TRANSACTIONS
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SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 5, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 3
Box Score
Louie Varland had yet another solid outing for the Saints on Friday, striking out seven in 5 2/3 innings. Although he did surrender seven hits and three runs—only two earned—the RailRiders struggled to make consistent hard contact.
Varland has now struck out 15 batters and walked two in 11 Triple-A innings. While two starts hardly provides definitive proof for upcoming sustained success, Varland’s immediate impact at the highest level of Minor League Baseball has to be appealing to the Minnesota Twins. He possesses a fastball that sits in the mid-90s with good ride and a slider with strong bite that would play well out of the Twins’ bullpen right now. His changeup remains a work in progress but when on, it has very similar shape to his fastball.
He likely isn’t quite ready to make starts for the big-league club, but he could provide value out of the pen, particularly if Emilio Pagan continues to struggle or Trevor Megill turns into a pumpkin.
Jermaine Palacios (3-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI) and Chris Williams (1-for-3, HR, 2 RBI) led the Saints offensively.
WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 3, Tulsa 0
Box Score
The home crowd was witness to history on Friday evening as righty Daniel Gossett tossed the first no-hitter in Wind Surge history. He needed 120 pitches to do so, striking out 10 and walking three (two in the 9th inning). The only other Driller to reach base did so via error.
Gossett is a 29-year-old journeyman who was a second-round pick in 2014 out of Clemson and last appeared in the Majors in 2018 as a member of the Oakland Athletics; he started in 23 games across two seasons in the Bay and posted a 5.91 ERA.
He entered the game with a 3.48 ERA and had not struck out more than seven batters in a game this season before shutting down Tulsa. Gossett was clearly fatigued in the final inning as he walked two straight batters with two outs before getting Andy Pages to bite on a curveball in the dirt. He was caught on camera shouting, “One more. One more.” into the Wind Surge dugout just prior to the strikeout, seemingly trying to convince manager Ramon Borrego to leave him in.
Gossett’s accomplishment won’t make headlines around the internet nor will it likely make SportsCenter, but throwing a no-hitter at any level is a monumental task and his effort should be recognized.
Anthony Prato (2-for-4, 2 RBI) and Alex Isola (1-for-3, RBI) each hit home runs to lead Wichita’s offense.
KERNELS NUGGETS
Wisconsin 5, Cedar Rapids 0 (Suspended)
Box Score
The Timber Rattlers jumped out to an early lead on the Kernels before the game was suspended in the bottom of the fourth inning due to rain. The two will resume play on Saturday.
MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 3, Palm Beach 1
Box Score
Fort Myers 8, Palm Beach 1
Box Score
The Mighty Mussels offense could not be contained and their pitching staff was lights out on Friday evening against the Cardinals as they swept the double-header to improve their record to 61-47.
Pierson Ohl glimmered on the mound in Game 1, striking out seven and allowing only two Palm Beach batters to reach base across seven shutout innings. The game had been suspended after two innings on Thursday night, so Ohl started the third frame and finished the game In Game 2, Jonathan Lavallee was awarded the win with four shutout innings out of the pen. Overall, the Fort Myers pitching staff struck out 19 batters, walked one, and surrendered two runs in 18 innings.
Misael Urbina led the Mighty Mussels offensively, going 5-for-8 with a double and three RBI. Some of the former top prospect’s shine has faded this season, but the 20-year-old is suddenly hitting .301 with an .886 OPS in 31 games at Low-A. He hasn’t produced much in the way of home runs, but he has hit a whopping 14 doubles, suggesting a power boom is right around the corner. Mix in his defensive tools and it’s easy to see why many around baseball think highly of his long-term prospects. Unfortunately, visa issues meant that he was unable to come to the States until June.
COMPLEX CHRONICLES
FCL Twins 4, FCL Red Sox 3
Box Score
Old friend Randy Dobnak started on the bound for the FCL Twins, striking out three and allowing four hits across two innings of work. Dobnak has missed the entire 2022 season to date as he rehabs from a finger injury suffered last season.
Wilfri Castro had a great afternoon at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a double, home run, and two RBI.
DOMINICAN DAILIES
DSL Cubs Blue 3, DSL Twins 2
Box Score
Yasser Mercedes continued to rain terror on the DSL on Friday, going 3-for-4 with a double and RBI. Mercedes—who is just 17 years old—is hitting .361 with a .990 OPS in 39 games. The Twins will keep their burgeoning prospect at the DSL level for the remainder of the season, but it will be interesting to see what they do with him next summer. He’s proven to be advanced for his age and could likely succeed at the FCL level right now.
TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Daniel Gossett (Wichita): 9 IP, 0 H, 0 R/ER, 3 BB, 10 K
Hitter of the Day – Misael Urbina (Fort Myers): 5-for-8, 2B, 3 RBI
PROSPECT SUMMARY
We will again keep tabs on the Twins top prospects. You’ll probably read about them in the team sections, but if they aren’t there, you’ll see how they did here. Here’s a look at how the current Twins Daily Top 20 performed:
#4 - Austin Martin (Wichita) - 0-for-3, BB, R, SB (25)
#7 - Noah Miller (Fort Myers) - 0-for-4, RBI
#9 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 0-for-1, 2 BB, R
#12 - Louie Varland (Wichita) - 5 2/3 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K
#14 - Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 0-for-2
#18 - Tanner Schobel (Fort Myers) - 1-for-7, RBI
#20 - Kala’i Rosario (Fort Myers) - 1-for-4, 2B, RBI
SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (DH at 5:07 PM CST) - LHP Devin Smeltzer, RHP Juan Minaya in Game 2
Wichita vs. Tulsa (7:05 PM CST) - LHP Kody Funderburk
Cedar Rapids vs. Wisconsin (DH at 5:15 PM CST) - Completion of Friday game, followed by regularly-scheduled game.
Fort Myers @ Palm Beach (5:00 PM CST) - TBD
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