Twins Minor League Report (5/7): Larnach Lift-Off

TRANSACTIONS

• Twins reliever Addison Reed was sent on rehab assignment with the Rochester Red Wings and made his season debut in their game.
  

RED WINGS REPORT

Toledo 10, Rochester 5

Box Score

Righthander Kohl Stewart got the start for the Red Wings, and although he gave up a run in the top of the first, he also struck out the last four batters he faced, and five total. That’s notable, as he only went the first two innings, which begs the question if he’ll be in line on Saturday for the Twins with a doubleheader on the schedule. 26 of his 39 pitches went for strikes, and he coaxed five swinging strikes.

Rochester took the lead in the second inning as Jordany Valdespin clubbed his third home run of the year, a two-run shot and that was followed in the third by an RBI single from Wilin Rosario to give them a 3-1 lead.

After Stewart was done, it was the 2019 debut for reliever Addison Reed to kick off his rehab assignment and he pitched a scoreless inning, walking one and striking out one. Ryan Eades then got the fourth inning and it went poorly, as he allowed three runs on five hits and a walk, raising his ERA to 8.47 on the year and ending up taking the loss. Jake Reed didn’t fare much better in the fifth and sixth as he surrendered four runs on three hits and three walks in 1 2/3 innings bringing his ERA to 6.75. Lefty Gabriel Moya came on in the seventh with two outs and the bases loaded but followed two of J-Reed’s walks with two of his own to allow a couple of those inherited runners to score. Back out for the seventh Moya was better, setting down the Mudhens hitters one-two-three including the first two via K’s. Preston Guilmet finished the final two innings, allowing two runs on four hits for Toledo’s final tally of 10 runs on the game. He struck out three.

The Red Wings offense got within three of the Mudhens in the seventh inning, as Luke Raley and Brent Rooker each delivered their sixth home run of the year in back-to-back fashion, but the team went quiet from there and they fall to 12-17 on the season. Nick Gordon finished the game 2-for-4 and Raley 2-for-5 for the only multi-hit efforts. Gordon and Drew Maggi each stole two bases.

BLUE WAHOOS BITES

Pensacola 3, Mississippi 5

Box Score

Pensacola jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the top of the second inning thanks to a Miguel Sano RBI-sac fly in the first, and a run scoring ground ball in the second off the bat of Taylor Grzelakowski.

It wouldn’t last though, as starter Jorge Alcala allowed a run in the second and two more in the third to put his team behind 3-2. Alcala settled in from there though, finishing with just those three runs allowed on eight hits and a walk in his five innings while striking out three.

In the top of the fifth his lineup tied the game back up at three thanks to a sacrifice fly from Travis Blankenhorn that scored Alex Kirilloff, who had led off the inning with a walk and reached third on a Sano double, but that would be it for the good guys the rest of the game. Sano finished 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles while Jaylin Davis also added two hits and two walks. As a team the Blue Wahoos were 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position, so it wasn’t like they lacked opportunities, they just weren’t able to cash them in with a big hit.

After Alcala left the game, Adam Bray went three scoreless innings, retiring seven men in a row to end his outing and striking out four in the process. Coach Ramon Borrego went to Alex Phillips with the score tied at three in the ninth, and the leadoff man was able to draw a walk after a foul pop-up was dropped by catcher Caleb Hamilton. Two batters later the Braves walked it off in dramatic fashion with a two-run homer.

MIRACLE MATTERS

Fort Myers 9, Charlotte 7

Box Score

The Miracle lineup got on the board early and often in this one, thanks to home runs off the bats of Trevor Larnach (his first HR of the year) and Lewin Diaz (his second). Those blasts made it 3-0 after the top half of the first, and they added two more in the second inning thanks to a couple of errors and the rare RBI-sacrifice-fly-double-play (can’t say I ever recorded one of those in a scorebook).

Starter Bryan Sammons, who carried a 0.40 ERA into the game, went five innings and despite allowing four runs, only raised his ERA to 0.66 as three of those runs were of the unearned variety after consecutive errors from third baseman Ryan Costello in the second inning. Sammons improved to 4-0 on the season with his effort that included ten strikeouts, a new career high for the lefthander.

With the score 5-4 in favor of Fort Myers heading into the seventh inning, Larnach added some needed insurance with his second home run of the game, this one a three-run shot.

https://twitter.com/MiracleBaseball/status/1125920450108952577

After Sammons exited after five, Hector Lujan delivered two scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and striking out two. Johan Quezada came on for the eighth and ran into some trouble, allowing three runs (two earned) on three singles and a throwing error from Royce Lewis.

