Article: Twins Minor League Report (8/29): Rortvedt Goes Yard, De Jong Stifles

[Ted Schwerzler]

The Minnesota Twins affiliates are quickly coming to the ends of their regular season schedules. Some will be making postseason appearances, while others will head into the offseason. Tonight, there were a few strong starting pitching performances, and the hottest bat came from a catcher down in Florida.RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 4, Buffalo 1

Box Score

 

The Red Wings are wrapping up their 2018 season with two series at home. They swept Buffalo in two games of a double-header yesterday, and the winning continued tonight. Thanks to a strong start from Chase De Jong, one run was all the Bisons could muster.

 

Zander Wiel broke open the scoring in this contest when he launched his first Triple A home run in the first inning. Then again in the third, Wiel decided one wasn't enough so he'd clobber another. Wiel's second homer was of the two-run variety, and the Red Wings now had a 3-0 lead.

 

 

In the fourth inning, Buffalo pushed across their only tally of the game, and Kennys Vargas would wipe it out with a single in the sixth. Gregorio Petit came around to score on the play, and the three-run cushion was back. Jake Reed spun two impressive innings of relief, while Tyler Duffey recorded his second save.

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Scheduled off day

 

MIRACLE MATTERS

Fort Myers 8, Bradenton 3

Box Score

 

Just a half game back of Charlotte for the FSL South lead in the second half standings coming into this one, there was plenty on the line. Thankfully for the Miracle and Clark Beeker, Ben Rortvedt put the good guys out in front by plenty early on.

 

Rortvedt put the first run of the game on the board with a first inning single that scored Travis Blankenhorn. His big blast came in the fourth inning, when he launched a grand slam for his fourth long ball of the year at High A.

 

The Miracle continued to pile on with a Jose Miranda run-scoring double, Blankenhorn driving him in on a double of his own, and yet another RBI single for Rortvedt. All of that damage took place in the bottom half of the fifth inning, and when the dust had settled, Fort Myers was in the lead by a commanding 8-0 tally.

 

Bradenton did score three runs of their own in the seventh, but that’s where the comeback attempt stalled. The Stone Crabs ended up being rained out tonight, so they’ll have a doubleheader tomorrow. As of this writing, Fort Myers and Charlotte are tied in the GB column with the Stone Crabs holding a .002 winning percentage differential.

 

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 6, Burlington 2

Box Score

 

Fresh off of locking up a second half Midwest League Western Division title, the Kernels welcomed Burlington into town for their final home series. Blayne Enlow was on the bump and he turned in a nice performance, earning the win over five innings.

 

Burlington scored first getting up 2-0 in the top half of the fourth inning. That lead lasted until the sixth, when the Kernels came storming back. Michael Davis plated the first Cedar Rapids run on an RBI single. Ariel Montesino then ripped a ground- rule double to score Gabriel Maciel. Tallying the third and fourth runs of the inning, Michael Helman used an RBI single of his own to drive in both Davis and Montesino.

 

Looking for some extra breathing room and insurance, the Kernels struck again in the eighth. Helman clubbed his fifth double of the season to score Akil Badoo and then Ryan Jeffers drove in Helman with a single of his own. That 6-2 lead gave Johan Quezada plenty of space to finish it off, and he did so reaching 99 mph on the radar gun.

 

 

E-TWINS E-TALK

Pulaski 5, Elizabethton 2

Box Score

 

The postseason-bound E-Twins wrapped up their regular season slate tonight. While they wouldn’t do so in the win column, that bats were plenty present and this team should be riding high into the playoffs.

 

Tyler Palm got the nod in this one and turned in five scoreless innings, ceding just one run. He fanned four and walked none. On the offensive side of things, Elizabehton out-hit Pulaski by a 9-8 tally, but they were only able to plate two runs.

Down 5-0 in the ninth, it was rally time for the home team. Andrew Cosgrove singled in Jean Carlos Arias, and Yeltsin Encarnacion drove in Cosgrove with a single of his own. Unfortunately that was the end of the rally, and the three run deficit was never erased.

 

On Friday night, the E-Twins will begin a three game set with Kingspot to kick off the Appy League playoffs.

