Article: Twins Minor League Report (5/15): Miracle Power Backs Gonsalves

[Steve Lein]

Tyler Duffey was pretty good for the Twins again on Sunday afternoon as the parent club won their second straight game against the Cleveland Indians. In the minors on Sunday, one game was postponed, a lefty top prospect took to the mound in Florida, was outdone by a lefty newcomer to the system in another game, and one team struggled to collect any hits for most of the day, even though they took the no-hitter off the table early.

 

To find out who did what and where on Sunday, read on!RED WINGS REPORT

Syracuse @ Rochester - Postponed

 

The Red Wings game on Sunday afternoon was postponed due to inclement weather. The game will be made up as part of a doubleheader on June 30^th. Rochester finished their recent homestand with a 5-1 record and begins a seven-game road trip tomorrow night in Charlotte.

 

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Biloxi 1, Chattanooga 2

Box Score

 

There was little offense to be had for either team in this one, as both starting pitchers put in solid efforts. For the Shuckers, it was Jorge Ortega who held Chattanooga scoreless into the seventh inning, and for the Lookouts it was Nick Greenwood who limited Biloxi’s scoring chances for nearly the entire game.

 

Biloxi got on the board first in the third inning after a one-out double put a runner in scoring position who was later driven in from third on a ground out. But that would be it for the Shuckers as Greenwood allowed only three more hits over the next five innings. On the game he went eight innings, allowing just the one run on six hits and no walks, while striking out three.

 

The Lookouts were able to tie the game at one in the sixth when Daniel Palka and Travis Harrison clubbed back-to-back doubles with two outs.

 

In the seventh inning Chattanooga took the lead after Ryan Walker’s one-out triple chased Ortega from the game. Walker scored on a Joe Maloney single that against the Shucker’s bullpen.

 

In the ninth, it was Omar Bencomo who was summoned for his first save opportunity of the year. Although he allowed two singles, he finished the game and picked up the save by picking off one of the runners at first and inducing two easy ground balls around them.

 

Chattanooga was outhit 8-5 on the day, but cashed in on two of their four opportunities with runners in scoring position to pull out the victory.

 

MIRACLE MATTERS

Fort Myers 7, St. Lucie 1

Box Score

 

Early season stud left-hander Stephen Gonsalves took the mound for the Miracle on Sunday, and although he didn’t necessarily dominate as he had in other starts, he still picked up the win to improve to 5-1 on the season. He finished 5.1 innings, allowing just one earned run on four hits and a walk. He struck out three and if not for a Nick Gordon error in the sixth, may have been able to finish that inning. With one out and two men on base he was lifted for Brian Gilbert who induced an inning- ending double play.

 

Fort Myers took a 4-0 lead in the top of the third inning on home runs from Austin Diemer (solo) and Trey Vavra (three run), and extended that lead to 6-1 in the fourth after a Chad Christensen double, an Alex Real single, and a Diemer sac fly plated two more. Max Murphy added the seventh run in the eighth inning with a solo home run.

 

Gilbert finished a scoreless seventh inning as well and allowed only one hit in his 1.2 innings. Todd Van Steensel pitched the final two frames and allowed just one hit.

 

The Miracle offense got multi-hit efforts from Gordon (2-4, R), Vavra (2-4, R, HR, 3 RBI, SB), Christensen (2-4, R, 2B), and Diemer (3-3, R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI). Murphy scored two runs and walked once in addition to his fourth home run of the season.

 

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 1, Wisconsin 7

Box Score

 

Cedar Rapids scored first in this one, taking a 1-0 lead in the second inning after a walk to Daniel Kihle and an error put him on third base, where he easily scampered home on a ground out from Sean Miller, but that would be it for the Kernels for the day as they managed just one hit the entire game against Wisconsin pitchers.

 

The Timber Rattlers took the lead for good in the bottom of the second after three singles and a double steal (of second and home) put them up 2-1.

