Minor League Report (7/6): Sloppy Play

TRANSACTIONS
INF Christian Encarnacion-Strand Re-Instated from IL
RHP Ryan Shreve was activated from IL at Cedar Rapids. 
LHP Aaron Rozek was activated from IL at Cedar Rapids. 
INF Austin Martin was placed on Wichita IL (left elbow)
C Frank Nigro added to AA Wichita from AAA St. Paul

Saints Sentinel
St. Paul 4, Louisville 6
Box Score
Cole Sands: 5 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 7 K
HR: Jake Cave (11)
Multi-hit games: Tim Beckham (2-for-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI)

The Saints lost a messy game on Wednesday.

The match started quietly; after 4 innings, the Saints held a 2-1 lead after Tim Beckham doubled home two runs to inflate rehabbing-big leaguer Justin Dunn’s ERA. 

Cole Sands was surgical in the early innings, cutting up and down the Bats’ lineup at will before his reign crumbled in the 5th inning. A barrage of doubles mixed with a single from technically old friend Taylor Motter shot Louisville’s run total up to four; Sands suddenly had a loss on his hands.

The Saints stormed back. After the Bats tacked on another run in the 6th inning, Jake Cave Did the Darn Thing, swinging at a 3-0 pitch and blasting a Grand Slam to left field to give St. Paul a slight 6-5 edge. His on-base streak is now 48 games.

Louisville did not acquiesce to the sudden deficit; a Stuart Fairchild homer knotted the game at 6. The game moved into extra innings, where the Bats won off of what appears to be a double fielding error from Michael Helman.

St. Paul’s bats must have been smaller than usual; they struck out 17 times total, with five players facing the K multiple times. Let’s hope that Thursday is a more blessed day.

Wind Surge Wisdom
Wichita 2, Amarillo 4
Box Score
Louie Varland: 6 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 6 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Edouard Julien (2-for-5), Andrew Bechtold (3-for-4, 2B, RBI)

Louie Varland gritted out six effective innings in his start. The antiquated “quality start” deems an outing like his worthy of its title, so Varland will take that and run. The damage could have been less severe; two of his runs came from a 6th inning homer, indicating a “careful, Icarus” moment, to steal a term from another baseball site.

Wichita’s bats were up to the task on Wednesday, but poor coordination resulted in just two runs off of 12 hits. In all but three innings, the Wind Surge had a man on base, and they often had multiple players ready to score on a moment’s notice, but they could only plate runs in the 1st and 3rd innings. Perhaps better luck would have altered this game in their favor; Wichita left 18 men stranded.

Cody Laweryson continued his AA shutout streak, allowing one hit over two innings while striking out a pair. Jordan Gore struck out two in his single inning of work.

Matt Wallner threw another baserunner out on Wednesday. Since minor league fielding stats are basically impossible to find, let’s say it was his 50th gunned down runner of the year; that’s how history works. (Editor/Seth Note: I don't want to mess with history, or a fun narrative, but it is Wallner's 8th assist of the season.)

Kernels Nuggets
Cedar Rapids 3, Quad Cities 5
Box Score
Cade Povich: 5 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 11 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Pat Winkel (3-for-4)

The Kernels lost an atypical game on Wednesday.

Cade Povich submitted his attempt at one of the weirder pitching lines you’ll see. His 11 strikeouts reflect domination, a complete ability to miss bats at an elite level; his seven hits and three earned runs represent mistakes the River Bandits jumped on. For helping win the game, the start was not the best; for showing promise as an overpowering arm, this is an incredible start.

Cedar Rapids’ bats were locked out of hits, only securing five of them despite walking more times than they struck out (7 to 5); either their BABIP luck failed to materialize, or their batted balls were not ideal. Maybe they should have mimicked Pat Winkel, as he netted 60% of their total hits.

Hunter McMahon and Bobby Milacki cleaned up an impressive 16 strikeout showing from the Kernels’ pitching staff on Wednesday. While Povich shouldered much of that effort, Milacki’s four strikeouts over two innings are also impressive.

Despite only knocking in five hits, every batter in the Kernels lineup reached base; this was a deeply weird ballgame. The number 9 hitter (Jake Rucker) picked up three RBIs.

Mussel Matters

Rain washed away Fort Myers’ match against the Tampa Tarpons; the teams will play double-headers on the 7th. (Also in Ft. Myers, there were no games in the FCL on Wednesday)

Dominican Dailies
DSL Twins 6, DSL Cardinals 5
Box Score
Ledwin Taveras: 5 IP, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
HR: Jose Rodriguez (5), Rafael Cruz (2)
Multi-hit games: Rafael Cruz (2-for-4, HR, 2B, R, 2 RBI), Jesus Peraza (2-for-2, 2 RBI, BB)

The DSL Twins won a game in which they committed six errors; you don’t see that every day. DSL games are notorious for being sloppy, but that error total is one of the higher totals you’ll ever see outside of tee-ball or drop-dead-drunk beer league softball.

Ledwin Taveras led the way with solid innings of work, and his relievers—Oscar Paredes and Anthony Narvaez—combined for four frames without an earned run. The DSL Twins’ offensive output was even, with every batter in their starting lineup reaching base. Rafael Cruz stood out from the group, hitting both a homer and a double.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Cade Povich, Cedar Rapids Kernels
Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Rafael Cruz, DSL Twins 

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed:
#6 - Spencer Steer (St. Paul) - 1-4, R, BB, K
#10 - Cade Povich (Cedar Rapids) - 5 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 11 K
#11 - Louie Varland (Wichita) - 6 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 6 K
#12 - Matt Wallner (Wichita) - 1-4, R, BB, 2 K
#15 - Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 2-5, 3 K
#16 - Christian Encarnacion-Strand (Cedar Rapids) - 0-3, BB, K
#17 - Cole Sands (St. Paul) - 5 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 7 K

THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Louisville (6:05 PM) - RHP Jordan Balazovic
Amarillo @ Wichita (7:05 PM) - RHP Sawyer Gipson-Long
Quad Cities @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM) - RHP David Festa
Fort Myers @ Tampa (3:00 PM) - LHP Jaylen Nowlin
Fort Myers @ Tampa (Game 2) - RHP Malik Barrington