Minor League Report (4/13): Streak Continues, No-no in St. Paul

TRANSACTIONS

• Wichita Wind Surge placed 2B Edouard Julien on the 7-day injured list.
• Fort Myers Mighty Mussels placed SS Keoni Cavaco on the 7-day injured list.
• Minnesota Twins selected the contract of RHP Dereck Rodriguez from St. Paul Saints.
• Minnesota Twins recalled OF Trevor Larnach from St. Paul Saints.

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 0, Indianapolis 5 
Box Score

The night after a rain-shortened home-opener, the Saints’ bats ran dry on Wednesday at CHS Field, succumbing to a combined no-hitter at the hands of Pirates Triple-A affiliate Indianapolis. 

Former Twins reliever Chase De Jong brought some magic to the Land of 10,000 Lakes on Wednesday evening with a dominant pitching performance that lead to a 5-0 Indianapolis victory over the Saints. 

De Jong, who pitched for the Twins organization in 2018 and 2019 was spectacular, no-hitting the Saints through seven innings while striking out seven and walking two. 

Jermaine Palacios and Jake Cave were the only St. Paul hitters to reach base in what would prove to be the 15th no-hitter in Indianapolis history. 

And while the bats may have been cold, the Saints pitching staff had moments of brilliance throughout the evening. 

Starting pitcher Cole Sands was rock-solid, pitching five innings of three-hit ball while only allowing only one run. That run came on a solo homer in the fourth inning. Sands struck out five with one walk in his second appearance of the season and is sitting at an ERA of 0.90.

Jovani Moran and Jordan Gore covered the sixth and seven innings with ease, allowing no runs on one hit. Moran was perfect in the sixth inning, striking out all three batters on sixteen pitches. RHP Ryan Mason would finish the night on the bump for the Saints with a perfect frame in the ninth. 

And while the game remained competitive through seven innings, Indianapolis broke open the flood gates in the eighth with a four-run inning that featured extra-base hits, a fielding error, and a controversial play at the plate.

Derek Fischer almost ended the no-no in the eighth when he laced a line drive to the right-field corner, only to be robbed on a spectacular play by Indianapolis right-fielder Cal Mitchell. 

The loss drops the Saints to 5-3 on the season as they look to win their first game of the year against Indianapolis tomorrow night. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 5, NW Arkansas 8
Box Score

Despite a scattering of runs, the Wind Surge were unable to contain the NW Arkansas offense on Wednesday night. A night after eight innings of scoreless baseball from the bullpen, the Surge surrendered 12 hits and 17 total base runners to the Naturals in a 5-8 defeat.

Sensational prospect Matt Canterino had a short outing on Wednesday, giving up two runs on three hits and four walks in 1.2 innings. Expect the talented RHP to ease in as he gets more time under his belt at the Double-A level. 

The Wind Surge struck with a pair of runs in both the second and seventh innings. Following a DeShawn Keirsey walk and a stolen base (2), Andrew Bechtold launched his first homer of the season to plate two runs for the Surge. 

Keirsey would score again in the seventh. After punching a double (2) to left field, Dennis Ortega homered on a 2-1 count to score two more runs for Wichita.

Top prospect Austin Martin would score the final Wind Surge run of the game in the eighth. After an infield single, Martin was moved to third on a Spencer Steer double (3) and scored thanks to an RBI single from Matt Wallner. 

Despite the loss, Spencer Steer continued his red hot start to 2022 on Wednesday night. Steer has now hit safely in all five games this season and his three doubles are tied for second-most in Double-A. 

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids vs. Quad Cities
POSTPONED

The Kernel’s Wednesday evening matchup against the River Bandits was postponed due to inclement weather in Davenport. The game will be made up tomorrow as a part of a double-header beginning at 4:30. Casey Legumina will start the first game of the twin bill while the Kernels have yet to announce who will start game two. 

The Kernels look to continue their hot start after winning their first five games, including an 8-1 beat down of Quad Cities in the series opener last night. 

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 6, Jupiter 4
Box Score

Despite an early deficit, the Mussels used a massive third inning surge to push their way past the Hammerheads on Wednesday night in the Sunshine State. Fort Myers plated five runs in the third inning thanks to a Kyler Fedko double (2) and Kyle Schmidt's three-run homer (1) to keep the Mussels' perfect season intact. 

Fedko also laced a double in the second inning making him the only Fort Myers player with two extra-base hits in the game. 

And while the offense delivered, the Mussels' bullpen was excellent following the debut of one of the organization's most exciting pitching prospects. 

Twins Daily Top 20 Prospect and 2021 draft pick Steven Hajjar made his Twins organization debut, giving up four runs and four hits while striking out six in four innings. Expect Hajjar to continue to post high strikeout numbers as he continues to get his feet wet at the pro ball level. 

After Hajjar exited, the bullpen trio of Jackson Hicks (W, 1-0), John Wilson (H, 1), and Regi Grace (S, 1) made swift work of the Hammerheads, tossing six shutout innings on only two hits. Both Hicks and Wilson managed to strike out three hitters in their two-inning appearances while Regi Grace fanned five hitters in the final two frames, tossing 25 of his 32 pitches for strikes. 

The Mussels are now 5-0 on the young season and look to continue their run against Jupiter tomorrow night. 

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day - Regi Grace, Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (S, 2 IP, 2 H, 5 K)
Hitter of the Day - Kyler Fedko, Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (2-for-4, 2 2B, R, R, RBI, K)

TOP PROSPECTS 
#1 - Austin Martin (Wichita) - 2-for-4, R, K
#2 - Royce Lewis (St. Paul) - 0-for-3, K
#3 - Jose Miranda (St. Paul) - 0-for-4, 2 K
#6 - Matt Canterino (Wichita) - 1.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R/ER, 4 BB, 2 K (51 pitches, 26 strikes)
#10 - Noah Miller (Ft. Myers) - 0-for-3, RBI, 2 BB, K
#11 - Gilberto Celestino (Minnesota) - 0-for-3, 3 K
#12 - Matt Wallner (Wichita) - 1-for-4, RBI, K
#13 - Cole Sands (St. Paul) - 5 IP,  3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K (66 pitches, 45 strikes)
#15 - Emmanuel Rodríguez (Ft. Myers) - 1-for-2, R, 2 BB
#18 - Spencer Steer (Wichita) - i-for-4, 2B, K
#20 - Steve Hajjar (Ft. Myers) - 3.0 IP,  4 H, 4 R/ER, 2 BB, 6 K

THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
Indianapolis @ St. Paul (6:37 PM CDT) - RHP Mario Sanchez (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Wichita @ NW Arkansas (7:05 PM CDT) - RHP Louie Varland (0-1, 7.71 ERA)
Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (Double-header starting at 4:30 PM CDT) - RHP Casey Legumina (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Jupiter @ Fort Myers (6:00 PM CDT) - RHP Pierson Ohl (0-0, O.00 ERA)

Give us your thoughts on Wednesday night's performance from around the farm!