Twins Minor League Report (4/28): Mack Attack Keeps Kernels Rolling

SAINTS SENTINEL 
Nashville 6, St. Paul 2
Box Score

Minnesota acquired Ronny Henriquez in the Mitch Garver trade with the Texas Rangers and tonight he worked as the St. Paul Saints starter. Lasting just 2 2/3 innings, Henriquez gave up four earned runs on three hits and four walks. Two big flies were sent out of the park against him.

Brewers star prospect Brice Turang opened the scoring with a first-inning bomb before Nashville extended things to a 3-0 lead in the 3rd inning. Jake Cave put the Saints on the board with an RBI single scoring Royce Lewis in the bottom half but the three-run deficit is as close as they’d cut it.

After giving up another Sounds run on a Jon Singleton homer in the 5th inning, St. Paul drew within three again on a Derek Fisher 6th inning double. Jose Miranda scored but Curtis Terry was thrown out at third base on the play.

The deficit was pushed back to four after the second Weston Wilson home run of the game in the 8th inning and that’s where things wound up.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 2, Arkansas 0
Box Score

Stud pitching prospect Simeon Woods-Richardson was on the bump tonight for the Wind Surge. Working five scoreless innings, he’s now recorded 21 2/3 scoreless innings to start the season. He punched out four while walking three and owns an 18/7 K/BB thus far. After a weird season with an Olympics break thrown in, he looks like an incredible addition from the Toronto Blue Jays.

Arkansas stifled the Wind Surge offense for the most part as well. Only four Wichita hits were recorded and single runs came in the 4th and 8th innings. Cole Sturgeon scored the first run on an Andrew Bechtold ground out while Spencer Steer was plated on a Michael Helman single.

In a game that was largely devoid of offense, Wichita produced when needed.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 3, Beloit 0
Box Score

Looking for continued dominance the Cedar Rapids Kernels gave the ball to Brent Headrick tonight and he handled business. Working five scoreless innings, Headrick allowed just three hits while punching out seven and giving up no free passes. The bullpen came on to shut it down and preserve a shutout as the Kernels improved to a staggering 15-3 on the year.

On the offensive side of things, the Kernels were largely held in check. Only two batters recorded base hits prior to the final frame. In the 9th inning Jeferson Morales started things off with a single before advancing to 2nd base on a wild pitch. Wander Javier then drew a walk before a Charles Mack double drove in two.

The Kernels closed things out in the bottom half and it’s been nothing short of an amazing start to the season.

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 3, Clearwater 2
Box Score

John Stankiewicz has been nothing short of dominant to start 2022 for the Mighty Mussels and he continued that streak tonight. Working 5 2/3 innings, the Fort Myers hurler gave up just a single unearned run on five hits. Stankiewicz also added three strikeouts with just one walk while lowering his season ERA to 0.83.

After getting behind in the first inning, Fort Myers remained resilient and broke through in the 5th inning. A Jesus Feliz double drove in Noah Cardenas before Kala’i Rosario left the building for his second big fly of the season.

Although Clearwater came within on during the bottom of the 7th inning, that’s as close as they’d get in this one.

Cardenas was the lone Mighty Mussels batter to record a two-hit night, and he’s pushed his season OPS to .843. Mike Paredes worked 2 1/3 innings of relief for Stankiewicz allowing just a single run on four hits while recording five strikeouts and allowing no free passes. Matthew Swain then came on to close it out in the 9th inning.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Simeon Woods-Richardson (Wichita) 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 4 K
Hitter of the Day – Charles Mack (Cedar Rapids) 2-4, 2 RBI, 2B

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:

#2 - Royce Lewis (St. Paul) - 1-4, R, K
#3 - Jose Miranda (St. Paul) - 1-4, R
#4 - Jordan Balazovic (St. Paul) - IL
#8 - Simeon Woods Richardson (Wichita) - 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 4 K
#10 - Noah Miller (Ft. Myers) - 1-3, BB, K
#11 - Gilberto Celestino (Minnesota) - 2-3, 2 R, RBI, 2B
#12 - Matt Wallner (Wichita) - 0-2, 2 BB, K
#15 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Ft. Myers) - 0-3, 2 K
#16 - Ronny Hendriquez (St. Paul) - 2.2 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, K
#18 - Spencer Steer (Wichita) - 1-3, R, 2B
#19 - Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 0-5, 3 K
 

FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
Nashville @ St. Paul (6:37PM CST) - RHP Chi-Chi Gonzalez
Wichita @ Arkansas (7:05PM CST) - RHP Matt Canterino
Cedar Rapids @ Beloit (6:35PM CST) - RHP Sean Mooney
Clearwater @ Fort Myers (6:00PM CST) - RHP David Festa

Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Thursday’s games! It sure is exciting to have all four Twins full-season affiliates back and playing.