Twins Minor League Report (6/4): Poor Hitting All Around

RED WINGS REPORT

Pawtucket Paw Sox @ Rochester

Box Score

Taylor Rogers pitched an eight-inning gem on Thursday night in front of a crowd of 4,196 at Frontier Field. Rogers earned his fifth win of the year with eight innings of six hit baseball. He walked one, struck out three, and gave up just a single run. His season ERA now sits just above three at 3.09. Michael Tonkin, fresh from an MLB stint early in the week, picked up his sixth save with a perfect ninth, including a strike out.

The Red Wings struck out twelve times against Paw Sox pitching, led by a miserable 0-3 performance from Kennys Vargas that included three strikeouts. Recently demoted Oswaldo Arcia chipped in a pair of strikeouts as well en route to his 0-4 night. Josmil Pinto, the other bat Twins fans have been clamoring for, was 0-4 with two strikeouts of his own as well. What a night! IT wasn't all bad, James Beresford and Eric Fryer (hitting eighth and ninth respectively) were both 2-3 with a run scored. I have no idea how the Red Wings scored any runs, but they clustered their hits together when it mattered to pull out a victory.

Final: Pawtucket 1, Red Wings 4

LOOKOUTS LOOK-IN

Chattanooga @ Tennessee Smokies

Box Score

The Lookouts committed more errors (2) than runs scored (1) on Thursday night. They also managed to strike out nine times and walked just once, and earned just four walks. No Lookouts hitter had multiple hits. Byron Buxton continued to slide with an 0-4 night with a pair of strikeouts. Adam Brett Walker was 0-4 with two strikeouts of his own as well. Max Kepler was also 0-4, but managed just one strike- out. The lone bright spot in the Lookouts lineup came from Mike Gonzales who was 1-3 with a solo home run.

On the bump, Chattanooga pitchers struck out only one Tennessee hitter over eight innings. Lookouts starter Greg Peavey pitched into the seventh, but was pulled with one out. He was charged with three runs (two earned), he did not walk a batter, and had the Lookouts' lone strikeout. Zack Jones finished the seventh for Chattanooga, but gave up a pair of runs. Time Shibuya pitched the eighth and gave up a run as well. Not much doing in a pretty quick game at Smokies Park, finished in 2:13.

Final Score: Chattanooga 1, Tennessee 6

MIRACLE MATTERS

Bradenton Marauders @ Fort Myers

Box Score

Three Miracle hitters had a multi-hit night, and the Miracle picked up ten hits as a team, but couldn't put the bat on the ball when it mattered, going just 3-13 with runners in scoring position. Bradenton, on the other hand, was 8-20 with runners in scoring position and seemed like they were able to score at will, picking up runs in six different innings. Engelb Vielma, hitting leadoff, was 2-5 with a double. Mitch Garver was 2-3 with a walk and a run scored, and Marcus Knecht was 2-4 with a double, a run scored and two RBIs to pace with Miracle.

Kohl Stewart dropped to 1-4 with a five inning, ten hit, five run (four earned) performance. He walked two and struck out three. His ERA this year is 3.92. Stewart gave way to Brian Gilbert, who pitched two effective innings before turning the ball over to Corey Williams in the eighth, who gave up a run, and Luke Westphal in the ninth, who gave up another.

Final score: Bradenton 7, Fort Myers 3

KERNELS KORNER

Cedar Rapids @ South Bend Cubs

Box Score

The Kernels fell short of a come from behind victory on Thursday night in South Bend, Indiana. Starting pitcher Dereck Rodriguez, making his Midwest League debut, was tagged for four runs in the first inning, but the Kernels rallied and were within striking distance most of the evening. Rodriguez lasted just three innings, he struck out one, walked four, and gave up those four early runs. Michael Theofanopoulos also threw three innings. He fared slightly better than Rodriguez, striking out four, but giving up a pair of earned runs on four hits. Michael Caderoth pitched a clean seventh and Cameron Booser gave up a hit and recorded a strike out in the eighth. Booser's ERA is down to 0.74 after Thursday's game.

The Kernels had just seven hits, but three of them went for extra bases, including a pair of doubles from Kernels' cleanup hitter Jorge Fernandez. Fernandez was 2-4 with two doubles, a run scored and a strike out. Nick Gordon had a pair of hits as well, going 2-3 with a run scored and a stolen base (his 13th of the year). The Kernels squandered a few opportunities to score runs, going just 1-8 with runners in scoring position,

Final Score: Cedar Rapids 4, South Bend 6

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Hitter of the Day - Jorge Fernandez, Cedar Rapids Kernels

Pitcher of the Day - Taylor Rogers, Rochester Red Wings

FRIDAY'S PROBABLES

Pawtucket @ Rochester - Zeke Spurill vs. Pat Dean (5-3, 2.36)

Chattanooga @ Tennessee - Brett Lee (AA Debut) vs. Ivan Pineyro

Fort Myers @ Bradenton - Chih-Wei Hu (2-0, 2.29) vs. Jayson Aquino

Cedar Rapids @ South Bend - Keaton Steele (2-0, 2.70) vs. Jake Stinnett