Twins Minor League Report (5/5): Stankiewicz Stays Hot, Miller Mussels Up

[Ted Schwerzler]

After his recent promotion following a good showing with Fort Myers, John Stankiewicz continued to deal for the Cedar Rapids Kernels and put up a strong debut. Noah Miller recorded a four-hit night for Fort Myers, and the farm system saw a three victory sweep.

 

Transactions:

• OF Cole Sturgeon promoted from Double-A Wichita to Triple-A St. Paul
• INF Ernie Yake promoted from Single-A Fort Myers to Triple-A St. Paul
• OF Jake Cave placed on temporary inactive list (paternity leave)

SAINTS SENTINEL 
St. Paul 6, Iowa 3
Box Score

It was Chi Chi Gonzalez making the start tonight for St. Paul and he turned in five innings of three-run ball. Avoiding extra damage while giving up nine hits, Gonzalez walked just one and fanned two.

Iowa took an early lead with a run in the third inning, and then they added single tallies in the 4th and 5th innings as well. As the game got late, the Saints came alive.

Jermaine Palacios opened the scoring for the good guys in the 7th inning. A ground out to third base scored Mark Contreras and the Saints made their way into the run column. Jose Godoy then singled to drive in Elliot Soto and drew the home team within one.

Still trailing by one in the 8th inning, Curtis Terry ripped his 8th double of the season to score Royce Lewis and knot the game at three. With the bases loaded, Soto brought everyone home on his first triple of the season and the 6-3 lead would hold through the final frame.

Contreras and Godoy were the lone hitters with multi-hit evenings. Alex Kirilloff may have been playing in his final rehab game, and went 0-for-3 with a strikeout. Daniel Gossett was amazing in relief working three innings of no-hit baseball while punching out four and walking just one.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Postponed

For the third straight night Wichita saw the matchup with the Varland brothers be postponed. Now set to face off for a doubleheader on Friday, the hope would be that Mother Nature finally cooperates.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 5, Quad Cities 3
Box Score

Sean Mooney took the ball to start this one and worked three innings while giving up three unearned runs. He walked and struck out four batters apiece. Recently promoted John Stankiewicz came on in relief and was dominant. Pitching five scoreless, Stankiewicz gave up just a single hit and no walks while striking out seven.

Quad Cities plated a first inning run to take the lead, but Cedar Rapids had a quick answer. Seth Gray drove in Christian Encarnacion-Strand with a single and the score was even after one. The Kernels then jumped ahead in the second with Wander Javier scoring on a fielding error.

Battling back from a two-run third inning that put the River Bandits back on top, Cedar Rapids plated a pair of their own on an Aaron Sabato ground out and another error. With just a one-run lead after the third inning, Sabato gave the Kernels more breathing room when he blasted a solo shot to left field for his third dinger of the season.

Anthony Prato contributed two hits out of the leadoff spot tonight, and he was joined by both Sabato and Gray.

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 7, Lakeland 6
Box Score

Fort Myers gave the ball to Travis Adams tonight and he turned in a solid performance allowing just two runs on three hits over five innings. Adams recorded four strikeouts and walked none.

The Mighty Mussels scored the first run of the evening on a Noah Cardenas ground out. A throwing error by Lakeland allowed Noah Miller to scamper home. After getting behind in the 2nd inning, Emmanuel Rodriguez ripped a single in the third inning allowing Jake Rucker to score.

Stretching the lead further, Keoni Cavaco roped a 4th inning double driving in Kyle Schmidt before Mikey Perez homered in the 6th inning plating Kala’i Rosario on the two-run shot. Lakeland drew back within two on a homer of their own, but Schmidt erased it scoring Rodriguez on a 7th inning sacrifice fly.

The game got way too dicey when the Flying Tigers tied things in the 8th inning, and neither team could push across a run in the 9th. Utilizing the runner on second in the 10th inning, Rosario ripped his second double of the season to score Cavaco and give Fort Myers the lead they’d need to hold onto.

Fort Myers tallied 11 hits on the evening and Noah Miller accounted for four of them going 4-for-4. Rosario was the only other batter to join him with a multi-hit effort.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – John Stankiewicz (Cedar Rapids) - 5.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K
Hitter of the Day – Noah Miller (Fort Myers) - 4-4, R, BB, 2B

PROSPECT SUMMARY

We will again keep tabs on the Twins top prospects. You’ll probably read about them in the team sections, but if they aren’t there, you’ll see how they did here. 

