In the minor leagues on Sunday there were several standout performances on both the pitching side and the hitting side as Minnesota Twins affiliates went 4-1 on the day. Top pitchers were on the mound for Chattanooga and Fort Myers, but they wouldn’t quite compare to the TOP pitcher on the mound Sunday afternoon for Rochester. Elizabethton’s offense unloaded on opposing pitching and there were big RBI efforts in nearly every game.

To see who did what and where on Sunday, keep reading!

RED WINGS REPORT

Norfolk 2, Rochester 3

Box Score

Rochester scored single runs in the first three innings to jump out to an early 3-0 lead in support of starter Jose Berrios. Turns out they would be just enough to preserve his ninth win of the year with the Red Wings.

In the first, a double from Adam Walker scored Daniel Palka, who had singled earlier to start the two out rally. In the second, consecutive two out singles from John Ryan Murphy, Tommy Field, and James Beresford made it 2-0. In the third, consecutive errors from the Norfolk defense led to the games decisive run.

Berrios went the first six innings, allowing no runs on four hits and two walks. He struck out nine, including two in the first and two in the third, and retired seven in a row at one point. At ninety-five pitches after the sixth, Buddy Boshers came on for seventh and had a one-two-three inning.

Marcus Waldon was summoned in the eighth, and the Tides finally broke the barrier. All four hitters Walden faced reached base, and the knockout blow was a two-RBI single that brought in Sean Burnett to limit the damage. He retired the next three hitters to preserve the 3-2 lead for Rochester.

In the ninth, it took J.T. Chargois nine pitches to close the door on the game, and pick up his seventh save with the Red Wings.

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Mobile 6, Chattanooga 5

Box Score

The Lookouts took a 3-0 lead in this one in the third inning, when a Zach Granite single plated Engelb Vielma who had singled earlier, and Mitch Garver followed with a two-RBI double to score Levi Michael and Granite. Michael had reached base by being hit by a pitch in between the singles from Vielma and Granite .

Mobile closed the lead to 3-2 in the top of the fifth, as Chattanooga starter Felix Jorge ran into his first trouble of the game after picking up the first two outs of the inning. Up to that point he had faced the minimum, allowing only a single that was erased with a double play ball in the second. But two singles were followed by a two-RBI double to close the gap before he got out of the inning.

Chattanooga got those runs back in the bottom of the inning, as Garver again delivered a two-RBI hit, this one a single to score Granite and Ryan Walker, making it 5-2 Lookouts.

Jorge came back from the two-run fifth to go one-two-three in the sixth, allowed a solo home run in the seventh, and recorded the first two outs of the eighth before issuing a walk that brought in Jake Reed from the bullpen. Jorge’s final line was 7.2 innings pitched, and four runs allowed on five hits and two walks. Despite recording twenty-three outs against just twenty nine hitters, only one of those outs came via a strikeout.

Reed hit the first batter he faced to put two runners on, threw a wild-pitch to move them to second and third, and walked another batter to load the bases before they were cleared with a double to put the BayBears out front late, 6-5.

The Lookouts offense, including an appearance from Garver, was unable to muster anything else in the eighth or nine, and they went home with the loss to drop them to 50-44 on the season, and 14-10 in the second half. They are tied atop the Southern League North division standings.

MIRACLE MATTERS

Lakeland 1, Fort Myers 4

Box score

Fort Myers starter Fernando Romero allowed three consecutive singles in the first inning to put Lakeland up 1-0 right away, but he and bullpen settled in the rest of the way and allowed no further damage on the scoreboard.

Romero went the first six innings, allowing just the one run on five hits and a walk, while striking out six. Luke Bard pitched two scoreless innings in relief, allowing two hits and striking out one. Nick Anderson notched his second save in the Florida State League with a perfect ninth inning.

The Miracle offense got a solo home run from Tanner Witt in the third inning to tie it at one, and a two-run home run in the sixth from Lamonte Wade to make it 3-1. Wade’s home run was his first in the FSL. In addition to Witt and Wade’s 2-4 night’s, they also got multi-hit efforts from Trey Vavra (2-4, R) and Alex Perez (2-4) while knocking out twelve hits as a team.

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 8, Fort Wayne 6

Box Score

The Kernels took the lead late, and held on for a road victory against the TinCaps on Sunday.