Akil Baddoo added an RBI single in the eighth to make it 9-7 for the Miracle before Charlotte’s last chance. Quezada came out to start the inning and gave up a leadoff single before getting the next two hitters out, but another single brought the winning run to the batter’s box and Calvin Faucher was brought in to get the final out. He struck out his man to end the game and pick up his first save of the year, while Quezada ended his day with 1 2/3 innings with two K’s.

The offense was led by Larnach who finished 3-for-5 with the two home runs and four RBIs, but Baddoo (2-for-4, 2 RBI, K), Lewis (2-for-5, R, K), Diaz (2-for-5, R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI), and Trey Cabbage (2-for-5, 2 R) also provided multiple hits on the game.

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 8, South Bend 5

Box Score

The offense for the Kernels popped early and late in this one to secure a victory against the Cubs, but in between it was closely contested.

They took an early lead by putting up four runs in the top of the second thanks to a pair of sacrifice flies and multiple errors from the South Bend defense. Starting pitcher Luis Rijo gave them all back in the third but managed to finish 5 2/3 innings. He allowed four earned runs on six hits and a walk, striking out three. 62 of his 92 pitches went for strikes in the outing. Brian Rapp got the final out of the sixth and came back out for the seventh, but when it was done he was charged with a blown save as the Cubs tied it back up at five.

Luckily for Rapp, he also got the win as in the top of the eighth Gilberto Celestino delivered a two-run bases loaded single to take back the lead, and a wild pitch would allow another insurance run to score for the final score of 8-5.

Derek Molina closed out the game with two perfect innings, striking out one and picking up his third save.

Outfielder Jacob Pearson finished 2-for-4 with an RBI and a walk, and while nobody else got multiple hits on the day, they did record 10 walks as a team and finished 3-for-9 with runners in scoring position.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Pitcher of the Day – Bryan Sammons, Fort Myers Miracle (5.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 10 K)

Twins Daily Hitter of the Day – Trevor Larnach, Fort Myers Miracle (3-for-5, 2 R, 2 HR, 4 RBI)

PROSPECT SUMMARY

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

#1 - Royce Lewis (Ft. Myers) - 2-for-5, R, K

#2 - Alex Kirilloff (Pensacola) - 1-for-4, R, BB, K

#3 - Brusdar Graterol (Pensacola) - Did not pitch

#4 - Trevor Larnach (Ft. Myers) - 3-for-5, 2 R, 2 HR, 4 RBI

#5 - Wander Javier (EST) - No Game

#6 - Brent Rooker (Rochester) - 1-for-4, R, HR, RBI, BB, K

#7 - Jhoan Duran (Ft. Myers) - Did not pitch

#8 - Lewis Thorpe (Rochester) - Did not pitch

#9 - Blayne Enlow (Cedar Rapids) - Did not pitch

#10 - Akil Baddoo (Ft. Myers) - 2-for-4, 2 RBI, K, SB

#11 - Nick Gordon (Rochester) - 2-for-4, 2B, BB, K, 2 SB

#12 - Stephen Gonsalves (Rochester) - Injured list

#13 - Ryan Jeffers (Ft. Myers) - 1-for-5, 3 K

#14 - Ben Rortvedt (Ft. Myers) - 1-for-5, R, 2B, 3 K

#15 - Yunior Severino (Cedar Rapids) - Injured List

#16 - Gilberto Celestino (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4, 2 RBI, BB

#17 - Zack Littell (Rochester) - Did not pitch

#18 - LaMonte Wade (Rochester) - 1-for-4, R, 2B, BB, K

#19 - Jorge Alcala (Pensacola) - 5 IP, 3 ER, 8 H, BB, 3 K

#20 - Jose Miranda (Ft. Myers) - 1-for-4, R, 2B, K

WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Toledo @ Rochester (6:05PM CST) – RHP Zack Littell (1-2, 4.67 ERA)

Pensacola @ Mississippi (10:35AM CST) - RHP Brusdar Graterol (3-0, 2.23 ERA)

Charlotte @ Fort Myers (5:30PM CST) – RHP Jhoan Duran (0-3, 4.03 ERA)

Cedar Rapids @ South Bend (9:35AM CST) – RHP Andrew Cabezas (0-3, 5.21 ERA)

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