Twins Minor League Report (8/15): Wins. All Wins.

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 10, Buffalo 4

Box Score

Adalberto Mejia picked up his first win in the Twins system with a 6.1-inning appearance. He allowed three runs on eight hits and two walks. Mejia struck out five and threw 103 pitches.

D.J. Baxendale got the next five outs. He struck out two. Pat Light finished the game with a spotless 9th inning.

The offense was a hit-parade. Byron Buxton hit his 10th AAA double. Wilfred Tovar had four singles. John Ryan Murphy had three hits, including a double.

The three-through-six hitters (plus James Beresford) all had two-hit games. Reynaldo Rodriguez scored twice, doubled and drove in a run. Adam Brett Walker hit his 24th home run. Daniel Palka also homered, his 30th in the minors this year. Mitch Garver had two doubles and Beresford had two singles.

The Red Wings are 68-55, but still 4.5 games out of the wild card. In an anomaly, if the Red Wings were in the IL South instead of the IL North, they’d have a 13.5 game lead. But they’re not. So they don’t.

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 5, Birmingham 2

Box Score

A three-run sixth inning gave the Lookouts a final lead after giving it up in the previous half inning.

Zach Granite and T.J. White both tripled, driving in runs, and the improved bat of Stuart Turner - two doubles, 3-4 - has helped this club as they approach the stretch run.

Levi Michael had a two-hit game. Granite stole two bases, bringing his total to 43 on the season.

Felix Jorge put on too many baserunners - eight hits and two walks - but limited damage through six innings, only allowing two runs to score. He struck out six.

Alan Busenitz struck out three in two innings of shutout ball. Raul Fernandez picked up the save with a scoreless ninth.

The Lookouts improved to 62-58 on the year. They are still in the mix for second-half champs, but even if they fall short in that quest, they could still qualify for the playoffs because - as of now - the first- and second-half champs are the same team. At this point, they’re tied in the pursuit of the second playoff spot.

MIRACLE MATTERS

Fort Myers 4, Bradenton 3

Box Score

Daniel Kihle and Nick Gordon combined for four hits (two each) and three runs to help push the Miracle past Bradenton.

Gordon also stole his 15th base of the year (but was caught stealing as well, his 13th). He also committed his 22nd error. Tanner Witt doubled and drove in two runs.

Keaton Steele improved to 6-10 on the season. He scattered five hits and a walk over six innings, allowing only two runs. He struck out five. Randy Rosario, who was shifted to the bullpen at the beginning of August, struck out four in two innings. He also allowed two walks, two hits and a run. Nick Anderson picked up his fifth save with a relatively clean ninth inning.

At 26-24 in the second half, the Miracle are 2.5 games off the FSL South pace.

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids vs Peoria (postponed, wet field)

Monday’s tilt between the Kernels and Chiefs was postponed early in the afternoon due to “failure to get the tarp on the field in time and wet field conditions.”

The teams will reconvene on Tuesday at 5pm to play two seven-inning games.

E-TOWN E-NOTES

Elizabethton 7, Bluefield 6 (completion of yesterday’s game)

Box Score

Elizabethton 4, Bluefield 1 (seven innings)

Box Score

An interesting day in Elizabethton on Monday. The teams completed the a suspended game from Monday in which the E-Twins led 5-1 in the fourth inning. It ended up much closer than that, but they still held on for the victory.

Lewin Diaz and Shane Carrier each homered. Manuel Guzman and Diaz both had two-hit games. Hank Morrison and Amaurys Minier - who pinch hit and then logged two innings in centerfield - each added a double.

Domenick Carlini “started” Monday’s game and got lit up to the tune of four runs on five hits and two walks in three innings. Hector Lujan and Patrick McGuff both struck out three and picked up the win and save, respectively.

Also of note, Andre Jernigan, who was drafted as a shortstop, caught the entire game.

The second game got a little feisty.

With the score 3-1 with one out in the bottom of the sixth, Bluefield’s Javier Monson was hit by a pitch to put runners at first and third. The next batter hit a groundball to the shortstop, who fielded it, threw it to Manuel Guzman, who was playing second base, and he relayed it to first for an inning-ending double play.

But according to Seth, who knows someone who was at the game, it was a “hard slide into second base” in an effort to break up the double-play. The batter was called out due to interference and the ball - instead of being relayed - was thrown at the runner, Monson, who had slid hard into the base. Apparently Guzman took offense to the hard slide. Both benches cleared and both Monson and Guzman were ejected.

Five different hitters had hits, led by the two-RBI effort of Minier. Trey Cabbage scored twice and stole a base.

Tyler Wells did well in his 5 1/3 innings. He struck out six and only allowed an unearned run on four hits and a walk. Johan Quezada got the final five outs, two by strikeout, two by a double-play and another by a ground out.

The E-Twins are now 28-23. They are half a game behind Johnson City with 16 games left. They only face Johnson City one more time (tomorrow), but play Greeneville, over whom they have a 2.5 game lead over for the wild card spot, the final six games of the season.

GCL TWINS TAKES

GCL Twins 7, GCL Rays 2 (Game 1, seven innings)

Box Score

GCL Twins 8, GCL Rays 1 (Game 2, seven innings)

Box Score

The GCL Twins got two very strong starting pitching performances in their doubleheader on Monday. In the first game, young Canadian Jordan Balazovic earned his first professional win, allowing two runs on five hits in five innings. He struck out one.

Clark Beeker also went five innings in the second game. He struck out seven and allowed three hits in five shutout innings. Beeker was making his first start after making ten relief appearances (though most of those appearances were of the multi-inning variety).

Juan Gomez, who is converting from catcher, and Matt Jones both pitched scoreless frames in the first game. David Martinez gave up in a run in his two innings of work in the second game.

The GCL Twins used almost completely different lineups in their two games, with the exceptions being Aaron Whitefield (leading off and playing CF) and Dane Hutcheon (batting second and playing second). Whitefield stole a base in each game (now has 27) and got two hits in the second game while Hutcheon had a hit and an RBI in each game. Hutcheon also stole his fifth base of the season in the second game.

Rehabbing Max Murphy went 2-3 with a double in the first game. Lean Marrero hit his first home run on the season. Roni Tapia added a double. In the second game, Gorge Munoz and Justin Hazard both had two-hit games. Jose Miranda and Brian Olson added doubles.

On the season, the GCL Twins are now 26-19, good for first place and a three-game lead in the GCL South. They have 15 games left to play.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Pitcher of the Day – Clark Beeker, GCL Twins

Hitter of the Day – Wilfredo Tovar, Rochester

TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Rochester at Buffalo (6:05 CST) - LHP Nick Greenwood (4-2, 3.40 ERA)

Fort Myers at St. Lucie (5:30 CST) - RHP Randy LeBlanc (4-6, 4.27 ERA)

Fort Myers at St. Lucie (resumption of suspended game) - TBD

Cedar Rapids at Peoria (5:00 CST) - RHP Sam Gibbons (6-3, 4.63 ERA)

Cedar Rapids at Peoria (Game 2) - RHP Brady Anderson (0-0, 2.45 ERA)

Elizabethton vs Johnson City (6:00 CST) - TBD

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

Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Monday’s games.