Minor League Report (6/20): Rooker and Royce Heating Up

Find out everything that happened happened in the Twins system on Thursday, starting with the transactions of the day.

TRANSACTIONS

• The Twins signed third-round pick Spencer Speer on Wednesday. They have also now signed Nate Hadley and Jake Hirabayashi. Keep up with the signings of their their 2019 draft picks here.
  
• The Twins optioned RHP Sean Poppen to Rochester and called up RHP Kohl Stewart.
  
• Adalberto Mejia’s rehab has been transferred from Ft. Myers to Pensacola.
  
• Pensacola announced that Alex Kirilloff has been activated from the IL.
  
• OFs Aaron Whitefield and Mark Contreras promoted from Ft. Myers to Pensacola.
  
• OF Gabriel Maciel has been promoted from Cedar Rapids to Ft. Myers.
  
• OF Malique Ziegler has been activated from the IL.
  
• RHP Brian Rapp activated from the Cedar Rapids IL.
  

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 6, Columbus 2 (Completion of Suspended Game Monday)

Box Score

These two teams got into the fifth inning on Wednesday night before rains came and the game was suspended. When the game started, Cody Stashak made the spot start and was very good. He gave up one run on two hits over three innings. Fernando Romero came in to start the fourth inning and got four outs, but then the rains came.

When play resumed, Adam Bray made his first AAA appearance in the Twins organization and earned his first win. He gave up one run on two hits and a walk over 3 2/3 innings.He struck out two. Lefty Ian Krol made his first appearance in the Twins organization and struck out two in a scoreless ninth inning.

When the game resumed, the score was tied 1-1. The Red Wings run came on Brent Rooker’s ninth homer of the season. In the seventh inning, Zander Wiel knocked his 11th homer of the year, a three-run shot that proved huge. Columbus scored one but the Wings added two insurance runs in the top of the ninth. Jaylin Davis’s first AAA hit scored a run, and later Nick Gordon’s 12th double of the season drove in another run. Davis and LaMonte Wade each went 1-for-3 with a walk. Wade hit his eighth double.

https://twitter.com/RocRedWings/status/1141768014402064384

Rochester 4, Columbus 5 (8 innings) (Regularly Scheduled Game)

Box Score

In the regularly-scheduled game, the Red Wings had a 1-0 lead in the third inning. Brent Rooker came up with two runners on and hit his 10th home run of the season to give them a 4-0 lead. He has now homered in three straight games. Unfortunately, the team was unable to add on and Columbus tied the game before winning it in the eighth inning.

https://twitter.com/MorrieSilver8/status/1141818743015837696

Gabriel Moya was used as the opener in this game. He struck out two in one perfect inning to drop his season ERA to 7.97. Chase De Jong made the start, moving up to take Kohl Stewart’s spot in the rotation. He gave up four runs on four hits and four walks over five innings. The problem was that three of the four hits he allowed were home runs. Preston Guilmet pitched a scoreless seventh inning, but he gave up an unearned run in the eighth inning (meaning the runner that starts the inning at second base) and falls to 0-6 on the season.

BLUE WAHOO BITES

Pensacola 4, Jacksonville 3

Box Score

The Blue Wahoos offense didn’t do a lot overall on Thursday night, but they did a lot in the fifth inning and it was enough to carry them to a 4-3 win. Brian Navarreto got things going with his third home run. Travis Blankenhorn came up next and knocked his 12th Pensacola home run. Following an Alex Kirilloff walk, Ben Rortvedt hit a two-run homer. Rortvedt now has four homers since moving up to Double-A. Rortvedt and Blankenhorn each had two hits. Lewin Diaz went 2-for-4 with a double in his first Double-A game.

Adalberto Mejia worked the first inning. He gave up one hit, but he struck out two in an uneventful inning. Lefty Bryan Sammons came in and struck out eight batters over the next six innings. He gave up two runs on four hits and a walk. Jeff Ames worked a scoreless eighth inning. Sam Clay picked up his sixth save despite giving up a single run in the bottom of the ninth.

MIRACLE MATTERS

Ft. Myers 7, Jupiter 8 (11 innings)

Box Score

The Miracle certainly had opportunities to close out a win in this one, but were unable to do so. They had leads going into the bottom of the ninth, the bottom of the tenth and the bottom of the 11th.

Blayne Enlow put together another quality start for the Miracle. The right-hander gave up three runs (two earned) on four hits over seven innings. He walked two and struck out six batters. Derek Molina made his first appearance for the Miracle and worked a scoreless eighth inning.

