Twins Minor League Report (5/29): Saints Walk Off, Wind Surge Split Series in Corpus Christi

TRANSACTIONS 

• The Twins called up Royce Lewis from St. Paul and demoted Jose Miranda as a corresponding move. 
• Lewis will be placed on the Injured List on Monday, but the news was fairly positive. The MRI showed "only" a bone bruise. 
• RHP Austin Schulfer was promoted from Wichita to St. Paul.
• IF Edouard Julien was activated from the Wichita Injured List. 
• C/OF Jeferson Morales was activated from the Kernels Injured List. 
• More moves coming on Monday throughout the organization. 

SAINTS SENTINEL 
St. Paul 8, Indianapolis 7
Box score 
SP: Jake Faria - 3 2/3 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 5 BB, 3 K
HR: Jake Cave (4)
Multi-hit games: Mark Contreras (2-5, 2 R, 2B, RBI (20)), Cave (2-5, 2 R, HR, 4 RBI (27))

The Saints went down to the wire to finish out their second home series against Indianapolis early Sunday evening as the teams battled into the bottom of the ninth to close out the series. 

The game started with a bang from Indianapolis shortstop Oneil Cruz as he hit a leadoff home run against Jake Faria. Faria’s evening continued to see many base runners. Through his 3 2/3 innings pitched, Faria allowed ten base runners on five hits and five walks allowing Indianapolis to score four runs against him. 

After Faria surrendered three runs to Indianapolis through two innings, the Saints' offense was able to pick up their bats and bring the team back into the game. The first two runs for the Saints in the bottom of the second came with the price of outs as Caleb Hamilton hit a fielder's choice that scored Jake Cave and Elliot Soto grounded out to score Roy Morales.

The bottom of the third brought the Saints' first lead of the game thanks to a Jake Cave three-run home run to make the score 5-3. Then after Indianapolis brought themselves back within a run in the top of the fourth, the Saints added two more insurance runs of their own from an Alex Kirilloff RBI single scoring Caleb Hamilton and a Mark Contreras bases-loaded ground out scoring David Banuelos. 

Indianapolis would only get one run back in the top of the fifth as the game remained at a 7-5 score going into the top of the ninth. Jharel Cotton was on the mound for the Saints to get the save in the top of the ninth, but a leadoff home run from Indianapolis first baseman Mason Martin and RBI double from third baseman Cole Tucker prevented Cotton from earning the save and forced the game into the bottom of the ninth.

Thankfully for the Saints faithful, the game was over quickly as the home-run hero of the day Cave walked it off for the Saints. Cave hit an RBI single that scored Contreras to win the game for the Saints. The walk-off win was the Saints second in a row, and they won their first series since mid-April when they last played Indianapolis and took three-out-of-five games.

The Saints will embark on another road trip to Iowa to take on the Iowa Cubs on Tuesday, with first pitch scheduled for 6:38 p.m. CT.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 2, Springfield 1
Box Score
SP: Louie Varland - 5 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 5 BB, 4 K
HR: Chris Williams (3), Andrew Bechtold (6), Michael Helman (6), DaShawn Keirsey (1)
Multi-hit games: Helman (2-4, 2 R, 2B, HR, RBI (20), SB (10), BB), Williams (2-4, R, 2B, HR, 3 RBI (13), BB)

The Wind Surge recovered Sunday night from a high-scoring affair Saturday when they lost 14-13. Wichita got the scoring going right away. They scored four runs in the top of the first inning against the Hooks thanks to an RBI double from Dennis Ortega and a three-run home run from catcher Chris Williams. Williams extended his hitting streak to 12 games. 

Wind Surge starter Louie Varland was thankful for the early run support as he made his eighth start of the season. Varland threw two scoreless innings to start his evening but gave up a run in the third on an RBI double to Hooks second baseman Emmanuel Valdez. Valdez was the only batter to get the better of Varland in the game as his second run surrendered was on a home run from Valdez. 

Aside from the troubles with Valdez, Varland threw five strong innings striking out four batters. However, he allowed nine base runners on four hits and five walks. Evan Sisk worked two scoreless innings to earn the win. 

Going into the bottom of the seventh the Wind Surge held the lead to 5-2. It would soon be taken over by the Hooks when their center fielder Justin Dirden drilled a grand slam off of Bryan Sammons to give the Hooks a 6-5 lead. The Hooks lead was short-lived as Michael Helman hit a home run in the top of the eighth to tie the game for the Surge. 

