second as Travis Harrison led off with a walk, and Stephen Wickens, Marcus Knecht, and Stuart Turner all singled to make it 2-2.

Wheeler settled down after the first inning and finished seven innings, scattering a total of nine hits. He allowed three runs (two earned), did not walk a batter, and struck out three.

Mississippi took back the lead 3-2 in the sixth when the Braves got a double and single in succession, but they handed the lead to Chattanooga in the bottom of the inning.

Wickens drew a walk and was followed by a Knecht single, before Stuart Turner greeted the bullpen with a 2-RBI double to make it 4-3. They tacked on three more runs in the seventh inning as Harrison (2-R HR) and Adam Brett Walker (solo HR) connected for back to back blasts. They were Harrison’s fourth of the season, and Walker’s twenty-fourth.

Brandon Peterson was summoned from the bullpen for the top of the eighth inning, having not allowed a run since his promotion to AA, and in 26.0 innings overall since May 5^th. The streak was not to continue any further, as a single and triple quickly put an end to it. A later double would score a second run to make the score 7-5.

The Lookouts got back those runs and more again in the bottom of the frame, as two singles and a walk would load the bases, and Harrison would clear them with a double to make it 10-5 going into the ninth.

J.T. Chargois recorded the first two outs quickly, but then all hell broke loose against the reliever and home team. A walk, single, and a double would score two, before another single, and two walks would score a third and leave the bases loaded for Matt Summers.

Mississippi brought in Pinch Hitter Rio Ruiz, who drew an RBI walk to make it 10-9, then a double from Sean Godfrey would put the Braves ahead 11-10.

Deflated by the bullpen implosion, Chattanooga’s offense went down one-two-three in the bottom of the inning to take the loss, and look to avoid a five-game home-series sweep byMississippi on Monday.

MIRACLE MATTERS

Clearwater 4, Fort Myers 1

Box Score

Lefthander Stephen Gonsalves was on the mound for the Miracle, making his fifth Florida State League start. He wasn’t his greatest, but also wasn’t helped much by his defense, as two of his three runs allowed were unearned after a throwing error from Alex Swim in the fourth.

Gonsalves’s day would come to an end in the sixth inning, as a throwing error from T.J. White after two singles to start the inning would load the bases. Nick Burdi came into the game and shut down the threat with two strikeouts and an infield pop out.

Overall on the day Gonsalves pitched five innings, allowing the three runs (one earned) on eight hits and four walks. He struck out two.

The Miracle offense closed the score to 3-1 in the fourth, when a Mitch Garver double scored Ryan Walker, who had singled to lead off the inning, but that is as close as they would get.

Burdi also came out for the seventh, and set the Threshers down one-two-three while adding another strikeout. It was then Tyler Jay’s turn in the eighth, and he struck out all three hitters he faced.

Todd Van Steensel came on in the ninth and promptly loaded the bases with two walks and single. He allowed one run on a single before managing to wiggle out of the jam by inducing a 1-2-3 double-play.

Fort Myers would go down in order in the bottom of the ninth to hand Gonsalves his first loss in the FSL, though he did lower his ERA to 2.61.

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 1, Kane County 3

Box Score

Despite each team collecting ten hits, there wasn’t much in the run columns on the scoreboard for either team, as they combined for just one extra-base hit on the day.

The Cougars took the lead 1-0 in the bottom of the fourth off Kernels starter Sam Gibbons, as a double from Marty Herum led off the inning, and a sac bunt and sac fly brought him home.

It would remain that way until the eighth inning, as Gibbons scattered seven hits and a walk over 5.1 innings while striking out three, and reliever Luke Bard added 2.2 scoreless frames, striking out two. Cougars starter Markus Solbach scattered nine hits over seven innings of his own, striking out four.

In the eighth inning the Kernels finally got to him, as a Nick Gordon single brought home Sean Miller from second to tie the game. Miller had led off the inning with a single of his own, and was moved into scoring position on a Tanner English sacrifice bunt.

With a tie-game heading into the bottom of the ninth in Kane County, the Kernels went to lefthander Brandon Bixler, who had allowed at least one run in each of his past four outings.

He got two outs, but that trend continued and sent the Kernels into the dugout with a loss, as pinch-hitter Ildemaro Vargas blasted a two-run home run just over wall in the gap in left center for the 3-1 walk-off victory.

The win pushed Kane County’s (15-3) second half Western Division lead to four games over the Kernels (11-7).

E-TOWN E-NOTES

Johnson City 3, Elizabethton 2

Box Score

Elizabethton’s game on Sunday was also easy on the scoreboard operators, as they got another fantastic pitching performance from Derek Rodriguez.

The Cardinals got on the board early with a run in the first inning as a single and stolen base put a runner in scoring position. A fielding error from first baseman Amaurys Minier would then allow that run to scamper home.

From there on Rodriguez was in control. He finished six innings, allowing just the one unearned run on four hits and one walk in six innings. He struck out six and his ERA in four starts in the Appalachian League sits at 1.61.

Elizabethton took the lead in the second inning, when Nelson Molina launched his first home run of the season, a two-run shot to right field making the score 2-1.

Anthony Mciver added two scoreless innings in relief of Rodriguez to keep it that way until the ninth inning for Jose Abreu.

With one out and a runner on second, Johnson City’s Luke Doyle sent a liner into centerfield for a single. The runner was waved around third but the throw beat him home to keep the lead with two outs. The next hitter grounded to third, but the throw was misplayed by Tyler Kuresa for an error on the first baseman, and the tying run came around to score before Abreau got the third out.

Elizabethtons lineup was retired in order in the bottom of the ninth to send the game to extra innings.

Abreu came out for another inning, but did not record an out, and the three singles surrendered brought home the go-ahead run for the Cardinals. Logan Lombana came in to replace Abreu with two runners on an escaped any more damage by retiring all three hitters he faced.

Down 3-2 in the tenth, the Twins got the tying run on base after a Kamran Young single, but pinch hitter A.J. Murray would ground into a double play to end the game.

Murray was pinch hitting for Wade, who was 2-4 in the game before that at-bat. Molina also added two hits, including the home run to lead the offense.

GCL TWINS TAKES

The Gulf Coast League Twins, like the rest of the GCL, had the day off on Sunday. They host the GCL Rays on Monday.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Pitcher of the Day – Derek Rodriguez, Elizabethton Twins (6.0 IP, 4 H’s, 0 ER’s, BB, 6 K’s)

Hitter of the Day – Travis Harrison, Chattanooga Lookouts (2-4, 2 R’s, 2B, HR, BB, 5 RBI)

MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Rochester – International League All-Star Break.

Mississippi @ Chattanooga (6:15 PM CST) – LHP David Hurlbut (4-4, 5.57 ERA)

Clearwater @ Fort Myers (6:05 PM CST) – RHP Aaron Slegers (6-4, 3.07 ERA)

Cedar Rapids @ Kane County (6:35 PM CST) – LHP Luke Westphal (1-1, 4.50 ERA)

Johnson City @ Elizabethton (6:00 PM CST) – RHP Alex Tapia (1-1, 2.76 ERA)

GCL Rays @ GCL Twins (11:00 AM CST) – TBD

Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Sunday’s games.