Twins Minor League Report (6/27): Moves Making Waves on the Farm

As noted above, while affiliates have yet to make anything official, two huge moves took place on the lower rungs of the system today.

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With Polanco moving up to Triple-A Rochester, the door is now wide open for Royce Lewis to join Graterol and Kirilloff at High-A Fort Myers.

Transactions:

Chattanooga Lookouts

OF James Ramsey released

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester @ Syracuse PPD

MIRACLE MATTERS

Fort Myers 8, Tampa 5

Box Score

Clark Beeker toed the rubber in this one for the Miracle, and he found himself with a 2-0 deficit through two innings of work. His lineup would have his back however, as a five spot made its way onto the board in the third, and the Miracle were off and running.

After Luis Arraez, hitting machine, singled to drive in Ben Rortvedt, Mark Contreras decided to contribute. His 4th homer of the year with the Miracle was a grand slam, and the good guys had a three run lead, up 5-2.

The balls weren't done leaving the park for the Miracle however. Caleb Hamilton hit his second of the year, a two run shot. As Tampa drew closer, making it 7-5 through six innings, Fort Myers first basemen Lewis Diaz provided more cushion. His solo blast, 5th of the year, increased the lead back up to three. Ryan Mason would come on, and the 8-5 tally would stand. Picking up his 3rd save of the year, Fort Myers was able to even up the series.

Miguel Sano played in this one, making it his first back-to-back with the Miracle. He was 1-5 with 3 strikeouts and is batting .250 since his demotion back to Single-A. Fort Myers will have an opportunity to take the series tomorrow as they conclude the three game set.

KERNELS NUGGETS

Beloit 4, Cedar Rapids 3 (11 innings)

Box Score

Randy Dobnak got the nod in this one for the Kernels, and he nearly took it the distance. Going seven innings allowing just three runs on six hits, Cedar Raopids was in position to walk this one off in the 9th.

Jacob Pearson opened the scoring in this one early the first time the Kernels came to the plate. With Akil Kaddoo on third following a leadoff triple, Pearson’s ground out would drive in the first run. Jean Carlos Arias would then tack on another with a single that would allow Jose Miranda to cross the plate.

The Snappers would bite Dobnak in the top half of the second, getting one run back. Then again in the 3rd, the visitors would strike for two more on a Hunter Hargrove home run. Following up their first inning contributions, Arias would walk with the bases loaded allowing Pearson to score.

Extras would be in store as neither side could jump ahead late. The first scoring chance would come for the Kernels in the bottom of the 10th. With the bases loaded and one out, Ben Rodriguez would ground into an inning ending double play. The two sides would play on.

After working three innings of relief work, Jovani Moran would turn the ball over to Calvin Faucher. In the 11th, the Snappers would bring around their runner from second base and then go on to load the bases. Faucher would end the inning with just the one run crossing the plate. Cedar Rapids sent Trey Cabbage, Jordan Gore, and Akil Baddoo to the dish in the final frame, but they couldn’t push the necessary tally across.

The Kernels will now head out on the road for a four game set with Burlington.

GCL TWINS TAKES

GCL Rays 6, GCL Twins 5

Box Score

This one saw the GCL Twins get behind early, but squander some opportunities to draw even, and eventually come up just one run short. With Kai-Wai Teng on the bump, the GCL club put up a run of support in both the first and second innings. Giving up a five spot in the home half of the inning though, the Rays made the lead stick.

In the first, it was Victor Tademo doing the damage for the good guys. A single to left field would drive in Yeltsin Encarnacion. The second inning started with a Rays error that would allow Estamy Urena to reach base. Austin Hale would elevate a pitch, and his sac fly to left would bring Urena across the plate.

With a two run lead, Teng would run into trouble during the bottom of the 2nd. After a balk and a handful of base hits, the Rays would jump out to a 5-2 lead. The Twins would do their best to come back however, answering with two runs in the top of the third. Alberoni Nunez would double in both Tyler Webb and Kidany Silva cutting the deficit to one.

After another Rays run would score in the 5th, Willie Joe Garry would come around to score after his first professional base hit (a double). Hale would pick up his second RBI on the afternoon, this time on a single.

The GCL Twins will look to exact revenge as the two teams match up again tomorrow. This time, the Twins will be the home team as they host the traveling Rays in Fort Myers.

STARS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Pitcher of the Day – Randy Dobnak, 7.0 IP 6 H 3 R 3 ER 3 BB 4 K

Twins Daily Hitter of the Day – Luis Arraez, 4-5, R, RBI

TOP PROSPECT SUMMARY

5. Alex Kirilloff (Fort Myers) – 0-5

10. Akil Baddoo (Cedar Rapids) – 1-6, R, K

13. Lewin Diaz (Fort Myers) – 1-4, R, RBI, HR(5)

16. Ben Rortvedt (Fort Myers) – 0-3, R, BB, K

17. Travis Blankenhorn (Fort Myers) – 1-4, 2B, K

THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Rochester @ Syracuse (4:05PM CST) – RHP Fernando Romero (0-1, 2.57 ERA)/TBD

Chattanooga @ Tennessee (6:00PM CST) – TBD

Fort Myers @ Tampa (5:30PM CST) – LHP Charlie Barnes (2-5, 3.45 ERA)

Cedar Rapids @ Burlington (6:30PM CST) – RHP Bailey Ober (3-1, 5.16 ERA)

Elizabethton @ Danville (6:00PM CST) – TBD

GCL Twins vs GCL Rays (11:00AM CST) - TBD

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