 

STARS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Pitcher of the Day – Chase De Jong (Rochester) – 6.0 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K

Twins Daily Hitter(s) of the Day – Ben Rortvedt (Fort Myers) – 3-4, R, 6 RBI, GS HR(4)

 

TOP PROSPECT SUMMARY

#2 - Alex Kirilloff (Fort Myers) – 2-5, R, 2B

#6 - Trevor Larnach (Cedar Rapids) – 0-4, BB, 3 K

#8 - Akil Baddoo (Cedar Rapids) – 0-4, R, BB, K

#11 - Blayne Enlow (Cedar Rapids) – 5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K

#12 - LaMonte Wade (Rochester) – 0-3

#13 - Travis Blankenhorn (Fort Myers) – 2-for-4, R, 2B, RBI

#15 - Ben Rortvedt (Fort Myers) – 3-4, R, 6 RBI, GS HR(4)

#16 - Yunior Severino (Elizabethton) – 1-4, BB

#18 - Ryan Jeffers (Cedar Rapids) – 3-5, RBI

 

THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Buffalo @ Rochester (6:05PM CST) – TBD

Chattanooga @ Jacksonville (6:05PM CST) – RHP Jorge Alcala (2-6, 4.34 ERA)

Bradenton @ Fort Myers (6:00PM CST) – LHP Charlie Barnes (6-6, 2.93 ERA)

Burlington @ Cedar Rapids (6:35PM CST) – RHP Jhoan Duran (7-5, 3.91 ERA)

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

 

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[Han Joelo]

Is that two higher strikeout games in a row for Enlow, or am I misremembering?

 

That Cedar Rapids team has some character(s).  Just when I was calling/hoping for Lewis to step up, he got a night off (like others suggested) and so it was Rortveldt stepping up. Man, there are some good players in A ball right now.

[nater79a]

 

Is that two higher strikeout games in a row for Enlow, or am I misremembering?

 

That Cedar Rapids team has some character(s).  Just when I was calling/hoping for Lewis to step up, he got a night off (like others suggested) and so it was Rortveldt stepping up. Man, there are some good players in A ball right now.

 

You are correct on Enlow.  His last appearance before this one he had 8 K's in five innings of work. 

 

I was curious so I checked...before these last two starts, Blayne has only had one game where he's had more strikeouts than innings pitched....and that was 3 K's in a 2 inning appearance back in May.

 

6.47 K/9 for the year

13.5 K/9 his last two starts

 

Maybe he's hit on something.  At least trending in the right direction.

[terrydactyls]

Interesting line on Tyler Palm: "five scoreless innings ceding just one run." I had to go to the box score to see how that worked. He ceded just one hit. Great night for him.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

2 Class A catchers has good offensive nights. Yea!

[rdehring]

Scratching my head a bit about De Jong.  Don't know what to expect from him in the future.  Interesting that he is doing well at AAA and is only 24 years old.  Nice break-out game at AAA for Zander Wiel.  We talk a lot about Rooker, maybe we should include Wiel in some of those conversations.

 

So the Miracle and Charlotte are now tied, with Charlotte having 6 games to play in four days.  Will they get them in?  All the Miracle can do is keep winning and whatever will be will be.  Great seeing Rortvedt step up big, but he has been doing that all month as indicated by his .320 average in August.  What was really interesting is that while Lewis rested, Miranda was at shortstop.

 

What a great time of year for the Kernels bats to be hot, with the playoffs about to begin.  

[ashbury]

That Cedar Rapids team has some character(s).  Just when I was calling/hoping for Lewis to step up, he got a night off (like others suggested) and so it was Rortveldt stepping up. Man, there are some good players in A ball right now.

Ft Myers, just to be clear. High-A.

[Bill Lumbergh]

How does Enlow earn a win pitching 5 innings when the Kernels were behind going into the bottom of the 6th?

[ashbury]

How does Enlow earn a win pitching 5 innings when the Kernels were behind going into the bottom of the 6th?

Good catch. The box score shows it correctly. Jose Martinez got it in relief.

[RaymondLuxuryYacht]

Good to see Quezada have another nice outing.  If he can minimize the BB he will be one to watch

[puckstopper1]

Anyone know if the two Graterol's in the Twins org are related?  I know they are both from Venezuela and it is not an over common name...

[Han Joelo]

 

Ft Myers, just to be clear. High-A.

Yeah, I was getting myself confused as to who was where as I typed that up, but then it just occurred to me that BOTH teams have a bunch of intriguing players, so I made that poorly expressed comment.

[caninatl04]

Man, there are some good players in A ball right now.

 

I just looked at the Miracle batting order. Only three with OPS above .700.

[Yoke]

 

Man, there are some good players in A ball right now.

I just looked at the Miracle batting order. Only three with OPS above .700.

Kiriloff, Grzelakowski, Lewis, Rortvedt and De La Trinidad are all on the roster and above .700.

 

Then there are two guys between .690 and .700, too (Blankenhorn and Costello).

[jmlease1]

How are we feeling about Rortvedt's progression as a catcher? He's showing solid progress as a hitter this year, I think. If his defense and gamecalling is showing similar progress, he'll be moving up the prospect lists in the offseason.