Twins Minor League Report (7/10): Career Firsts Power E-Twins

To find out how all your favorite prospects fared on Tuesday night, keep reading and be sure to discuss in the comments!

TRANSACTIONS

Just one transaction today as the the Twins sent starter Ervin Santana on assignment to Chattanooga to continue his rehab, and he pitched his best game so far on the comeback trail for them on Tuesday.

RED WINGS REPORT

No Game – Triple-A All-Star Break

The Red Wings continue to enjoy their midsummer break. The International League will face off against the Pacific Coast League in Columbus, OH on Wednesday night.

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 2, Jacksonville 7

Box Score

As mentioned, Ervin Santana got the rehab nod in this one and went the first five innings and 63 pitches (65.1% for strikes). He allowed two earned runs courtesy of a two-run home run in the fourth, but that would be it for the Jumbo Shrimp. He finished with just two hits allowed and struck out six. Five of those K’s came in the first two innings.

Down 2-0 heading into the top of the fifth, the Lookouts tied the game with a two-run home run of their own. This came courtesy of Jordan Gore, his first in double-A.

Sam Clay came on in the sixth and that’s when the game got away thanks to a couple of errors, including one on himself. All told he got two outs and allowed four runs (one earned) on three hits and two walks. Williams Ramirez finished the game with 2 1/3 innings. He allowed one run on three hits and a walk while striking out three.

Chattanooga had just two other hits besides Gore’s home run on the game, with Brent Rooker going 1-for-4 with three K’s, and Zander Wiel 1-for-4 with a triple. As a team they were just 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left five men on base.

MIRACLE MATTERS

Palm Beach 14, Fort Myers 8

Box Score

Down 8-3 at one point, the Miracle did storm back to tie this one heading into the ninth, but then it got away from them.

Tom Hackimer was summoned from the bullpen to start the eighth inning and loaded the bases before escaping. Bringing him back out for the ninth after just tying the game was probably a bad idea. When it was done for Hackimer, utility man Joe Cronin was brought in to record the final two outs on the mound and six runs came around for the final score.

Clark Beeker started for Fort Myers and was responsible for the Cardinals first five runs. In four innings he allowed those on two walks, eight hits including two homers, while striking out four. Alex Robinson allowed three runs on two hits and two walks in 2/3’s of an inning, striking out one. Hector Lujan settled things down for the next 2 1/3, allowing one hit and a walk along with two K’s.

The initial comeback for the Miracle was sparked by a four-run seventh inning. Alex Kirilloff, Caleb Hamilton, and Taylor Grzelakowski all delivered RBI doubles in the frame. They tied it in the eighth thanks to a Cronin groundout after a walk from Aaron Whitefield to lead off the frame and a single from Travis Blankenhorn advanced him to third.

Cronin finished the game as a batter with a run scored on two hits and two walks and drove in three. Lewin Diaz and Grzelakowski also collected multiple hits for the home team in the loss.

KERNELS NUGGETS

Scheduled Day Off

It was a Midwest League travel day for The Kernels as they head back home to Cedar Rapids. They begin a six-game homestand on Wednesday against the Fort Wayne TinCaps, and finish against the Lake County Captains.

E-TWINS E-NOTES

Elizabethton 15, Johnson City 1

Box Score

Elizabethton took the early lead with two runs in the first, then piled it on from the fifth inning, blowing out their cross-county rival Johnson City in demoralizing fashion Tuesday night.

2018 second-round pick, Ryan Jeffers, got it started with a two-run home in the first inning, his first as a professional baseball player. In the fifth the Twins sent ten hitters into the batters box, and every possible one of them scored as they took control 9-1. The big hits included a two-RBI single from Michael Davis, a two-RBI double from Andrew Coscrove, and a solo home run from Albee Weiss. Three runs in the sixth came on a solo shot from Hunter Lee, also his first as a pro, and a two-run double from Alex Robles. To continue the theme, three more runs in the sixth came courtesy of another Weiss solo blast, and a two-run bomb from Davis that also marked his first since being drafted in the 24^th round out of Texas Tech last month and in his first career game.

On the pitching front Elizabethton got four innings from starter Pedro Garcia as he was a bit too wild to go any further. He allowed an unearned run on two hits and three walks. He struck out one. Blair Lakso went the three scoreless innings and picked up his third win. He allowed four hits and struck out two. Seth Pinkerton finished it off with two scoreless frames, hitting one batter with a pitch.

