Front Page: Twins Minor League Report (8/6): Walk-Offs Abound

[Steve Lein]

Something so rare I don’t recall happening in the five years I’ve been writing MiLB reports for Twins Daily happened on Tuesday in the Minnesota Twins farm system. No, it wasn’t the grand slam from a former major leaguer that led his team to a victory, or the three games that ended in walk-off fashion on the night, but something…else. It’s really a testament to the amount of talent the system has at a certain level…I caught some flak for mentioning the reason on Twitter last night, but I’m going to leave it to you guys to see if you can figure it out after reading Tuesday’s minor league report!

 

TRANSACTIONS

 

There were a few transactions leading into the games on Tuesday:

• Griffin Jax was promoted to the Rochester Red Wings and would be on normal rest on Wednesday.
• The Fort Myers Miracle activated pitcher Jordan Balazovic from the temporary inactive list after winning a silver medal at the Pan Am Games with Team Canada. He may start on Wednesday.
• The Cedar Rapids Kernels activated RHP Josh Winder from the injured list and he made the start.
• In the Appalachian League, 2B Edouard Julien was also activated from the temporary inactive list after bringing home a silver medal in the Pan Am games.

• The GCL Twins placed RHP Seth Pinkerton and RHP Rogelio Reyes on the 7-day injured list

RED WINGS REPORT

Gwinnett 3, Rochester 8

Box Score

 

The Red Wings came out swinging and never looked back as a grand third inning propelled them to an 8-3 victory on Tuesday night.

 

Although they were outhit 13-10 on the game, Rochester got the bigger hits in the form of a grand slam from Alejandro De Aza in that third inning, and a solo home run and two-run double from Ramon Flores. Recent trade acquisition from the Cleveland Indians organization, outfielder Brandon Barnes contributed two hits (2-for-4, R, 2B, BB) to the effort along with Flores (2-for-4, R, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, BB). De Aza drew a bases-loaded walk in the first inning to start the scoring.

 

Sean Poppen gave the Red Wings 3 2/3 in the start, allowing two runs on six hits and two walks as he ran up his pitch count to 74 (44 strikes). He struck out six. Ryan Eades got the next 1 1/3, allowing one run on four hits and striking out three. Preston Guilmet picked up the win with two scoreless frames, allowing one hit and one walk along with three K’s. Ian Krol finished the game with two scoreless of his own, allowing two hits and striking out two.

 

BLUE WAHOOS BITES

Scheduled Day Off

 

The Blue Wahoos took four of five games from the Birmingham Barons at home in the last week, and hit the road on Tuesday toward Mobile, Alabama to face the Southern League South Division bottom-dwelling BayBears on Wednesday.

 

MIRACLE MATTERS

Fort Myers @ St. Lucie - Postponed: Wet Grounds

 

Rains wreaked havoc on multiple games in the Florida State League on Tuesday, including the Miracle’s tilt against the Mets in St. Lucie. Dakota Chalmers will make the start in game one, with Jordan Balazovic originally scheduled on Wednesday though the MiLB.com schedule is “TBD” for game two.

 

KERNELS NUGGETS

Burlington 5, Cedar Rapids 6

Box Score

 

Starting pitcher Josh Winder retired the first nine Bees hitters he faced, but when an error on first baseman Albee Weiss opened the fourth inning, the game went off the rails for the 2019 standout. Despite finishing the inning, before it was over he had allowed five unearned runs as two singles, a walk, a triple and a home run led to all those runs when three outs should have already been recorded. Those runs came on four hits and one walk while he punched out four.

 

Just as quickly as his defense let him down, his bullpen and offense picked him up.

 

Relievers J.T. Perez, Nate Hadley, and Austin Schulfer combined to shut Burlington out for the rest of the game. Perez allowed two hits and a walk in two innings, striking out two. Hadley walked one and struck out two in his two innings. Shulfer struck out one in a scoreless ninth.

 

Down three runs after Winder’s exit, the lineup closed the gap to 5-4 in the fifth inning via a two-run blast from Wander Javier, his eighth of the season. It remained that way until the bottom of the ninth where Gabe Snyder led off the frame with his thirteenth home run of the season to tie the game at five and ignite a rally. Javier then reached on an error, moved to second on a Jared Akins single before Trevor Casanova drove him in with a double to snuff out the Bees.

 

The Kernels got three hits from Snyder (3-for-5, 2 R, HR, RBI) and Casanova (3-for-4, R, 2B, RBI, BB). Gilberto Celestino also contributed a solo home run, his eighth of the season in the first inning to put the home team up 1-0 early.

