TRANSACTIONS
RHP Bailey Ober assigned to AAA St. Paul on Major League Rehab.
OF Alex Kirilloff optioned to AAA St. Paul.
LHP Devin Smeltzer contract selected by Minnesota Twins.
IF Miguel Sano placed on 60-Day IL.
RHP Blayne Enlow added to AA Wichita
Saints Sentinel
The Saints were rained out on Saturday. They will play a double-header against Columbus tomorrow with Bailey Ober taking the mound in game one.
Wind Surge Wisdom
Wichita 7, Arkansas 6
Box Score
Blayne Enlow: 3 2/3 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K
HR: Spencer Steer (6), Chris Williams (1)
Multi-hit games: Austin Martin (2-for-5, R, RBI), Spencer Steer (3-for-5, HR, R, 3 RBI), Andrew Bechtold (2-for-4, 2B, R, BB, 2 K)
The Wind Surge kept rolling on Saturday.
Blayne Enlow made his Wind Surge debut and his first non-rehab assignment start since undergoing Tommy John surgery. He’s back. The start wasn’t the best, but six strikeouts is nothing to sneeze at. It’s just great to see him healthy and back on a pitching mound this summer.
While the game ended up close, Wichita’s offense took off quickly in this game, scoring pairs of runs in the first three innings. Spencer Steer was the main culprit, hitting a two-run homer in the first to go with an RBI infield hit in the second. That may be the biggest difference feet-wise between RBI hits in baseball.
Arkansas would steal a run in the bottom of the 2nd inning, but Chris Williams belted a hearty laugh, and blasted a two-run homer to right-center field.
The Naturals came scratching back, though. Chris Vallimont had a tough outing in relief, allowing two earned runs and walking four batters in 1 2/3 innings of work. Defense didn’t help either, as both Andrew Bechtold and Austin Martin made errors that allowed un-earned runs to score.
That Martin error was especially deadly, as Arkansas rode their extra out to three runs and a tied game. In dramatic fashion, Martin then made good and gave Wichita the lead in the 8th with an RBI single. The Naturals could not recover from that deficit.
Kernels Nuggets
Cedar Rapids 7, Peoria 1
Box Score
Sawyer Gipson-Long: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K
HR: Anthony Prato (5)
Multi-hit games: Aaron Sabato (2-for-4, 2B, R), Alerick Soularie (2-for-4, 3B, 2 R, RBI), Will Holland (2-for-3, R, RBI)
The Kernels won on Saturday. Water is wet. These were the two sentences used last time, and they are still appropriate.
Sawyer Gipson-Long Did the Darn Thing and completely silenced the Chiefs’ bats. It took the righty just 62 pitches to run through 15 outs with seven of those being strikeouts. Gipson-Long has been a surprising revelation since joining the Twins organization, and Saturday was another day in a line of impressive starts from him.
Credit news to be given to Derek Molina, Tyler Palm, and Denny Bentley, as they combined for four clutch innings of work and just a single earned run allowed.
Although the game ended up handily won by Cedar Rapids, the game flow was not always so simple. The score was 2-1 after eight innings with an Alerick Soularie little-league homer (triple with an error allowing him to score), and a Jair Camargo RBI single representing their only offense of the game. But the Kernels broke it open in the 9th inning, plating five runs off a few base knocks, and an Anthony Prato three-run bomb. Peoria had no response in their half of the inning.
Mussel Matters
Fort Myers 10, Palm Beach 4
Box Score
Steve Hajjar: 4 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 5 BB, 5 K
HR: Mikey Perez (3), Dillon Tatum (2)
Multi-hit games: Emmanuel Rodriguez (3-for-4, 2B, 3 R, RBI, BB), Mikey Perez (3-for-4, 2B, HR, R, 4 RBI, BB)
The Mighty Mussels won handily on Saturday.
Is it a good thing to have four players reach base three times in one game? Asking for a friend. Fort Myers dominated with an equal attack amongst their offense—no one batter should own the means of run production after all. Noah Miller and Emmanuel Rodriguez continued to be on-base machines, which isn’t surprising. Mikey Perez was the big story though, as he doubled, homered, and reached base four times in the game. Eight hitters reached base at least once.
Steve Hajjar took the mound, and while he allowed just one run, command eluded him. Hajjar walked five batters while throwing just 46 of his 80 pitches for strikes. Although, it appears he was “effectively wild” given that the Cardinals could only knock one hit off of him.
Walks proved to be the name of the game overall. The Mighty Mussels walked more than they struck out (nine to eight) while the Cardinals weren’t far behind (seven to 10). One could refer to this game as “leisurely.”
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 – Spencer Steer
PROSPECT SUMMARY
Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed:
#1 – Austin Martin (Wichita) - 2-for-5, R, RBI
#2 – Royce Lewis (Minnesota) - 1-for-4
#3 – Jose Miranda (Minnesota) - 0-for-5, 2 K
#4 – Jordan Balazovic (St. Paul) - Did not pitch
#5 – Joe Ryan (Minnesota) - Did not pitch
#6 – Matt Canterino (Wichita) - Did not pitch
#7 – Jhoan Duran (Minnesota) - 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, K
#8 – Simeon Woods Richardson (Wichita) - Did not pitch
#9 – Josh Winder (Minnesota) - Did not pitch
#10 – Noah Miller (Fort Myers) - 1-for-2, 2 R, 3 BB
#11 – Gilberto Celestino (Minnesota) - 1-for-4, 2 K
#12 – Matt Wallner (Wichita) - 0-for-3, 2 BB, K
#13 – Cole Sands (St. Paul) - Did not pitch
#14 – Louie Varland (Wichita) - Did not pitch
#15 – Emmanuel Rodriguez (Fort Myers) - 3-for-4, 2B, 3 R, RBI, BB, K
#16 – Ronny Henriquez (St. Paul) - Did not pitch
#17 – Blayne Enlow (Wichita) - 3 2/3 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K
#18 – Spencer Steer (Wichita) - 3-for-5, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 HR, 2B
#19 – Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 1-for-3, 2 R, 2 BB, K
#20 – Steve Hajjar (Fort Myers) - 4 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 5 BB, 5 K
SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Columbus (12:05 PM) - RHP Bailey Ober
St. Paul @ Columbus (Game Two) - RHP Dereck Rodriguez
Wichita @ NW Arkansas (1:35 PM) - RHP Casey Legumina
Cedar Rapids @ Peoria (1:35 PM) - RHP John Stankiewicz
Palm Beach @ Fort Myers (12:00 PM) - RHP Marco Raya
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