Saturday in the Minor League Parks

The Twins lost 9-3 to the A’s on Saturday night. It was a bad games for the Twins right from the start. Cole De Vries gave up four runs in the first innings, the big blast was a three-run homer off the bat of Chris Carter. The A’s hit three more homers in the game. The Twins rang the bases really poorly. The offense did very little against the A’s Tommy Milone. Brian Dozier and Josh Willingham each had solo home runs, but it was far from enough.

With that, here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from the Saturday games in the minor leagues. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]

ROCHESTER 4, TOLEDO 3

Nick Blackburn was back on the mound for the Red Wings after throwing eight scoreless innings in his previous start. In this game, he went seven innings. He gave up three runs (just one earned) on five hits. He walked one and struck out three. Caleb Thielbar came in and pitched a scoreless eighth inning. Lester Oliveros returned to the mound for the first time in almost a month when he went on the Disabled List with elbow issues. The right-hander recorded his fifth Red Wings save and struck out two in the inning.

Danny Valencia went 2-4 and drove in a run for the fifth straight game. Michael Hollimon was 2-3. Tsuyoshi Nishioka had a walk and his ninth double.

The Red Wings won for the seventh time in eight games and are now just two games below .500.

With the return of Oliveros, Steve Hirschfeld was sent back to New Britain. Esmerling Vasquez will take his place on the mound in the Sunday game.

NEW BRITAIN 5, TRENTON 6

The game was tied, heading to the 9^th inning. The Rock Cats brought Bruce Pugh into the game. It was Pugh’s 15^th game with the Rock Cats and he was yet to give up a run. However, he gave up a solo homer in the 9^th frame in this game and takes the loss.

Blake Martin started and gave up five runs on nine hits over six innings. He struck out six and did not walk a batter. David Bromberg struck out three over two scoreless innings.

Chris Herrmann went 3-4. Chris Colabello hit his 25^th and 26^th doubles in four at bats. Nate Hanson was 2-4 with his 11^th double.

FT. MYERS 4, CLEARWATER 5

Joe Benson appears to be turning things around with the Miracle. In this game, he went 3-5 with two stolen bases. Jhon Goncalves was 3-4 with his 10^th and 1th doubles. Danny Rams was also 3-4. Danny Ortiz was 2-5.

Matt Hauser made another start. The righty went the first 4.2 innings and gave up two runs (one earned). He gave up six hits, walked four and struck out two. Nelvin Fuentes gave up two runs in the next 1.1 innings. Ricky Bowen came in and went the final 2.2 innings. He struck out four before giving up the winning run.

BELOIT 2, LAKE COUNTY 5

David Hurlbut pitched much better than his line would indicate. Through six innings, the lefty had allowed just one run. Unfortunately, in the 7^th frame, he gave up a four-spot. Overall, he gave up five runs on ten hits and a walk in 6.1 innings. Tim Atherton struck out two in the net 1.2 innings without giving up a run.

Miguel Sano led the offense. He was 2-3 with his 18^th double. He was also hit by a pitch. Stephen Wickens went 2-3.

ELIZABETHTON 4, BLUEFIELD 0

Taylor Rogers, the Twins 11^th round pick from the University of Kentucky, started for the E-Twins and went the first six innings. He gave up no runs and just two hits. The lefty walked one and struck out seven. JT Chargois struck out three, and walked two, over the next two innings. Mason Melotakis struck out two in his inning.

Max Kepler led the offense. He was 3-4 with his third double and third triple. Romy Jimenez was 1-2 with a walk and his eighth double. Jorge Polanco doubled for the third time this year.

GCL TWINS 4, GCL RED SOX 2

The Twins used six pitchers to get this win. It started with lefty Austin Malinowski. The Minnesotan went the first three innings and gave up one run on three hits in three innings. He walked none and struck out three. Trent Higginbotham struck out three over the next two innings. Markus Solbach gave up a run on two hits in his inning. Hung-yi Chen struck out two in his inning. Chis Mazza pitched a 1-2-3 inning. J.O. Berrios recorded his fourth save and struck out the side in the ninth.

Aderlin Mejia led the offense by going 3-4 and stole his seventh base. Rene Tosoni went 2-4 with his fourth double. Javier Pimentel and Logan Wade each went 2-5.

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Players of the Day for Saturday, July 14, 2012

Hitter of the Day – Max Kepler

Pitcher of the Day – Taylor Rogers

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A Look Ahead – Sunday, July 15, 2012 Schedule

Rochester vs Toledo – RHP Esmerling Vasquez

New Britain vs Trenton – RHP BJ Hermsen

Ft. Myers vs Dunedin – LHP Cole Nelson

Beloit @ Lake County – LHP Ryan O’Rourke

Elizabethton vs Bluefield – TBD

GCL Twins – No Game Scheduled

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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!