Twins Minor League Report (7/28): Return of the Mack (to Rochester)

Find out everything that happened in the Twins minor league system on Friday.

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 5, Toledo 1 (10 innings)

Box Score

Buxton popped the leadoff homer and Red Wings starter Tim Melville had a no-hitter through 4.2 innings, but Rochester couldn’t muster any more offense. Melville eventually gave up a run in the seventh, and the game went into extras.

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Buxton led off the 10th with a single, and after Mitch Garver struck out, Matt Hague singled to advance Byron to second. Niko Goodrum struck out, but ByungHo Park delivered the go-ahead hit, a two-run double. The Wings added two more runs, as Daniel Palka tripled and Tommy Field hit a single.

Melville was marvelous, striking out 11 batters over 7.0 innings in this one. He lowered his ERA to 2.44 over his 48 innings with the Red Wings. He was pitching with the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League earlier this year. Mason Melotakis pitched two perfect innings to pick up the W.

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 7, Birmingham 2

Box Score

Jonathan Rodriguez, who has a strong case to be the Southern League MVP this season, had yet another great night. The 27-year-old hit his 15th homer and 24th double of the season on a three-hit night in which he also scored three runs. Rodriguez entered the evening as the league leader in OPS by 21 points. The Twins signed Rodriguez as a minor league free agent over the winter.

Fernando Romero went five innings yet again tonight, but it may not have been due to any kind of limits this time. There was a rain delay in the middle of the fifth, so it was a logical point to call it a night for the 22-year-old Dominican sensation. As we’ve come to expect at this point, Romero was outstanding. He struck out nine batters and surrendered one run on just three hits while issuing one walk.

Gabriel Moya, acquired from Arizona for Joh Ryan Murphy, made his Twins organization debut. He struck out the side in the eighth inning and walked a batter. Nick Anderson pitched a perfect ninth, striking out two.

Nick Gordon hit a double, drew a walk and scored a run. He also made a throwing error, his 21st error of the season. (UPDATE The official scorer has changed that play to a hit, so Gordon is still at 20 errors.) Fun fact: the Southern League record for errors in a season by a shortstop is 56. The player? Former Twins center fielder Otis Nixon in 1981.

Andy Wilkins, Ryan Walker and Levi Michael all had two-hit games. T.J White hit a bases-clearing triple. Catcher Brian Navarreto hit his first career homer at the Double A level.

MIRACLE MATTERS

Fort Myers 2, Lakeland 0

Box Score

Brady Anderson turned in a terrific start, the Fort Myers bullpen dominated and the offense manufactured a pair of runs. Anderson gave up five hits and a walk over 5.2 innings while striking out three batters.

Andrew Vasquez, who has dominated like very few other pitchers in all of minor league baseball this season, struck out four batters over 2.1 innings of one-hit ball. He’s now pitched 23.2 scoreless innings for the Miracle, and has 38 Ks against just four walks. Sam Clay finished things off in the ninth, striking out the side for his eighth save.

Tanner English had a great game out of the leadoff spot. He drew three walks, stole second base twice and scored a run. The Miracle scored their runs on an error on a pickoff throw and a sacrifice fly.

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 6, Peoria 3

Box Score

Shortstop Joe Cronin hit a three-run homer and ended the night 3-for-4 with a double and two runs scored. That led a big offensive night for the Kernels, as Trey Cabbage also had three hits and Caleb Hamilton, Christian Cavaness and Gorge Munoz each had two hits.

Domenick Carlini gave up three runs, one earned, over 5.0 innings. Ryan Madson was the first man out of the bullpen, and threw 3.0 scoreless innings, giving up a couple of hits while tallying three strikeouts. Hector Lujan earned his 10th save with a scoreless ninth inning.

E-TWINS E-NOTES

Elizabethton 5, Princeton 1 (Game 1, 7 innings)

Box Score

Bryan Sammons, the Twins eighth-round pick in this year’s draft, pitched 5.0 shutout innings. He gave up three hits, struck out six and didn’t walk anyone. Sammons, a lefty out of Western Carolina, has now pitched 24.2 innings and has only surrendered four earned runs (1.46 ERA).

Colton Waltner, a 21st rounder in this year’s class, hit his first professional home run and stole a base. Shane Carrier had a pair of hits, boosting his average to .339, and Andrew Bechtold hit a double, drew a walk and scored twice.

Elizabethton 3, Princeton 0 (Game 2, Suspended after 2 innings)

Box Score

The Twins were off to an excellent start in this one, but more rain came through and forced this game to be suspended. Jose Miranda and Carrier both hit homers and Bechtold had a triple. Edwar Colina had thrown two shutout innings with four strikeouts.

GCL TWINS TAKES

GCL Red Sox 12, GCL Twins 7

Box Score

The Twins built a 7-4 lead in this one, but typically rock solid bullpen arms Vadim Balan and Zach Featherstone combined to give up eight runs (five earned) over just 1.2 innings. Alex Robles had the big blast in this one, clubbing a three-run homer. The 22-year-old right fielder had a monster game, going 3-for-5 with four RBI.

Royce Lewis had yet another big game, going 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI and a run. This was his 25th professional game, he’s gotten multiple hits in 12 of them. Petru Balan started for the Twins and gave up three runs on four hits over 3.0 innings.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Tim Melville, Rochester (7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 11 K)

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: Jonathan Rodriguez, Chattanooga (3-for-5, HR, 2B, 3 R, 1 RBI)

SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Rochester at Toledo, 6:05 pm CT, Hector Santiago (6.75 ERA, 1.75 WHIP)

Chattanooga vs. Birmingham, 6:15 pm CT, Felix Jorge (4.01 ERA, 1.43 WHIP)

Fort Myers at Clearwater, 5:15 pm CT, Lewis Thorpe (3.06 ERA, 1.26 WHIP)

Cedar Rapids vs Clinton, 6:35 pm CT, Clark Beeker (2.51 ERA, 1.00 WHIP)

Elizabethton at Princeton, 6:00 pm CT, TBD

GCL Twins at GCL Red Sox, 9:00 am CT, TBD

Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Saturday's games.