Thursday Night Lights

The Twins lost another "offensive" game to Curtis Granderson and the Yankees on Thursday night by a score of 8-7. The close loss was something that all four of the Twins minor league affiliates suffered as well on Thursday as the organization went 0-5 on the day. But worry not, there were still plenty of positives to talk about.

Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from Wednesday, and for much more on the players on each team, specifically who’s hot and who’s not for each team, be sure to listen to last night’s Twins Minor League Weekly podcast.

ROCHESTER 3, EMPIRE STATE 5

The Red Wings took a tough loss to split the series on the road (but at home) against the team formerly known as Scranton/Wilkes Barre. Sam Deduno was good early, but that is hidden in his pitching line. In five innings, he gave up four runs (3 earned) on five hits and two walks. He struck out six. Esmerling Vasquez gave up one run on two hits and three walks in three innings.

Brian Dozier hit his sixth double. Darin Mastroianni went 2-4. Ben Revere was 2-5. Michael Hollimon was 2-4 with a triple and his second home run. The homer was the first by a Red Wings player since Friday, when Hollimon homered. It had been 58 innings in between.

The Red Wings fall to 7-8.

NEW BRITAIN 5, NEW HAMPSHIRE 6

Logan Darnell came into the game 2-0 with a 0.90 ERA. The lefty gave up four runs on eight hits in six innings. He walked three and struck out five. He didn’t help himself by committing two errors. Bret Jacobson gave up a run on two hits and walk in two innings. Lester Oliveros gave up a run in the ninth to take the loss.

Aaron Hicks went 1-3 with two walks. Estarlin de Los Santos was 2-5. Evan Bigley went 2-4 with a walk and his second triple. Chris Colabello went 2-4 with a walk.

The Rock Cats fall to 10-5.

FT. MYERS MIRACLE 1, BRADENTON 2 (10 innings)

It was the rematch of last week’s BJ Hermsen/Jameson Taillon matchup and both were on their games. Hermsen gave up one run on five hits and a walk in seven innings. He struck out six. Edgar Ibarra dropped his ERA to 0.90 with two perfect innings. Bruce Pugh gave up a run on a hit and a walk in the tenth to take the loss.

The Miracle have really been struggling with the bats of late. Dan Rohlfing, however, was 3-4 in this game and is 9 of his last 19. Jairo Perez, Lance Ray and Anderson Hidalgo each had a double in this game.

The Miracle drop to 6-7.

BELOIT 10, SOUTH BEND 12

This was a crazy game, but it got off to a fun start as Miguel Sano hit his sixth home run in the first frame. Tim Shibuya was terrific through three innings. However, his fourth inning began with an error on Miguel Sano. The next ball was a grounder to second base that Eddie Rosario fielded and threw to the base, but Tyler Grimes dropped the ball. Eight runs later, the inning finished.

However, the Miracle came back with three in the 5^th inning and six runs in the 6^th inning to reclaim the lead. However, South Bend tied it up in the eighth and then grabbed two more runs in the ninth to take the 12-10 win.

Shibuya gave up eight runs (2 earned) on seven hits in 3.1 innings. He walked none and struck out two. Michael Tonkin gave up one run on five hits in 1.2 innings. He struck out two. Bart Carter gave up one run on two hits in two innings, while striking out two. Corey Williams gave up two runs on two hits and a walk in one inning.

There was plenty of offense! Adam Bryant went 2-4 for the second straight day during which time he raised his batting average from .250 to .300. Eddie Rosario and Matthew Koch were each 2-5. AJ Pettersen went 2-3 with a walk and a sacrifice bunt. Miguel Sano was 2-4 with a walk and his sixth home run. It was his third home run in his last five games. Danny Ortiz went 3-5.

The Snappers fall to 7-7.

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Players of the Day for Thursday, April 19, 2012

Hitter of the Day – Dan Rohlfing

Pitcher of the Day – B J Hermsen

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A Look Ahead – Friday, April 20, 2012 Schedule

Rochester vs. Lehigh Valley – RHP PJ Walters

New Britain vs New Hampshire – LHP Luke French

Ft. Myers @ Bradenton – RHP Adrian Salcedo (rematch versus Gerrit Cole)

Beloit @ South Bend – LHP Jason Wheeler

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If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, players, teams, etc., leave them in the Comments and I’ll try to answer them!