Only one hitter in the lineup for the Twins didn’t collect a hit, and only two got on base less than twice. Their 18 hits included going 6-for-12 with runners in scoring position and they left only five men on base as they cashed in on almost all their scoring opportunities.

GCL TWINS TAKES

GCL Twins 6, GCL Rays 5

Box Score

The Twins were down 3-1 after three, but scratched across runs in four straight innings to take the lead back and hold off the Rays.

Andriu Marin got the start and went five innings. He allowed three runs (one earned) on four hits and a walk, along with picking up four K’s. The two unearned runs were courtesy of two errors in the third inning that allowed runs to score.

They got a sac fly off the bat of Gabe Snyder in the first inning, and he got the comeback started in the fourth with his second home run of the year to lead it off. The Twins got an RBI groundout from Alberoni Nunez later in that inning that would tally single runs in each of the next three. Tyler Webb homered to lead off the fifth, Yeltsin Encarnacion delivered and RBI single in the sixth, and a sac fly from Nunez in the seventh accounted for a 6-3 lead.

J.T. Perez was the first arm out of the bullpen, and despite two unearned runs, would end up with his second win of the year. In 1 1/3 innings, he walked one, gave up one hit, and struck out one. Frandy Torres came on with two runners in the seventh and they both would score to account for Perez’s runs, but would get out of the inning with the Twins still out front. Petru Balan began the eighth inning but after loading the bases with two walks and a single, Tanner Howell was brought on. He escaped the jam with a strikeout, ground ball force out to home, and another grounder to keep it 6-5. He finished the game with a scoreless ninth, working around two one-out hits for his third save. He struck out three in his two innings.

The Twins totaled twelve hits on the game but weren’t as good as they could have been with runners on, as they were just 4-for-17 with runners in scoring position and left thirteen men on base. Edgar Herrera racked up four of those hits including a double and a run scored. Webb finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored and a walk in addition to his homer. Snyder also tacked on with multiple hits in a 2-for-4 game.

STARS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Pitcher of the Day – Tanner Howell, GCL Twins (Save (3), 2.0 IP, 2 H, 3 K)

Twins Daily Hitter(s) of the Day – Ryan Jeffers (2-for-3, 3 R, HR (1), 2 RBI, BB), Hunter Lee (4-for-5, 2 R, HR (1), 2 RBI, K), and Michael Davis (2-for-5, 3 R, HR (1), 3 RBI, BB); Elizabethton Twins (all hit their first career home runs after being drafted this year)

TOP PROSPECT SUMMARY

1. Royce Lewis (Cedar Rapids) – Scheduled Day off.

2. Fernando Romero (Rochester) – Triple-A All-Star Break.

3. Nick Gordon (Rochester) – Triple-A All-Star Break.

4. Stephen Gonsalves (Rochester) – Triple-A All-Star Break.

5. Alex Kirilloff (Fort Myers) – 1-for-5, R, 2B (3), RBI, 2 K

6. Wander Javier (Cedar Rapids) – Out for season with injury.

7. Brent Rooker (Chattanooga) – 1-for-4, 3 K

8. Blayne Enlow (Cedar Rapids) – Scheduled Day off.

9. Brusdar Graterol (Fort Myers) – Did not pitch.

10. Akil Baddoo (Cedar Rapids) – Scheduled Day off.

11. Zack Littell (Rochester) – Triple-A All-Star Break.

12. Lewis Thorpe (Chattanooga) – Did not pitch.

13. Lewin Diaz (Fort Myers) – 2-for-5, R, K

14. LaMonte Wade (Rochester) – Triple-A All-Star Break.

15. Mitch Garver (Minnesota) – 0-for-2, BB

16. Ben Rortvedt (Fort Myers) – 0-for-4, R, BB, 2 K

17. Travis Blankenhorn (Fort Myers) – 1-for-4, RBI, BB

18. Yunior Severino (Elizabethton Twins) – Did not play.

19. Tyler Jay (Chattanooga) – Did not pitch.

20. Felix Jorge (Rochester) – Did not pitch.

WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Rochester – Triple-A All-Star Game (6:00PM CST)

Chattanooga @ Jacksonville (11:05AM CST) – LHP Dietrich Enns (0-2, 3.09 ERA)

Palm Beach @ Fort Myers (6:00PM CST) – LHP Charlie Barnes (3-5, 3.00 ERA)

Fort Wayne @ Cedar Rapids (6:35PM CST) – LHP Tyler Watson (2-3, 4.85 ERA)

Elizabethton @ Johnson City (6:00PM CST) – TBD

GCL Rays @ GCL Twins (11:00AM CST) - TBD

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