Article: Twins Minor League Report (8/27): Defense Fails in Minors

[Eric R Pleiss]

Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano ran out of magic on Thursday night as the pair lost for the first time while playing in the lineup together, snapping the Twins' longest winning streak since 2011. With September call-ups less than a week away, let's take a look at some of the action down in the minor leagues.RED WINGS REPORT

Syracuse Chiefs @ Rochester Red Wings

Box Score

 

The Red Wings pitching staff limited the Chiefs to just six hits while racking up thirteen strikeouts and not a single walk. Red Wings starting pitcher Michael Bowden picked up his tenth win of the year with seven scoreless innings. Bowden gave up five hits and struck out nine, bringing his season ERA down to 2.68. Bowden, a former first-round pick by the Red Sox, has pitched in parts of six MLB seasons, but hasn't been in the show since 2013. Mark Hamburger pitched the final two innings in relief. Hamburger gave up a hit and struck out four.

 

The Red Wings did pretty well with the the sticks as well, notching nine hits, including multi-hit games from their one, two, and four hitters. Danny Santana led off and was 2-4 with a double and a run scored. Two-hitter James Beresford was 2-4 with a run scored and an RBI. Cleanup man Kennys Vargas was 2-4 with a run scored and a strikeout. Josmil Pinto picked up four RBIs with a grand slam in the first inning. Just Pinto's seventh homer of the year. Pinto was once a player the Twins had high hopes for but his defense hasn't been up to par at catcher, and as a DH his .229/308/.373 line is not impressive.

 

Final: Chiefs 0, Red Wings 6

 

 

LOOKOUTS LOOK-IN

Tennessee Smokies @ Chattanooga Lookouts

Box Score

 

The Smokies pounded the Lookouts on Thursday night, taking a six-run lead before the Lookouts were on the board. D.J. Baxendale pitched the first five innings, giving up eight hits, four runs (all earned), a walk and three strikeouts. Brandon Peterson gave up a pair of unearned runs in the sixth on the back of two Lookouts errors, one each from Niko Goodrum and Levi Michael. Corey Williams pitched two strong innings of relief after the Lookouts were well out of the game, giving up one hit, struck out three and walked one. J.T. Chargois pitched the ninth, yielding a pair of hits and a run.

 

The Lookouts struggled at the plate, especially at the top of the order as the first five hitters combined to go 1-16. Levi Michael and Jair Rodriguez had the best nights for Chattanooga. Both players had a pair of singles.

 

Final: Smokies 7, Lookouts 1

 

 

MIRACLE MATTERS

Bradenton Marauders @ Fort Myers Miracle

Box Score

 

Miracle pitchers held the Marauders hitters from scoring until the top of the ninth and then hung on for dear life. Ethan Mildren got things started for the Miracle, pitching six shutout innings. Mildren gave up five hits, one walk, and he struck out three. Jake Reed picked up a hold, his second, with a scoreless inning (facing the minimum). Zach Jones gave up a pair of hits in the eighth, but escaped unharmed for his first hold of the year. Trevor Hildenberger gave up a pair of runs in the ninth but still earned his third save of the year thanks to a three-run cushion.

 

The Miracle couldn't grab an extra base hit on Thursday night, but nine singles and a pair of sacrifice flies put them in the driver's seat. Zach Granite was 2-4 with a run scored, as was Engelb Vielma who added in a stolen base for good measure. Anderlin Meija was 0-2 but he had both of the Fort Myers sacrifice flies, driving in a pair of runs.

 

Final: Marauders 2, Miracle 3

 

 

KERNELS KORNER

Kane County Cougars @ Cedar Rapids Kernes

Box Score

 

The Kernels out-hit the Cougars 8-6 but were 0-11 with runners in scoring position, stranding twelve runners in the process. Alex Real had a nice night at the plate, 3-3 with a double and a HBP to reach four times. Real is a 2014 twenty-fourth round draftee out of New Mexico. The six-foot right-hander is hitting .270/315/.382 but has played just 54 games because he started the year serving a 50-game suspension for a positive PED test.

 

Starter Randy Rosario took the loss to drop to 1-5 on the year. He pitched six innings of four-hit ball and gave up just one earned run. Rosario didn't help his own cause in the second inning earning an error on a missed catch which led to an unearned run. In the third a passed ball led to another unearned run. Yorman Landa gave up a pair of unearned runs in the eighth inning despite giving up just one hit, one walk and striking out three. Zach Tillery pitched the ninth, giving up a hit and recording a strikeout.