Cedar Rapids took a 1-0 lead in the first when Luis Arreaz reached base on a strikeout-wild-pitch that was followed by a Zander Wiel double and Jaylin Davis single to drive him in.

Fort Wayne tagged starter Eduardo Del Rosario for three runs in the second, including a two-run home run but would get no more against the Cedar Rapids starter.

Rosario went six innings, allowing the three runs on five hits and a walk, while striking out seven. Thanks to a two-run double from Nelson Molina in the sixth, and three more runs scored in the seventh Rosario remained in line for the win despite each reliever that followed him allowing at least one run. Davis added his third Midwest League home run in the top of the ninth for an added cushion.

Michael Cederoth pitched the seventh and eighth innings, allowing a single run in each frame on three hits and a walk. He struck out two.

Anthony McIver allowed the TinCaps to close it to 8-6 and had two-runners on base when he struck out the game’s final batter for his fifth save with the Kernels.

The Kernels thirteen hits were on the game were accumulated by multi-hit efforts from over half of their lineup. Casey Scoggins was 2-5 with a run scored out of the leadoff spot. Arraez was 2-5 with two runs scored and an RBI. Zander Wiel picked up an RBI and clubbed two doubles. Davis finished 3-5 with three runs scored, a double, home run, and three RBI. Molina picked up three RBI’s of his own in a 2-5 night. Sean Miller added his fourth triple of the year.

E-TWINS E-NOTES

Elizabethton 11, Princeton 6

Box Score

Elizabthton pounded out fifteen hits compared to just the five for Princeton, but four Twins errors and a wild ninth inning for reliever Johan Quezada made the score quite a bit closer than it should have been.

Ariel Montesino went 4-5 with a double and scored three runs out of the leadoff spot for the Twins. He raised his batting average to .423 in the Appalachian League thus far.

Alex Kirilloff went 2-5, scored three runs, and hit his second home run of his professional career out of the three spot in the lineup.

Amaurys Minier drove in four runs, including a three-run home run in the fourth in a 2-4 night.

Lewin Diaz (2-5, R, 2B, RBI) and Andre Jernigan (2-5, R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI) also collected multiple hits. Jernigan’s blast was the first home run of his young professional career, and both his and Minier’s long balls came in the ninth inning to push the game well out of reach for the Rays.

Sean Poppen made the start for Elizabethton and pitched the first five innings. He allowed an unearned run on two hits and three walks, and struck out seven to pick up his first professional win. Patrick McGuff went 2.1 scoreless innings to follow Poppen. He walked two, allowed one hit, and struck out three. Colton Davis was responsible for one run on one hit allowed, as he finished off the last two outs of the eighth, and recorded one out in the ninth before Quezada was brought in.

What followed was a very bizarre sequence, as Quezada had trouble finding the strike zone. There was a wild-pitch to the first batter he faced, but he picked up a strikeout for the innings second out. He then walked the next three batters to score one and load the bases, then a wild-pitch and walk scored another, and an error would score two more before Quezada got an infield pop-up to end the game. All told Quezada allowed four runs (two earned) on one hit and four walks in the inning that started with the Twins out front 11-1.

GCL TWINS TAKES

The GCL Twins had the day off on Sunday. They get back to action tomorrow morning on the road against the GCL Rays.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Pitcher of the Day – Jose Berrios, Rochester Red Wings (W, 6.0IP, 0 R’s, 4 H’s, 2 BB, 9 K’s)

Hitter of the Day – Jaylin Davis, Cedar Rapids Kernels (3-4, 3 R’s, 2B, HR, 3 RBI)

MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Durham @ Rochester (6:05PM CST) – LHP Jason Wheeler (6-2, 2.80 ERA)

Mobile @ Chattanooga (6:15PM CST) – LHP Stephen Gonsalves (3-1, 3.48 ERA)

Lakeland @ Fort Myers (6:05PM CST) – RHP Miles Nordgren (0-1, 3.86 ERA)

Cedar Rapids @ Fort Wayne (6:05PM PM CST) – RHP Cody Stashak (6-5, 3.16 ERA)

Elizabethton @ Princeton (6:00PM CST) – RHP Jose Martinez (0-1, 7.47 ERA)

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

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