Article: Twins Minor League Report (4/25): Long Ball Highlights Early Action

[Ted Schwerzler]

Today, three of the four Minnesota Twins affiliates took to the field for early games. With just the Cedar Rapids Kernels playing in the evening, there was plenty to digest over the lunch hour. For both the Miracle and the Lookouts, the story was the longball.RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 8, Gwinett 3

Box Score

 

Adalberto Mejia got the start for the Red Wings but was lifted after just one inning of work. Despite allowing one run on three hits, Mejia was in the zone often throwing 15 strikes out of his 22 pitches. Mejia was lifted after throwing one pitch in the second due to a blister or fingernail issue according to Twins Daily's Seth Stohs. It was a total team effort from the lineup today, as five different hitters picked up at least one RBI for the Red Wings. Kennys Vargas had a 3-4 day at the dish and James Ramsey tallied the lone extra-base hit for Rochester.

 

Mason Melotakis got the win pitching three innings of relief work, while Gabriel Moya pitched two innings for his first work at Triple-A in 2018. Matt Magill was able to record his second save of the season, and it came over a three inning outing as well. The Red Wings pieced together both their linescore as well as their pitching effort in this one, and it came out to a nice five run victory drawing them closer to .500 on the year.

 

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 4, Jackson 3

Box Score

 

Rnady LeBlanc drew the start today for the Lookouts, and despite being under duress often, he remained cool, calm, and collected. The Chattanooga starter got behind early giving up two runs in the first inning, but the deficit was quickly wiped away. In the top of the second, right fielder Edgar Corcino launched his first homer of the year, and the grand slam put the away team on top for good. LeBlanc would go into the seventh inning despite giving up 11 hits on the day. The damage only totaled three runs (two earned) and he fanned six Jacksonville hitters.

 

Six different players picked up hits for the Lookouts, but no one was able to muster a multi-hit performance. Zander Wiel and his .367 average continue to hold strong as he added a base knock as well as a run scored in the effort. Omar Bencomo was the lone reliever used today by Chattanooga, and he earned his second save of the year throwing 2 1/3 innings of two hit ball.

 

MIRACLE MATTERS

Clearwater 9, Fort Myers 5

Box Score

 

Coming off a very strong performance his last time out, things got rocky early for Tyler Wells in this one. Clearwater tageed the Miracle pitcher for five runs over the course of the third and fourth innings. Forced out of the game after 3 1/1 innings pitched, Wells’ bright spot was the nice 5/1 K/BB ratio on the day. Six of the nine Miracle batters picked up hits on the day, while both Nelson Molina and Travis Blankenhorn recorded multi-hit efforts.

 

In the losing effort, Blankenhorn was the star of the show with both of his hits being of the home run variety. He now is batting .288 on the season and has four longballs to his credit. Along with his three hits, Molina tallied one of five RBI for the Miracle. As they look to draw closer to the .500 mark, the Miracle head home to face off against the Daytona Tortugas on Thursday.

 

KERNELS NUGGETS

Burlington 7, Cedar Rapids 2

Box Score

Looking to take the series from the Bees, Cedar Rapids needed a win at home tonight. After allowing just one run in the first three innings, things started to unravel for Tyler Watson in the fourth. He ended up surrendering three runs on seven hits, and five walks while striking out six across 3 2/3 innings. Cedar Rapids wouldn't put up their first run until the 6th inning, on an Alex Kirilloff RBI double, but they already trailed 4-1 at that point.

 

By the bottom of the 8th inning, the Kernels found themselves trailing 7-1. Andrew Becthold came around to score on a wild pitch, drawing within five, but that would be where things stalled for the home team. The lone multi-hit night came from the bat of Bechtold, and the 5-9 hitters in Toby Gardenhire's lineup combined to go 0-18 with eight strikeouts. Jose Miranda did match Kirilloff's double for the only other extra base hit of the evening. Tomorrow evening the Kernels will look to salvage a series split.

