Twins Minor League Report (4/21): Shine Bright Like Scott Diamond

The title of today's article is based on Rihanna's "Diamonds", which I heard on KDWB today and which was written in less than 15 minutes. Not a coincidence, it took longer than 15 minutes to write the following report.

The Twins had an off day yesterday and return to action this evening against the Tampa Bay Rays. Kyle Gibson will look to continue his early season success.

[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]All apologies for having this go up later than normal. But now that we're back up and running, the report goes up as usual.

RED WINGS REPORT

ROCHESTER 5, SYRACUSE 2

Box Score

A couple who were recently dismissed from the 40-man roster helped the Red Wings get back over .500.

Scott Diamond turned in his best outing of the season (by far!) en route to picking up his first victory this year. His six solid innings, where he allowed seven hits and two walks, were enough for Rochester’s bats to pick up the win. Diamond allowed two runs and struck out three. He threw 90 pitches (61 strikes).

A.J. Achter picked up a three-inning save. He struck out four batters while allowing one hit. He also hit a batter.

Chris Parmelee has continued his hot play. Parmelee was 3-for-4 tonight and hit his third home run of the season. He drove in two and also reached base after he was hit by pitch. Over his last four games, he is 10-for-17 with three extra base hits (two home runs), a walk and five runs batted in.

Danny Santana and Eric Farris both added two hits and a stolen base. Doug Bernier and Wilkin Ramirez doubled.

ROCK CATS REVIEW

NEW BRITAIN 4, NEW HAMPSHIRE 7 (14 innings)

Box Score

The Rock Cats have been pretty terrible this year, but were having so much fun today they decided to play 14 innings (or 4 hours, 37 minutes).

Pat Dean got the team off to a good start, scattering three runs (two earned) over 5.1 innings. He allowed six hits and three walks. He struck out three and gave up two home runs.

The bullpen did an excellent job. Cole Johnson (two Ks) went 1.2 innings. Matt Guerrier was charged with a blown save, but the run was unearned. Lester Oliveros pitched two scoreless frames. Dan Turpen (5 outs) and Ryan O’Rourke (1 out) contributed hitless outings.

Adrian Salcedo was asked to pitch a longer outing and struggled. He got six batters out, but walked one, allowed three hits, threw two wild pitches and committed a throwing error. This led to three runs (two earned) and his second loss of the season.

The defense behind the pitchers was shaky at best. Aderling Mejia and Kennys Vargas both had “missed catch” errors. But the pitchers didn’t help themselves either, with both Salcedo and Turpen committing errors of their own.

The bats went cold after the 4th inning. The Rockcats scored four in the first four innings, but managed zero runs over the final 10 frames.

Nate Hanson had two hits, including a home run. Brandon Waring doubled in his multi-hit game. Tony Thomas, Danny Ortiz and Vargas also had two-hit games.

Of issue was the team going 3-for-16 with RISP and leaving 13 runners on base.

MIRACLE MATTERS

FORT MYERS 2, JUPITER 3

Box Score

Alex Wimmers had another solid start, though this one wasn’t as good as the last one. He pitched five innings, allowing five hits and walking three. He allowed two runs and struck out four in a no-decision.

Steven Gruver took the loss, giving up a run in two innings. Madison Boer walked one in a scoreless inning.

Offensively, the Miracle struggled, going 2-for-11 with RISP and left 10 men on base.

Levi Michael hit his fifth double. Niko Goodrum hit his third triple. Mike Gonzales and Max Kepler both had two hits.

Jorge Polanco went 0-for-3, but is still batting .333. He hasn’t been without struggles though. Tonight he committed his 10th error, and was picked off/caught stealing. It’s a tribute to him that he’s been able to keep his troubles out of the batter’s box though, and you have to wonder how long he’ll get a shot to continue at shortstop (especially when neither Michael or Goodrum would be any worse).

Doug Mientkiewicz was ejected in the 8th inning.

KERNELS NUGGETS

CEDAR RAPIDS 3, PEORIA 5

Box Score

The Kernels blew an early lead and then regained it… only to lose it again in the 8th inning. They were unable to battle back in the 9th inning and fell to 9-8 on the season.

Aaron Slegers went 5.2 innings allowing three runs on five hits and three walks. He struck out five before turning the ball over to Brandon Bixler. Bixler walked two and struck out two, allowing one hit in 1.1 innings. Christian Powell took the loss, surrendering two runs on two hits and a walk. He struck out three in his first decision of the year.

Jason Kanzler was the lone player to get multiple hits. Kanzler also doubled. Bryan Haar doubled. Chad Christensen tripled and Zack Larson homered.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Scott Diamond, Rochester Red Wings

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Chris Parmelee, Rochester Red Wings

TUESDAY’S PROBABLES:

Rochester at Pawtucket (5:15 CST): Logan Darnell

Fort Myers vs Jupiter (5:35 CST): Jason Wheeler

New Britain at New Hampshire (5:35 CST): Virgil Vasquez

Cedar Rapids at Peoria (6:30 CST): Ryan Eades