Twins Minor League Report (4/29): Pitching, Defense Shine, Runs at a Premium

The weather was a factor for two of the Twins’ affiliates today. The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels game was postponed and the St. Paul Saints game was suspended after six innings. The Mighty Mussels hope to play a doubleheader on Saturday. The two games that were completed went to extra innings, but Twins affiliates in these games only combined for just eight hits.

In addition, we saw one Twins' top prospects continue to climb the stolen bases leaderboard as he proves that he can make an impact at the major league level.

Without further ado, let’s see what happened on this Friday in the Twins organization. 

SAINTS (AAA) 
St. Paul 3, Nashville 7
Box Score

The Saints tied the game up at three in the bottom of the sixth before the rain hit and the game was suspended.

Chi Chi Gonzalez made the start for the Saints and allowed three runs in 4 2/3 innings while striking out six batters. He has now allowed five earned runs in 10 2/3 innings this season.

The Saints looked like they were going to get off to a hot start in the first inning after Royce Lewis walked and Alex Kirilloff hit a single, but the next three batters were retired in order to strand the runners.

Nashville hit a home run in each of the second and third innings, but the Saints finally broke through to the run column in the fourth inning when Jake Cave singled and Daniel Robertson drove him in with a double to reduce the deficit to two runs.

With two outs in the fifth inning, Daniel Gossett replaced Gonzalez. Gossett faced four batters, struck out two, and induced two ground balls to Lewis to finish the sixth inning unscathed. In the bottom of the frame, Cave and Jermaine Palacios singled before Elliot Soto drove them both in with a double to tie the game up at three.

After Nashville got out of the inning, the rain became too heavy and the game was halted going into the seventh inning in a 3-3 tie. When the game continued Saturday afternoon, Nashville scored a run in the top of the eighth to take the lead but a runner got thrown out at home on a relay from Mark Contreras to Robertson to David Banuelos to end the top of the eighth.

After a scoreless bottom of the eighth, the Saints turned to Juan Minaya in the ninth, who walked the first three batters before allowing an RBI single and a two-run double before being pulled with runners on second and third with no outs. The Saints then turned to Ryan Mason out of the bullpen who struck out the first batter, walked Brewers #4 prospect Brice Turang, and struck out the last two batters to send the game to the bottom of the ninth inning trailing 7-3. Mason has now struck out nine batters in five and 2/3 innings in 2022.

In the bottom half, Lewis and Jose Miranda singled but the Saints couldn't bring either of them across, falling 7-3 to the Nashville Sounds.

Lewis went 1-1 with four walks in the game, raising his season on-base percentage to .433. Cave went 2-5 with two runs scored and Soto finished with two RBI. The Saints are now 12-9 on the season.

WIND SURGE (AA)
Wichita 3, Arkansas 1
Box Score

In a lackluster offensive performance, the Wichita Wind Surge beat the Arkansas Travelers behind some excellent pitching.

Matt Canterino made the start for Wichita, going three strong innings, striking out four, and not allowing any hits. He is now up to 12 2/3 innings this season and his ERA is down to 2.13. He has struck out 18 batters and allowed nine walks. He has been limited due to elbow issues in 2021, but his workload is slowly increasing in hopes that he could be an impact pitcher in the big leagues sometime soon.

After Canterino was done, Steven Klimek threw two scoreless innings. The Wind Surge didn’t get their first base runner until the fifth inning when Matt Wallner singled. After Arkansas broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the sixth, the Wind Surge tied it up when Cole Sturgeon came in to score on a double play after being hit by a pitch to lead off the inning.

The Wind Surge got some excellent relief pitching from Brandon Lawson and Evan Sisk to force extra innings while the offense remained stagnant. Sisk got out of a huge second-and-third jam with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to force extra frames. He has not allowed a run in 10 1/3 innings this year.

In the top of the tenth, the Wind Surge began with Leobaldo Cabrera on second base and got off to a good start when Kevin Merrell reached on a sacrifice bunt and Andrew Bechtold walked to load the bases. DaShawn Keirsey and Austin Martin hit back-to-back sacrifice flies to give the Wind Surge a 3-1 lead going into the bottom of the tenth, where Alex Scherff didn’t allow a run thanks to Wallner throwing out a runner at home to end the game.

Sturgeon and Wallner collected the only two hits for the Wind Surge in the contest. Despite going hitless, Martin had a productive day at the plate by walking, reaching via hit by pitch, stealing a base, and driving in a run on a sac fly. Martin now has ten stolen bases, good for second in the league. The Wind Surge are now 11-8 this season as well as 3-1 in extra-inning games.

KERNELS (HIGH-A)
Cedar Rapids 2, Beloit 3
Box Score

The Cedar Rapids Kernels dropped a heartbreaker to the Beloit Snappers in 10 innings, losing 3-2 on a walk-off single. The extra-inning runner-on-second rule hurt Cedar Rapids, as they were unable to score in the top of the tenth with their extra runner, and Beloit walked them off in the bottom half of the inning.

Sean Mooney was masterful in his third start of the season, throwing five scoreless innings while striking out eight batters and only allowing two walks and one hit. For the season, he is up to 13 innings while allowing three earned runs, eight hits, and 17 strikeouts.

The Kernels couldn’t get anything going offensively through the first five innings, only mustering up four singles against Beloit. In the sixth inning, the Kernels put up two runs when Christian Encarnacion-Strand singled, Aaron Sabato walked, Jair Camargo scored Encarnacion-Strand with a double, and Jeferson Morales scored Sabato with a sacrifice fly to give the Kernels a 2-0 lead.

The game stayed 2-0 until the eighth inning, thanks to two scoreless innings from Bobby Milacki. In the bottom of the eighth, the Snappers used single and back-to-back doubles to tie the game up at two going into the ninth inning. After an uneventful ninth inning in which he struck out two batters, Derek Molina began the tenth inning and gave up a hit to Davis Bradshaw which proved to be the walk-off hit thanks to the extra-inning runner-on-second rule.

Encarnacion-Strand and Will Holland each had two hits in the game to lead the offense for Cedar Rapids.

MIGHTY MUSSELS (LOW-A)
Fort Myers, Clearwater (Postponed)

Friday’s game was postponed due to inclement weather. The plan is for these teams to play two, seven-inning games on Saturday, starting at 4:30. 

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Sean Mooney (Cedar Rapids) - 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K
Hitter of the Day – Royce Lewis (St. Paul) - 1-1, 4 BB

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) - 0-2, BB, SB (10), RBI, K (played CF)
#2 - Royce Lewis (St. Paul) - 1-1, 4 BB, SB (5)
#3 - Jose Miranda (St. Paul) - 1-4, K
#6 - Matt Canterino (Wichita) - 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K (42 pitches, 25 strikes)
#12 - Matt Wallner (Wichita) - 1-3, BB, 2 K
#19 - Edouard Julien (Wichita) -  0-4, BB

SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS (Saints game will continue at 1:07 PM CST)
Nashville @ St. Paul (2:07 CST) - RHP Jacob Faria (0-0, 4.76 ERA)
Wichita @ Arkansas (7:05 CST) - RHP Ben Gross (0-0, 5.19 ERA) 
Cedar Rapids @ Beloit (6:35 PM CST) - RHP Sawyer Gipson-Long (1-0, 2.08 ERA)
Clearwater @ Fort Myers (DH @ 4:30 CST) - RHP Travis Adams (1-0, 1.20 ERA)  

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

Thank you for reading, and Go Twins!