 

E-TWINS E-NOTES

Elizabethton 8, Kingsport 9

Box Score

 

Elizabethton took a big early lead with a crooked number in the third inning as they strung together a walk, and error, three singles, a double, and a sac fly that put four runs on the scoreboard.

 

Unfortunately, starter Andriu Marin ran into even bigger trouble in the bottom of the fourth as before it was all said and done, Kingsport had put seven runs of their own on the board. Marin went 3+ innings, allowing six runs (four earned) all in the fourth, on five total hits and four walks. He did strike out four. Frandy Torres came in to the game with runners on second and third and nobody out and did his best to limit further damage, but one inherited runner scored on a groundout before he gave up a two-run homer. Torres went go on to pitch 2 2/3, being charged with only one earned run. He allowed two hits and struck out two.

 

The E-Twins were then able to mount a comeback, as they scored single runs in the fifth and sixth innings, then Will Holland delivered a two-run double to take back the lead 8-7 in the seventh.

 

Tyler Beck got Elizabethton through the eighth inning with 2 1/3 scoreless innings, scattering three hits and striking out two, then Benjamin Dum was summoned for the bottom of the ninth and his first save opportunity.

 

He struck out the first batter he faced, but a single followed by a double tied the game and saddled him with a blown save. After a mound visit led to a strikeout for the second out, he gave up a run-scoring single to also get charged with the loss.

 

Anthony Prato led the batting order with three hits in five at-bats, including a triple, while scoring two runs. Parker Phillips (2-for-4, R, 2B, RBI, BB) and Kyle Schmidt (2-for-4, R, RBI) also added two hits in the loss. Willie Joe Garry Jr. also contributed a triple.

 

GCL TWINS TAKES

Game 1: GCL Twins 4, GCL Pirates 2

Box Score

 

With yesterday’s game postponed, the Twins and Pirates faced off in a doubleheader hosted by Pirates, with the Twins the visitor in game one.

 

The Twins got on the board in the first inning thanks to an RBI single from Victor Heredia that was followed by an RBI double from Wander Valdez that made it 2-0 early.

 

Righthander Anthony Escobar held the Pirates down for the first four innings, allowing only one run on three hits and a walk, along with striking out three. The run came on a solo home run in his final inning. Niklas Rimmel finished off the game with three innings of work to pick up his first professional win. He allowed one run on one hit while striking out two.

 

Heredia added two more runs in the top of the fifth with a two-run double to account for the final score. He led the way with two hits in four trips to the plate and three RBIs. Valdez and Jeferson Morales also contributed two hits apiece.

 

Game 2: GCL Pirates 0, GCL Twins 1

Box Score

 

It was even more of a pitcher’s duel in game two, as the teams metaphorically swapped dugouts with the Twins as the home team for this one.

 

They got a fantastic start from Miguel Rodriguez, who went the first six scoreless innings, holding the Pirates to four singles while striking out nine. Rodriguez has made a strong initial impression in the States, having now pitched 21 total innings with a 26:6 strikeout to base-on-balls ratio, 1.00 WHIP, and .192 batting average against. He was done with the score still tied at zero in this one though.

 

Bradley Hanner got the seventh inning and with a scoreless frame also picked up his first professional win. He walked one and struck out one.

 

The Twins literally walked this one off thanks to a bases-loaded free pass drawn by Heredia in the bottom of the seventh. Keoni Cavaco and Luis Milla each had two hits to account for all hits on the game for the good guys. They did draw six walks as a team, with Morales drawing two.

 

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY

 

Pitcher of the Day – Miguel Rodriguez, GCL Twins (6.0 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 9 K)

Hitter of the Day – Alejandro De Aza, Rochester Red Wings (1-for-3, R, GS HR, 5 RBI, BB)

 

PROSPECT SUMMARY

 

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

 

#1 - Royce Lewis (Pensacola) - No game

#2 - Alex Kirilloff (Pensacola) - No game

#3 - Brusdar Graterol (Pensacola) - Rehab assignment with GCL

#4 - Trevor Larnach (Pensacola) - No game

#5 - Wander Javier (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4, 2 R, HR, 2 RBI, 2 K

#6 - Jordan Balazovic (Fort Myers) - Game postponed

#7 - Keoni Cavaco (GCL) - 2-for-4, K

#8 - Brent Rooker (Rochester) - Injured List (groin)

