Article: Twins Minor League Report (6/16): Offensive Burst In Birmingham

[Seth Stohs]

Seven Miracle players played in the Florida State League on Saturday night. Rochester had a near-shutout until late, but Nick Gordon played hero. Cedar Rapids had a near-shutout until late when a former Gophers baseball star played hero. An offensive outburst meant that the Lookouts didn’t need late-inning heroics. In fact, inclement weather meant that there weren’t late innings.Keep reading to find out more on the night in the Twins minor league system on Saturday. As always, please feel free to discuss and ask questions.

 

 

TRANSACTIONS

• Rochester officially announced that Trevor May was going on the DL (shoulder inflammation). Taking his spot on the roster is Gregorio Petit who was outrighted and accepted going to Rochester.
• The Cedar Rapids Kernels announced that RHP Blayne Enlow has been activated with RHP Carlos Suniaga being assigned to Elizabethton.

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 6, Buffalo 2 (10 innings)

Box Score

 

The Red Wings and Bison were playing this series with different names. The Red Wings were playing as the Rochester Plates, again. The Bison were playing as the Buffalo Wings, which is kind of cool, yet, very confusing in this particular series.

 

Stephen Gonsalves came into the game after a couple of tough outings, but he was back in form on Saturday. The left-hander threw 5 2/3 innings of shutout baseball. He gave up just one hit, walked three and struck out five. Tyler Duffey came on and got the final out of the sixth inning with runners on first and third. He gave up two hits in a scoreless seventh inning. Gabriel Moya gave up one hit in a scoreless eighth inning .

 

With a 2-0 lead going into the bottom of the ninth, Alan Busenitz came on. He had a 0.38 ERA when the Twins signed. That night, he gave up a run. On Saturday night, he gave up a two-run home run to Rowdy Tellez that tied the game and sent it to extra innings.

 

In the top of the tenth, Nick Gordon came to the plate with the bases loaded. He knocked a two-run single. After a play at the plate, the catcher threw the ball away which allowed all three base runners and Gordon to score on one play.

 

Busenitz came back out for the tenth inning. He struck out the first two batters before a fly ball ended the game.

 

Gordon led the way. He went 2-for-4 with his sixth double and three RBI. He drove in a run earlier with a sacrifice fly. Wynston Sawyer went 2-for-3 with a walk. Jake Cave was 2-for-5 in the game.

 

 

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 12, Birmingham 2 (6 innings)

Box Score

 

Rain and the Lookouts were the winners on Saturday night in Birmingham as the game was shortened to just six innings. All nine players in the Lookouts lineup had at least one hit. The first six in the lineup had at least two hits.

 

Sean Poppen was the beneficiary of the offensive outburst. The Harvard grad gave up two runs on five hits over five innings. He struck out five without issuing a walk.

 

James Ramsey led off and led the way. He went 4-for-4 with his fourth home run and three RBIs. Andy Wilkins went 2-for-4 with his third homer and four RBIs. Brent Rooker was 2-for-4 with his 14th double and two runs driven in. Jimmy Kerrigan was also 2-for-4. The California Connection of Chris Paul and Mitchell Kranson were also each 2-for-4 in the game.

 

 

MIRACLE MATTERS

Florida State League All Star Game Box Score

 

Here is how the Miracle players performed in the All-Star Game:

• Jaylin Davis - started in LF, batted fifth: Walked. Singled. Stolen base. Strikeout. Fly out.
• Lewin Diaz - started at 1B, batted seventh: Doubled. Ground out to 2B. Flyout.
• Andrew Vasquez - pitched the 3rd inning. Gave up one hit. Struck out two. No runs. No walks.
• Tyler Wells - pitched the 4th and 5th innings. He gave up a leadoff double in the 4th and then got the next three batters out without allowing the run. In the fifth, he struck out two.
• Tyler Grzelakowski - entered the game in the 4th inning. Grounded into a fielder’s choice. Replaced after the 7th inning.
• Travis Blankenhorn - entered the game as a pinch-hitter for the DH in the 7th inning. Grounded out. Fly out.

 

 

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 3, Peoria 5

Box Score

 

In the first inning, Royce Lewis settled for a single. Alex Kirilloff followed with another single. Lewis then scored on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Jose Miranda. In his previous four games, Lewis had a double, a double, a double and a home run in his first inning at-bats.

 

Edwar Colina made his final first-half start and it was arguably his best start. He worked six shutout innings and gave up just five hits. He struck out two without issuing a walk. He threw just 70 pitches. In the seventh inning, Blayne Enlow entered the game. He threw two scoreless innings.

 

Enlow came out for the ninth, but he gave up a hit, walked one and hit one to load the bases. He got a flyball out. Jared Finkel came on and hit a batter to load the bases. From there, it was a bit chaotic. Finkel allowed both inherited runners plus two others to score in a five-run inning. The big blow came off of the bat of former Gophers star Matt Fiedler. He drove in two runs with a double. The right fielder went 2-for-4 with a double and a triple.

 

The Kernels top three hitters - Akil Baddoo, Royce Lewis and Alex Kirilloff - each went 2-for-4 in the game. Baddoo’s seventh home run gave the Kernels a 3-0 lead late. Andrew Bechtold hit his ninth double and walked. Jacob Pearson also doubles, his fifth.