Here’s a look at how the current Twins Daily Top 20 performed:
#2 - Royce Lewis (St. Paul) - 1-3, R, BB, K
#3 - Jose Miranda (Minnesotal) - 1-3, K
#7 - Jhoan Duran (Minnesota) - 0.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
#10 - Noah Miller (Ft. Myers) - 4-4, R, BB, 2B
#15 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Ft. Myers) - 1-2, R, RBI, 3 BB

FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
Iowa @ St. Paul (6:37PM CST) - RHP Jacob Faria
Tulsa @ Wichita (5:05PM CST) Game 2 TBD - RHP Louie Varland/RHP Matt Canterino
Quad Cities @ Cedar Rapids (6:35PM CST) - RHP Aaron Rozek
Fort Myers @ Lakeland (5:30PM CST) - RHP Pierson Ohl 

Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Thursday’s games! It sure is exciting to have all four Twins full-season affiliates back and playing.

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[ashbury]

Nice to see a sweep by all three minor league squads, minus the rainout.  Four or five nights a week would be nice!

[Rosterman]

Ernie Yake jumps again (he did this last year, too) from the low minors to the Saints. Shades of Jimmy Kerrigan in the past.

[Seth Stohs]

14 minutes ago, Rosterman said:

Ernie Yake jumps again (he did this last year, too) from the low minors to the Saints. Shades of Jimmy Kerrigan in the past.

Ozoria last year. Encarnacion last year. Yake last year. Must be a short-term thing, though if the Saints lose their SS tomorrow, they'll need to make a move. 

[Major League Ready]

6 hours ago, Seth Stohs said:

Ozoria last year. Encarnacion last year. Yake last year. Must be a short-term thing, though if the Saints lose their SS tomorrow, they'll need to make a move. 

Why would the Saints lose Lewis?  Is he injured or test positive for Covid?  They also have Palacios.

[wsnydes]

29 minutes ago, Major League Ready said:

Why would the Saints lose Lewis?  Is he injured or test positive for Covid?  They also have Palacios.

Sounds like Correa broke a finger, so the Twins will need a SS.

[In My La Z boy]

43 minutes ago, wsnydes said:

Sounds like Correa broke a finger, so the Twins will need a SS.

Lewis is the only infielder left on the 40 man. Royce debut time! 

[Seth Stohs]

14 minutes ago, In My La Z boy said:

Lewis is the only infielder left on the 40 man. Royce debut time! 

Well, him and Kirilloff, who presumably will take Arraez's roster spot. 

[wsnydes]

Just now, Seth Stohs said:

Well, him and Kirilloff, who presumably will take Arraez's roster spot. 

I'm looking forward to getting an extended look at Kirilloff at 1B.  

Have you heard anything about his wrist?  Is he still dealing with any lingering pain or stiffness it in?

[In My La Z boy]

7 minutes ago, Seth Stohs said:

Well, him and Kirilloff, who presumably will take Arraez's roster spot. 

I wish Kirilloff was hitting. Not so sure he is ready. Royce looks ready. Maybe move Sano to the 60 day and add someone?

[RJA]

Three observations.  First, it is great to see Emmanuel Rodriguez drawing three walks.  It shows good discipline for a young, aggressive hitter.  Second, I didn't watch last night's game, but it still does not seem to me that Kirilloff looks comfortable at the plate.  Not sure if it is his hand, or if he is just feeling some pressure.  Finally, Correa's injury is a gut punch, but I think Lewis is ready.  He has been fantastic at St. Paul.  We are lucky that we have him, and I don't think the moment will be too big for him.

[Dman]

Was super impressed with Millers 4 for 4 night.  He has been putting balls in play but not seeing great results so was nice to see him have a great game.  It is really hard to go 4 for 4.  Hopefully Cavaco can catch some of that magic.

Stankewiecz just keeps rolling.  Hopefully another month of great results and he gets moved to AA where he belongs.  I guess the one question I have is why he didn't get more innings in A ball last year?  Was he hurt?  At any rate hopefully he makes up for lost time and is another pitcher on the rise.

[2wins87]

Noah Miller has really heated up lately after a bit of a cold start.  I hope he can keep it up, what little I've seen of his defense looks really great for someone at his stage of development.

[2wins87]

4 hours ago, RJA said:

Three observations.  First, it is great to see Emmanuel Rodriguez drawing three walks.  It shows good discipline for a young, aggressive hitter. 

I don't think I'd describe Rodriguez as an aggressive hitter.  He's always been willing to take walks, including in the complex last year.

He's had some swing and miss in his game, but he's cut down on that pretty nicely this year.  I'm going to watch for him to continue to keep his K rate under 30% this year, and hopefully make a little further improvement in the future.