Twins Minor League Report (5/25): Gibson's Latest Pitch

[Seth Stohs]

On Saturday, there were several stories to follow for the Twins' minor league teams. Kyle Gibson was back on the mound, looking to put together back-to-back good starts for the first time this season. How did he do? New Britain finished a suspended game and played a second game. Matt Summers was terrific in Ft. Myers. Jorge Polanco was very good and JO Berrios was back on the mound for the Kernels.

The big news of the night is that DJ Baxendale has been promoted to New Britain. Baxendale was the Twins' minor league pitcher of the month for April, and in 28 innings in May, he has not allowed an earned run.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]

Lefty Matt Tomshaw will head to Ft. Myers from Cedar Rapids to make a start for the Miracle. It’s quite possible that there will be more moves.

Check out what happened in the Twins minor league system on Saturday:

Rochester Red Wings 4, Charlotte Knights 1

Box Score

People question the Twins’ brass for saying that Kyle Gibson has not been consistent. Yet even Gibson agrees with that assessment and the stats show it. According to the Red Wings, “Entering the game, Gibson’s ERA in odd starts was 0.50 (2 ER/35.2 IP) but in his even numbered starts he had posted an ERA of 9.00 (17 ER/17.0 IP).” On Saturday, Gibson made his tenth start of the season, coming off his 93-pitch shutout. Could he finally put together a couple quality starts?

Yes! Gibson did what he needed to do. The right-hander went eight innings without giving up a run. He gave up just two hits, walked three and struck out seven. Tyler Robertson came on for the ninth. He got one out but was charged with one run on two hits and a walk. Daniel Turpen came on and walked in a run before getting the final two outs.

Gibson improved to 4-5 and reduced his ERA to 2.82. He threw 111 pitches, 68 of them strikes.

Eric Farris went 3-4 with his fourth double and two stolen bases. Jeff Clement was 3-4 with his fifth double. Deibinson Romero went 0-3 and is now 0-11 with the Red Wings.

Game 1 – New Britain Rock Cats 2, New Hampshire Fisher Cats 4

Box Score

This game started on Friday night but was suspended due to weather. The teams continued the game on Saturday before finishing this seven inning game. BJ Hermsen started the game on Friday; he worked the first three innings and gave up three runs (two earned) on three hits and three walks. When the game resumed on Saturday, AJ Achter was on the mound. He worked two shutout innings, giving up two hits, walking one and he struck out three. Edgar Ibarra came on for two innings, He gave up one run on one hit and two walks. Bruce Pugh walked one in a scoreless inning.

Jordan Parraz went 2-4 and hit his first home run in the Twins' organization. Danny Ortiz went 2-4 with his 17^th double. Josmil Pinto was also 2-4. Chris Pettit hit his first double with the team.

Game 2 – New Britain Rock Cats 4, New Hampshire Fisher Cats 1

Box Score

Pat Dean started the regularly scheduled game. The lefty got the start on his 24^th birthday, going 5.1 innings. He gave up only an unearned run on six hits and a walk. He struck out one. Michael Tonkin came on and got the final five outs for his seventh save. He struck out two.

Danny Santana went 3-4 with his eighth double and his third triple. James Beresford continued his hot streak, going 2-3 with his fifth double. Josmil Pinto was 2-3 with a walk. Nate Hanson went 2-3.

Ft. Myers Miracle 6, Charlotte Stone Crabs 4

Box Score

When Matt Summers left the game, there were two outs in the seventh inning. He had not yet allowed a run, but he had just hit a batter in the head to load the bases (the batter, Alejandro Segovia, walked off the field). Chad Rodgers came on and gave up a single and a triple and the Miracle found themselves behind 4-2.

Summers was charged with three runs on three hits and two walks in 6.1 innings. He struck out five. Rodgers was charged with one run on two hits and a walk in 1.2 innings. He struck out two.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Miracle fought back. Matt Koch led off with a walk. Jonathan Murphy doubled him in. Following a pitching change, Aderlin Mejia got on via an error. Stephen Wickens singled in the tying run. Eddie Rosario, returning to the lineup from his brief benching, drove in the go-ahead run with a single. After the next two batters were retired, Angel Morales drove in the fourth run of the inning with his third single of the game and gave the Miracle a 6-4 lead.

Cole Johnson came on for the ninth inning and threw a one, two, three inning to record his second save; his ERA is now 0.82.

Angel Morales was 3-4 in the game; Jhon Goncalves went 2-4 in his return to the Miracle.

Cedar Rapids Kernels 3, Burlington Bees 6

Box Score

JO Berrios was back on the mound for the Kernels, looking to stop the team's three-game losing streak. The right-hander gave up four runs (one earned) on nine hits and a walk in five innings. He struck out eight. Matt Tomshaw, who had been scheduled to start on Sunday, pitched a scoreless inning. Tyler Jones returned to the mound from the DL. He worked a scoreless frame. Josue Montanez pitched the final two innings. He gave up two runs on two hits, walked two and struck out one.

The Kernels managed just six hits. Jorge Polanco had three of them, including two doubles. He now has fourteen on the season. Byron Buxton was 1-4 with a walk.

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