Twins Minor League Report (7/6): Blowout Blasts and Extra Inning Drama

To find out who hit all those home runs and how the rest of your favorite Twins prospects competed on Tuesday night, keep reading!

TRANSACTIONS

The only transactions in the system on Tuesday were at the lower levels and consisted of:

• 3B Wander Valdez being assigned to the FCL Twins.
• SS Jesus Feliz being assigned to Fort Myers in a corresponding move.
• Then SS Keoni Cavaco was activated from the injured list and returned to action for the Mighty Mussels.
• Finally, Wichita infielder Peter Mooney decided to hang up the spikes and retire from baseball. 

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 11, Iowa 1
Box Score

The Saints blew this game open with a big sixth inning where they were handed a few extra outs. But Mark Contreras and Jimmy Kerrigan also hit back-to-back home runs in the inning to get it started. Contreras’ was a two-run shot after Willians Astudillo led off the inning with a single.

The offense also added single runs in the third courtesy of a Keon Broxton homer (his third in his last four games) and in the fifth on an RBI single from JT Riddle. They tacked on three more in the eighth when Brent Rooker clubbed a two-RBI single off the top of the wall and Astudillo followed with an RBI groundout to make it 11-0.

St. Paul also got a fantastic start from lefty Andrew Albers. He went six innings and scattered six hits and one walk. He allowed zero runs and struck out six. Ian Gibaut pitched a scoreless seventh, working around a couple of two-out baserunners. He allowed a hit, walk, and struck out two. Robinson Leyer pitched allowed a hit and walk in a scoreless eighth, striking out two. Joe Harvey finished the game for the Saints, allowing one run on a hit and three walks. He also struck out two.

Drew Maggi (2-for-6, R, 2 RBI, K), Astudillo (2-for-5, R, RBI), and Contreras (2-for-4, 2 R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, BB, K) each had multiple hits. The lineup got RBIs from seven of the hitters in their lineup on the game.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
NW Arkansas 10, Wichita 9 (10 innings)
Box Score

This one got interesting in the late innings as the Wind Surge and Naturals went back and forth with big hits to push this one to extra innings.

Spencer Steer led off the game with his fourth home run for Cedar Rapids and 14th on the season. This made the score 3-1 and it would remain that way until the sixth.

Wichita starter Bryan Sammons got roughed up for three runs in the first inning, but settled in well after that to finish five total frames without allowing any more. He surrendered three hits, walked two, and struck out two. NW Arkansas extended their lead to 5-1 in the top of the sixth against reliever Jhonleider Salinas who allowed three hits including two doubles.

The Wind Surge closed the gap to 5-4 in the bottom half of the sixth as Trey Cabbage clobbered a three-run home run, then in the seventh Andrew Bechtold tied the game at five with a solo home run of his own.

Onto the seventh reliever Calvin Faucher came on and worked around a walk to deliver a scoreless inning, but walked the first three batters of the eighth before Zach Neff was summoned to clean up the mess. A very tough assignment, but Neff had been nails in those situations so far on the season.

Of course, I am alluding to the fact that streak did not continue. All three inherited runners came in to score and were charged to Faucher before Neff got out of the inning with Wichita now down 8-5. In the ninth Neff delivered a one-two-three inning and in between big blasts from the offense closed the gap for Wichita.

It was Aaron Whitefield in the eighth who delivered a two-run home run after making an incredible catch in center field the prior half of the inning. Then in the ninth, Bechtold came through with his second home run of the game to tie it and send it to extras.

With the extra runner starting on second base, Neff was back out for the tenth, but left a pitch up to the leadoff man and he cashed it in with a two-run homer that made it 10-8. He would retire the next three hitters and pitched a total of three innings, being charged with two runs (one earned) on one hit while striking out three.

The Wind Surge were able to get the extra runner across in the bottom half of the inning thanks to a single from Roy Morales, but with Bechtold in the box looking to have an epic night, he went down looking on a pitch he knew he misjudged.

Wichita outhit the Naturals 14-7 and had five home runs on the game, but could not get the luck to fall their way in the end. In addition to all those homers, Jermaine Palacios also finished 4-5 and scored two runs.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Peoria 2, Cedar Rapids 10
Box Score

Cedar Rapids starter Ben Gross was solid in this one, finishing five innings to be in line for his third win of the season. He allowed two runs on three hits and two walks, while striking out two. He threw 70 pitches, with 50 of them going for strikes (71.4%).

He finished his night in line for the win due to some big hits from his offense. Alex Isola crushed a three-run home run in the second and Jair Camargo followed with a three-run blast of his own in the fifth that made it 7-2.

The Kernels offense padded the lead further in the sixth when Seth Gray drove in two with a single and Camargo another with a double to make it 10-2. That is where this one would end with Cedar Rapids outhitting Peoria 10-4 on the game. Isola (3-for-5, 2 R, 2B, HR, 3 RBI), Gray (3-for-4, R, 2 RBI, BB, SB), and Camargo (2-for-4, R, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, 2 K) did the bulk of the damage.

On the relief pitching front, Ryan Shreve was called upon to pitch the middle innings and delivered a one-two-three inning in the sixth and scoreless seventh. He allowed one hit and struck out one. Owen Griffith finished the game with two perfect innings, striking out three in the process.

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 6, St. Lucie 8
Box Score

The Mighty Mussels and Mets traded blows in the early innings, with Fort Myers’ Will Holland answering St. Lucie’s run in the first with a solo home run in the top of the second. In the third inning the Mighty Mussels scored on a double steal and two-run home run off the bat of Yunior Severino accounting to give themselves a 4-1 lead. Then in the fourth, starter Denny Bentley was replaced with Bradley Hanner after allowing two batters to reach base. He walked all three hitters he faced, score two runs and leaving him responsible for the loaded bases. Juan Pichardo came on and walked another batter tying the game at four, but was able to coax a double play out of the next hitter to end the threat.

In total Bentley pitched 3 1/3 innings allowing three runs on two hits and four walks along with striking out five. Pichardo pitched two total innings, running into trouble in the sixth. He was charged with four runs on three hits and three walks while striking out two.

Carlos Suniaga came on in the middle of the sixth and got two quick outs to end any further threat with St. Lucie now leading Fort Myers 8-4. He would finish the game with 2 2/3 innings, allowing no runs on two hits while striking out four.

Fort Myers closed the game to 8-6 in the eight on a single from Misael Urbina that scored two but were unable to push any more across in the ninth.

Holland (2-for-5, 2 R, 2B, HR, RBI, K), Yunior Severino (2-for-4, R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, BB, K), and Willie Joe Garry Jr. (2-for-3, R, BB, K, 4 SB) all had multiple hits. Garry Jr. stole home as part of the double steal in the third for the Mighty Mussels. Keoni Cavaco went 1-for-4 with a run scored, walk, and three strikeouts in his return to action.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Pitcher of the Day – Andrew Albers, St. Paul Saints (W, 6 IP, 6 H, 0 R, BB, 6 K)
Hitter of the Day – Jair Camargo, Cedar Rapids Kernels (2-for-4, R, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, 2 K)

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

WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

St. Paul @ Iowa (6:38 PM CST) – RHP Josh Winder (4-0, 1.94 ERA)
NW Arkansas @ Wichita (7:05PM CST) – RHP Chris Vallimont (2-3, 3.63 ERA)
Peoria @ Cedar Rapids (6:35PM CST) – RHP Cody Laweryson (0-1, 5.40 ERA)
Fort Myers @ St. Lucie (11:10AM CST) – LHP Brent Headrick (3-3, 2.81 ERA)

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