Twins Minor League Report (4/12): Kranson Helps Kernels To Win

Find out everything that happened in the Twins minor league system on Wednesday.

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 2, Buffalo 5

Box Score

David Hurlbut was the one starting pitcher who hadn’t made a start, until Wednesday. He worked 5.1 innings and was charged with four runs, though none of them were earned. The Red Wings defense committed four errors in the game. Hurlbut gave up five hits, walked two and struck out four. He was replaced by Raul Fernandez, who made his AAA debut. The right-hander allowed the inherited runners to score and later one of his own in 1.2 innings. He struck out two. Buddy Boshers worked a perfect inning, striking out one.

Offensively, the Red Wings weren’t able to score until after they were down 5-0. In the eighth, they got RBI singles from Leonardo Reginatto and Matt Hague, but it wasn’t enough. Hague went 2-4. Ben Paulsen was also 2-4. Niko Goodrum went 2-4 and is now hitting .381 on the young season. Chad Allen argued a strike call early in the game. The umpire didn’t like that and ejected the Red Wings hitting coach.

With the loss, the Red Wings are now 4-2 on the season.

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 1, Jacksonville 7

Box Score

The Lookouts took their show on the road for the first time this season with a series at Jacksonville against the Jumbo Shrimp. Jacksonville has four players on their roster with Twins ties. LHP Matt Tomshaw will start for them on Thursday. Jeremias Pineda is an outfielder. Omar Bencomo split last season with the Lookouts and Red Wings. He signed with the Marlins after pitching for Venezuela in the WBC. He’ll start on Friday night. Finally, RHP Chris Mazza is also on their roster.

The biggest bit of news is from tonight’s game is that Nick Gordon started at second base. After starting all five games in Chattanooga at shortstop, he moved to the other side of second with Engelb Vielma taking over at shortstop. We will see how it plays out over the next weeks and even the next few games. It makes more sense to let them settle in at a position for several games rather than moving back and forth too often.

Now to the game. Frankly, it didn’t go well. Kohl Stewart was on the mound for his second start. The right-hander went just 2.1 innings. He was charged with seven runs on four hits. He walked five and struck out three. Just 37 of his 75 pitches were strikes.

But the bullpen kept things where they were, combining for 5.2 scoreless innings. Todd Van Steensel came on and struck out six batters in 2.2 scoreless innings. He gave up two hits and walked none. Randy Rosario, who came up from the Miracle earlier in the day, worked two perfect innings. Nick Burdi gave up a hit, but struck out two, in a scoreless eighth inning.

The offense managed just five hits in the game. Engelb Vielma went 2-4. The Lookouts scored their lone run in the fourth inning. Dan Rohlfing hit a triple and scored on a Jonathan Rodriguez groundout. Dan Gamache was 1-2 with a walk.

The loss evened the Lookouts record at 3-3.

MIRACLE MATTERS

Ft. Myers 2, Tampa 3

Box Score

The Miracle got a tremendous start, and they had a late lead, but in the end, they lost in walk-off fashion.

Down 1-0 after three innings, the Miracle scored on in the fourth. Chris Paul and Rafael Valera led off the inning with walks. Brian Navarreto advance them with a bunt, and Trey Vavra drove in the tying run with a sacrifice fly. An inning later, Casey Scoggins drove in Nelson Molina with a single to give the Miracle a lead.

Dereck Rodriguez was terrific. Through seven innings, he gave up just one run. He gave up a solo home run to lead off the top of the eighth inning which tied the game at two. He got through the inning. On the night, Rodriguez went eight innings and gave up two runs on six hits. He struck out six without issuing a walk.

In the bottom of the ninth, Michael Theofanopoulos came on. He gave up a one-out double. With two outs, he gave up a single that scored the winning run. The Miracle fell to 1-6 on the young season.

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 4, Kane County 1

Box Score

The Kernels played a morning game, got a win and will start a homestand against Wisconsin on Thursday night.

Eddie Del Rosario started out well. He struck out three in the first inning. Through three innings, he faced nine batters and had five strikeouts. However, he struggled in the fifth inning, loading the bases and allowing a run before being removed. His final line was one earned run on three hits, two walks and a hit batter in 4.2 innings. He struck out seven. Andrew Vasquez came on and got out of the fifth and worked three more innings without allowing a run. He gave up just one hit, walked one and struck out three. Colton Davis worked a perfect ninth frame, striking out two.

The offense was pretty spread out. Jermaine Palacios led off and was 2-4 to raise his early-season average to .360. Mitchell Kranson went 2-4, and his first homer of the season came right after Kane County had tied the game at one. Jaylin Davis added his first homer of the year in the eighth inning. He also stole his second base. Ariel Montesino went 1-3 with a walk.

The win pushes the Kernels back over .500 at 4-3.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Dereck Rodriguez, Ft. Myers Miracle

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Mitchell Kranson, Cedar Rapids Kernels

THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Rochester @ Buffalo (12:05 CST) - RHP Jose Berrios

Chattanooga @ Jacksonville - (6:05 CST) - LHP Matt Tracy

Ft. Myers @ Daytona (6:05 CST) - RHP Cody Stashak

Wisconsin @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 CST) – RHP Tyler Wells

Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Wednesday's games.