Twins Minor League Report (5/10): Mighty Mussels No-Hitter!

TRANSACTIONS

• The Minnesota Twins selected the contracts of RHP Jharel Cotton and OF Mark Contreras in advance of their series opener with the Houston Astros.
• In Fort Myers, the Mighty Mussels placed RHP Logan Campbell on the 7-day injured list, and in a corresponding move activated RHP Niklas Rimmel.

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 6, Columbus 7 (12 innings)
Box Score

The way these teams traded runs and leads throughout the game, it was no surprise they needed extra-innings to reach a conclusion. The Saints tied or took the lead four different times, and the Clippers did the same.

St. Paul got the first run on the scoreboard in the third, when Ernie Yake drove in Caleb Hamilton with a single. They tied the game at three in the top of the seventh, thanks to a 2-run home run from Hamilton, his second of the year. Down 5-3 in the ninth, RBI singles from Derek Fisher and Hamilton sent the game to extra innings. In the tenth, the Saints were able to get their free runner across the plate to take a 6-5 lead courtesy of a Jake Cave single, but Columbus was able to match it in the bottom half to extend it further. That’s where the luck ran out for the good guys. In the twelfth, the Clippers were finally able to walk it off with a two-out double that was just out of the reach of left-fielder Cole Sturgeon.

On the pitching front, the Saints got a decent effort from diminutive starting pitcher Ronny Henriquez, who completed 4 2/3 innings. He allowed two earned runs on three hits (one home run) and a walk, while striking out four. JC Ramirez got the next four outs, allowing a home run of his own. Jovani Moran allowed two runs on three hits while striking out one in the seventh. Juan Minaya pitched two scoreless innings to get the game into extra innings, where Trevor Megill took over. He pitched two innings, allowing one of the inherited runners to score, walked one, and struck out two. Wladimir Pinto was charged with the loss after allowing the walk-off double. 

Jermaine Palacios (2-for-5, 2 R, 2B, K), Hamilton (4-for-5, 2 R, HR, 3 RBI), Roy Morales (2-for-5), and Yake (2-for-5, R, RBI) each collected multiple hits in the loss.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 4, NW Arkansas 7
Box Score

The Wind Surge opened their series with the Travelers by sending right-hander Ben Gross to the bump. He went the first two innings, working around a double in the first and a walk in the second for a scoreless outing. He struck out three. Steven Klimek was brought on to start the third inning and ran into a bunch of trouble. Before it was over NW Arkansas had a 4-0 lead, but Klimek was able to come back and deliver a scoreless fourth inning.

The Wichita lineup was able to get three of those runs back right away in the top of the fourth, when Matt Wallner led off the inning with a walk. He was followed by back-to-back blasts from Alex Isola and Andrew Bechtold to make it 4-3.

From there, the Wind Surge got two scoreless innings of relief from Tyler Viza, who continued his early season dominance with three strikeouts against one walk and one hit allowed. In 18 1/3 innings pitched so far on the season, Viza owns a 0.49 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, while racking up 29 K’s (14.2/9IP). 

Osiris German came on for the start of the seventh inning, and was greeted by four consecutive hits that led to two more runs and a 6-3 lead for the home team. In the eighth, Alex Scherff gave up a solo home run to account for the final Travelers run on the scoreboard.

Wichita was able to add a single run in the eighth, but they had a bigger opportunity for a comeback as Austin Martin, Edouard Julien, and Spencer Steer all got at-bats with the bases loaded. Martin struck out, the lone run scored on a passed ball during Julien’s at-bat (BB), and then Steer flew out to left, so it was not to be.

Bechtold (2-for-4, R, 2B, HR, RBI, K) was the only Wind Surge player to pick up multiple hits, but Julien (1-for-2, 3 BB), Martin (1-for-4, BB, 2 K), Isola (1-for-3, 2 R, HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB), and Leobaldo Cabrera (0-for-2, 2 BB, K) all reached base multiple times. Despite all those opportunities, they were unable to cash them in by going 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position, and leaving 11 men on base for the game.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 10, Peoria 1
Box Score

The Kernels lineup popped often in this one, and along with poor defense from the Chiefs (4 errors), led to a blowout victory on the road in their series opener.

