The Twins are taking a trip to the west coast to play the hapless Angels. Joe Mauer is getting a day off to rest his knee, which he fouled a ball off of yesterday. Today will be Mauer’s first day off this season. Yes, you read that right.

One additional note: If you thought “Promotion Weekend” had drawn to a close, you thought wrong. LSP Luke French, who had been nothing short of dominant at New Britain, has been promoted to Rochester.

Moving on, let’s look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from the last day of a forgetful April:

ROCHESTER vs BUFFALO

Monday’s game was postponed due to rain.

NEW BRITAIN 1, HARRISBURG 0 (12 INNINGS)

The first 11 innings went scoreless before the Rock Cats plated a runner in the top of 12.

Obviously when you go 12 innings without giving up a run, you’ve done something right. David Bromberg started, went five innings and gave up only one hit, one walk and struck out eight. Bobby Lanigan, Lester Oliveros and Luis Perdomo combined to get the next twenty outs, striking out eight while only giving up one hit. Caleb Thielbar, making his AA debut, walked the first batter he faced before ending the game (and earning the save) on a shallow pop out to right field.

If you’re keeping track at home, that’s 12 IP, 2 H, 2 BB and 16 Ks. Wow!

Chris Herrmann, Aaron Hicks and Pedro Florimon all registered multi-hit games. All had two hits, all were singles. Florimon scored the game’s one and only run on a wild pitch in the top of the twelfth inning.

FT. MYERS MIRACLE 1, ST. LUCIE 2

The Miracle lost a tough game, but what could be more significant, lost a player as starter Adrian Salcedo took a one-hopper off the face while pitching to the game’s second batter. He left the game, but there was no immediate word about the significance of the injury.

Nelvin Fuentes made his high-A debut before anyone hoped he would, relieving Salcedo with one out in the first. He definitely held his own, pitching almost four innings and only allowing three hits and one run. Miguel Munoz took the loss despite pitching really well too. He went three innings, striking out two. He allowed only one run too, though it was a home run and the deciding run. Matt Hauser pitched the final two frames, striking out three, giving up a hit and hitting a batter. It should also be noted that St. Lucie was able to successfully double-steal with Hauser on the mound.

The bats didn’t do much. The team only had five hits, but three of those came off the bat of rehabbing OF Wilkin Ramirez. Angel Morales and Daniel Rohlfing accounted for the other two. Morales also struck out three times. Josmil Pinto picked up two walks.

When Danny Ortiz makes his way into the lineup – probably pushing Ramirez back to Rochester – we will most likely see an outfield of Ortiz, Morales and Oswaldo Arcia.

BELOIT 7, DAYTON 0

The story of the game was LSP Jason Wheeler. The big-bodied 2011-draftee retired the last 14 batters he faced. He completed six innings of two-hit baseball, allowing one walk, while registering seven strikeouts. Wheeler might have entered the spring as a forgotten high pick, but he’s quickly making us take note.

Matthew Tomshaw, Clinton Dempster and Bart Carter each notched a scoreless inning in relief to preserve the shutout.

The bats were hot even though the weather wasn’t. Every starter except leadoff hitter Wang-Wei Lin registered a hit as the Snappers had 11 total. Rory Rhodes, who went 2-4, was the only one to have an extra base hit. He also led the team with three runs batted in.

Miguel Sano went 2-3 with 2 RBI, a walk and a strikeout. Jhon Goncalves was the only other Snapper with multiple hits. He went 2-4.

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Players of the Day for Monday, April 30, 2012

Hitter of the Day – Rory Rhodes

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Pitcher of the Day – Jason Wheeler (in a close 1-0 vote over the entire Rock Cats staff).

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A Look Ahead – Tuesday, May 1, 2012 Schedule

Rochester @ Empire State – RHP Cole DeVries (0-1, 2.91)

New Britain @ Harrisburg – RHP B.J. Hermsen (AA debut) appears to be the likely starter.

Ft. Myers @ Palm Beach – RHP Marty Popham (2-0, 3.92)

Beloit - OFF DAY

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