#9 - Jhoan Duran (Pensacola) - Game postponed

#10 - Blayne Enlow (Fort Myers) - Game postponed

#11 - Lewis Thorpe (Rochester) - Did not pitch

#12 - Nick Gordon (Rochester) - Did not play

#13 - Ryan Jeffers (Pensacola) - No game

#14 - Luis Arraez (Minnesota) - Game in progress

#15 - Matt Wallner (Elizabethton) - Did not play

#16 - Ben Rortvedt (Pensacola) - No game

#17 - Akil Baddoo (Fort Myers) - Injured List (Tommy John surgery)

#18 - Jorge Alcala (Pensacola) - No game

#19 - Misael Urbina (DSL) - Did not play

#20 - Travis Blankenhorn (Pensacola) - No game

 

WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

 

Gwinnett @ Rochester (6:05PM CST) - LHP Lewis Thorpe (5-4, 5.02 ERA)

Pensacola @ Mobile (6:35PM CST) - TBD

Fort Myers @ St. Lucie, Game 1 (3:00PM CST) - RHP Dakota Chalmers (0-0, 36.00 ERA)

Fort Myers @ St. Lucie, Game 2 (makeup of 8/6 postponement) - TBD (Jordan Balazovic)

Cedar Rapids @ Kane County (6:30PM CST) - LHP Kody Funderbunk (0-2, 5.33 ERA)

Elizabethton @ Kingsport (5:30PM CST) - TBD

GCL Twins @ GCL Orioles, Game 1 (9:00AM CST) - TBD

GCL Twins @ GCL Orioles, Game 2 (makeup of 7/25 postponement) - TBD

 

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

 

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[Dman]

Did I see the box score correctly?  did Rodriguez have 39 pitches and 39 pitches pitches for strikes or is that a misprint?  I don't think I have ever seen such aggressiveness from a pitcher before.  He also had 9 K's if I remember correctly.  This guy has a future,  I know he gave up four hits but holy heck he must have some good stuff if all he threw were strikes and that is the best the other team could do.

[Pitz]

The pitches / strikes for the rookie leagues are often inaccurate. This is not the first time a pitcher has been shown to have thrown only strikes.

 

I did notice though that Rodriguez has only given up 2 runs this season. Both those runs (and 2 of his 6 walks) came in the first inning of his debut. He's now thrown 20 straight scoreless innings.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

I give up. Steve, what is the rare occurrence which happened last night in the Twins' minor league organization?

[Bill Tanner]

Just 3 of the top 20 prospects were in action.  So many of them (9) are at the AA level that a rainout there, along with injuries and a FTM rainout, meant that just a couple were playing ball yesterday.

[rdehring]

Not a clue what you were talking about in the opening, Steve.

 

Rochester is now 2 games over .500.  Not a lot of time left for a playoff run, but weirder things have happened.

 

Will second, or third, the comments above about Rodriguez.  Sure is someone worth following.  As is Escobar, who is about a year and a half younger, who also had a very good start.

 

And it is always a good day when we see Javier's name mentioned for something other than an 0 fer whatever.  Hopefully, his horrendous first half is behind him and he can show enough to management to get that 40-man slot come November.  With a 26 man roster next year, gotta believe someone would take a flyer on his tools and ceiling.

 

 

[Steve Lein]

 

Did I see the box score correctly?  did Rodriguez have 39 pitches and 39 pitches pitches for strikes or is that a misprint?  I don't think I have ever seen such aggressiveness from a pitcher before.  He also had 9 K's if I remember correctly.  This guy has a future,  I know he gave up four hits but holy heck he must have some good stuff if all he threw were strikes and that is the best the other team could do.

 

GCL League/MiLB Gameday does not track total pitches. Any at-bat with a ball in play counts 1 pitch as a strike. A walk counts as 4 balls, and a strikeout is 3 strikes.

 

So, don't trust the GCL pitch counts in the box scores.

[Steve Lein]

 

Just 3 of the top 20 prospects were in action.  So many of them (9) are at the AA level that a rainout there, along with injuries and a FTM rainout, meant that just a couple were playing ball yesterday.

 

Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner!!!

 

(Sorry, I don't have a prize )

[puckstopper1]

Any word on Gordon or Rooker?  Missing seeing those Top Prospects in action!

 

[Danchat]

Cool to see Jax promoted to AAA. He will need to be added to the 40 man this winter, maybe he can help in 2020.