STARS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Pitcher of the Day – Randy LeBlanc (W, 6.2 IP, 11 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K)

Twins Daily Hitter of the Day – Travis Blankenhorn (2-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 HR)

 

TOP PROSPECT SUMMARY

3. Nick Gordon (Chattanooga) – 0-4

5. Alex Kirilloff (Cedar Rapids) – 1-4, RBI, 2B, K

7. Brent Rooker (Chattanooga) – 0-4

10. Akil Baddoo (Cedar Rapids) – 0-3, 2 BB, K

13. Lewin Diaz (Fort Myers) – 0-4

14. LaMonte Wade (Chattanooga) – 1-4

16. Ben Rortvedt (Cedar Rapids) – 0-3, BB, K

17. Travis Blankenhorn (Fort Myers) – 2-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 HR(4)

 

WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Rochester - No Game Scheduled.

Chattanooga vs Tennessee (6:15PM CST) – LHP Lewis Thorpe (0-2, 5.79 ERA)

Daytona @ Fort Myers (6:00PM CST) – LHP Charlie Barnes (0-2, 4.38 ERA)

Burlington @ Cedar Rapids (6:35PM CST) –

 

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[drock2190]

In times like these you have to turn to the minor league reports to cheer you up after watching the major league team.

 

Problem is, no one is really impressing. Solid production from some, lackluster from others. Not even a Luke Hughes in the bunch.

[h2oface]

12, 13, 13 and 11 = 49 hits given up in 35 innings by the 4 pitching staffs, today (yesterday much better). Lucky to go 2-2. This is a very disturbing trend all through the system.

 

Strikeout rates that don't account for total batters faced can be really non-representative of what is going on.

 

here is the Cedar Rapids box link

http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2018_04_25_burafx_cedafx_1&t=g_box&sid=milb

[rdehring]

Blankenhorn is having an interesting start to the season.  Could he become a Dozier like second baseman a couple years from now?  Don't know about his defense, but certainly looks like he could be a 20+ home run guy.

 

Looking forward to Thorpe's start tonight.  See if he can take another step with a quality start.

[Seth Stohs]

Aaron Whitefield had surgery this morning. I found out that he has a broken hamate bone. That's typically a 2-3 month recovery. That's unfortunate. I know he's been struggling offensively to start the season, but his defense is fantastic and if he can make more contact, he could be a good hitter too. 

[Old Twins Cap]

Where Buxton?  He getting ABs?

[Seth Stohs]

 

Where Buxton?  He getting ABs?

 

He is hoping to play in Ft. Myers tonight. Yesterday, per reports, he had his toe nail drilled to relieve the pressure and pain in his toe. If he can play tonight and be pain-free, he could be activated Friday, or sometime over the weekend. 

[cmoss84]

I wish I could have my toe nail drilled. Sounds fun. 

[FormerMinnasotan]

So if Aaron Slegers was called up to the Twins does that mean Stephen Gonsalves will (finally) be called up to AAA. Look what ever it is Gonsalves has mastered AA as evidenced by his high k rate and 1.77 ERA. Slegers promotion should lead to Gonsalves promotion.

[rdehring]

 

I wish I could have my toe nail drilled. Sounds fun. 

This is off the subject, well kind of.  My nephew was running the Iron Man in Hawaii a few years ago.  Part way thru the marathon, he developed a blister under his big toe nail.  He's a dentist and does drilling every day, so he stopped and drilled his own toe nail to relieve the pressure so he could finish the race.

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

This is off the subject, well kind of.  My nephew was running the Iron Man in Hawaii a few years ago.  Part way thru the marathon, he developed a blister under his big toe nail.  He's a dentist and does drilling every day, so he stopped and drilled his own toe nail to relieve the pressure so he could finish the race.

toe nails falling off is a side effect to those types of races.

[ashbury]

Losing my appetite is a side effect of reading this thread.

[Pitz]

This is off the subject, well kind of. My nephew was running the Iron Man in Hawaii a few years ago. Part way thru the marathon, he developed a blister under his big toe nail. He's a dentist and does drilling every day, so he stopped and drilled his own toe nail to relieve the pressure so he could finish the race.

Does he normally carry drilling equipment with him during a race?

[rdehring]

 

Does he normally carry drilling equipment with him during a race?

Not certain whether he did or got it from his wife.