Minor League Report (5/21): Cave, Saints Slam Storm Chasers

TRANSACTIONS
RHP Trevor Megill selected by Minnesota Twins
LHP Devin Smeltzer optioned to AAA St. Paul
RHP Tyler Bashlor placed on IL (right elbow strain)
RHP Jake Petricka placed on COVID-19 related IL
RHP Bailey Ober returned to Twins

Saints Sentinel
St. Paul 4, Omaha 2
Box Score
Dereck Rodriguez: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 9 K
HR: Jake Cave (2)
Multi-hit games: None

The Saints cruised on Saturday.

Royce Lewis walked, Alex Kirilloff singled, Jermaine Palacios walked, and Jake Cave brought the family home with a grand slam. You can’t start a game better than that. St. Paul would not score the rest of the game, but they didn’t need to as they received an outstanding effort from their pitching staff.

Dereck Rodriguez was on his game. The former, former Twins prospect struck out nine batters over five innings while allowing just six baserunners. His ERA at AAA is now a sparkling 1.74, and one has to imagine that he’ll get another chance in the majors before long.

Rodriguez handed the reigns to Ian Hamilton, who out-dueled Omaha hitters to the tune of three strikeouts over five total outs. His ERA is somehow even lower at 1.08. If he continues to quell the walks, his number could be called very soon.

Overall it was a pretty quiet game. Cave’s grand slam represented the crucial runs while Omaha never established themselves at the plate. Hey, quiet wins count as much as loud ones. Of note: Royce Lewis played in left field, and it appears that he caught all of one out in the game.

Wind Surge Wisdom
Wichita 7, Springfield 9
Box Score
Ben Gross: 3 IP, 3 H, ER, BB, K
HR: Andrew Bechtold (5)
Multi-hit games: Austin Martin (2-for-4, R, RBI, 2 BB), Andrew Bechtold (2-for-4, HR, R, 3 RBI, BB), Chris Williams (3-for-4, R, RBI, BB)

Wichita lost a close game on Saturday.

It was a classic barn-burner in score but not in game flow. Springfield, at one point, enjoyed a 9-0 lead over Wichita before an explosive six-run 7th inning brought intrigue to a game entirely in the blowout category.

Let’s back up. An ugly 2nd inning that included a balk, a few hits, and two errors netted the Cardinals four quick runs. Gross would pitch one more inning afterward, but the damage remained attached to his name. Zach Featherstone put forth his best attempt at controlling the game but was only rewarded with an inflated ERA. A barrage of hits mixed with an error from Michael Helman doubled Springfield’s lead in short order.

A solo homer would make the score the aforementioned 9-0 lead, but Wichita’s bats came alive in the 7th.

It was a story in two parts: the first being runs scored by traditional hits, the second being patience leading to flourishing rewards. Ernie Yake doubled, Austin Martin singled, and Andrew Bechtold brought everyone home with a three-run blast. 

Some may see a home run as a rally-killer, yet it was anything but in this inning. An array of walks knocked old friend Kevin Marnon from the game before old friend Johan Quezada came in to establish order. He did not. A wild pitch brought home the inning's fifth run before a walk to Martin netted the sixth and final one. Chris Williams doubled home a run in the following inning, but it was not enough to overcome the brutal 9-0 deficit, and Wichita walked away without a win.

Kernels Nuggets
Cedar Rapids 4, Lake County 12
Box Score
John Stankiewicz: 3 2/3 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
HR: Will Holland (3)
Multi-hit games: Seth Gray (2-for-3, 2B, 2 RBI, BB)

The Kernels lost handily on Saturday.

The Captains jumped on John Stankiewicz as the early innings melted into the middle innings, and the rest of the game’s narrative quickly followed suit. Ryan Shreve and Miguel Rodriguez were unable to stop an offensive movement in the 6th inning, and any scoring after that was a vain attempt at stat-padding.

Cedar Rapids was held in check offensively as well. Kernels hitters punched out 14 times while reaching base only nine times; they went 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position. Seth Gray was the big bat of the day, reaching base three times while knocking in half of Cedar Rapids’ runs; Will Holland knocked in the other two when he homered in the 3rd inning.

To look for more bright spots, Bradley Hanner continued his ridiculous start to the season with two strikeouts over 1 1/3 scoreless innings. His season ERA is now a sparkling 0.50. Yeah, that’ll play.

Mussel Matters
Fort Myers 4, Clearwater 5
Box Score
Marco Raya: 5 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 K
HR: Mikey Perez (5)
Multi-hit games: Mikey Perez (2-for-5, HR, R, 3 RBI), Keoni Cavaco (2-for-5, 2B, RBI), Dylan Neuse (2-for-3)

Fort Myers lost a close one on Saturday. 

Marco Raya, looking to continue his fine start to the season, took the mound for the Mighty Mussels. The right-hander could not reign in his dominant stuff, and the Threshers made him pay, knocking around eight hits to go with three walks and three earned runs. It will be on to the next start for him.

Clearwater’s offense was not a consistent onslaught despite the earned runs, instead evenly distributing their runs one at a time in the 1st, 3rd, and 5th innings, respectively. In fact, the Mighty Mussels held a slight lead after the top of the 7th inning when Mikey Perez blasted an Earl Weaver special to give Fort Myers a 4-3 lead. Although, the Mighty Mussels forgot that defense was part of Weaver’s special equation, and a dodgeball fight involving Noah Cardenas and Perez in the bottom half of the 7th resulted in a tying run scoring for Clearwater. They would score once more the following inning to win.

The team shot themselves in the foot offensively as well. While four runs will win a team a fair amount of ballgames, the Mighty Mussels left a small army stranded on base; 11 to be exact. They walked and slashed hits all around the field like a good team is supposed to do but just missed out on a few damaging knocks that could have sealed a win.

Altogether, six Mighty Mussels hitters reached base multiple times; Noah Miller and Emmanuel Rodriguez walked more than once, while Miller added a base hit for good measure. 

Regi Grace stood out for Fort Myers pitchers, allowing just one earned run over eight outs, with five of those coming via a strikeout. Because baseball is inherently cruel, he was tagged with the loss. 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Dereck Rodriguez
Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Mikey Perez

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed:
#1 – Austin Martin (Wichita) - 2-for-4, R, RBI, 2 BB
#2 – Royce Lewis (St. Paul) - 0-for-3, BB, R, K
#5 – Joe Ryan (Minnesota) - 5 2/3 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K (79 pitches, 51 strikes) 
#10 – Noah Miller (Fort Myers) - 1-for-3, 2 R, 2 BB, K
#11 – Gilberto Celestino (Minnesota) - 1-for-2, R, BB
#12 – Matt Wallner (Wichita) - 0-for-2, 2 R, 3 BB
#15 – Emmanuel Rodriguez (Fort Myers) - 0-for-2, R, 3 BB, 2 K

SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Omaha (2:05 PM) - RHP Ronny Henriquez
Springfield @ Wichita (1:05 PM) - RHP Matt Canterino
Lake County @ Cedar Rapids (2:05 PM) - LHP Brent Headrick
Fort Myers @ Clearwater (11:00 AM) - LHP Jaylen Nowlin