The Wind Surge would secure the win in the ninth inning as center fielder DaShawn Keirsey hit his first home run of the season to give the Wind Surge a 7-6 lead.

The Wind Surge begin their next series at home on Tuesday against the Frisco RoughRiders, first pitch is scheduled to start at 7:05 p.m. 

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 4, Timber Rattlers 6
Box Score
SP: Sean Mooney 2 1/3 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 4 K
HR: Anthony Prato (6)
Multi hit games: Prato (3-4, 3 R, 3B, HR, RBI (29), BB)

The Kernels completed the series against the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers on Sunday afternoon. The series was in the Kernels' favor at 3-2 through five games, but the Timber Rattlers got the better of the Kernels early. They scored all six of their runs in the first four innings. 

Sean Mooney was given the starting nod for his seventh start of the season. It was his shortest outing of the season. The right-hander made it into the third inning, but having allowed eight base runners, Brian Dinkelman pulled his starter. The bright spot for Mooney was that four of the seven outs he recorded came on strikeouts. Ryan Shreve, Miguel Rodriguez, Cody Laweryson, and Andrew Cabezas combined for five scoreless innings in relief on just one hit and one walk. 

Offensively, the Kernels had opportunities to score. In the bottom of the second inning, the Kernels scored their first run by luck as the Rattlers starter Ryne Moore overthrew the ball on a pickoff attempt which allowed for Pat Winkel to score. 

Cedar Rapids scored again in the bottom of the third inning thanks to a double-steal. Seth Gray stole second base. The throw allowed for Anthony Prado to steal home and cut the deficit to 3-2. After that, Wisconsin rallied for three more runs, and even though the Kernels scored two more runs in the game, it was not enough. 

The Kernels begin their next series on the road in Michigan against the Lansing Lugnuts on Tuesday with first pitch scheduled for 10:05 a.m. CT. 

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 2, Bradenton 4 
Box Score
SP: Travis Adams 4 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K
HR:  None 
Multi-hit games: Noah Cardenas (2-3, RBI (14), BB)

The Mighty Mussels lost a low-scoring affair on Sunday morning. 

Travis Adams was on the mound for his seventh start of the season. He allowed two runs on a hit and three walks across four innings. The four-inning outing was Adams' shortest of the season but he still kept Marauder bats guessing as he recorded six strikeouts in the game. 

The Mussels scored the first run of the game when catcher Noah Cardenas hit a single to score Noah Miller and give the Mussels a 1-0 lead. That was the only run they scored until the top of the eighth inning when they found themselves down 4-1. 

Ft. Myers scored their second and final run came courtesy of their designated hitter and former first overall draft pick of the 2008 MLB amateur draft, Tim Beckham. The rehabbing veteran ripped an opposite-field line drive off of the wall in right field that scored Dylan Neuse. Beckham was held to a single. Unfortunately, he immediately exited the game, limping off the field. He has missed the first two months of the season with a quad injury. Hopefully, this is just a little setback on his road to recovery. Mikey Perez came on to pinch run for Beckham. 

The Mussels will be returning to Hammond Stadium on Tuesday to start a six-game series against the Yankees' Low-A affiliate the Tampa Tarpons. 

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day –  Travis Adams (Fort Myers) 4 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K
Hitter of the Day – Chris Williams (Wichita) - 2-4, R, 2B, HR, 3 RBI (13), 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 - Royce Lewis (Minnesota) - 0-1 (played CF, left game in 3rd inning after remarkable catch caused him to bang into the wall.)
#11 - Noah Miller (Ft. Myers) - 1-4, R, SB (13)0-7, 4 K
#12 - Louie Varland (Wichita) - 5 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 5 BB, 4 K
#16 - Spencer Steer (St. Paul) - 1-5
#18 - Christian Encarnacion-Strand (Cedar Rapids) - 0-1 (PH)
#19 - Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 0-1 (PH)

TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
All Twins Minor League Affiliates are off on Monday and will resume their games on Tuesday, May 31. The only Monday in which there will be minor-league games is July 4th (and some for the Saints in September). 

St. Paul @ Iowa (6:38 PM CST) - TBD
Frisco @ Wichita (7:05 PM CST) - TBD
Cedar Rapids @ Lansing (10:05 AM CST) - TBD
Tampa @ Fort Myers (6:00 PM CST) - RHP Mike Paredes 

Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Sunday’s games or the first two months of the season.