Twins Minor League Report (4/17): Saints, Wind Surge, Kernels Conclude Week with Wins

TRANSACTIONS 
There were no transactions in the Twins' minor leagues on Sunday. 

SAINTS SENTINEL 
St. Paul 5, Indianapolis 1
Box Score
SP: Jake Faria - 4 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Royce Lewis (2-4, R, RBI (5)), David Banuelos (2-3, 2B, R, RBI (3))

The Saints finished their first homestand against the Indianapolis Indians winning 5-1 Sunday thanks to a strong start from Jake Faria and five scoreless innings from the bullpen. 

The offense cooled off from Saturday’s 16-13 victory over Indianapolis. The scoring started for the Saints with an RBI double from catcher David Banuelos in the bottom of the third driving in second baseman Elliot Soto. Two at-bats later, Royce Lewis drove in Banuelos to make it a 2-1 Saints lead. 

In the bottom of the sixth, the Saints were able to tack on two more runs thanks to a groundout from left fielder Jake Cave that scored Lewis. In the next at-bat, designated hitter Chance Sisco reached base on an error that scored first baseman Curtis Terry, making it a 4-1 Saints game. The final run of the game came again from the bat of Cave as he had another ground out that scored center fielder Mark Contreras, tallying the final run of the Saints 5-1 victory.

Faria showed great improvement in his second start for the Saints Sunday, decreasing the number of walks he surrendered from five last Sunday against Louisville to two today. After completing four innings, Faria was once again replaced by Chi Chi Gonzalez. Gonzalez took on the next three innings for the Saints keeping Indianapolis hitless and only allowing two base runners on walks. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 5, Northwest Arkansas 1
Box Score
SP: Brandon Lawson - 3 2/3 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
HR: Matt Wallner (1), Michael Helman (1)
Multi-hit games: Kevin Merrell (2-4, 2 RBI (3), K)

After starting the season 0-3, the Wind Surge have gone 4-2 and won this week's series against the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. The final score for the Wind Surge on Sunday was the exact same as the Saints with the 5-1 victory over the Naturals.

The Wind Surge had a strong outing from starter Brandon Lawson. He provided the rotation 3 2/3 innings pitched against the Naturals allowing nine base runners but somehow giving up only one run. The Wind Surge bullpen only allowed three base runners in the remaining 5 1/3 innings of the game. 

On the offensive side, Wind Surge right fielder Matt Wallner and third baseman Michael Helman each hit their first home runs of the season to give the Wind Surge insurance runs. Shortstop and Wind Surge newcomer Kevin Merrell had his first multi-hit game of the season going 2-for-4 and driving in a couple of runs.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 6, Quad Cities 2
Box Score
SP: Aaron Rozek 5 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Charles Mack (3-4, 2 R, 2B, RBI (5)), Anthony Prato (2-5, 2 RBI (10) 2 K), Kennie Taylor (2-3, R, 3B (1), BB, K)

The Kernels took home their seventh win of the season on Sunday to finish out their series against the Quad Cities River Bandits. Aaron Rozek made his second start of the season for the Kernels and pitched a phenomenal five innings allowing only three base runners, and one unearned run while striking out seven batters. 

Even with Christian Encarnacion-Strand out of the lineup for the Kernels on Sunday, their bats were still able to produce a high-scoring game. The hitting surge for the Kernels was led by Charles Mack who went 3-for-4 and brought his batting average for the season up to .533 in 15 at-bats. Also keeping up his hot streak for the Kernels was Anthony Prato who had two hits and two runs batted in to bring his RBI total to ten in the Kernels' first nine games. 

The bullpen pitched an effective game after Rozek’s departure having four different relievers come in for an inning each. The Kernels bullpen totaled four innings pitched, four hits, one run, five strikeouts and no walks Sunday afternoon. 

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 3, Jupiter 4
Box Score
SP: Travis Adams 5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K
HR:  Jake Rucker (1)
Multi-hit games: Mikey Perez (2-4, R, K), Ernie Yake (2-4, R, K)

The Mighty Mussels were the only Twins affiliate to drop a game on Sunday. The Mussels were trailing the Jupiter Hammerheads 4-1 going into the bottom of the ninth. They were able to score two runs and make it a close game until the final out.

Mussels starter Travis Adams once again had a great start for his teammates going five innings, allowing only three base runners, and striking out seven. The Hammerheads were able to score three runs against Mussels reliever Jaylen Nowlin in his second inning of work in the top of the seventh. Coming out of the bullpen for the Mussels after Nowlin was Regi Grace who only gave up one run in his 2 1/3 innings pitched. 

On the offensive side Mussels' third baseman Jake Rucker hit his first home run of the season, a two-run shot in the bottom of the ninth that brought the Mussels a run away from tying the game. :Left fielder Kyler Fedko went hitless during Sunday’s game but reached base twice on walks, maintaining his OPS at 1.238 for the season. 

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day –  Travis Adams (Ft. Myers) - 5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K
Hitter of the Day – Charles Mack (Cedar Rapids) - 3-4, 2 R, 2B, RBI (5)

PROSPECT SUMMARY
We will again keep tabs on the Twins' top prospects. You’ll probably read about them in the team sections, but if they aren’t there, you’ll see how they did here. 

Here’s a look at how the current Twins Daily Top 20 performed:
#1 - Austin Martin (Wichita) - 1-5, SB (6), K
#2 - Royce Lewis (St. Paul) - 2-4, R, RBI (5)
#3 - Jose Miranda (St. Paul) - 0-3, BB
#10 - Noah Miller (Ft. Myers) - 0-3, 2 BB, 3 K, SB (2) 
#12 - Matt Wallner (Wichita) - 1-3, R, HR (1), RBI (2), BB, K
#18 - Spencer Steer (Wichita) - 0-4 

TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
All Twins Minor League Affiliates are off on Monday and will resume their games on Tuesday, April 19. The only Monday in which there will be minor-league games is July 4th (and some for the Saints in September). 

St. Paul @ Toledo (5:35 PM CST) - 
Midland @ Wichita (7:05 PM CST) - RHP Matt Canterino
Peoria @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CST) - 
Fort Myers @ Dunedin (6:30 PM CST) - 

Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Sunday’s games as the second weekend of the minor and major league seasons has concluded.