Article: Twins Minor League Report (9/2): Kranson, Wade Lead Teams To Wins

[Seth Stohs]

On the first Saturday of the college football season, the Minnesota Twins topped Kansas City with a football score, 17-0. In the minor leagues, playoff spots are to be had or prepared for, and there were strides toward those spots. There have been playoff-setting transactions, and some very good performances, so enjoy today’s Minor League Report.Let’s start with the recent transactions:

• Kohl Stewart was removed from the DL to pitch for the Lookouts.
• IF Joe Cronin, who was promoted from Cedar Rapids to Ft. Myers last week, was now promoted to Chattanooga.
• RHP Alex Muren was sent back to Ft. Myers
• IF Ariel Montesino was promoted from Elizabethton to Ft. Myers.
• C Jhon Alvarez was promoted from the GCL to Ft. Myers.
• The Twins signed IF Daniel Crespo and assigned him to the GCL. Needing players for their playoff run, the Twins have signed Crespo, who was the 34th round pick of the Yankees in 2013 out of Appalachian State. He just turned 26. He spent 2014 and 2015 in the independent Frontier League. I’m not sure where he was most recently.

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 3, Pawtucket 5

Box Score

 

Felix Jorge was on the mound. The right-hander gave up three runs on seven hits and two walks over the first 4.1 innings. Luke Bard had an interesting outing. He walked two and struck out four in 1.2 innings. Just one of seven batters even put the ball in play off of him. Michael Kohn gave up a home run in the seventh inning. Jake Reed then gave up one run on three hits in his inning. Yohan Pino gave up a hit in a scoreless ninth inning.

 

Byungho Park went 2-4. Levi Michael hit his first AAA double and drove in two runs.

 

Lehigh Valley was rained out on Saturday, so the Red Wings magic number to take the IL wild card spot sits at two with two games to play.

 

 

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 4, Montgomery 3

Box Score

 

The Lookouts already had a playoff spot. They earned that in the first half. Then they went out and had an even better second half.

 

Kohl Stewart returned from the DL to make the start in this one. He gave up two runs in the first inning but settled in after that. He gave up just those two runs on four hits and three walks in three innings. DJ Baxendale came on and was able to work the next 4.2 innings without allowing any more runs. He gave up three hits, a walk and struck out three. Todd Van Steensel gave walked one but got the final out of the eighth inning.

 

In that time, LaMonte Wade hit a two-run homer (his seventh) to tie the game at two. In the top of the ninth, the Lookouts took the lead when Wade doubled in Edgar Corcino (who had led off with a double). Later, Max Murphy singled in Wade with the fourth run.

 

So Nick Anderson came into the game to protect a two-run lead. He gave up one run on two hits, but he recorded his ninth save for the Lookouts.

 

Wade led the way going 3-4 with his 22nd double, seventh home run and third RBI. Corcino went 2-4 with his 19th double. Murphy went 2-4 with his 12th double. Nelson Molina went 1-3 with a walk.

 

 

MIRACLE MATTERS

Ft. Myers 4, Jupiter 1

Box Score

 

The Miracle came into their Saturday night game against Jupiter with a magic number of two. Charlotte lost to Bradenton 5-0, dropping the magic number to one. Could the Miracle clinch a playoff spot? The answer... Yes.

 

Lefty Lachlan Wells returned to the mound for the Miracle and was very good. He went five shutout innings. He gave up two hits, walked two and struck out seven. Tyler Jay came on for the sixth inning and allowed a run to score to tie the game at one. He worked the seventh as well. In his two innings, he struck out five.

 

Zander Wiel had given the Miracle a 1-0 lead with his 13th home run. When the Miracle lost their lead in the sixth, they grabbed it right back in the bottom of the inning. Mitchell Kranson hit a solo homer to give the lead back to the Miracle.

 

Kranson led the way for the Miracle offense. He went 3-4 with two doubles (eight on the season) and his fourth home run. He drove in three runs. Tanner English went 2-3 with a walk and his 29th stolen base. Ariel Montesino drove in the other run and went 2-3 with a walk. Jermaine Palacios and Sean Miller each had two singles in four at-bats.

 

Tom Hackimer recorded his seventh Kernels save with two scoreless innings. He walked one and struck out two.

 

 

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 4, Beloit 2

Box Score

 

The start of this game was delayed by more than 90 minutes, but the teams were able to get it in.

 

2017 eighth-round pick Bryan Sammons made the start. He gave up only an unearned run on three hits and a walk in five innings. He struck out six. Evan Sanders came on and gave up one run on two hits and two walks over his two innings. Patrick McGuff pitched two no-hit innings to close things out and earn his first save. He struck out two and walked one.

 

The Kernels got three of their runs in the fourth inning, which got started with a Travis Blankenhorn triple. Aaron Whitefield drove him in with a single and advanced to third on a base hit by Lewis Diaz. Trey Cabbage drew a walk and Shane Carrier delivered a bases-loaded two-run single.

 

Whitefield, Carrier and Jordan Gore each had two hits on the night. Gore also drew a walk.

