Article: Twins Minor League Report (8/12): Wheeler of Fortune

[Cody Christie]

A day after being part of a no-hitter that he started three weeks ago, Trevor May did something else that was a little strange: he pitched in relief in the Twins game. This was something he hadn't done since 2010 at the High-A level. After a rough big league debut, it was probably nice for May to get back on the mound and prove he belongs at the big league level.

It was a strange day in the minor leagues.Two Twins' affiliates had weather interfere with their games and one team had to finish a game they had started at the end of June. Let's see how things shook out after all of the weather issues.

 

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 1, Lehigh Valley 1 (3rd Inning- Suspended)

Box Score

 

These two teams couldn't get their game completed as rain interrupted things after two innings of play. A double-header is scheduled tomorrow with the first game being a nine inning contest and the second game being a shortened seven inning game. Look for a full report on this game as part of tomorrow's minor league report at Twins Daily.

 

ROCK CATS REVIEW

New Britain 2, Bowie 0

Box Score

 

For the first time since the beginning of July, Jason Wheeler was credited with a victory. He tossed 7.1 shutout innings by striking out five and walking none. He limited the Baysox to four hits with only two of them for extra-bases. Ryan O'Rourke and Daniel Turpen collected the final five outs to keep the shutout intact. It was the second save for Turpen and the tenth hold for O'Rourke.

 

Mike Gonzalez provided the big hit for the Rock Cats. He cranked his third home run of the season, a two-run shot, in the fourth inning. After two quick outs to start the inning, Tony Thomas singled. He advanced to second on a balk ahead of the Gonzalez home run. Eddie Rosario and Jorge Polanco both went 1-for-3 with each reaching base a second time with a walk.

 

 

MIRACLE MATTERS

 

Game One

Fort Myers 6, St. Lucie 8

Box Score

 

The post-Byron Buxton era in Fort Myers didn't go as planned as the team dropped a pair of games. The first game was a the resumption of a game that had been rained out in the top of the fifth with the Miracle leading 3-2.

 

The team held the lead for most of the game before the bullpen allowed five runs in the eighth and ninth innings. Tyler Jones was the man on the mound for all of the late inning damage. The five runs were scored on five hits including a home run. Tim Shibuya had started the game on June 26th and limited the Mets to two runs, one earned, on six hits in a little over four innings.

Fort Myers used a balanced offensive attack to build up their early lead. Six different players drove in a run. Anderlin Mejia and Niko Goodrum did a good job at the top of the order. They combined to go 4-for-9 with two doubles and three runs scored. Dalton Hicks added a double of his own and he came around to score.

 

Game Two

Fort Myers 6, St. Lucie 5

Box Score

 

Aderlin Mejia kept his hot hitting going in the second game, recording another two-hit performance. In his last six games he has four multi-hit games so he's in the middle of quite an offensive run. Tyler Grimes knocked in three with a home run as part of a two-hit night. Jairo Rodriguez only had one hit but he scored two of the team's runs. Adam Brett Walker added his 88th RBI of the season.

Ethan Mildren got knocked around for seven hits and he allowed six runs. Only four of the runs were earned following a couple defensive miscues by Mejia and Bryan Haar. It was the first time in his last three starts that Mildren has not pitched six innings. Madison Boer struck out the side in the sixth and DJ Johnson pitched a perfect seventh.

 

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 12, Beloit 5

Box Score

 

The Kernels used a small ball approach to rack up 12 runs in this game. Cedar Rapids didn't have an extra-base hit but they used a balanced attack with every batter besides Ryan Walker, the lead-off man, getting at least one hit. Chad Christensen plated three runs. The bottom three men in the order (JD Williams, Engelb Vielma,and Tanner Vavra) all drove in two runs. The Kernels went 9-for-16 with runners in scoring position.

 

Ryan Eades was able to coast to his second straight win and he hasn't been charged with a loss since July 20th. He scattered nine hits and allowed two earned runs for his eighth victory. Josue Montanez got into a little bit of trouble as he allowed three runs in an inning of work. Hudson Boyd limited the Snappers to two base runners over the last two frames.

 

E-TWINS E-NOTES

Elizabethton --, Bristol --

 

Rain got in the way of this contest between the E-Twins and the Pirates. It was the second time in the three game series that rain caused a postponement. The game will be made-up as part of a double header on August 24th when the E-Twins return to Bristol.

 

GCL TWINS TAKES

GCL Twins 1, GCL Rays 5

Box Score

 

The GCL Twins were only out-hit 11 to 10 but the team struggled to get runners across the plate. Overall, the Twins went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and they left nine runners on base. Joel Polanco and Zack Larson each had a double as part of a two-hit day. Amaurys Minier reached base three times but his teammates couldn't push him across the plate.

 

Zach Tillery took his second loss of the season after throwing three innings and allowing one earned run on four hits. He struck out two and walked one. Josh Burris relieved Tillery and four runs were scored against him but they were all unearned because of a couple defensive errors. Jhon Silva, Callan Pearce, and Miles Nordgren shut out the Rays offense the rest of the way.

 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Jason Wheeler, New Britain Rock Cats

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Aderlin Mejia, Fort Myers Miracle

 

WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Durham @ Rochester (4:05 CST)- Completion of 8/12 Game

Durham @ Rochester (30 minutes after Game 1) – Mark Hamburger (Listen)

New Britain @ Trenton (6:05 CST) – Tyler Duffey (Listen)

St. Lucie @ Ft. Myers (4:05 CST) – TBA (Listen)

St. Lucie @ Ft. Myers (30 minutes after Game 1)- TBA

Cedar Rapids @ Beloit (7:00 CST) - Chih-Wei Hu (Listen)

Greeneville @ Elizabethton (6:00 CST) - John Curtiss

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

 

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[Paul Pleiss]

Cody, taking a look at some of the guys in the minor leagues, and their current status on (or off) the 40-man roster, who are some names that I should be hoping to see up with the big league ball club before the season is over,  as September call ups or otherwise?

[lightfoot789]

88 Ribbies with 19 games to go.  Can't wait to see how Walker does at Jet Blue this week.

[B Richard]

Don't look now, but Minier has doubled his walk rate. (up to 11.3% from 5% last year)

 

Currently he's put up a wRC+ of 145-- that's producing runs at a rate 45% better than league average. 2013 wasn't great for him, but it looks like he is growing as a ballplayer. Very excited to see him advance