Twins Video
TRANSACTIONS
- Minnesota Twins activatedRHP Shaun Anderson from the IL and optioned him to the St. Paul Saints.
- Minnesota Twins optioned RHP Griffin Jax to St. Paul Saints.
- Wichita Wind Surge placed 2B Peter Mooney on the 7-day injured list.
- Twins signed infielder Wilbis Santiago and assigned him to Wichita.
SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 2, Iowa 0
A night after losing a 3-1 contest, the Saints responded with a brilliant outing from Chandler Shepard and some timely hitting, tallying a 2-0 win over the I-Cubs.
The Saints struck first in their second at-bat, thanks to a solo shot by Tomas Telis in the first inning. The blast was his fourth of the year.
After Telis’ shot, both offenses stayed dormant for the majority of the game. Much of that was due to Chandler Shepard’s gem on the mound.
Coming off perhaps his rockiest start of the year, Shepard was lights out all night, pitching five scoreless innings and striking out three. The outing was the second time that Shepard has gone five or more innings this year. The other performance took place on June 4 when the University of Kentucky alum went 5.2 innings in a win against Louisville.
The Saints’ offense was resurrected in the seventh inning. Leading 1-0, the Saints put a runner on with no outs thanks to a Drew Maggi single. That was quickly reversed after Sherwin Johnson rocketed a lineout to SS that resulted in Maggi being doubled off.
With two outs Jimmy Kerrigan punched a single into RF with hopes of providing some insurance for St. Paul.
Insert Daniel Descalso.
The former World Series champion laced a 2-2 pitch to CF, recording a standup double and scoring Kerrigan all the way from first.
And while the insurance helped, The St. Paul bullpen was dominant following Shepard’s exit.
When Shepard came out, the Saints bullpen continued the dominance. Washington State alum and Birthday Boy Ian Hamilton pitched a scoreless sixth inning. Juan Minaya followed suit with a perfect 1.1. Innings. Fan-favorite Derek Law sealed the deal with a perfect 1.2 innings, securing his fourth save of the year.
In addition, RHP Shaun Anderson was reinstated from the 10-day IL following blisters on his pitching hand and was optioned to St. Paul. Anderson has seen time with the Twins this season, posting a 9.35 ERA (8.2 IP, 9 ER) with five walks and eight strikeouts.
WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 8, Springfield 2
The Wind Surge offense touted their offense early on Wednesday night, resulting in an 8-2 win over Springfield.
The Surge started the party in the first inning. With two runners on Caleb Hamilton knocked a double to CF that scored Ernie De La Trinidad and Jermaine Palacios. Hamilton would make his way home thanks to a Roy Morales single.
And while the offense proved lethal in the first, they would add two more runs thanks to a Palacios RBI single in the second and HR in the fifth. Palacios is now batting .304/.405/.905 on the year.
Palacios may have stolen the show at the plate, but the Wichita pitching staff was rock-solid all night. Chris Vallimont was excellent, pitching five innings of one-run ball while striking out seven.. Relievers Jason Garcia, Zach Neff, and Jovani Moran followed suit, allowing only one run in four innings.
Moran was the Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Month. Check out his accomplishments here.
KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 4, South Bend 3
Iowa has always had a magical aura surrounding the sport of baseball. That couldn’t have been more true on Wednesday night, as the Kernels earned a 4-3 win thanks to some ninth-inning heroics.
Down by the score of 2-3 in the ninth, Michael Helman knocked a double to RF that would score Gabriel Maciel and Gabe Snyder.
And while Helman provided the heroics at the plate, Jon Olsen was very effective on the bump following a three-run first inning. Following the first inning, Olsen gave up only three hits and allowed no runs.
That dominance on the bump was continued by the Cedar Rapids bullpen. Jordan Gore pitched a perfect three innings in relief, striking out four. Jonathan Cheshire followed suit with a scoreless ninth inning that put the Kernels in a position to walk off the game in the bottom of the inning.