 

Royce Lewis left the game after the eighth inning. The Gazette (Cedar Rapids) beat writer for the Kernels, Jeff Johnson, found out after the game why.

 

 

 

STARS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Hitter of the Day: James Ramsey, Chattanooga Lookouts (4-4, HR(4), 3 RBI)

Twins Daily Pitcher of the Day: Stephen Gonsalves, Rochester Red Wings (5.2 IP, 1 H, 0R, 3 BB, 5 K)

 

 

PROSPECT SUMMARY

Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed:

 

#1 - Royce Lewis (Cedar Rapids) - 2-4, R

#2 - Fernando Romero (Minnesota) - 4 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K (63 pitches, 43 strikes)

#3 - Nick Gordon (Rochester) - 2-4, 2B(6), R, 3 RBI, K

#4 - Stephen Gonsalves (Rochester) - 5.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 5 K, (92 pitches, 57 strikes)

#5 - Alex Kirilloff (Cedar Rapids) - 2-4

#6 - Wander Javier - out of for the season

#7 - Brent Rooker (Chattanooga) - 2-4, 2B(14), R, 2 RBI

#8 - Blayne Enlow (Cedar Rapids) - 2.1 IP, 1 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, HBP

#9 - Brusdar Graterol (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Pitch

#10 - Akil Baddoo (Cedar Rapids) - 2-4, HR(7), R, RBI

#11 - Zack Littell (Rochester) - Did not pitch

#12 - Lewis Thorpe (Chattanooga) - Did not pitch

#13 - Lewin Diaz (Ft. Myers) - All Star Game (1-3, 2B)

#14 - LaMonte Wade (Rochester) - 0-3, 2 BB, R

#16 - Ben Rortvedt (Ft. Myers) - All Star Break

#17 - Travis Blankenhorn (Ft. Myers) - All Star Game (0-2)

#18 - Yunior Severino (Extended Spring Training) -

#19 - Tyler Jay (Chattanooga) - Did not pitch

#20 - Felix Jorge (Chattanooga) - Disabled List, still no official timetable for return.

 

 

SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Rochester @ Buffalo (12:05 CST) - RHP Aaron Slegers (5-4, 3.39 ERA)

Chattanooga @ Montgomery (3:00 CST) - TBD

Ft. Myers - Florida State League All Star Break

Peoria @ Cedar Rapids (2:05 CST) - RHP Jordan Balazovic (1-0, 0.84 ERA)

 

 

Please feel free to ask any questions about Saturday’s games, or ask any questions you may have.

 

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[jun]

#8 Blayne Enlow (Cedar Rapids) - Disabled List ?

[Seth Stohs]

 

#8 Blayne Enlow (Cedar Rapids) - Disabled List ?

 

Corrected... Thank you!

 

[rdehring]

After a slow week with the bat, was good seeing Rooker with a multi-hit game.  And how about Grz?  He went from signing out of Independent ball to the FSL all-star game in less than eleven months.  

 

 

[ashbury]

 

 

RHP Carlos Suniaga being assigned to Elizabethton

 

Not to get all off in the weeds over a small transaction, but is there a physical problem for Suniaga? He has far from the worst stats and isn't the youngest on the squad, either of which would be a marker for additional time in rookie-ball.

[Seth Stohs]

 

Not to get all off in the weeds over a small transaction, but is there a physical problem for Suniaga? He has far from the worst stats and isn't the youngest on the squad, either of which would be a marker for additional time in rookie-ball.

 

He pitched in the GCL last year. My guess is they may want him to start in E-Town this year .

[D.C Twins]

Actually a big Gonsalves fan.... but 5.5 BB/9 innings and 4.8 innings per start... yikes....might be further away from MLB than I'd like

[Danchat]

Hopefully Gordon and Gonsalves can reach the majors by the end of the year... though maybe Gonsalves needs to finish the season at AAA. We can afford to be patient with him with the starting pitching in the majors being solid.

[nater79a]

Anyone have have names - left to right - of the six Miracle players in the FSL All-Star game photo above?  Seth maybe?

[Doctor Wu]

 

Hopefully Gordon and Gonsalves can reach the majors by the end of the year... though maybe Gonsalves needs to finish the season at AAA. We can afford to be patient with him with the starting pitching in the majors being solid.

You're right. Probably no hurry to rush Gonsalves at this point, especially seeing as how he's struggling at bit at AAA this year. Hopefully, he just needs to make some adjustments and has no injury concerns.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Anyone have have names - left to right - of the six Miracle players in the FSL All-Star game photo above?  Seth maybe?

Left to right, they are Davis, Vasquez, Wells, Grzelakowski, Blankenhorn, and Diaz.

[jkcarew]

Lewin Diaz not only makes...but starts...the all-star game?  When I read this, I thought maybe I had missed something with regard to Diaz's season so far.  But no.  He's slashing 208/232/344...at first base, no less.

 

It's a small league, so I'm guessing every other 1B 'qualifier' for the South had been promoted out of the league prior to the game, or injured.  The FSL is a pitcher's league...but every TEAM in the league has managed a better OPS than Diaz's 576.

[nater79a]

 

Left to right, they are Davis, Vasquez, Wells, Grzelakowski, Blankenhorn, and Diaz.

 

Thanks!