 

 

Final: Cougars 5, Kernels 0

 

 

E-TWINS E-NOTES

Kingsport Mets @ Elizabethton Twins

Box Score

 

The Elizabethton Twins battled back from an early 3-0 defecit to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth. Zander Wiel powered the offense with a 2-4 night with a double and two RBIs. Jermain Palacios also had a pair of hits with a double from the leadoff spot.

 

Starter Eduardo Del Rosario gave up six hits, three runs, walked no one, struck out three and gave up a long ball over his four innings of work. Logan Lombana pitched three scoreless innings of relief and struck out five while walking one and giving up a pair of hits. Tyler Stirewalt pitched a clean eighth inning, but with the game tied 3-3 in the top of the ninth, he came back out for a second inning of relief and was tagged with the loss as three runs scored as Stirewalt unraveled. He gave up a double, an intentional walk, hit a batter, a fielder's choice that resulted in no outs, and a single before the damage was done. Then the Twins went down in order in the bottom of the ninth.

 

Final: Mets 6, Twins 3

 

 

GCL Twins

GCL Rays @ GCL Twins

Box Score

 

Matz Schutte struggled through 4.2 innings, giving up five hits, five runs, a walk and struck out six. He was replaced by Luis Hernandez who pitched 2.1 innings of scoreless baseball. Andrew Vasquez gave up a pair of unearned runs in the eighth, walked three and struck out two. Hector Lujan finished the game, giving up a hit but otherwise putting up zeros.

 

The Twins managed just five hits, with two coming from Roberto Gonzalez on a 2-4 night that included a run scored. Kolton Kendrick was 1-4 with a triple, two RBIs, a run scored and a pair of strike outs.

 

Final: Rays 7, Twins 3

 

 

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY

 

Hitter of the Day - Alex Real, Cedar Rapids Kernels

Pitcher of the Day - Michael Bowden, Rochester Red Wings

 

 

FRIDAY'S PROBABLES

 

Syracuse @ Rochester - Paolo Espino vs. Taylor Rogers (9-11, 3.91)

 

Chattanooga @ Birmingham - TBD vs. TBD

 

Bradenton @ Fort Myers - TBD vs. Mat Batts (7-4, 2.54)

 

Kane County @ Cedar Rapids - Josh Taylor vs. Sam Bibbons (7-3, 2.72)

 

Kingsport @ Elizabethton - Nabil Crismatt vs. Onesimo Hernandez (5-1, 3,79)

 

GCL Red Sox @ GCL Twins - TBD vs. TBD

 

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[big dog]

I know there's a lot of muttering about Bowden as a AAAA pitcher, but I wonder if he'd be a good fit as a reliever.  Seems to be a real arm there.

 

Oswaldo was 0-3, but at least he didn't strike out.  Let's imagine he hit 3 hard line drives.  Average is now at .202.

[Eric R Pleiss]

Oswaldo and Pinto, who were greeted with such excitement as recently as last spring and now mere after thoughts.  In an org filled with corner OF/IF types and a log-jam at DH, hard to imagine what they'd need to do to be back in a Twins uniform (except for September).

[Seth Stohs]

Just tweeted: 

 

 

In his last 32 games in Rochester, Oswaldo Arcia is hitting .107/.177/.205 (.383) with two doubles and three homers. 7 BB, 35 K.

 

[bespenson]

why in hell are the final scores at the bottom of each post? I'm betting the first thing that people reading this want to know is "who won?"

[Eric R Pleiss]

 

why in hell are the final scores at the bottom of each post? I'm betting the first thing that people reading this want to know is "who won?"

I guess I just put them down there because the final being the final thing feels like a little bow on the end.   Plus I figured individual performances were the goal of the report, not team results.  I'd be happy to consider a change, Bespenson. 

[Seth Stohs]

I wonder if Pinto would be considered for a September call-up as a pinch hitter option. He has yet to catch in any of his rehab games or games with Ft. Myers or Rochester.

 

 

Also, a while ago we noted that Jorge Polanco came back from a minor injury and played two or three straight games at 2B. He has played SS every game since then. 

[bespenson]

hope so... bow at the end is not the purpose of sports. win, baby.

 

[bespenson]

no offense meant... I'm old fogy, a journalist by trade... I have been frustrated by writing these days... seems like a person has to read 10 paragraphs of a reporter trying to be clever before they get to the point.

I appreciate your coverage. Have been a Twins fan since hey moved to Minnesota, and I was a 6-year-old tee-baller.