Jair Camargo, Will Holland, and Alerick Soularie all hit home runs for Cedar Rapids, while Christian Encarnacion-Strand added a double, and Willie Joe Garry Jr. a triple. Those five extra-base hits were the majority of the Kernels eight hits in the game, and drove in six of their ten runs. Jeferson Morales led the way with three RBI, and Anthony Prato, Soularie, and Holland each scored two runs.

Cedar Rapids got another strong start from left-hander Brent Headrick, who went the first five innings to pick up his fourth win. He allowed just two hits, walked one, and struck out six. Headrick has now gone 16 innings without allowing a run over his last three starts. In that time, he’s allowed just six hits, walked two, and struck out 23.

Matt Mullenbach allowed the Chiefs lone run in his two innings of relief. He gave up one hit and struck out two. Derek Molina walked one and struck out two in a scoreless inning, and Tyler Palm finished off the win with a scoreless ninth. The Kernels improve to as stellar 20-8 on the season, and lead the Midwest League West division by two games.

MUSSEL MATTERS
Palm Beach 0, Fort Myers 3
Box Score

This game was all about pitching for the Mighty Mussels, as you can’t do much better than a no-hitter!

It is the 4th no-hitter in franchise history, with the last coming on September 18th, 2021 when the Mighty Mussels defeated the Tampa Tarpons 3-0.

This one was a lot like that one, as it was a combined effort from multiple pitchers. Last year’s 13th-round draft pick, Right-hander David Festa, got the start and was spectacular for the first six innings. He walked the second batter of the game but retired the next 10 in a row before issuing his second walk in the fourth. He picked up two strikeouts in five of his six innings, and finished with 11 on the game, also notably topping out at over 99 MPH with his fastball.

With Festa at 84 pitches (52 for strikes, 22 (!) swinging) after the sixth inning, the Mighty Mussels went to reliever Jaylen Nowlin, their 19th round draft pick in 2021, to start the seventh. He delivered two more hitless frames, retiring all six men he faced, including three strikeouts of his own. Hunter McMahon was brought on for the ninth to finish it off, and he did just that thanks in part to a nice play of his own. After a leadoff walk, he was able to work around it by getting a groundball out and then snagging a liner right back at him, where he was able to double-off the runner at second base to end the game.

In all, Mighty Mussels pitchers combined to allow just three baserunners on walks, and struck out 14 Cardinals.

Fort Myers got all the runs they would end up needing in the bottom of the first inning when Noah Miller was able to come around to score on an outfield error after reaching base with a walk. The lineup went on to add single runs in the fifth and eighth innings thanks to a wild pitch and solo home run from Mikey Perez, his second of the season. While as a team they also managed just two hits in the game, the Mighty Mussels were able to take advantage of eight walks, including three from Miller, and two from catcher Dillon Tatum.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Pitcher of the Day - David Festa, Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (W, 6 IP, 3 BB, 11 K)
Hitter of the Day - Caleb Hamilton, St. Paul Saints (4-for-5, 2 R, HR, 3 RBI)

PROSPECT SUMMARY

#1 - Royce Lewis (Minnesota) - 0-for-3, K
#2 - Austin Martin (Wichita) - 1-for-4, BB, 2 K
#3 - Joe Ryan (Minnesota) - L, 4 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 5 BB, 3 K
#4 - Jose Miranda (Minnesota) - 0-for-4
#10 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Fort Myers) - 0-for-2, BB, K
#11 - Noah Miller (Fort Myers) - 0-for-1, R, 3 BB
#14 - Ronny Henriquez (St. Paul) - 4 2/3 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, BB, 4 K
#16 - Spencer Steer (Wichita) - 0-for-5, K
#18 - Christian Encarnacion-Strand (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 K
#19 - Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 1-for-2, 3 BB

WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

St. Paul @ Columbus (6:05 PM CDT) - RHP Chi Chi Gonzalez (2-1, 4.87 ERA)
Wichita @ NW Arkansas (7:05 PM CDT) - RHP Matt Canterino (0-1, 1.62 ERA)
Cedar Rapids @ Peoria (11:05 AM CDT) - RHP Sean Mooney (0-0, 1.69 ERA)
Palm Beach @ Fort Myers (6:00 PM CDT) - RHP Travis Adams (1-0, 1.80 ERA)

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