Article: Twins Minor League Report (6/13): Lookouts Pace the Action

[Ted Schwerzler]

With the first half of the season quickly coming to a close for some of the Twins minor league affiliates, taking a couple extra victories before the second half remains the goal. In day matinee, Jose Miranda stole the show in a losing effort for the Kernels, while starting pitching was the focus for Rochester, Chattanooga, and Fort Myers. The Lookouts broke out the bats, and runs were put up in bunches. Read about the action below.TRANSACTIONS

Fort Myers Miracle

OF Jimmy Kerrigan promoted to Chattanooga

 

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 4, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 3

Box Score

 

Dietrich Enns was on the bump for this one, and he turned in a strong start coming up just short of seven full innings. He left the game with a one run lead, and despite being outhit 11 to 5, the Red Wings had the upper hand in the only category that matters.

 

Rochester would get the scoring started in the top of the 2nd inning. Wynston Sawyer would double in Chris Carter, and he'd then come around to score on an errant pickoff throw. The only damage done against Enns would be in the form of a Billy McKinney solo shot in the 4th.

 

From there, the two teams would remain quiet on the scoreboad until the 8th inning. With Alan Busenitz on the mound, Scranton would push across the tying run on a Brandon Drury single. Willians Astudillo made sure that the Red Wings would answer however, as he blasted a two run shot in the top half of the 9th inning.

 

Trevor May was given the 9th inning and locked down his second save of the year for Rochester. One run would come across, though it was of the unearned variety. May would allows two hits and a walk through his one inning of work. A rehabbing Joe Mauer played all nine innings in the field tonight, going 0-4 with a strikeout at the dish. He's tentatively expected to rejoin the Twins on Friday.

 

With the win, the Red Wings were able to able to put an end to the 10 game losing streak they were on. They'll head to Buffalo for a four game set beginning tomorrow night.

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 14, Montgomery 4

Box Score

 

With Lewis Thorpe on the mound, and giving the Lookouts six very strong innings tonight, Chattanooga did something the parent club could not. Throughout the lineup, this team hit and put runs up in bunches over the course of the game. Thorpe's nine strikeouts and only one walk helped to punctuate a start that was only blemished by some slight trouble in the 7th.

 

Right away in the first, Chattanooga jumped out to a lead. First Edgar Corcino drove in Sean Miller, and then Andy Wilkins would ground a single to right driving in Chris Paul. Taking an inning off, more runs were added in the top of the third inning. Paul would drive in Miller on a single of his own, and then Wilkins would notch his first homer of the season on a three run blast.

 

Up 6-0 already in the 4th inning, Brent Rooker would get in on the action. A liner would drive in a run, and Paul would continue his nice night at the dish. Tallying his 17th double on the season, Paul would drive in both Rooker and Corcino, putting the good guys up 9-0. Wilkins would then rip his second homer of the night (and season) to center, and Jimmy Kerrigan would go back-to-back grabbing his first longball in his first Double-A game.

 

By the 8th, Birmingham had scratched away a bit, and pushed four runs of their own across. Adding a bid of insurance, Corcino would score Ryan Walker on a ground out, and Paul would drive in Miller on a sac fly. Up 14-4 by the 9th, Ryan Eades would come on to grab the final three outs.

 

It was a great way for the Lookouts to start their final series of the first half. They'll match up with the Barons again tomorrow evening. With just four games left in the 1st half, Chattanooga will be looking to pile on wins and overtake Jackson (1.0 GB) in the Southern League's North Division.

 

MIRACLE MATTERS

Palm Beach 7, Fort Myers 6

Box Score

 

The recently reinstated Griffin Jax was on the bump for the Miracle in this one, and he turned in a very nice outing. Going six innings, he allowed just three runs (two earned), on six hits. Jax tallied five strikeouts and walked just two. Leaving the game before the Miracle scoring started, he found himself at the mercy of his offense.

 

As noted, the Miracle got off to a slow start in the run column for this one. They found themselves down 3-0 through six innings and needed to get something going. From there though, runs would come in three straight frames.

 

Joe Cronin got the party going with a two run homer (his 5th of the year) in the 7th. Caleb Hamilton would then join in with a two run homer of his own, and his first of the season. After seven innings, the Miracle had erased the three run deficit, and found themselves clinging to a one run lead.

 

In the 8th, Ryan Mason found himself in trouble, and Palm Beach would push across four runs of their own. Fort Myers was tasked with answering in the 9th, and nearly did enough to grab the W. Travis Blankenhorn drove in Brandon Lopez on a sacrifice fly, and a Jaylin Davis brought in Luis Arraez cutting the lead to one. Unfortunately that's where the rally would end, and they'd come up one run short.

 

Fort Myers outhit Palm Beach 12 to 11, but they combined to go 3-13 with runners in scoring position, as well as leaving eight runners on base. The Miracle will look to take the series and end the first half with a win tomorrow.

KERNELS NUGGETS

Kane County 6, Cedar Rapids 2

Box Score

 

Brusdar Graterol was on the bump for this one, and was looking to follow up his great performance from his last time out. While it wasn’t a blow up, the Kernels hurler surrendered three earned runs on five hits across four innings pitched. Despite coming out of the game with Cedar Rapids trailing just by two, the bats couldn’t turn hits into runs on the day.

