Twins Minor League Report (6/29): Goncalves, Pitchers en Fuego

Merry Gibsmas! Kyle Gibson made his Major League debut this afternoon in front of a nearly-packed house. If you're waiting to get home to watch Gibson's start on DVR, I won't ruin it for you.

ROCHESTER RED WINGS 0, SYRACUSE CHIEFS 1

Box Score

Offensively, the Red Wings just didn't get it done. Doug Bernier and Jeff Clement both doubled and, throw in a Bernier single, that's all the hits they accounted for today.

Aaron Hicks struck out twice in an 0-for-4 day. He played all nine innings and will soon be activated from the disabled list. Where will he go then? It's being discussed in this thread.

As you'd expect in any game where a team only scored one run, the pitching was very good.

Pedro Hernandez pitched a complete game for the Wings. In eight innings of work, Pedro allowed only five hits and two walks. He struck out three and gave up the only run in the game. His 96-pitch effort still is labeled with a "loss", but it definitely wasn't Hernandez who lost this game.

It will be interesting to see what plays out with the Red Wings and Twins pitching staffs. Hernandez has been a fully-capable fill-in and has pitched well even though he's been flipping between a bullpen and starting role. By no means is Hernandez a long-term answer in the rotation, but he's definitely a guy that should be able to be counted on as a LOOGY or as a long-lefty out of the bullpen.

Liam Hendriks starts at Syracuse at 4pm tomorrow afternoon.

NEW BRITAIN ROCK CATS 5, READING FIGHTIN PHILS 0

Box Score

There were no Miguel Sano fireworks tonight. Though there was a double off Philly's Jesse Biddle. Sano struck out twice too.

Baseball Prospectus' Jason Parks was in attendance all weekend. He tweeted numerous times about Sano. Most tweets included either #rig or #want, two of Parks' "catch-tags".

In a nutshell, Parks loves Sano's power. He loves his arm. He thinks he's a good overall hitter. He thinks he's fast for a big man. And he was very impressed with Sano's defense at 3B. After hearing his perspective, Sano will stick at 3B without a doubt. (That's "flashing all five tools at times in games" if you're scoring at home.)

Parks earlier this week called Buxton the top prospect in the game. I guess the Twins view top prospects in the same way Taylor Swift does. #want

Nate Hanson, Josmil Pinto, Kyle Knudson and Angel Morales all had two-hit games. Pinto drove in three runs. Eddie Rosario got the night off and A.J. Pettersen filled in a shortstop, walking twice and getting a hit.

The story of the night, however, was the pitching performance of Pat Dean. Before tonight, Dean was 3-8 and somewhere in the realm of "lousy" on the season. Tonight, he was the exact opposite. He struck out five in a complete-game, five-hit, two-walk shutout. He did it in exactly 100 pitches. Dean is a lefty - and breathing - so he'll be given every opportunity, but it's refreshing for him to throw a gem tonight.

Matt Summers will make his second start for the Rock Cats tomorrow afternoon at 12:35 pm.

FORT MYERS MIRACLE 12, ST. LUCIE METS 2

Box Scores

Jhon Goncalves had a pretty memorial game for the Miracle today. He was 4-for-4 with three doubles, five RBI and two runs scored. He reached base by walk in his other plate appearance and also stole a base. (Maybe he wasn't ready to just hand over center field to some 19-year-old punk...?)

Goncalves scores a run against St. Lucie in 2010.

Speaking of, Byron Buxton singled twice to raise his average to .222. He struck out once but drove in and scored a run.

Aderlin Mejia, Matt Koch, Stephen Wickens and Levi Michael all had two-hit games too.

Keeping in line with pitching gems today, Matt Tomshaw pitched eight innings. He allowed two runs (one earned) on seven hits and two walks. He struck out three. Nelvin Fuentes struck out the side in the ninth.

CEDER RAPIDS KERNELS 2, PEORIA CHIEFS 1 (10 innings)

Box Score

Brett Lee got a no-decision, but might have had the best start in the system today. He went eight innings and struck out nine. He didn't walk a batter, but allowed four hits. The lone run allowed was unearned, the result of an error by Jorge Polanco.

Caleb Brewster pitched two innings and got the win, striking out and walking three.

ABW2, who has cooled off since a great first month, was good today going 2-for-3 with a double, two runs and two walks. Max Kepler doubled in a run.

The Kernels won, in extra innings, after Adam Walker singled and stole second. Kepler walked to make it first and second. Tyler Grimes sacrificed the runners over. Michael Quesada came up and a pitching change was made. The new pitcher, Zach Russell, came in and promptly threw a wild pitch. Game over. Kernels improve to 100-0 in the 2nd half of the season. (Ok, sorry... it's 9-0.)

Tim Atherton will make his first start of the year tomorrow at 2:05 pm. Mike Pelfrey will be pitching for the Kernels on Monday. Yahtzee!

ELIZABETHTON TWINS 4, KINGSPORT METS 5

Box Score

E-town dropped their second game of the year (8-2) after scoring the game's first runs (4) in the top of the 8th.

Kelvin Ortiz doubled in two runs and Bryan Haar came up a home-run short of the cycle. Zach Granite stole two bases.

Hein Robb struck out four in three innings. Carson Goldsmith followed that up with two strikeouts in a inning.

Andre Martinez allowed two runs in the eighth. Dallas Gallant cleaned up that mess, stranding both of Martinez's guys. However, Gallant got himself into his own mess in the ninth, which Luis Nunez couldn't get out of. With two outs in the ninth, Nunez allowed a walk-off hit.

E-town will try to get back in the left-hand column tomorrow at 5 pm.

GCL TWINS 3, GCL RED SOX 4

Box Score

Another good start wasted. Kyle Davis, rehabbing from a shoulder injury, pitched five innings of shutout baseball. He struck out seven.

Fernando Romero blew the save giving up three runs (two earned) in two innings.

Markus Solbach gets handed the loss. The winning run scored on an error by the shortstop. Solbach didn't do himself any favors by balking and walking a batter after allowing the winning run to reach base with a single.

Zach Larson (double), Lance Ray and Jorge Fernandez (two doubles) all had two-hit games. Amaurys Minier was 1-for-3 with an RBI (and no strikeouts).

The GCL will rest on the Seventh Day.

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