 

Miles Nordgren made the start for the Kernels, and went just five innings. He allowed five runs (four earned) on seven hits and three walks, but did strike out eight. Anthony McIver pitched the sixth inning, and allowed two runs on three hits and two walks, including a home run to his first batter. Nick Anderson calmed the storm for the final two innings, going one-two-three in both, along with four strikeouts.

 

Over his last six appearances, Anderson has pitched ten innings and allowed just one hit and one walk to opposing batters, while striking out eighteen of them. Quite a nice little stretch for the 2015 free agent out of the independent leagues.

 

As can be imagined when you only tally one hit as a team, Cedar Rapids had few opportunities for more runs in this game, despite getting six walks. They were 0-4 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base. The hit came off the bat of Zander Wiel in the first inning.

 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

 

Pitcher of the Day – Nick Greenwood, Chattanooga Lookouts (W, 8.0IP, 1 ER, 6 H’s, 0 BB’s, 3 K’s)

Hitter of the Day – Austin Diemer, Fort Myers Miracle (3-3, R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, OF-assist)

 

MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

 

Rochester @ Charlotte (6:05PM CST) – LHP Tommy Milone (1-0, 1.59 ERA)

Biloxi @ Chattanooga (6:15PM CST) – LHP David Hurlbut (2-2, 6.48 ERA)

Fort Myers @ Dunedin (5:30PM CST) – RHP Kohl Stewart (2-1, 2.08 ERA)

Cedar Rapids – Scheduled off-day

 

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

 

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[Eephus]

I have never heard of Mr. Greenwood. I have heard of Mr. Lein, who has threaded together another seamless recap at Twinsdaily. Great work! Thanks!

[clutterheart]

Today the Bo Sox promoted Andrew Benintendi a 21 year old prospect to AA from A+ because he was doing really well.

 

Meanwhile for the Twins, 22 year olds like Wade are beating up kids in low A....sigh.

[bird]

There were a hundred prospects better than Wade in his draft class. Benintendi may prove to be among the five best from his draft class. And Benintendi was beating up adults in the minors. This explains the difference in their current status, not some imaginary difference in how the two teams move prospects along. I bet if we looked hard enough, we'd find a Bo Sox prospect toiling in low A who is the same age as Berrios and thereby prove how slow Boston is to advance its prospects.

[JaleelWhite FanClub]

It's really good to see that Gordon has seemingly picked right up where he left off before his concussion stint. Great news! Looking back at Buxton's struggles in 2014 after his collision, I think it speaks highly of Gordon's ability and toughness to bounce back.

[Thrylos]

 

I have never heard of Mr. Greenwood. 

 

TR's latest dumpster dive find from the Independent Leagues:  28 year old soft tossing lefty, cup of coffee mopping up for St. Louis a couple seasons ago.  Popped in New Britain to block the Fort Myers' phenoms from promotion.

[Steve Lein]

 

I have never heard of Mr. Greenwood. I have heard of Mr. Lein, who has threaded together another seamless recap at Twinsdaily. Great work! Thanks!

 

Thanks Eephus! We love recapping these for everybody!

[Taildragger8791]

I have a feeling Gonsalves will struggle initially in AA with the better and more patient hitters. If you're just looking at hits, Ks, and ERA he looks pretty fantastic. But I see a fair number of walks and the inability to go beyond 6 innings per start, which indicates to me that he's throwing too many pitches. It's possible he's nibbling around the zone and being helped along by inexperienced hitters. Regardless, he's getting away with it now and it would be good to see him tested against better hitting to see if he can adjust.

[bird]

 

I have a feeling Gonsalves will struggle initially in AA with the better and more patient hitters. If you're just looking at hits, Ks, and ERA he looks pretty fantastic. But I see a fair number of walks and the inability to go beyond 6 innings per start, which indicates to me that he's throwing too many pitches. It's possible he's nibbling around the zone and being helped along by inexperienced hitters. Regardless, he's getting away with it now and it would be good to see him tested against better hitting to see if he can adjust.

 

 

Good observation. He threw 93 pitches before being pulled with one out in the 6th in this game.