Twins Minor-League Report (7/22): Big Innings Lead To Wins

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 4, Gwinnett 2

Box Score

Despite finding themselves in an early hole, the Red Wings used a big fifth inning and added an insurance run later to cruise to victory.

Pat Dean scattered eight hits and two walks over seven innings. He allowed two runs in picking up his seventh win of the season. He struck out one before turning the ball over to Michael Tonkin, who earned a two-inning save. He walked one, gave up two hits and struck out two.

Tonkin hasn’t allowed an earned run in AAA since June 28th (eight appearances) and has seen his ERA drop to 1.30. His 37:5 K:BB ratio in 27.2 innings is equally impressive. Unfortunately, Tonkin has not done much to impress during his three brief cameos with the Twins in 2015.

Chris Herrmann started getting back on track with the bat on Tuesday when he had two hits, his first hits in a week. On Wednesday, Herrmann had two more hits and an RBI. Eric Farris added a double, but in a five-hit game for the Wings, there wasn’t much offense to speak of.

The three-run fifth started with a Danny Ortiz walk. He advanced to second on one of Herrmann’s singles. Farris followed that with a double to score Ortiz. Doug Bernier plated Herrmann on a sac fly and Argenis Diaz singled Farris in to close the scoring.

The following inning James Beresford scored after singling and advancing on a error, eventually coming around on Herrmann’s second hit.

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 8, Tennessee 7

Box Score

There wasn’t a lot of pretty to talk to about this game. Except for one inning. One really big inning.

Trailing 7-1 in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Lookouts exploded for seven runs. Aderling Mejia coaxed a one-out walk and advanced to second on a Shannon Wilkerson single. Levi Michael walked to load the bases and Heiker Meneses was hit by a pitch to score the team’s second run. Max Kepler followed with a bases clearing double and the game was 7-5. Kepler scored on Kennys Vargas’s single and two more runs scored on Adam Brett Walker’s 26th home run.

Wilkerson’s three hits paced the team and he also stole his first base with the team. In addition to his hit-by-pitch, Meneses also had two singles. Walker had two hits. Michael added a double.

Brett Lee got a no-decision after pitching five innings and giving up six runs (two earned) on six hits and a walk. He struck out three.

Matt Summers was credited with the win. He struck out four and allowed three hits and two walk (which only led to one run) in 2.2 innings. Alex Muren got his third save, striking out one and retiring four, total.

MIRACLE MATTERS

Ft. Myers 2, Tampa 6

Box Score

The Miracle pitching staff got a much-needed long start after last night’s extra-inning game. Ryan Eades threw 97 pitches in six innings, giving up six runs on nine hits and three walks. He struck out three and got the loss.

Trevor Hildenberger made his High-A debut. He allowed two hits in two innings, striking out two. Combined, he’s allowed four earned runs in 47 innings (0.76 ERA). He has 61 strikeouts (11.7 K/9) and allowed 26 hits and 5 walks (0.66 WHIP). Video game numbers.

The offense was led by two-hit nights from Engelb Vielma, who doubled, and Chad Christensen. Ryan Walker had the team’s only RBI with a hit and a walk, and Logan Wade also added a hit and walk. Jason Kanzler tripled. Walker (4) and Christensen (18) each stole a base.

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 5, Wisconsin 4

Box Score

The Kernels used a five-run third inning and hung on by a narrow margin to improve to 56-41 overall and 15-12 in the second half.

Sean Miller led off the third inning with a single. Tanner English backed that up with a single of his own. After a Nick Gordon walk, Edgar Corcino cleared the bases with a triple to center field. Later that inning Tyler Kuresa singled in Corcino and advanced to third on a Pat Kelly double. Alex Real drove in Kuresa with an RBI groundout.

Corcino and Miller led the offense with two hits each. Miller also stole his first base as a pro.

Ethan Mildren picked up the win with 5.1 innings pitched. He allowed three runs on five hits and three walks. He struck out three.

Yorman Landa cleaned up the sixth inning mess and completed two more innings, striking out two and walking one.

The ninth got a little messy for Cameron Booser. Booser didn’t allow any hits, but two walks and two wild pitches scored a run and had the tying run on third base. Booser coaxed a pop out and then got his second strikeout of the inning to preserve the win. It was his ninth save of the year.

E-TOWN E-NOTES

Elizabethton 0, Princeton 3

Box Score

E-town out-hit Princeton, but Princeton did more with their seven hits than the E-Twins did with their eight.

E-town failed to a score a single run despite eight hits. Chris Paul and A.J. Murray each had two hits. The team was 0-for-1 with runners in scoring position.

Miles Nordgren took the loss despite pitching well. He lasted 6.2 innings allowing three runs (one earned) on six hits. He struck out three. Logan Lombana pitched 2.1 shutout innings. He allowed one hit and one walk.

GCL TWINS TAKES

GCL Twins 0, GCL Orioles 12

Box Score

It was two-and-a-half hours of not pretty for the GCL Twins on Wednesday afternoon.

The notables:

Offensively, the team mustered four hits. Two of those hits were singles off the bat of Jermaine Palacios. Palacios is in the midst of a 12-game hitting streak. He’s had multiple hits in ten of those games and is currently hitting .434.

Lewin Diaz doubled and walked. Rowan Ebersohn got a hit in his only at-bat as a late-inning replacement.

John Curtiss pitched two innings in a rehab appearance. He gave up one run on three hits and a walk. Five other pitchers made appearances today. It’s not pretty, so please be cautious while viewing.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Yorman Landa, Cedar Rapids

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Max Kepler, Chattanooga

THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Rochester vs Gwinnett (10:05 CST) – RHP Jose Berrios

Chattanooga vs Tennessee (6:15 CST) – RHP D.J. Baxendale

Ft. Myers at Tampa (6:00 CST) – LHP Mat Batts

Cedar Rapids vs Wisconsin (6:35 CST) – RHP Zach Tillery

Elizabethton vs Princeton (6:00 CST) - RHP Andro Cutura

GCL Twins at GCL Orioles (11:00 CST) - TBD

Feel free to leave any questions or comments below!