Twins Minor League Report (5/1): Rain, Rain, Go Away, Let the Twins Affiliates Play

TRANSACTIONS 
The Twins announced Sunday morning that pitchers Sonny Gray and Jordan Balazovic were assigned to Low-A affiliate Fort Myers for rehab assignments and are available to pitch Sunday. In addition, Marco Raya was activated by Ft. Myers. he is scheduled to start on Tuesday. 

SAINTS SENTINEL 
St. Paul and Nashville were postponed due to Weather.

The Saints were unable to play their series finale against the Nashville Sounds on Sunday due to wet grounds at CHS Field. The makeup game has yet to be rescheduled for a later date. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 4, Arkansas 3
Box Score
SP: Chris Vallimont - 4 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 4 K
HR: Cole Sturgeon (3), Alex Isola (3)
Multi-hit games: Isola (3-4, R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI)

The Wind Surge completed their series victory over the Travelers Sunday afternoon in a 4-3 victory that gave the Wind Surge a 5-1 series win. 

Chris Vallimont was on the mound for his fifth start of the season for the Wind Surge. Vallimont had a strong first inning but struggled in the second and third giving up two runs in the second on a bases-clearing double by Travelers catcher Jake Anchia. Vallimont allowed the Travelers third and final run to score on a wild pitch in the bottom of the third. Vallimont cooled off in the fourth inning but was taken out for the day afterward. 

Alex Isola carried the Wind Surge lineup to victory with his 3-for-4 performance at the plate coming a triple short of the cycle. Isola also hit the game-winning home run in the top of the sixth that gave the Wind Surge their 4-3 lead. Cole Sturgeon hit his third home run of the season in the fifth inning against Travelers starter George Kirby. 

The Wind Surge will be returning home for their next series starting Tuesday against the Tulsa Drillers. 

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 6, Beloit 13
Box Score
SP: Cade Povich 4.1 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
HR: Aaron Sabato (2), Jeferson Morales (1)
Multi-hit games: Anthony Prato (2-3, R, 2B, RBI (14) 2 BB), Jair Camargo (2-4, R, BB, K)

The Kernels completed their final game against the Beloit Sky Carp with a loss that split the six-game series between the two teams. 

The 13-6 loss is the largest for the Kernels on the season so far. Kernels starter Cade Povich made his third start of the season but was roughed up over 4 1/3 innings pitched. The Sky Carp scored three runs against him in the second and three more to knock him out in the fifth inning. Povich still did have three strong innings. throwing scoreless first, third, and fourth innings. 

The Kernels offense did their best to keep up but fell short in the later innings as the Sky Carp tagged on three insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh and four more in the bottom of the eighth. Kernels left fielder Anthony Prato and catcher Jair Camargo both had strong games at the plate, but it was first baseman Aaron Sabato’s two-run homer in the top of the ninth that brought the Kernels back into the game. Even though they fell short and lost 13-6

The Kernels will be returning home for their next series against the Quad City River Bandits which will be their second series against them for the season. 

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 4, Clearwater 4: Suspended in the top of the 11th
Box Score
SP: Sonny Gray 3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K
HR:  None
Multi hit games: Noah Miller (2-3, R, BB), Kyler Fedko (2-4, R, RBI (14), BB, K)

The Mighty Mussels game against the Clearwater Threshers was suspended in the top of the 11th due to rain. The suspended game will resume during the Mighty Mussels next match up against the Threshers the week of May 16. 

Both Sonny Gray and Jordan Balazovic pitched for the Mighty Mussels during Sunday’s game. Gray made his rehab start and nearly three perfect innings for Fort Myers save for a fielding error in the top of the first and a single in the top of the second. Gray did not allow any walks and struck out five in his appearance.

Balazovic came into the game right after Gray for two innings. Balazovic did not have as strong a performance as Gray as he gave up four runs on four hits and two walks in his first appearance for the 2022 season. He has been rehabbing a knee injury.

The Mussels will begin their next series on Tuesday night at home against the Cardinals Single-A affiliate, the Palm Beach Cardinals. 

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day –  Sonny Gray  (Fort Myers) - 3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K
Hitter of the Day – Alex Isola (Wichita) - 3-4, R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI

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. 

#2 - Austin Martin (Wichita) - 1-2, R, 2B, K
#5 - Jordan Balazovic (Fort Myers, Rehab) - 2 IP 4 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, K
#7 - Josh Winder (Minnesota) - 6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K (1st career MLB Win)
#11 - Noah Miller (Ft. Myers) - 2-3, R, BB
#13 - Cole Sands (Minnesota) - 2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
#16 - Spencer Steer (Wichita) - 0-3, R, BB
#17 - Cade Povich (Cedar Rapids) - 4.1 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
#18 - Christian Encarnacion-Strand (Cedar Rapids) - 0-3, RBI (24), BB, K 
#19 - Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 1-4, 2B, 2 K

TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

All Twins Minor League Affiliates are off on Monday and will resume their games on Tuesday, May 3. The only Monday in which there will be minor-league games is July 4th (and some for the Saints in September). 

Iowa @ St. Paul (6:37 PM CST) - TBD
Tulsa @ Wichita (7:05 PM CST) - TBD
Quad Cities @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CST) - TBD
Fort Myers @ Lakeland (5:30 PM CST) - RHP Marco Raya 

Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Sunday’s games as the second weekend of the Minor and Major League seasons has concluded.