E-TWINS E-NOTES

Elizabethton, Greeneville (Rain - Postponed)

Box Score

 

The E-Twins were supposed to start their playoff run on Saturday, but unfortunately rains pushed the start of their postseason back a day. The two teams will play Game 1 on Sunday.

 

 

GCL TWINS TAKES

GCL Twins

Box Score

 

The doubleheader was cancelled due to potential for rain in Ft. Myers. The team will begin its playoff hopes on Sunday. The will play the semi-finals game on Sunday morning against the Nationals. Should they win, they’ll advance to the finals on Monday.

 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

 

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day - Lachlan Wells, Ft. Myers Miracle

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Mitchell Kranson, Ft. Myers Miracle

 

SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

 

Pawtucket @ Rochester (5:05 CST) - LHP Hector Santiago

Montgomery @ Chattanooga (5:15 CST) - RHP Randy LeBlanc (vs Logan Darnell)

Jupiter @ Ft. Myers (10:05 am CST) - TBD

Cedar Rapids @ Beloit (2:00 CST) - RHP Randy Dobnak

Elizabethton @ Greeneville (5:00 CST) - RHP Edwar Colina (Playoffs - Game 1)

GCL Twins @ GCL Nationals (11:00am CST) - RHP Blayne Enlow (Playoffs - Semi-finals)

 

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

 

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[Squirrel]

Was at the Miracle game tonight. It was a very good game to see. The last Miraclr game I saw 3 months ago also started Wells ... that one wasn't a good game to see. Will go tomorrow ... and hopefully on Tuesday for playoff game #1!

[AZTwin]

Was at Cedar Rapids.

 

Weird play where Blankenhorn was on 1B. Ball went in the dirt and Travis stole 2B. Catcher threw the ball to center field and Travis advanced to 3B. Next batter comes up and they throw the ball to 2B but once again it goes into center field and Travis takes home. They then tag 2B and the ump calls Travis out for never touching the base. I'm not sure how that's even possible considering he slide into the beg initially.

 

Correction; game was only delayed 45 minutes. Not over 90.

 

Sammons pitched well. The snappers were behind on his pitches all night. I think he has potential as a reliever.

 

Royce didn't really do anything at the plate and wasn't challenged much in the field. There was one play where he initially made a great defensive stop but then dropped the ball. If he would have finished it, there was a chance he had a double play. Ball must have been wet because sammons dropped the ball when the next batter hit it back at him.

 

Blankenhorn had a nice game. Bigger than Punto but I could see him as a hard working utility guy in the bigs. Player of the game for sure. Had a hard hit ball to right center and had a stand up triple. He also had a tremendous over the back catch on a blooper, narrowly missing colliding with the RF.

 

Diaz had a hit and looks the part. Don't have too much to report there.

 

Beloit is still a dump. I think I got there at 6:15, it sprinkled for 5 minutes and they had the game delayed 45 minutes mainly because the crew of 1 didn't have the field ready yet.

[twinsfanstreif]

So is Bryan Sammons a legit prospect now? I thought he was supposed to be a money saving senior signing but every time he pitches it seems to be a gem. He looks like a steal right now

[drivlikejehu]

 

So is Bryan Sammons a legit prospect now? I thought he was supposed to be a money saving senior signing but every time he pitches it seems to be a gem. He looks like a steal right now

 

His prospect status is unchanged.

Edited September 3, 2017 by drivlikejehu

[The Wise One]

 

So is Bryan Sammons a legit prospect now? I thought he was supposed to be a money saving senior signing but every time he pitches it seems to be a gem. He looks like a steal right now

ERA of 4.25 at Cedar Rapids. A couple of those game were pre-fossilized coprolite rather than diamonds in the rough

[rdehring]

Thanks for doing this again this year, Seth. I know you know that many of us appreciate it. I also know how much work you and your associates put into this.

 

My one thought today as I read this was, "Damn, I hate one game play-ins for the GCL finals." Will feel much better about it, by the way, if we win today!

 

Thanks again and have a wonderful Labor Day!

[nowheresville]

 

 

Weird play where Blankenhorn was on 1B. Ball went in the dirt and Travis stole 2B. Catcher threw the ball to center field and Travis advanced to 3B. Next batter comes up and they throw the ball to 2B but once again it goes into center field and Travis takes home. They then tag 2B and the ump calls Travis out for never touching the base. I'm not sure how that's even possible considering he slide into the beg initially.

 

That was one of the strangest plays I've seen in a long time. I thought it was also quite amusing that after arguing with the umpire, Tommy stopped, while still in fair territory, and had a relatively long conversation with the Snappers 3rd baseman slightly delaying the game.

 

One other interesting note, Terry Ryan was among those in the crowd last night in Beloit.

[AZTwin]

That was one of the strangest plays I've seen in a long time. I thought it was also quite amusing that after arguing with the umpire, Tommy stopped, while still in fair territory, and had a relatively long conversation with the Snappers 3rd baseman slightly delaying the game.

 

One other interesting note, Terry Ryan was among those in the crowd last night in Beloit.

Nice. Where was he sitting? Didn't see him. No one overly impressed last night.

[nowheresville]

TR was right behind the plate, a few rows in front of the press box.

 

He's here again today, same spot.