Tuesday Night Minor League Round-Up

Scott Diamond and Liam Hendriks switched teams for their starts on Tuesday night and both players found success at their different levels. Liam Hendriks had struggled in his outings with the Twins so he was sent back down to Rochester. He didn't make it out of the sixth inning but he only gave up one earned run with eight strikeouts.

Diamond found himself on the mound at Target Field with a team struggling to score runs. He put together an outstanding start as he lasted seven innings and didn't allow a run. There were some excellent defensive plays made behind him especially by newly called-up Brian Dozier. The Twins would go on to win the game by a score of 5-0 and they will look for the series win tomorrow against the Angels.

Here is a quick look at what happened in the Twins minor league system on Tuesday:[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]

ROCHESTER 3, PAWTUCKET 1

As mentioned above, Hendriks was inserted back into the rotation for the Red Wings and he had very little problems with this transition. The only real issue for Hendriks came in the bottom of the sixth when the lead off man got a hit, was bunted to second, and eventually scored on another single. Otherwise, Hendriks faced the minimum in every inning that he pitched to earn his first win of the season.

Deolis Guerra continued his impressive season in the minor leagues by pitching 2.1 innings of relief and allowing one hit. In his 9 innings with the Red Wings, he has only allowed six hits and no runs. This comes on the heels of pitching 12.2 innings with New Britain and only allowing 1 earned run. If he keeps this up, he should be in Minnesota sooner rather than later.

Ben Revere was the only member of the Red Wings to have more than one hit as he went 2-for-4 with two singles. Pedro Florimon hit his first home run in Rochester in his second game since being called-up. A strong performance from the pitching staff meant the offense didn't need to score a whole lot of runs to get the Red Wings a win.

NEW BRITAIN 4, BINGHAMTON 3

The Rock Cats found themselves in an early hole against the Mets but a strong top of the ninth inning turned a 1-3 loss into a 4-3 win for New Britain. Joe Benson was in familiar territory but it was the opposite direction he was hoping to go this year. He struggled to an 0-for-4 day at the plate in his first start since being demoted over the weekend. On the defensive side of the ball, he did have an outfield assist and it is nice to think of Aaron Hicks and Benson covering a lot of ground in the outfield.

A walk and an error in the top of the ninth inning helped to spur the comeback for the Rock Cats. Chris Colabello reached on a walk to start the inning but the big hit would come off of the bat of Nate Hanson. His fourth double of the year would score two runs and give New Britain their first and only lead of the day. Evan Bigley and Colabello had the only other extra base hits in the contest with each of them cracking a double.

The bullpen was outstanding for New Britain in relief of Andrew Albers. After Albers pitched five innings and gave up three runs, the relief arms would not surrender a run in the last four innings. Blake Martin and Lester Oliveros would combine for two perfect innings in their time on the mound. Daniel Turpen was able to pitch the last two innings and pick up his third win of the year by giving up one hit and no runs.

FORT MYERS 4, DUNEDIN 16

There was plenty of offense in this contest but unfortunately for the Miracle, it came at the expense of their pitching staff. Last year's second round draft pick Madison Boer has struggled in his two starts since being promoted from Beloit. On Tuesday night, he only pitched two innings and surrendered nine earned runs with most of the damage coming off of three home runs. His ERA with the Miracle now stands at 14.09 so hopefully all it can do is get lower from this point going forward.

The Miracle were able to accumulate 11 hits in the contest but there were no extra-base hits for the team. This made it tough to keep up with the Blue Jays. Daniel Santana raised his batting average to .313 with a 3-for-5 day at the plate. Last year's first round pick Levi Michael had two hits but also had his six error of the year on the defensive side of the ball.

Almost all of the runs for the Miracle came in the last inning when the game was already out of hand. Hopefully this late inning offensive surge will carry into their next game so the team can get back to their winning ways.

BELOIT 3, KANE COUNTY 4

The Snappers might have lost but Miguel Sano hit a home run for the second night in a row and the fourth time in his last six games. If you hadn't heard, this guy is going to be good. Wang-Wei Lin and Adam Pettersen both had two hits to set the table in front of Sano. Eddie Rosario is in a little bit of a slump as he was held hitless for the third time in the last four games.

Matthew Tomshaw took the loss for the Snappers but his outing was not all that bad. He gave up six hits and three earned runs in five innings pitched. David Hurlbut did a fine job of relieving Tomshaw as he threw three shutout innings with the Cougars managing two hits off of him.

Fans will continue to keep an eye on Beloit to see what Sano is able to do. It could be more important to see if his home run buddy from last year, Rosario, can get back on track and start hitting the ball over the fence.

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Players of the Day for Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Hitter of the Day- Nate Hanson

Pitcher of the Day- Liam Hendriks

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A Look Ahead- Wednesday, May 9th Schedule

Rochester @ Pawtucket- RHP Cole DeVries

New Britain @ Binghamton- RHP Steve Hirschfeld

Fort Myers @ Dunedin- RHP Jhon Garcia

Beloit @ Peoria- LHP Steven Gruver

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If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, leave them in the comments section and Seth or I will try to answer them.