Monday in the Minors

The Twins had another off day on Monday, following the long Father’s Day afternoon at Target Field on Sunday. On Monday afternoon, the team flew to Pittsburgh where they will play three inter-league games against the Pirates before heading to Cincinnati for three games against the Reds.

In the minor leagues, Monday was the first game for the GCL Twins and Tuesday will be the first game for Elizabethton. The Florida State League returned to action on Monday following its All Star break. Meanwhile the Midwest League started its All Star break. We saw a couple of player transactions on Monday, and will likely hear of more on Wednesday morning following the MWL All Star game.

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All season, you have been getting reports on up to four Twins minor league affiliates. Today, there are reports on five teams. Tomorrow, there will be notes on all six Twins domestic affiliates. Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from Monday:

ROCHESTER 1, DURHAM 6

The highlight for the Red Wings in this game came in the first inning. Rays All-Star 3B Evan Longoria, who is with Durham on a rehab assignment, hit a line drive down the 3B line. Danny Valencia dove, made the play, got up quickly and threw out Longoria at 1B. Longoria removed himself from the lineup before his next at bat due to a setback.

Steve Hirschfeld was brought back up from New Britain to take this spot in the rotation. He gave up six runs on 13 hits in just four innings. He didn’t walk any and struck out just one. Carlos Gutierrez struck out three in two perfect innings. Lester Oliveros gave up two hits and struck out two in a scoreless inning. Tyler Robertson and Brendan Wise each threw one scoreless frame.

The Red Wings had five hits. Sean Burroughs was 2-4. Danny Valencia hit his ninth double. Rene Rivera hit his fourth home run.

NEW BRITAIN – No Game Scheduled

The Rock Cats had a day off. In some sad news, Mark Dolenc was released on Sunday. I’ve heard some reports that he is close to signing with another organization, but not yet.

FT. MYERS 1, JUPITER 2

The second half started for the Miracle on Monday with the news that top hitter Oswaldo Arcia and recently-signed reliever Dan Sattler had been promoted to New Britain.

Cole Nelson made the start for the Miracle. The lanky lefty gave up two runs on five hits in 6.2 innings. He walked four and struck out four. Miguel Munoz came in and got two outs, although he gave up a hit and walked two. Matt Hauser got the final two outs.

The offense managed just two hits in the game, singles by Danny Santana and Andy Leer. Santana stole his seventh base of the year. Levi Michael walked two times.

BELOIT – All Star Break

Eight Snappers players were named to the Midwest League All Star team. However, Eddie Rosario will not play. The game is on Tuesday night.

GCL Twins 3, GCL Orioles 5

The Gulf Coast League got started on Monday. Kuo Hua Lo got the start for the Twins. In four innings, he gave up one run on three hits. He walked none and struck out five. Gonzalo Sanudo came in and gave up two runs on three hits in two innings. Felix Jorge pitched the final two innings and gave up two runs on four hits and a walk.

The offense managed just four hits. The first two runs came in the fifth inning. Logan Wade tripled, and it was followed by an RBI double from Javier Pimentel. Two batters later, Aderling Mejia doubles in the second run. The Twins did have six stolen bases including two each for John Murphy and Kelvin Ortiz. It was a tough professional debut for Bryan Haar who struckout in all four of his at bats.

Note – 1500 ESPN’s Patrick Reusse spoke with Jim Rantz who said that 1^st round pick Byron Buxton would likely not play for four or five days. First, he just got to Ft. Myers a week earlier, and second they want him to get acclimated to the GCL and wood bats, etc.

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Players of the Day for Monday, June 18, 2012

Pitcher of the Day – Carlos Gutierrez

Hitter of the Day – Rene Rivera

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A Look Ahead – Tuesday, June 19, 2012 Schedule

Rochester vs Durham – LHP Luke French

New Britain @ Altoona – TBD

Ft. Myers @ Jupiter – RHP Tom Stuifbergen

Beloit – Midwest League All Star Game

Elizabethton @ Danville – RHP Hudson Boyd

GCL Twins @ GCL Orioles – LHP Austin Malinowski

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If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, players, teams, etc., leave them in the Comments and I’ll try to answer them!