Twins Minor League Report (7/5): Walk-Off Fireworks in the DSL

[Steve Lein]

In a scheduling quirk with the new minor league realignments and the holiday, all four of the Minnesota Twins full-season affiliates had the day off on Tuesday after their 4th of July contests that were played on their normal day off. Both rookie league teams were in action with one of them providing a firework-worthy celebration of their own down in the Dominican Republic.

 

TRANSACTIONS

• The Minnesota Twins officially recalled RHP Josh Winder to start tonight’s game with Chris Archer being scratched, after he had joined their taxi-squad yesterday.

COMPLEX CHRONICLES
FCL Braves 4, FCL Twins 2
Box Score

Despite outhitting their opponents 9-to-5 on the game, The Twins came out on the short end of this one as the Braves got the big home run to steal a victory.

Jose Olivares made the start for the home team and went the first four innings. It was the last one that finally put a dent on his appearance, as a pair of walks preceded a three-run blast that put the Braves up by two. Before then, Olivares had allowed just two other hits and was in command. His final line would include three earned runs on three hits, the two walks that came back to bite him, and struck out four.

The FCL Twins got two innings of perfect rehab work from Jon Olsen, who struck out two in the process, then got a pair of one-two-three innings from Francis Peguero (2 K) and Miguelangel Boadas to get them to the ninth down 3-1. Boadas came back out for the ninth and would finish the game, but allowed an insurance run thanks to a single and a triple. He struck out two in his two innings.

Danny De Andrade put the FCL Twins on the scoreboard first in the third inning, with his first home run of the year, a solo shot. But the Twins weren’t able to push any more runs across until the bottom of the ninth when Andres Centeno led off the inning with a double, moved to third on a single from Amilcar Vasquez, and then scored on a Misael Urbina double, where Centeno was thrown out at home for the innings first out. The tying run was then in the batter's box, but Alexander Pena and De Andrade weren’t able to keep it going, falling 4-2 to the Braves.

Urbina led the offense with a three-hit effort in four at-bats, also drawing a walk. De Andrade had two hits including the home run, and Centeno’s double accounted for their three extra-base hits in the game. Second baseman Fredy Michel also drew three walks, but wasn’t able to score any runs as the team finished just 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position, and left 10 men on base in total.

DOMINICAN DAILIES
DSL KC Stewart 5, DSL Twins 6
Box Score

The DSL Twins scored four runs in the bottom of the third inning en route to building an early 5-1 lead, but then let their Kansas City Royals-based opponents back into the game late. Would they be able to hold them off?

The Twins got on the scoreboard first in the second inning as Anderson Nova, Isaac Pena, and Ricardo Pena all notched singles in the frame, with the last of those driving in a run. They had a chance for more as a walk loaded the bases with two outs, but would have to wait until the next inning to really cash in.

They did so when Bryan Acuna and Jose Rodriguez started the third with consecutive singles, before all three of them trotted the bases thanks to a Rafael Cruz home run, his first of the season. Nova followed with his first triple of the year and scored the fourth run of the inning on an error to the next hitter.

They remained in the lead until the ninth inning thanks to the collective efforts of Jose Ojo (1 IP, BB, K), Bianger Liendo (1 IP, BB, 2 K), and Eduardo Soriano (1 IP, 2 H, R) to start the game. Miguel Olivares then did the heavy lifting, pitching five innings from the fourth through the eighth. He allowed one earned run on two hits and three walks, while striking out six.

With the score 5-2 entering the top of the ninth, the Twins brought Eider Machuca out of the bullpen for the save opportunity and he retired the first two hitters he faced. Then the wheels fell off. A pair of walks was followed by a three-run home run to tie the game at five, and he then walked the next batter to bring an end to his outing with a blown save.

He was bailed out as the Royals attempted a steal with new pitcher Orlando Rubio on the mound, and catcher Javier Roman cut them down at second base for the third out.

The Twins lineup wasn’t fazed, and remained patient against a new pitcher in the bottom half of the inning, with Luis Rodriguez drawing a leadoff walk. He was advanced to second with a sacrifice bunt before the next two hitters drew walks of their own to load the bases, the second of which was intentional to Yasser Mercedes. After a pop-out from Acuna, Jose Rodriguez delivered the walk-off fireworks with a single to left field to secure the 6-5 win.

Jose Rodriguez (2-for-5, R, RBI, K), Nova (2-for-4, 2 R, 3B), and Isaac Pena (2-for-4) each had two-hit nights to support the big blast from Cruz.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day - Miguel Olivares, DSL Twins (H, 5 IP, 2 H, ER, 3 BB, 6 K)
Hitter of the Day - Rafael Cruz, DSL Twins (1-for-4, HR, 3 RBI)

PROSPECT SUMMARY
With the full-season affiliates enjoying their day off, there were no Twins Daily top prospects in action on Tuesday.

WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Louisville (6:05 PM CDT) - RHP Cole Sands (1-4, 4.68 ERA)
Amarillo @ Wichita (7:05 PM CDT) - RHP Louie Varland (6-2, 3.42 ERA)
Quad Cities @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CDT) - TBD
Fort Myers @ Tampa (5:30 PM CDT) - RHP Marco Raya (3-1, 2.77 ERA)
DSL Cardinals @ DSL Twins (10:00 AM CDT) - TBD

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

 

 

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