Twins Minor League Report (6/6): Turley Blows RailRiders Away

To find out who made the headlines on 2-1 night in the system on Tuesday, read on.

TRANSACTIONS

Nik Turley was assigned again to Rochester on Tuesday, made the start for the Red Wings and made more than a statement to stay in AAA for good this time, and maybe even a call-up to the Twins. To make roomon the roster, right-handed pitcher Ryan Eades was swapped back to AA.

RED WINGS REPORT

Scranton Wilkes-Barre 1, Rochester 8

Box Score

The Red Wings offense exploded for multiple runs in each of the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings in this one to put the RailRiders away. But the story wasn’t that late offensive explosion to secure the victory.

The story was starter Nik Turley whose name has appeared quite frequently in these reports this season, but even he hadn’t done something like this.

What you ask? How about recording his first ten outs of the game via the strikeout.

He did punch out fourteen in a seven inning start for Chattanooga on April 25th, but would eclipse that number in six innings in this one, with fifteen K’s total. He did allow four hits (including two doubles) and two walks on the game, but whenever any trouble materialized he simply shrugged it off and overpowered the next hitter(s).

Mitch Garver started that scoring for Rochester with his fourth home run of the season, a three-run shot in the sixth. Zack Granite added an RBI single in the three-run seventh inning that also included three errors, and John Ryan Murphy added an RBI double in the two-run eighth to account for most of that late offense. Granite finished 3-5 with two runs scored.

Out of the bullpen, Drew Rucinski pitched two perfect innings including one strikeout, while Michael Tonkin allowed a run on two hits and a walk in the ninth to close out the game. He also struck out one.

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Jackson 4, Chattanooga 2 (14 innings)

Box Score

The Lookouts were taken into extra innings in this one, as the pitching staffs of both teams limited the chances throughout.

Matt Tracy made the start for Chattanooga and went the first six innings. He gave up a two-run home run in the fourth that made the score 2-1 in favor of the Generals, but that was it. He allowed five hits and two walks along with five strikeouts on the game.

Chattanooga scored single runs in the third and fifth innings thanks to the bat of Nick Gordon, who brought in the run with a single in both frames. The Lookouts left the bases loaded in that fifth inning, and with the game tied the bullpens took over.

Todd Van Steensel, Luke Bard and Mason Melotakis all pitched two scoreless frames for the home team, extending into the extra frames. Van Steensel was perfect in the seventh and eighth. Bard allowed two hits but struck out three in the ninth and tenth. Melotakis walked one and struck out three in the next two innings.

Jackson’s bullpen pitched nine scoreless innings, combining to allow just five hits and four walks, while striking out fourteen to keep Chattanooga from walking this one off.

Nick Anderson came on in the thirteenth frame and kept the game tied, but ran into trouble that spelled doom for the Lookouts in the fourteenth. Three singles, a walk, and a sac fly plated two runs for 4-2 Jackson lead.

Ryan Walker led off the bottom of the inning with a walk and Gordon reached base as the tying run with an infield single before an out was recorded, but a double-play ball and ground out shut the door on the extended game.

Gordon (4-6, 2 RBI, BB), Edgar Corcino (3-7), and Walker (2-5, R, 2B, BB) accounted for nine of the Lookouts eleven hits on the game. The rest of the team was 2-33 with twelve of their sixteen total strikeouts. They were just 2-14 with runners in scoring position and left thirteen men on base.

MIRACLE MATTERS

Cancelled – Rain.

After their game was postponed due to rain yesterday, the weather persisted in Palm Beach and both games today were cancelled. Per a press release from the Miracle, the games will not be made up.

Lewis Thorpe had started the game yesterday and his team was down 2-0 in the bottom of the fourth due to a couple of unearned runs when it was postponed. No stats from that game will count.

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 7, Clinton 2

Box Score

Cedar Rapids notched runs in four of the first five innings in this one, jumping out to a 5-0 lead that would be more than enough offense for their pitching staff.

Lewin Diaz put them up 1-0 with an RBI double in the first inning, keeping his name at the top of the leaderboard for extra-base hits on the season with twenty-eight (21 2B, 3B, 7 HR). They scored two in the third thanks to an RBI triple from Jermaine Palacios and an RBI single from Jaylin Davis. In the fourth, after his first double of the season and advancing to third on a fielder's choice, Hank Morrison raced home on a wild pitch before Palacios clubbed his eighth home run to make it 5-0.

The LumberKings were held scoreless through the sixth inning thanks to the effort of Kernels starter Tyler Wells. In the high quality start, he allowed just two singles to the opposing offense while striking out seven. Of his 83 pitches, 56 went for strikes including eight swing-and-misses. He struck out the side in the fifth inning. He lowered his ERA to 2.05 on the season along with picking up his third win.

The Kernels tacked on two more runs in the eighth thanks to a Caleb Hamilton double, and he scored on a wild pitch.

In relief of Wells, Max Cordy allowed a run on a walk that was followed by an RBI double in the seventh, but struck out two in his inning. Colton Davis pitched a scoreless eight, striking out one. Patrick McGuff came on to finish the game, and gave up a run on a walk and a hit for the final score of 7-2.

Palacios finished a double short of the cycle with a 3-5 night and scored three runs in addition to his two RBI. Davis was the only other player with multiple hits and also drove in two.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Pitcher of the Day – Nik Turley, Rochester Red Wings (W, 6 IP, 4 H’s, 2 BB’s, 15 K’s)

Hitter of the Day – Jermaine Palacios, Cedar Rapids Kernels (3-5, 3 R’s, 3B, HR, 2 RBI)

WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Scranton Wilkes-Barre @ Rochester (11:35AM CST) – LHP David Hurlbut (3-3, 3.35 ERA)

Jackson @ Chattanooga (10:15AM CST) – RHP Felix Jorge (5-1, 3.39 ERA)

Tampa @ Fort Myers (6:05PM CST) – RHP Brady Anderson (2-1, 4.01 ERA)

Cedar Rapids @ Clinton (6:30PM CST) – RHP Sean Poppen (4-1, 2.12 ERA)

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