Minor League Report (5/20): Five for the Price of Four, Wallner Shines (again)

TRANSACTIONS

• Minnesota Twins will RHP Randy Dobnak from St. Paul Saints and will start for the Twins on Friday
• Minnesota Twins recalled LHP Lewis Thorpe from St. Paul Saints (27th man).
• Minnesota Twins sent RHP Derek Law outright to St. Paul Saints.
• RHP Jonathan Cheshire assigned to St. Paul Saints from Cedar Rapids Kernels.
• Cedar Rapids Kernels placed CF DaShawn Keirsey on the 7-day injured list.

SAINTS SENTINEL

Game 1: St. Paul 3, Indianapolis 2

Box Score

Rain put a pause on the Saints’ Wednesday night matchup against Indy after seven and a half innings. That didn’t stop St. Paul from storming out of the gates when the game resumed on Thursday. After a perfect 1-2-3 ninth inning from P Andrew Vasquez, CF Jimmy Kerrigan singled in 1B Tomás Telis to march the Saints off with a 3-2 win. 

Telis led off the inning with a bloop single to CF and was later moved to second on a one-out sac-fly by JT Riddle. With two outs Damek Tomscha and Keon Broxton drew back-to-back walks, pushing Telis to third. Kerrigan then punched a 2-1 belt-shot to take the Saints to the promise land.

While Kerrigan’s hit won the game, Telis and Alex Kirilloff each recorded two hits, most notably Kirilloff’s two-run dinger in the sixth. The win moved the Saints to 6-8 on the year.

Game 2: Indianapolis 7, St. Paul 3

Box Score

Saints OF Alex Kirilloff knocked his second homer in 24 hours on his campaign back to the Major Leagues in a 7-3 loss to Indy at CHS Field. 

Kirilloff, who homered in last night’s delayed contest took a 1-1 pitch over the right-center field wall in the fourth inning. Despite the loss, it’s promising to see Kirilloff perform at a high level again following his time on the IL. Hopefully, he’ll be back at Target Field in no time!

The loss puts the Saints at 6-9 on the young 2021 season.

WIND SURGE WISDOM

Tulsa 4, Wichita 3

Box Score

Despite a ninth-inning homer from Mark Contreras, the Surge were clipped in a one-run contest on Thursday night. A three-run third inning propelled the Drillers to a 4-3 victory in game three of a six-game series against the Wind Surge. 

Outside of the third inning, Wichita starting pitcher Bryan Sammons was solid, pitching five innings of two-hit baseball and striking out six. 

After trailing 3-0, Wichita mounted a comeback in the fifth inning thanks to an RBI double by 3B Andrew Bechtold. Jose Miranda followed suit with a fielder’s choice that scored C Roy Morales to shave the deficit to 3-2. Morales is now slashing .345/.381/.655 on the year. 

Tulsa gained an insurance run in the eighth inning thanks to a solo shot from DH Devin Mann. The run would prove to be the difference-maker.

And while the Wind Surge didn't get the W, RF Gilberto Celestino made one of the best catches across baseball on Thursday night. How about that range?!

KERNELS NUGGETS

Beloit 4, Cedar Rapids 2

Box Score

Matt Wallner continued his stellar ‘21 campaign with his first-ever four-hit game in professional baseball on Thursday. Yet two ninth-inning runs pushed the former Twins-affiliate Beloit Snappers to a 4-2 win over the Kernels.

Wallner kicked off his impressive showing with a two-out first-inning triple to CF. The Forest Lake native followed suit with a third-inning single that would move 3B Seth Gray to third base. Gray would score on the next at-bat.

Wallner’s next at-bat came in the fifth when he punched a 1-2 pitch over the RF wall to give the Kernels a 2-1 lead. Wallner leads the team with four homers on the year. 

It’s no secret that Wallner has been electric so far this year. The ‘pitcher turned OF/slugger’ is now hitting .322 on the year with 4 HR and 13 RBI. And while his power is obvious, his greatest strength may be versatility at the plate. 

“I think I’ve done a lot better job of hitting the ball to all fields,” Wallner said following Thursday’s game. “I’ve tried to stay up the middle versus being a pull-only hitter.”

Wallner has also focused on handling velocity at the plate, something that he’s thrived upon this year.

