Twins Minor League Report (8/6): Affiliates Feast on Home Cooking

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SAINTS SENTINEL 
St. Paul 1, Louisville 0 
Box Score

The Saints’ pitchers were untouchable tonight and the Louisville arms were only a little bit less untouchable in this pitchers duel. Saint Paul gets Louisville back for last night, winning this one 1-0.

Chandler Shepherd was nothing short of dominant in his start tonight. The St. Paul starter went six full innings and didn’t allow a run. Unfortunately for the Saints, Shepherd’s Louisville counterpart, Michael Mariot, matched his every move (literally) and when Shepherd gave way to Yennier Cano to start the seventh, both starters had allowed four hits and no runs.  

Mariot was taken out after the seventh and Sherman Johnson, for one, was happy to see him go. Johnson gave the Saints the first lead of the ballgame in the eighth with a clutch solo shot to right center.

In contrast to their opponents, the Saints bullpen did not let them down tonight. Cano walked his first two batters in the seventh but struck out a couple to get out of the inning unscathed. Then, Kyle Barraclough hurled a hitless eighth and Nick Vincent closed the game with a strong ninth. One run was all the Saints needed in this one.   

Thomas Telis and home run hero Sherman Johnson had the only multi-hit games for the St. Paul.

Winder Shut Down
Saints starter and Twins Daily’s #8 prospect Josh Winder will be shut down for the following few weeks with shoulder fatigue. Winder hasn’t pitched since July 21st and the Twins have decided to protect their asset by resting him an additional two or three weeks.

Thorpe Finishes Rehab Stint

In positive news, Lewis Thorpe finished his rehab stint with the FCL Twins and is set to start for the Saints on Sunday.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 11, Midland 4
Box Score

Trey Cabbage led the Wind Surge bats to a big night and Chris Vallimont was an exciting watch on the mound. It was a good night for Wichita as they take this one in blowout fashion.

The best way to start a ballgame is to put a crooked number up in the first, and that’s exactly what the Wind Surge did tonight. Wichita put up four in the opening frame, with an RBI each coming on Cabbage and Jermaine Palacios singles and two runs scoring on Andrew Bechtold’s double.

After giving up a four spot to hard-hit Wichita liners, Midland got one back in the third off a weak infield single from Devin Foyle. However, Cabbage responded with two more RBI on a deep blast to right that extended the Wichita lead to 6-1.

Midland got an additional run back in the fourth, but Cabbage had another two-run shot up his sleeve in the fifth, giving him his fourth and fifth RBI of the night.

While Cabbage and the Surge were mashing, Vallimont was dealing on the mound. He struggled a bit with walks (he had four, two came around to score), but his swing-and-miss stuff was on full display as he had eight strikeouts over five innings. Just check out the Rock Hounds’ facial expressions for confirmation for how filthy he was tonight:

Midland got a two-run homer of their own in the seventh, but, like they did all night, the Wichita bats had an answer. Austin Martin drove in two with a double in the eighth, and this one ended 11-4 in Wichita’s favor.

After Vallimont left the ballgame, Alex Phillips allowed two earned runs over two innings and Jordan Gore took care of the eighth and ninth without allowing a baserunner. Cabbage's big night was the only multi-hit showing for Wichita.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 4, Quad Cities 2
Box Score

The Kernels jumped in front early and held on for the rest of the game, taking a tight one tonight, 4-2.

The Kernels’ first trip to the plate was quite a productive one, as they sent eight men to bat and pushed three runs across. The big hit came in the form of a two-run Yunior Severino single, and Seth Gray also notched an RBI on a groundout. Matt Wallner helped Cedar Rapids add on in the second, with an RBI single of his own.

Quad Cities finally got on the board in the fifth, using a Maikel Garcia triple to score Gavin Stupienski from first for their first run. Then, in the sixth, Jake Means doubled and drove in another run to cut the Cedar Rapids lead to 4-2. Kernels’ starter Louie Varland left the ballgame shortly after. At the end of his outing Varland had gone 5 ⅔ innings and allowed two earned runs on five hits and two walks while striking out five. 