“The boys did a good job hanging around. Hats to the pitching staff for keeping us in the game all night after giving up three runs in the first inning,” manager Brian Dinkleman said.
The Kernels’ lone run early on came thanks to a Wander Javier HR in the sixth inning. The shot was Javier’s sixth of the year.
The game-changing night inning was started by a single courtesy of Seth Gray. Two batters later Trey Cabbage drew a four-pitch walk, moving Gray to second. Snyder followed suit with a single that advanced the runners, creating a bases-loaded scenario for the Kernels.
“Being a two-run game, you just need one guy to get things going,” Dinkleman said. “Seth (Gray) did that with the leadoff hit and next thing you know we’ve got the winning run on base.”
With the winning run on base, Alex Isola drew a six-pitch walk, scoring Gray and drawing the deficit to 2-3. The next hitter was Michael Helman, who punched his game-winning hit, scoring two runs.
And while the situation was perhaps filled with more pressure than his previous at-bats, Helman kept the same locked-in approach at the plate that he always has.
“Sometimes things don’t go your way early and that can be tough on you mentality,” Helman said. “But I’ve just been sticking to my approach, I got a good count and I did something with it.”
MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers vs Lakeland: POSTPONED
Wednesday evening’s matchup between the Mussels and Flying Tigers was postponed due to inclement weather in the Ft. Meyers area. The game will be made up following tomorrow’s game against Lakeland at 3:30 pm CST. Both games in the doubleheader will be seven innings.
Florida is known for its occasional inclement weather. It’s also known for Jimmy Buffett music. Here’s a live performance of Margaritaville from 1978 to brighten your day.
TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day- Chandler Shepard (St. Paul) - 5 IP, 5 H, 0R, 3K
Hitter of the Day- Jermaine Palacios (Wichita)- 4-for-5, 3 R, 3 RBI, 4 H
PROSPECT SUMMARY
Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed:
#1 - Alex Kirilloff (St. Paul) – 1-for-4, RBI
#2 - Royce Lewis (Rehab) - Out for Season (torn ACL)
#3 - Trevor Larnach (Minnesota) – 0-for-2
#4 - Ryan Jeffers (Minnesota) – Game in Play
#5 - Jhoan Duran (St. Paul) – Did not pitch
#6 - Jordan Balazovic (Wichita) – Injured List (back)
#7 - Keoni Cavaco (Ft. Myers) – Game Postponed
#8 - Aaron Sabato (Ft. Myers) – Game Postponed
#9 - Matt Canterino (Cedar Rapids) – Did not pitch
#10 - Blayne Enlow (Cedar Rapids) – Did not pitch
#11 - Gilberto Celestino (Minnesota) – 0-for-3, BB, K
#12 - Brent Rooker (St. Paul) – 1-for-4, K
#13 - Matt Wallner (Cedar Rapids) – Injured List (Wrist)
#14 - Misael Urbina (Fort Myers) – Game Postponed
#15 - Cole Sands (Wichita) – Did not Pitch
#16 - Edwar Colina (Rehab) - 60-Day IL (elbow)
#17 - Ben Rortvedt (Minnesota) – Did not play
#18 - Alerick Soularie (Complex) – N/A
#19 - Jose Miranda (Wichita) – 1-for-4, 2 R, BB, K
#20 - Bailey Ober (Minnesota) – Did not pitch
FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
Iowa @ St. Paul (7:05PM CST) – RHP Rob Whalen (0-2, 3.46 ERA)
Springfield @ Wichita (7:05PM CST) – RHP Austin Shulfer (1-3, 5.28 ERA)
South Bend @ Cedar Rapids (6:35PM CST) – RHP Andrew Cabezas (2-1, 3.00 ERA)
Lakeland at Ft. Myers (Game 1: 3:30PM CST) – RHP Sean Mooney (0-1, 0.57 ERA)
(Game 2: Following Completion of Game 1) Miguel Rodriguez (1-1, 1.50 ERA)
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