Twins Minor League Report (5/31): Cave Walks Off Boshers, Everybody Wins!

TRANSACTIONS

-RHP Cole Sands has been promoted from Cedar Rapids up to Fort Myers.

-RHP Tanner Howell was activated from extended spring training and assigned to Fort Myers.

-Fort Myers also placed RHP Ricky Ramirez on the 7-Day IL due to lumbar back spasms.

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 5, Buffalo 4 (10 innings)

Box Score

Lewis Thorpe: 6.0 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 66.3% strikes (55 of 83 pitches)

HR: John Andreoli (6)

Multi-hit games: Jake Cave (2-for-5)

The Wings trailed 4-1 heading into the bottom of the eighth inning in this one, but battled back and ended up winning on a Jake Cave walk-off single. Buddy Boshers was on the mound, which is notable not only because he’s a former Twin, but also because Cave delivered against a lefty.

In that big bottom of the eighth, John Andreoli hit a two-run homer and Zander Wiel came through with a game-tying RBI double. The Rochester bullpen was steller tonight. Andrew Vasquez struck out a pair of batters in a perfect inning, Jake Reed also struck out a pair in his two shutout frames and D.J. Baxendale managed to hold Buffalo off the board in the 10th, always an impressive accomplishment with the bonus runner starting the inning on second base in extras.

Speaking of which, Andreoli started the bottom of the 10th at second for the Red Wings. Boshers won a seven-pitch battle with Nick Gordon, striking him out to open the inning, but then hit LaMonte Wade with a curveball and walked Wiel on four pitches to load the bases. That’s when Cave provided the game-winning hit.

BLUE WAHOO BITES

Pensacola 2, Mississippi 1

Box Score

Andro Cutura: 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 62.5% strikes (35 of 56 pitches)

HR: Mark Contreras (2)

Multi-hit games: Travis Blankenhorn (2-for-4)

This was a hard-fought win for the Blue Wahoos. Mark Contreras hit a solo home run in the third, Pensacola’s only extra-base hit all night, and Jimmy Kerrigan added an RBI single in the fourth. The bullpen was tasked with making that lead hold up.

After Andro Cutura pitched four shutout innings, Adam Bray came in and gave up consecutive singles to open the fifth. Mississippi would scratch across a run that inning, but Bray didn’t give up a hit the next two innings.

Anthony Vizcaya was the next man in. Making his Double-A debut, Vizcaya struck out three batters over two scoreless innings to earn the save. He was helped out by Kerrigan, who made a great diving catch in centerfield.

Mitch Garver caught all nine innings, was 1-for-4 at the plate and scored a run.

MIRACLE MATTERS

Fort Myers 8, Lakeland 3

Box Score

Melvi Acosta: 4.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 57.1% strikes (36 of 63 pitches)

HR: Aaron Whitefield (4), Ryan Jeffers (5)

Multi-hit games: Whitefield (2-for-5, 2B, HR), Jeffers (2-for-5, HR), Trevor Larnach (2-for-4, BB), Hunter Lee (2-for-4)

As I mentioned in the intro, Jordan Balazovic started this game. He struck out a couple batters in 1 1/3 innings of perfect ball before a rain delay forced him out of this game. Once play resumed, Melvi Acosta took over for the Miracle.

Aaron Whitefield hit a three-run homer in the fourth inning. Whitefield also doubled and scored on a Hunter Lee two-run single in the eighth in what was another nice night for the Miracle lineup. Ryan Jeffers hit his fifth home run, Trevor Larnach reached safely in three of his five plate appearances and Lewin Diaz had a single and a walk.

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 6, Beloit 5

Box Score

Tyler Palm: 3.0 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 61.3% strikes (46 of 75 pitches)

HR: Andrew Bechtold (4)

Multi-hit games: Ben Rodriguez (2-for-3, BB)

The Kernels were trailing 4-3 after a busy first three innings, but things stayed that way until the eighth. Beloit retired the first two Cedar Rapids hitters, then melted down. Four straight walks followed by a fielding error by the pitcher resulted in a three-run inning for the Kernels.

Jose Martinez was great over the middle innings for Cedar Rapids, throwing four one-hit innings while striking out four batters. Zach Neff gave up an unearned run over the final two frames and earned his first save of the season.

The bats didn’t do a lot of damage. They combined for just five hits, and Andrew Bechtold’s solo home run was the only that went for extra bases. But they also drew six walks, two of which came from Jacob Pearson.

STARS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Jose Martinez, Cedar Rapids

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: Jake Cave, Rochester

TOP PROSPECT SUMMARY

Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed

1. Royce Lewis (FM): 0-for-5, 3 K

2. Alex Kirilloff (PNS): 0-for-1, 2 BB, E (fielding at 1B)

4. Trevor Larnach (FM): 2-for-4, BB, K

8. Lewis Thorpe (ROC): 6.0 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 66.3% strikes (55 of 83 pitches)

11. Nick Gordon (ROC): 0-for-3, BB, R, RBI, 2 K

13. Ryan Jeffers (FM): 2-for-5, HR (5), R, RBI

14. Ben Rortvedt (PNS): 0-for-3, 2 K

16. Gilberto Celestino (CR): 0-for-5

18. LaMonte Wade (ROC): 1-for-4, HBP

20. Jose Miranda (FM): 1-for-5, R, K

SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Rochester vs. Buffalo, 6:05 pm CT (Sean Poppen)

Pensacola vs. Mississippi, 6:05 pm CT (Jeff Ames)

Fort Myers at Lakeland, 5:00 pm CT (Jhoan Duran)

Cedar Rapids at Beloit, 6:30 pm CT (Josh Winder)

Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the games.