Twins Minor League Report (7/16) More Late Heartbreak for Kernels

TRANSACTIONS

• Minnesota Twins promote LHP Jovani Moran to Triple-A St. Paul from Double-A Wichita

SAINTS SENTINEL 

Columbus 5, St. Paul 3

Box Score

Josh Winder, fresh off his MLB Futures Game appearance, had a good outing, but the Clippers came back against the bullpen late to take this game 5-3.

The Saints got the scoring started in the bottom of the second inning. Willians Astudillo legged out an antics-laden double and advanced to third on a Mark Contreras groundout. Then, Tomas Telis came to the plate, and one catcher drove in the other to give the Saints a 1-0 lead.

Drew Maggi added to the lead in the fourth inning with a two-run homer into the bullpen in left. The blast was Maggi’s seventh (!) of July.

Josh Winder went into the game knowing he was on a pitch count, but he cruised through four innings, blanking the Clippers. Twins Daily’s #8 prospect really only made one mistake in this one, allowing a two-run homer to Ryan Lavarnway that chased him from the game in the fifth. In 4 1/3 innings, he gave up two runs on five hits. He struck out two and didn't walk a batter.

Lavarnway’s blast made the score 3-2. However, Winder’s replacement, Joe Harvey, fared no better, and immediately allowed a solo homer to Connor Marabell and the game was tied.

The game stayed at three-all until the eighth. Columbus took their first lead with a run each on a sacrifice fly and a seeing-eye single to bring the score to the decisive 5-3.

After Winder came out, Harvey allowed one run and got two outs, but left the game with an apparent injury. Toby Gardenhire was likely counting on multiple innings from Harvey, so that early exit put the Saints’ already-thin bullpen in a tough spot. Ian Gibaut managed to go three innings for St. Paul and allowed two earned runs. Nick Vincent covered the ninth with an inning of scoreless work. Jose Miranda got his typical two hits in this one and Tomas Telis also had a multi-hit game.

WIND SURGE WISDOM

Wichita 7, Tulsa 2

Box Score

Bryan Sammons was solid on the bump for the Surge, and the bats were just as solid, leading Wichita to a comfortable 7-2 victory.

On a night in which – spoiler alert – slow starts will become a theme, both teams failed to score in the first three innings of this one. Tulsa grabbed the first two runs of the game in the top of the fourth with an RBI double from Carlos Rincon and a RBI single from Romer Cuadrado.

The Surge got one back in their half of the fourth on a solo shot from Andrew Bechtold, his 11th of the season. 

The Wichita bats came alive again in the fifth when they loaded the bases with no outs. After a short flyout, Spencer Steer ripped a single into left to drive in two runs.

Then, with men on first and third, Steer took off towards second with the pitch. Tulsa catcher Stevie Berman faked a throw toward second, and whipped the ball towards third to keep Aaron Whitefield there. Unfortunately for Berman, the Tulsa third baseman wasn’t there and the ball bounded down the left field line, allowing both Whitefield and Steer to score, 5-2.

The Surge loaded the bases again in the sixth inning. Tulsa pitcher Aaron Ochsenbein buckled down to strikeout Aaron Whitefield, but Berman allowed a passed ball on the third strike which allowed B.J. Boyd to score the sixth run for Wichita. Ochsenbein buckled down again and struck out Ernie De La Trinidad to get out of the inning and limit the damage to one run.

The Surge added one more run in the seventh on a B.J. Boyd single to make the final score 7-2.

KERNELS NUGGETS

South Bend 6, Cedar Rapids 5 (10)

Box Score

The Kernels will be checking the calendar to make sure Groundhog’s Day is still in February as they’ve seemingly repeated three days in a row. They lost another game in 10 innings on a walkoff from the South Bend Cubs.

The first time through the order went quietly for both teams in this one and the first three innings went by with no score. In the fourth inning, the Kernels finally put one on the board when DaShawn Kiersey led off the inning with a triple and scored on a Jair Camargo single in the next at-bat.

South Bend’s offense stayed quiet against Kernels starter Jon Olsen until the fifth, but when they broke through, they did so in a big way. After a double and a walk put two runners on base, D.J. Artis took Olsen deep to steal the lead for South Bend, 3-1.

The Kernels surged back in the seventh inning, when the first three batters of the inning reached and two runs came in. The RBIs went to Max Smith on a double and Daniel Ozoria on a groundout that scored the tying run. 

South Bend took the lead back with a two-run inning of their own in their half of the seventh. After a fielding error and a single, Tyler Durna drove in a run with a groundout and Nelson Velazquez doubled in another to make the score 5-3 Cubs.

In the top of the ninth, with the score still at 5-3, Edouard Julien came to the plate with a man on and two men down. With a 3-2 count, Julien curled a drive around the foul pole in right to bring Cedar Rapids back from the death and tie the game at five.

Unfortunately, after the Kernels threatened but failed to score in the top of the tenth, Ryan Reynolds drove in D.J. Artis on a bloop single to earn a third-straight walk-off win for South Bend.