“I’m more comfortable with velocity (at the plate) this year. I’ve always had to gas that up a bit but for the most part, I’m comfortable with that this year,” he said. 

And while Wallner was excellent, the Kernels’ pitching staff was rock-solid on Thursday night. Starting pitching Kody Funderburk pitched 5.2 innings of one-run baseball, walking none and striking out three. Even more impressive? He did it in 55 pitches. 

“He was really efficient tonight,” skipper Brian Dinkleman said. “He got a lot of ground balls and had that cutter going for him that got a lot of weak contact on the left side of the infield.”

RHP Derek Molina was excellent through his first two innings of relief and Zach Featherstone was 2-2 on getting hitters out upon his entrance in the ninth innings. 

The loss moves Cedar Rapids to 7-8 on the year.

MUSSEL MATTERS

Tampa 16, Fort Myers 5

Box Score

Despite knotting the game at five after getting down early, the Mussels dropped a 16-5 contest to Tampa on Thursday evening in the Sunshine State. 

After getting down 5-2, catcher Charlie Mack launched a seventh-inning three-run shot over the left-field wall to tie the game up at five-a-piece. The Williamsville, NY, native now has a .823 OPS on the year.

Unfortunately, Mack’s power was matched by a wealth of extra-base hits in the bottom of the inning putting the Tarpons up 9-5. Tampa tacked on seven more runs in the bottom

Eduoard Julien continued his massive season with a first-inning double, a walk, and a run scored. Julien is now batting .333 on the year with a .921 OPS.

Twins Daily #8 Prospect Aaron Sabato recorded a run in Thursday's game and was also featured in a player profile by the Mussels. Pretty cool guy, minus being a Cowboys fan!

Mussels reliever Bradley Hanner had a solid outing, touting five strikeouts, two walks, and only one earned run in 4.1 innings of relief. 

The loss moves Fort Myers to 7-8 on the year.
 

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Pitcher of the Day- Kody Funderburk (Cedar Rapids)- 5.2 IP, 2 H, R, BB, 3K

Hitter of the Day- Matt Wallner (Cedar Rapids)- 4-for-5, R, 3B, HR, RBI, K

PROSPECT SUMMARY

Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed:

#1 - Alex Kirilloff (St. Paul) – 1-for-3, R, HR, RBI, K

#2 - Royce Lewis (Rehab) - Out for Season (torn ACL)

#3 - Trevor Larnach (Minnesota) – 0-for-3, 3K (game one), 1-for-3, R, RBI, HR, BB

#4 - Ryan Jeffers (St. Paul) – 1-for-3, R, BB, K

#5 - Jhoan Duran (St. Paul) – Did not pitch

#6 - Jordan Balazovic (Wichita) – Injured List (back)

#7 - Keoni Cavaco (Ft. Myers) – 0-for-4, R, BB, 2K

#8 - Aaron Sabato (Ft. Myers) – 0-for-4, R, BB, 3K

#9 - Matt Canterino (Cedar Rapids) – Did not pitch

#10 - Blayne Enlow (Cedar Rapids) – Did not pitch

#11 - Gilberto Celestino (Wichita) – 1-for-3, BB

#12 - Brent Rooker (St. Paul) – 0-for-3, BB, K

#13 - Matt Wallner (Cedar Rapids) – 4-for-5, R, 3B, HR, RBI, K

#14 - Misael Urbina (Fort Myers) – 0-for-4, BB, K,

#15 - Cole Sands (Wichita) – Did not pitch

#16 - Edwar Colina (Rehab) - 60-Day IL (elbow)

#17 - Ben Rortvedt (Minnesota) – Did not play

#18 - Alerick Soularie (Complex) – N/A

#19 - Jose Miranda (Wichita) – 0-3, RBI, K

#20 - Bailey Ober (Minnesota) – Did not pitch

FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Iowa @ St. Paul (7:05PM CST) – LHP Charlie Barnes (1-0, 4.00 ERA)

Wichita @ Tulsa (7:05PM CST) – RHP Cole Sands (0-0, 3.65 ERA)

Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (6:35PM CST) – RHP Matt Canterino (0-0, 1.13 ERA)

Fort Meyers @ Tampa (5:30PM CST) – RHP Sawyer Gipson-Long (0-2, 29.70 ERA)