The bullpen took over from there for Cedar Rapids. Melvi Acosta grabbed the last out of the sixth and pitched a hitless seventh, and Zach Featherstone allowed the bases to fill in the eighth, but got out of the inning without allowing a run. Then, Featherstone shut down the River Bandits one more time, securing the 4-2 win for Cedar Rapids.

Alex Isola and Severino had multi-hit games for the Kernels tonight.

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 4, Dunedin 3
Box Score

This one looked to be headed towards slugfest territory after the first inning, but in what turned out to be a quiet offensive game, the Mussels edge out the Blue Jays, 4-3

Dunedin got two runs right away in the top of the first, with RBI coming on a Jesus Feliz fielding error and a P.K. Morris sac fly. But, Fort Myers had a first-inning run of their own, on a Charles Mack RBI groundout that scored Misael Urbina.

The score stayed at 2-1 until the fourth, when the Mussels grabbed a run to tie it up. Urbina was involved again, this time driving in a run on a sac fly.

After the rocky first inning, Mussel’s starter Bobby Milacki settled down well and allowed no runs over the next three innings, and when Matthew Swain took over in the fifth, he dominated the Blue Jays bats with three hitless innings and five strikeouts. 

The solid pitching paid off in the seventh, when Fort Myers took their first lead of the ballgame. Jeferson Morales hit his seventh bomb of the year, driving in himself and Charles Mack to give the Mussels a two-run advantage.

However, that lead got cut in half in the eighth, after a Miguel Hiraldo sacrifice fly scored Dunedin’s third run of the game. Dunedin got two baserunners on in the ninth, but they couldn’t bring them across. Denny Bentley gets credit for the six-out save and the Mussels win 4-3. 

COMPLEX CHRONICLES
FCL Red Sox 5, FCL Twins 5 (Suspended/7)
Box Score

Today’s game between the Twins’ and Red Sox’ Complex League sides was suspended due to lightning with no outs and one man on in the bottom of the seventh inning, with the score tied at five runs apiece. Of note in this one, is that Alerick Soularie made his pro debut for the FCL Twins. So far, he is 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.

The game will be resumed tomorrow, so check back in tomorrow’s report for a full recap!

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day - Chandler Shepherd (St. Paul) 6 IP, 4 H, 0 BB, 3 K
Hitter of the Day - Trey Cabbage (Wichita) 3-for-4, 3 R, 5 RBI, 2 HR (9), SO

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 Twins 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) – 1-for-4 
#6 – Keoni Cavaco (Fort Myers) – 1-for-4, K
#7 – Gilberto Celestino (St. Paul) – 1-for-3
#8 – Josh Winder (St. Paul) – Did not pitch 
#9 – Aaron Sabato (Fort Myers) – Did not play
#10 – Matt Wallner (Cedar Rapids) – 1-for-3, R, RBI, BB
#11 – Blayne Enlow (Cedar Rapids) – Out for Season (Tommy John surgery)
#12 – Bailey Ober (Minnesota) – 5.0 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, BB, 5 K
#13 – Cole Sands (Wichita) – Did not pitch
#14 – Brent Rooker (Minnesota) – 0-for-5, K
#15 – Misael Urbina (Fort Myers) – 0-for-2, R, RBI
#16 – Spencer Steer (Wichita) – 0-for-3, 2 R, K
#17 – Wander Javier (Cedar Rapids) – 1-for-4, K
#18 – Alerick Soularie (Complex) – 0-for-3, BB, K (game suspended)
#19 – Edwar Colina (Rehab) – Injured List (elbow)
#20 – Chris Vallimont (Wichita) – 5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 8 K

SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
Louisville @ St. Paul (7:05PM CST) – RHP Ian Hamilton (2-1, 2.61 ERA)
Midland @ Wichita (7:05PM CST) – RHP Austin Schulfer (3-7, 4.58 ERA)
Quad Cities @ Cedar Rapids (6:35PM CST) – RHP Tyler Beck (2-1, 2.06 ERA)
Dunedin @ Ft. Myers (6:00PM CST) – RHP Miguel Rodriguez (2-2, 3.62 ERA)

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