Right away in the first inning, the Kernels jumped out on top. Royce Lewis ripped his 14th double of the year, and Jose Miranda drove him in on an RBI single. That lead would hold until Graterol allowed a two-run homer in the bottom of the third inning. The Cougars would then add another in the 4th, and Cedar Rapids found themselves trailing 3-1 in the top half of the 5th.

With the bases loaded, Andrew Bechtold would draw a walk and an RBI to bring Cedar Rapids back within one. Despite outhitting Kane County by a tally of 12 to 9, the two runs were all Toby Gardenhire’s squad could push across on the day. The Cougars would answer with a run of their own in the 5th, as well as two more in the 6th. That 6-2 total would hold through the last three innings, and push the two teams to a series split with a rubber match still to come.

Miranda had a fine day at the plate going 3-4 with the RBI and a double of his own. Both Bechtold and Jean Carlos Arias would also record multi hit games, picking up two each. Seven of the Kernels nine hitters would tally a base hit, and all but one were able to reach base on the day. Jovani Moran did a great job in relief working three innings of no-hit, no-run ball. He struck out six and walked just two.

The two clubs will meet tomorrow night to decide the series. Cedar Rapids will then head home for a three game set with Peoria to put a bow on the first half of the season.

 

STARS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Pitcher of the Day – Lewis Thorpe 6.1 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 9 K

Twins Daily Hitter of the Day – Andy Wilkins 3-4, 2 R, 6 RBI, 2 HR(1,2)

 

TOP PROSPECT SUMMARY

1. Royce Lewis (Cedar Rapids) – 1-5, R, 2B

3. Nick Gordon (Rochester) – 0-4, K

7. Brent Rooker (Chattanooga) – 1-5, R, RBI

9. Brusdar Graterol (Cedar Rapids) – 4.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

10. Akil Baddoo (Cedar Rapids) – 0-4, BB, K

12. Lewis Thorpe (Chattanooga) – 6.1 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 9 K

13. Lewin Diaz (Fort Myers) – 0-5, K

14. LaMonte Wade (Rochester) – 0-4

17. Travis Blankenhorn (Fort Myers) – 1-3, RBI

 

THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Rochester @ Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (6:05PM CST) – LHP Adalberto Mejia (1-2, 3.86 ERA)

Chattanooga @ Birmingham (7:05PM CST) – TBD

Fort Myers @ Palm Beach (5:30PM CST) – LHP Charlie Barnes (1-4, 4.14 ERA)

Cedar Rapids @ Kane County (6:30PM CST) – RHP Bailey Ober (2-1, 6.21 ERA)

 

Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Wednesday’s games!

 

Click here to view the article

[mikelink45]

I am trying to correlate the positive statements about Thorpe and his choice as pitcher of the day with six innings - 7 hits and a walk - and 4 runs.  That is not a standard that excites me. 

[dbminn]

Since June 1, Luis Arraez has slashed .438/.482/.688 at Ft Myers. He missed all but the first three games of 2017 and had a horrible first two months this year. I'm really glad he's figured it out. 

[clutterheart]

All I am looking for out of Thorpe is to stay healthy and log innings.

[rdehring]

Checked the scores when Chattanooga was in the third inning.  Saw Thorpe was pitching, so I followed the game the rest of the way.

 

Thorpe was nearly perfect through 5 shutout innings with 2 hits and 8 strikeouts on only 63 pitches.  An infield single followed by a double led to a run in the sixth inning.  The seventh inning was similar to some of his previous outings.  It began with an error on the third baseman before getting out of hand, thus, only 2 of his 4 runs were earned.  

 

As he works back to the top of our pitching prospects, we continue to see him dominate early before tiring late in games.  Yet, other than his last start, many of his problems late in games have been accompanied by one or more defensive errors.  Yes, he needs to be able to pitch around problems, but at 22 he is still young (for AA) and missed two full years of development.

 

This was probably his best start of the year and I am excited to see him getting closer to the prospect I have been excited about since following him all those years ago when he was a 17 year old dominating the Australian Winter League.

[puckstopper1]

Tough day for Gordon.  0-4 with two errors.  He has struggled this past week - hopefully not a sign of a repeat of last year's second half struggles.

[puckstopper1]

Twins sign Belisle and then Busenitz blows a save.

 

Any correlation there.....

[Ben Noble]

 

As he works back to the top of our pitching prospects, we continue to see him dominate early before tiring late in games.  Yet, other than his last start, many of his problems late in games have been accompanied by one or more defensive errors.  Yes, he needs to be able to pitch around problems, but at 22 he is still young (for AA) and missed two full years of development.

 

This was probably his best start of the year and I am excited to see him getting closer to the prospect I have been excited about since following him all those years ago when he was a 17 year old dominating the Australian Winter League.

 

Big believer in Thorpe here, too. In his start before this one, he gave up 9 earned runs on nine hits in 3.1 innings...but in the three starts previous to that, he didn't give up an earned run over 16.2 innings to go along with 19 Ks and just 10 hits/six walks. He's young and missed two full seasons, he's going to have plenty of ups and downs.

[howieramone2]

 

Twins sign Belisle and then Busenitz blows a save.

 

Any correlation there.....

Both of their last names start with B?

[goulik]

OF Kerrigan moves from A+ to AA and Alex Kirriloff has a night off at low A.... Hmmmm. Is it finally gonna happen?