Twins Minor League Report (4/12): Povich Nearly Perfect

TRANSACTIONS

• The Minnesota Twins recalled RHP Griffin Jax to fill in for RHP Jorge Alcala, who was placed on the injured list with right elbow inflammation.
• IF Yunior Severino was played on the 7-day injured list with a left thumb contusion.
• In Fort Myers RHP Malik Barrington was assigned to the roster from the FCL Twins.

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 1, Indianapolis 5 (5 innings)
Box Score

While the Minnesota Twins played through the weather in Minneapolis, the Saints weren’t as lucky over in St. Paul for their home opener. The game was delayed after five innings were completed and eventually called. 

Daniel Gossett made his second start and was charged with the loss. He went three innings and allowed four earned runs on six hits and three walks while striking out one. Drew Strotman went the final two innings and gave up one run on two hits. He struck out three. 

Jose Miranda went 2-for-3 out of the leadoff spot with a pair of doubles. Jake Cave and Mark Contreras collected their other two hits. St. Paul’s lone run came in the second inning after Contreras got caught in a rundown on his single. Cave was able to scamper home from third when the first baseman dropped a throw.

The Saints look to get back to their winning ways tomorrow with Cole Sands on the bump.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 6, NW Arkansas 8
Box Score

The Wind Surge got put in a big hole early as the Naturals put eight runs on the board in the first inning. Wichita starting pitcher Brandon Lawson exited the game with an ERA of infinity as he was not able to record an out. He was charged with all eight runs (six earned) thanks to five hits and two walks. 

The Wind Surge finally got on the scoreboard in the fourth as they were able to take advantage of an extra out when strike three got away from the NW Arkansas catcher. The next two hitters drew walks to score their first run before DaShawn Keirsey delivered a two-RBI single to make it 8-3. They’d pull within two runs after five innings when they strung together four singles and a walk to score three more but was as close as they’d get for the rest of the game.

Bryan Sammons, Steven Cruz, Austin Schulfer, and Argenis Angulo were fantastic in relief of Lawson, allowing no more runs to the Naturals the rest of the way. They combined for eight scoreless innings, allowing just three hits and two walks between them, and striking out seven.

Michael Helman finished the game 2-for-5 with a pair of runs scored and an RBI. Edouard Julien left the game with an injury in the top of the first after drawing a walk (as he does) and stealing second base. As a team, they managed only six singles, were 3-for-9 with runners in scoring position, and left nine men on base for the game.

Based on the video above, it appears that it may be a high ankle sprain. Looked painful initially, but he was able to walk off the field under his own power. 

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 8, Quad Cities 1
Box Score

Just three pitches into the game the Kernels took the lead and never looked back in this one. Anthony Prato led off the game with a triple, and Christian Encarnacion-Strand drove him in on the next pitch with a groundout to short for his 16th RBI. It took until the fourth inning for them to add any more, but did so in a big way. With the bases loaded, Seth Gray delivered a two-run double before Jair Camargo clubbed his first home run of the year, a three-run shot to make it 6-0 Kernels.

The Twins 3rd round pick in the 2021 draft, left-hander Cade Povich, made the start for Cedar Rapids and was spectacular over five innings to pick up his first win of the year. He allowed just one hit, walked one, and struck out eight, retiring his last fourteen hitters in a row. Even more impressively, the last six of those came on strikeouts. It was also his 22nd birthday!

Miguel Rodriguez came on for the sixth and went two innings, allowing one run on two hits and two walks. He struck out one. Derek Molina pitched a scoreless eighth and Andrew Cabezas punctuated the win by striking out the side in the ninth. 

The Kernels added two more runs in the sixth thanks to three walks and three wild pitches, and finished the game with nine hits as a team. Jeferson Morales, Wander Javier, and Seth Gray each had two hits.

MUSSEL MATTERS
Jupiter 5, Fort Myers 6
Box Score

Right-hander Marco Raya took the mound for his first professional game, and was solid through the first four innings. He had a pair of strikeouts in a one-two-three fourth before allowing a leadoff home run to start the fifth. The game was tied at three before his day was ended as the next four hitters all reached base. Hunter McMahon came on and escaped the inning without any further damage. In total, Raya went 4 1/3 innings in his debut, allowing three runs (two earned) on seven hits and a walk, while striking out four.

The Mighty Mussels had three runs of their own by that point thanks to a home run from Emmanuel Rodriguez and two-run single from Kyle Schmidt in the fourth. They added a run in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI single from Ernie Yake to take a 4-3 lead.

McMahon would get the Mighty Mussels through the seventh, allowing one run and striking out four in his 2 2/3 innings. With the score tied at four, Samuel Perez would get them to extra innings.

With the extra runner on second base to start the tenth inning, the Hammerheads took a 5-4 lead after an error and sac fly, but it wouldn’t be enough. Perez finished with three innings pitched, allowing two hits and striking out five.

In the bottom half the Mighty Mussels went the bunting route with Daniel Ozoria, and it turned into a run scoring error to tie the game with the winning run only 90 feet away. The next batter, Kala’i Rosario walked it off with a single to right field to send the fans home happy.

As a team Fort Myers notched fourteen hits and were 5-for-10 with runners in scoring position in the game. Emmanuel Rodriguez (2-for-5, 2 R, HR), Keoni Cavaco (2-for-4, 2B, SB), Rosario (2-for-5, R, RBI), and Kyler Fedko (2-for-4, 2 R) each had multiple hits.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Pitcher of the Day - Cade Povich, Cedar Rapids Kernels (W, 5 IP, H, BB, 8 K)
Hitter of the Day - Seth Gray, Cedar Rapids Kernels (2-for-3, 2 R, 2B, 2 RBI, BB)

PROSPECT SUMMARY

#1 - Austin Martin (Wichita) - 0-for-4, 2 K
#2 - Royce Lewis (St. Paul) - 0-for-2
#3 - Jose Miranda (St. Paul) - 2-for-3, 2 2B
#9 - Josh Winder (Minnesota) - 1 IP, 0 H, ER, 2 BB, K (MLB debut)
#10 - Noah Miller (Fort Myers) - 1-for-5, K
#11 - Gilberto Celestino (Minnesota) - 0-for-1, K
#12 - Matt Wallner (Wichita) - 0-for-5, 4 K
#15 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Fort Myers) - 2-for-5, 2 R, HR (2), RBI, 2 K
#18 - Spencer Steer (Wichita) - 1-for-4, R
#19 - Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 0-for-0, BB, SB

WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Indianapolis @ St. Paul (6:37 PM CDT) - RHP Cole Sands (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Wichita @ NW Arkansas (7:05 PM CDT) - RHP Matt Canterino (0-1, 4.50 ERA)
Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (6:30 PM CDT) - RHP Sean Mooney (0-0, -.-- ERA)
Jupiter @ Fort Myers (6:00 PM CDT) - LHP Steve Hajjar (0-0, -.-- ERA)

Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Tuesday’s games!