Royce Lewis put the Miracle on the scoreboard in the third inning with a three-run home run, his fifth homer of the season and his third in two days. He had a single and a walk, as well, and stole his 12th base. Jose Miranda had a couple of big hits as well. He had a two-run double, his 14th, and an RBI single in extra innings. David Banuelos and Ernie De La Trinidad each had two hits. In his first Miracle game, Gabriel Maciel had a single and a walk and was hit by a pitch.

https://twitter.com/paxton/status/1141876984794025984

The Miracle went into the bottom of the ninth inning with a two-run lead. Johan Quezada came on and struggled with his control. He gave up two runs in that inning which tied the score. He then gave up an unearned run in the bottom of the tenth (the runner that started at second base scored. Then in the 11th inning, Calvin Faucher came on. He was charged with two runs (one earned) on three hits to take the loss.

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 2, Peoria 4

Box Score

Lefty Kody Funderburk was back on the mound for the Kernels and was really strong. In four innings, he gave up one run on four hits. He struck out seven without issuing a walk. Tyler Palm came on and gave up one run on two hits over the next 2 1/3 innings. Carlos Suniaga got the final five outs but not before giving up two runs (one earned).

Ricky De La Torre led the offense with three hits in the game. He hit his first two doubles since joining the Kernels right before their All-Star break. Yeltsin Encarnacion went 2-for-3 with a walk. Jacob Pearson went 2-for-4.

E-TWINS E-NOTES

E-Twins 13, Bluefield 4

Box Score

It’s always fun to follow the Firsts when the Elizabethton season starts. On Thursday night, Ben Gross (10th round, Duke) made his first professional start. He gave up three runs (two earned) on seven hits in four innings. He walked two and struck out two. Denny Bentley came in and struck out five batters over the next three innings. No runs on just one hit for him. Dylan Thomas (13th round, Hawaii) came on for the final two innings for his pro debut. He gave up two runs on three hits and a walk while striking out three.

We saw the first professional hits for Matt Wallner (Comp A, Southern Mississippi), Seth Gray (5th round, Wright State) and Alex Isola (29th, TCU). Gray went 3-for-5. Isola went 2-for-4. Tyler Jensen (24th, Tulane) had his first hit on Wednesday, and on this night he went 1-for-3 with a walk. Tyler Webb had two doubles and drove in three runs.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day - Bryan Sammons, Pensacola

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Ricky De La Torre, Cedar Rapids Kernels

PROSPECT SUMMARY

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

#1 - Royce Lewis (Ft. Myers) - 2-4, BB, HR(5), 3 RBI, 2 R, SB(12), K

#2 - Alex Kirilloff (Pensacola) - 0-3, BB, R, 2K

#3 - Brusdar Graterol (Pensacola) - Injured List (shoulder)

#4 - Trevor Larnach (Ft. Myers) - 1-5, 2K

#5 - Wander Javier (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4, 2K

#6 - Brent Rooker (Rochester) - Game 1 (1-3, BB, 2R, RBI, HR(9), 2K), Game 2 (1-3, BB, HR(10), 2R, 3 RBI)

#7 - Jhoan Duran (Ft. Myers) - Did Not Pitch

#8 - Lewis Thorpe (Rochester) - Did Not Pitch.

#9 - Blayne Enlow (Ft. Myers) - 7 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, HBP, (87 pitches, 64 strikes)

#10 - Akil Baddoo (Ft. Myers) - Injured List (Tommy John surgery)

#11 - Nick Gordon (Rochester) - Game 1 (1-3, BB, 2B(12), RBI, SB(7), 2K), Game 2 (1-4, R, SB(8), K)

#12 - Stephen Gonsalves (Rochester) - Injured List (elbow)

#13 - Ryan Jeffers (Ft. Myers) - Did Not Play.

#14 - Ben Rortvedt (Pensacola) - 2-3, BB, HR(4), R, 2 RBI

#15 - Yunior Severino (Cedar Rapids) - Injured List (thumb)

#16 - Gilberto Celestino (Cedar Rapids) - 0-2, 3 BB

#17 - Zack Littell (Minnesota) - Did Not Pitch

#18 - LaMonte Wade (Rochester) - Game 1 (1-3, BB, R, K), Game 2 (0-2, 2BB, R)

#19 - Jorge Alcala (Pensacola) - Did Not Pitch

#20 - Jose Miranda (Ft. Myers) - 2-5, 2B(14), 3 RBI

FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Rochester @ Toledo (DH @ 5:05 CST) - TBD

Pensacola @ Jacksonville (6:55 CST) - RHP Randy Dobnak (2-0, 1.67 ERA)

Ft. Myers @ Jupiter (5:30 CST) - TBD

Cedar Rapids @ Peoria (6:35 CST) - RHP Luis Rijo (1-4, 3.05 ERA)

Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Thursday games or any other minor league topics you would like.