MUSSEL MATTERS

Jupiter 9, Fort Myers 1

Box Score

Bobby Milacki was decent to start this game for Fort Myers, but that’s about all that went well for the Mussels tonight.

Both Milacki and his Jupiter counterpart, Yeremin Lara, won the vast majority of their early matchups in this one, and the game stayed scoreless until the top of the fifth, when Jupiter got a couple up on the board. The Hammerheads got three straight singles off Milacki, allowing Marcus Chiu to score on a Jan Mercado knock. Then they took a 2-0 lead when Yunior Severino couldn’t handle a ground ball, allowing Nasim Nunez to score. Jupiter added another in the sixth on a Javeon Cody RBI single. 

With Milacki gone after the sixth, it only got worse. The Hammerheads got three more in the seventh and another three in the ninth. All six runs came off Bradley Hanner.

Jesus Feliz kept the Mussels from getting shut out with his solo homer in the eighth, his first in Single-A ball. That homer is likely more important to Feliz’s career than it was in this game; the Mussels lose a blowout, 9-1.

Milacki’s final line is solid. He gave up three runs (2 earned) on eight hits over six innings. He struck out four without issuing a walk. Hanner went 2 1/3 innings and allowed six earned on five hits and three walks. He did have four strikeouts. Matthew Swain got two uneventful outs to close out the ninth. The Mussels were barely a multi-hit team tonight (they had two), so there were no multi-hit players.

COMPLEX CHRONICLES

FCL Red Sox 6, FCL Twins 3

Box Score 

The FCL Twins did a good job turning their hits into runs, but they only managed four base knocks and lost to the FCL Red Sox 6-3, to drop to a 4-9 record on the season.

The Twins struck first in the fourth inning and took a two-run lead off two pitches to the backstop from Red Sox hurler Henry Nunez. Kala’i Rosario and Wander Valdez scored the runs. However, the Red Sox struck back with a run in each of the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings, then put up three runs in the seventh inning on a bases-clearing double from Jonathan Diaz. The Twins had added a run in the top of the seventh on an Alexander Pena RBI groundout that tied the game at the time, But, Diaz’s clutch hitting deemed that run all but irrelevant.

On the bump, Landon Leach started the game for the FCL Twins and pitched three scoreless while adding three strikeouts. He gave way to Sean Gilmartin, who allowed a run in his only inning of work. Rafael Feliz fared much worse, however, as he pitched 2 2/3 innings and allowed the remaining five earned runs of the games. He struck out three batters but allowed five hits and walked four. John Wilson took over for Feliz in the seventh and got final four scoreless outs. 

The FCL Twins only had four hits so, unsurprisingly, no hitters had a multi-hit game.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Pitcher of the Day - Bryan Sammons (Wichita) 5 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 5 K

Hitter of the Day - B.J. Boyd (Wichita) 3-for-4, R, RBI

PROSPECT SUMMARY

Take note that we have finished our midseason update, so there is a new list! Here is a look at how the Twins Daily Midseason Top 20 Prospects performed:

#1 – Royce Lewis (Rehab) – Out for season (torn ACL)

#2 – Jhoan Duran (St. Paul) – Injured List (elbow strain)

#3 – Jordan Balazovic (Wichita) – Did not pitch

#4 – Matt Canterino (Cedar Rapids) – Injured List (right elbow strain)

#5 – Jose Miranda (St. Paul) – 2-for-4

#6 – Keoni Cavaco (Fort Myers) – Did not play

#7 – Gilberto Celestino (Minnesota) – Games Postponed

#8 – Josh Winder (St. Paul) – 4.1 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 2 K

#9 – Aaron Sabato (Fort Myers) – 0-for-4, 2 K

#10 – Matt Wallner (Cedar Rapids) – Injured List (wrist sprain)

#11 – Blayne Enlow (Cedar Rapids) – Out for Season (Tommy John surgery)

#12 – Bailey Ober (Minnesota) – Games Postponed

#13 – Cole Sands (Wichita) – Did not pitch

#14 – Brent Rooker (St. Paul) – 0-for-4, 2 K

#15 – Misael Urbina (Fort Myers) – 0-for-4 

#16 – Spencer Steer (Wichita) – 1-for-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB, 2 K

#17 – Wander Javier (Cedar Rapids) – 0-for-5, 3 K

#18 – Alerick Soularie (Complex) – N/A (foot injury)

#19 – Edwar Colina (Rehab) – Injured List (elbow)

#20 – Chris Vallimont (Wichita) – Did not pitch

SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Columbus @ St. Paul (7:05PM CST) – RHP Matt Shoemaker (0-0 0.00 ERA)

Tulsa @ Wichita (7:05PM CST) – RHP Chris Vallimont (2-4 3.96 ERA)

Cedar Rapids @ South Bend (6:05PM CST) – TBD

Jupiter @ Fort Myers- (6:00PM CST) – RHP Miguel Rodriguez (2-2, 3.62 ERA)

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