TRANSACTIONS
LHP Lewis Thorpe added to AAA St. Paul from Development List
Saints Sentinel
St. Paul 16, Indianapolis 13
Box Score
Lewis Thorpe: 1 ⅔ IP, 6 H, 8 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
HR: Derek Fisher (2), Curtis Terry (3), Jermaine Palacios (1)
Multi-hit games: Jose Miranda (3-for-5, 2 R, 4 RBI, 2B), Royce Lewis (3-for-5, 2 R, RBI, 2 2B, 3B), Curtis Terry (2-for-5, 2 R, 3 RBI, HR), Jermaine Palacios (4-for-4, 4 R, 2 RBI, HR)
The Saints won a crazy game on Saturday.
Lewis Thorpe took the bump for St. Paul; the recently outrighted left-hander was looking to impress in his first official start of the season. Things did not go well. Thorpe was tagged for a solo shot in the first inning, but the second inning proved to be most damaging as seven runners crossed home plate for Indianapolis. J.C. Ramirez had to be called in to end the madness.
Down eight runs early, the Saints' bats remained unphased. Derek Fisher answered back with a two-run homer to cut the lead to six, while a Jose Miranda single knocked down the deficit to within one-hand-counting distance.
But the team was not done yet. In the third inning, St. Paul harassed Jerad Eickhoff and southpaw-Frenchman, Cam Vieaux to the tune of five runs—just enough to knot the game at eight.
The game remained a slugfest until the bell rung in the ninth inning. Indianapolis would take a three-run lead, Curtis Terry would erase it; Indianapolis jumped ahead later, then Miranda and Royce Lewis negated it. Eventually, Jermaine Palacios yelled enough and blasted a two-run homer that cemented the Saints’ lead for good.
Royce Lewis, once again, was the star of the show. He unleashed three crucial extra-base hits from the DH spot that either ignited a rally or stoked the flames of one. It would be difficult to have a better start to the season (although Christian Encarnacion-Strand is making a case). Jermaine Palacios’ 4-for-4 performance should not be ignored either. The 25-year-old started at left field instead of shortstop like usual and showed no discomfort by reaching base all five times he walked up to the plate.
Wind Surge Wisdom
Wichita 6, NW Arkansas 5
Box Score
Chris Vallimont: 2 ⅓ IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 5 BB, 2 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Austin Martin (3-for-4, 2 R, RBI, 2 BB), Spencer Steer (2-for-5), Dennis Ortega (2-for-5, 2 RBI), Michael Helman (2-for-5), Andrew Bechtold (2-for-5, R), Kevin Merrell (3-for-5, RBI)
Wichita won an extra-inning affair on Saturday.
Chris Vallimont was handed the ball to start the game and did not have his best stuff. The righty struggles with command, walking five hitters before his day ended partway through the third inning. Hopefully, he can rebound in his next start.
The offense kept the game within reach, however. Dennis Ortega brought home the first run of the game with a two-run single in the 5th inning, while Wichita drew the game even closer when Austin Martin scored in the 7th inning when the Naturals' defense threw the ball around the field. Martin later knotted the game with a clutch RBI single in the 8th inning.
The game moved into extra innings, where the Wind Surge took advantage of the Manfred runner to plate two runs thanks to an Alex Isola sacrifice fly and a single from Kevin Merrell. Steven Klimek was shaky to close the game. He allowed a runner to score, and ultimately loaded the bases before inducing the final outs to end the game in favor of Wichita.
Kernels Nuggets
Cedar Rapids 10, Quad Cities 2
Box Score
Sawyer Gipson-Long: 5 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 9 K
HR: Aaron Sabato (1), Jair Camargo (2, 3)
Multi-hit games: Anthony Prato (2-for-5, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB), Christian Encarnacion-Strand (2-for-6, 2 R), Aaron Sabato (2-for-4, 2 R, 5 RBI, BB, 2B, HR), Jair Camargo (4-for-5, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 HR), Will Holland (2-for-5, R, 2B)
The Kernels demolished their opponent on Saturday.
Sawyer Gipson-Long set the tone on the mound with five masterful innings. The righty scattered three hits across his start while punching out an impressive nine batters in just 60 pitches. Talk about efficiency. Gipson-Long found a groove late last year, and he has continued to melt faces with the Kernels; he’ll certainly be in Wichita sooner than later.
But that’s enough about pitching. Cedar Rapids’ bats were explosive early and often on Saturday. Aaron Sabato smacked a three-run homer in the first inning, Jair Camargo sent a solo shot over the wall in the second, Jeferson Morales tripled home a run in the third, Camargo hit another homer in the fourth, and, well, you get the idea.
In total, the Kernels bopped seven extra-base hits in the game with a fairly even distribution of damage amongst all hitters.
Derek Molina concluded the game with two shutout innings and four strikeouts.
Mussel Matters
Fort Myers 2, Jupiter 6
Box Score
David Festa: 5 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 8 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Kyler Fedko (3-for-3, R, RBI, 2B)
The Mighty Mussels lost a rain-shortened game on Saturday.
David Festa took the mound for the second Saturday in a row, and much like the previous week, he flashed dominant ability with eight strikeouts over five efficient innings. Tom Froemming notes that he topped out at 97.2 MPH with his fastball.
Offensively, the game was a struggle for the Fort Myers bats. Thanks to RBI doubles from Kyler Fedko and Kala’i Rosario, the Mighty Mussels took a quick lead, but those would prove to be the only two runs of the day for the team.
Unfortunately, Mother Nature had enough of Fort Myers’ winning streak, and the higher powers convened to snap the team’s seven-game run in the 6th inning.
TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Sawyer Gipson-Long
Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Jermaine Palacios/Jair Camargo
PROSPECT SUMMARY
Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed:
#1 – Austin Martin (Wichita) - 3-for-4, 2 R, RBI, 2 BB, K
#2 – Royce Lewis (St. Paul) - 3-for-5, 2 R, RBI, 2 2B, 3B,
#3 – Jose Miranda (St. Paul) - 3-for-5, 2 R, 4 RBI, 2B
#9 – Josh Winder (Minnesota) - 5 ⅓ IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
#12 – Matt Wallner (Wichita) - 0-for-5, 2 K
#15 – Emmanuel Rodriguez (Fort Myers) - 0-for-3, 2 K
#18 – Spencer Steer (Wichita) - 2-for-5, K
SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
Indianapolis @ St. Paul (2:07 PM) - RHP Jake Faria
Wichita @ NW Arkansas (2:05 PM) - RHP Brandon Lawson
Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (1:00 PM) - LHP Aaron Rozek
Jupiter @ Fort Myers (12:00 PM) - RHP Travis Adams
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