Twins Minor League Report (7/3): Alex Meyer Bounces Back

The Twins took an early lead against the Yankees and Masahiro Tanaka but could not hold as the Yankees came storming back in the fifth inning with a couple of home runs against Phil Hughes. The Twins tried making a game of it, but the Yankees ran the score up to 7-4 and the Twins did not have enough firepower to hang in.

Lots of tight games down in the Minor League system, as every full season affiliate played a one- or two-run game. Let's get to it.

Red Wings Report

Rochester 2, Pawtucket 1

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With Alex Meyer picking up the victory, the Red Wings have now won five straight games, their longest streak since mid-May. Alex Meyer went six innings and gave up just three hits, and a single earned run. He struck out seven but also walked four. After a couple of poor outings, Meyer put himself back on track for a mid/late-season call-up. Ryan Pressly, the 2013 Rule Five draft pick, closed out the game with three scoreless innings; he struck out one and allowed only a single hit.

The Red Wings suffered a power outage from the top of their lineup, as their 1-6 hitters finished the game 0-20, with three walks. Pedro Florimon was the only hitter with multiple hits, 2-4 with two doubles and a run scored. Chris Rahl and Dan Rohlfing each had an RBI at the bottom of the line up in the eight- and nine-hole, respectively.

Rock Cats Review

New Britain 4, Binghamton 6

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The Rock Cats and the Mets were scheduled to play two seven inning games on Thursday night, but the first game went into extra frames (9 innings), the weather did not cooperate and the second game was rained out. That game will be made up in late August.

Tyler Duffey was on the hill for New Britain and did not have his best stuff. He walked three, gave up three home runs, surrendered nine hits and was tagged with four runs. Duffey left the game with a no-decision thanks to a strong output from the Rock Cats hitters. Daniel Turpen pitched an inning an a third before yielding to Ryan O'Rourke who came in and walked the only hitter he faced. Cole Johnson came in to replace O'Rourke and shut down the Mets in the eighth. Johnson was back out in the ninth and was tagged with the loss after a two-run home run from Kyle Johnson.

Aaron Hicks was 2-4 with a home run and two RBIs, but he also had two strike outs. The Twins' Opening Day center fielder is hitting .245/.377/.408 in 15 AA games. Eddie Rosario was 1-4 and Kennys Vargas was hitless in four plate appearances.

Miracle Matters

Fort Myers 7, Bradenton 6

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Jose Berrios was named the Florida State League Player of the Month for June, announced Thursday by League President Chuck Murphy. Berrios was 4-1 over six starts. He pitched 41 innings, gave up only seven earned runs and posted a 1.54 ERA. He had 53 strike outs and the FLS hit just .168 against him. He takes the hill for the Miracle on Friday.

Matt Tomshaw gave up 10 hits and five runs (all earned) in five and two-thirds innings but still picked up the win courtesy of seven runs off the bats of the Miracle hitters. Tomshaw was followed by Brandon Peterson and Mason Melotakis, who both earned holds, and then Tyler Jones struck out the side in the ninth to pick up his tenth save of the year.

Lance Ray was the only Miracle hitter without a hit last night (0-4). Jorge Polanco was 2-5, still sharp following a brief MLB stint. Max Kepler and Nike Goodrum both had two hits of their own. Adam Brett Walker II hit another home run and now has 17 on the year.

Kernels Nuggets

Cedar Raids 3, Wisconsin 5

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Ryan Eades continues a mostly disappointing season with another loss, his eighth (to go with five wins), and his ERA is now 6.37. For a second round draft pick from a year ago and a college guy coming out of a strong LSU program, expectations were fairly high for Eades going into this year. Eades has struggled with his control, he has 32 walks in 70.2 innings, and opponents are hitting .321 against him. Another second rounder, 2014's Nick Burdi, came in in the sixth for his second appearance as a professional. Last Sunday Burdi made his MiLB debut and walked all four hitters he faced, gave up a wild pitch, and was charged with four earned runs. On Thursday night he was much better, he gave up a hit and a walk, but he struck out three and had that high-90s fastball under control. Brandon Bixler and Todd Van Steensel both pitched a scoreless inning of relief to finish the game for Cedar Rapids.

Ryan Walker was 3-4 with an RBI and a run score out of the ninth spot in the lineup to pace the Kernels. Chad Christensen was 0-4 with one of the other RBIs and J.D. Williams picked up the only other RBI and was 1-3 with a double and a run scored. The rest of the Cedar Rapids team was pretty quiet, thanks to 10 strike outs from the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers staff.

E-Town E-Notes

Elizabethron 0, Bluefield 2

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Sam Gibbons pitched six innings, giving up only a two-run home run, and struck out eleven batters, but was still tagged with the loss. Derrick Penilla struck out four in two innings and Dereck Rodriguez finished the game with a scoreless ninth.

Nick Gordon was 1-3 with a walk and a strike out and Trey Vavra was 2-3 with a walk but the E-Town Twins could not string their hits together and were shut out.

GCL Twins Takes

GCL Twins 1, GCL Rays 2

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Brandon Easton pitched five innings and gave up just one unearned run and struck out five. Zach Tillery pitched two scoreless innings before turning things over to Eduardo Del Rosario. It was a 1-1 game in the ninth when Del Rosario gave up a couple of doubles to put men on second and third, and then loaded the bases with an intentional walk. Del Rosario then served up a wild pitch to Zach Marberry to end the game when Cade Gotta came home to score.

Not much happening with the bats, the GCL Twins had just five hits. Rainis Silva was one of two standouts with two hits, a double and the lone RBI. Rafael P Valera was the other, 1-3 with a walk, a double, and a run scored.

DSL Twins Notes

DSL Twins 10, DSL Diamondbacks 4

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The DSL Twins only struck out two batters all night, but still found a way to win by limiting the DSL D-back to just five hits and three walks. Jose Martinez and Robener Cabrera each pitched four innings and gave up two runs a piece. Daulin Ramierz came on and pitched a clean ninth inning.

The DSL Twins banged the ball around and ended the night with 14 hits, ten runs, and seven walks. Junior Amarante was 3-4 with a walk and two RBIs as the DH, and right fielder Jorge Parra was 3-4 with three runs scored, a triple, an RBI and a walk. Lewin Diza was on base three times with a hit and two walks.

Twins Daily Players of the Day

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day - Alex Meyer, Rochester Red Wings

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day - Aaron Hicks, New Britain Rock Cats

Friday's Probable Starters

Lehigh Valley @ Rochester (6:15 Central) – Logan Darnell (Listen)

New Britain @ Portland (5:00 Central) – Virgil Vasquez (Listen)

Charlotte @ Ft. Myers (11:35 AM Central) – Jose Berrios (Listen)

Beloit @ Cedar Rapids (5:00 Central) - Ethan Mildren (Listen)

Bluefield @ Elizabethton (6:00 Central) - Chih-Wei Hu (Listen)

GCL Twins @ GCL Red Sox (9:00 AM Central) - TBD

DSL Twins @ DSL Diamondbacks (9:30 AM Central) - TBD