Let’s see what happened this Wednesday in the Twins organization.
TRANSACTIONS
- The Twins activated RHP Joe Smith from the 15-day IL
- RHP Josh Winder was optioned to AAA St. Paul
- AAA St. Paul released RHP JC Ramirez
SAINTS (AAA)
GAME 1 (CONTINUATION OF 7/12)
St. Paul 11, Toledo 6
Box Score
The Saints continued the game from Tuesday in which they only played 1+ innings before getting suspended. On Tuesday, Cole Sands started and gave up three runs in two innings. The Saints, however, gave him some support thanks to a homer from Michael Helman, an RBI double from Mark Contreras, and a two-run double from Miguel Sano.
This game was picked up in the bottom of the second, where the Saints' rally (which ended after Sano’s double) was put to a halt to end the second inning. After the continuation, the Saints decided to use a bullpen game for the remaining seven innings. Tyler Viza, Hunter Wood, and Wladimir Pinto each threw two innings. Viza allowed two runs, and the other two didn’t allow any runs. The trio struck out seven batters and allowed four hits over six innings.
The Saints got some offensive fireworks in the fourth and fifth innings. In the fourth, Jake Cave hit a two-run homer for his 12th of the season. One inning later, Caleb Hamilton hit a two-run shot for his 10th of the season, and Helman hit his second of the game, sixth of the season, to give the Saints a 10-5 lead. In the eighth, Contreras added another RBI double to pad the lead.
Toledo scored one run in the top of the ninth, but it wasn’t enough as the Saints cruised to a five-run victory backed by four homers.
Viza picked up the win for the Saints. Tim Beckham and Contreras had 3-hit games. Helman added two hits, and John Andreoli scored three runs. The Saints improved their record to 41-43 with the win.
GAME 2
St. Paul 2, Toledo 8
Box Score
The Saints should’ve saved some runs for game two. Through two innings, it looked like it was going to be a pitchers’ duel. Ronny Henriquez started for the Saints, cruising through two innings as he had struck out three and not allowed a run. On the other side, it was Shea Spitzbarth for Toledo. He, like Henriquez, had skated through two without allowing a run.
Unlike Henriquez, Spitzbarth didn’t blow up in the third. For Toledo, Kody Clemens hit a three-run homer off of Henriquez to give Toledo their first lead of the game. Toledo went to their bullpen in the fourth, which backfired when Caleb Hamilton laced a two-run double into the left-field corner. Hamilton has been on fire in July, slashing .308/.400/.808 (1.208) across 26 at-bats.
Sadly, those would end up being the only runs of the game for the Saints. Tyler Thornburg came in and had a disastrous outing, allowing four runs in a third of an inning. He went into a one-run game in the top of the sixth with a runner on first. He allowed a single, got a guy to ground out, walked a batter, then allowed a bases-clearing double and a two-run homer. He exited, and the Saints had a six-run deficit with six outs to play.
After the sixth, the Saints couldn’t get anything going offensively, and they took the disappointing loss 8-2.
Henriquez picked up the loss for the Saints as his record fell to 1-4. Helman went 2-for-3 to lead the offense, along with Hamilton’s two RBI. The Saints had to resort to a doubleheader split as their record fell to 41-44.
WIND SURGE (AA)
Wichita 16, Arkansas 12
Box Score
The Wichita Wind Surge won in an absolute slugfest on Wednesday afternoon by a score of 16-12.
The game was all Wichita early on. In the first inning, Cole Sturgeon started the scoring with a three-run homer, his seventh of the year. Later that inning, DaShawn Keirsey hit an RBI single to give Wichita an early 4-0 lead.
In the second, Chris Williams scored Matt Wallner with an RBI single. In the third, Keirsey hit another RBI single, Wallner hit a two-run single, and Chris Williams hit a three-run homer to increase the lead to 11. And in the fourth, Daniel Ozoria hit an RBI single, Wallner hit another RBI single, and Edouard Julien hit a sac-fly to increase the lead to 14-0 early on.
But Arkansas said not so fast. After Wichita starter Sawyer Gipson-Long survived the first four innings, only allowing three hits and no runs, he blew up in the fifth. Arkansas scored nine runs in the fifth, seven off of Gipson-Long, and two off of reliever Steven Klimek thanks to five doubles and a homer.
Denny Bentley came in to pitch in the sixth, hoping to settle things down, and he did, throwing three strong innings, allowing one run, and striking out two.
The lead was down to four, but Wichita increased it back to six in the bottom of the eighth thanks to an RBI single from Anthony Prato and a sac-fly from Wallner.
Manuel Acosta allowed a two-run homer in the ninth, but it was not enough for Arkansas as the Wind Surge held on for a 16-12 win.
Bentley picked up the win for Wichita, his second of the year. Wallner and Prato each had four hits to lead the offense. Sturgeon and Keirsey had three hits apiece, while Julien, Williams, and Nash Knight had two to help the offense. Every Wind Surge starter recorded a hit as the offense recorded 20 hits in the win. Wallner and Williams drove in four runs each in a memorable win for Wichita as they improved their record to 42-40.
KERNELS (HIGH-A)
Cedar Rapids 4, Beloit 2
Box Score
The Kernels rode an all-around solid pitching performance and one particular hot bat to a victory Wednesday night that put them nearly 20 games above .500.
The Kernels got off to a hot start in the top of the first when Christian Encarnacion-Strand belted his 20th homer of the season. Encarnacion-Strand has burst onto the scene this year in his first full professional season and has an impressive .969 OPS.
Like the Saints, the Kernels went with a bullpen game. Jon Olsen started on the mound for Cedar Rapids and allowed two runs in the first. These proved to be the game's only runs for Beloit as the rest of the pitching staff was shut down. Matthew Swain gave two scoreless innings of relief, Orlando Rodriguez gave three, Tyler Palm gave two, and Ryan Shreve gave one. The four only allowed three hits in eight innings while striking out seven batters and not walking any.
The Kernels took the lead for good in the top of the fifth when who else, but Encarnacion-Strand hit a two-run double to score Charles Mack and Kyler Fedko. Seth Gray followed with an RBI single to give the lead a little padding.
With the win, the Kernels improve to 51-32 on the year. Rodriguez picked up his third win, and Shreve got the save, his first of the year. Encarnacion-Strand went 3-for-4 with three RBI to lead the offense, and Gray added two hits in the contest.
MIGHTY MUSSELS (LOW-A)
Fort Myers 6, Clearwater 2
Box Score
The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels continued their dominant season on Wednesday with a convincing 6-2 win over Clearwater.
Jaylen Nowlin made a start for Fort Myers in this one. He threw four innings, allowing one unearned run on four hits while striking out seven batters. In 2022, Nowlin has struck out 14.69 batters per nine innings, which ranks second in the Florida State League among pitchers with at least 40 innings.
Fort Myers got the scoring started in the bottom of the first when Misael Urbina hit a leadoff double, and Noah Miller followed with a single, scoring Urbina to give the Mighty Mussels a 1-0 lead early.
Clearwater responded with an unearned run in the top of the second after a Keoni Cavaco throwing error allowed a runner to reach base. The runner came around to score on a two-out RBI single.
Fort Myers broke the game open at the bottom of the fourth inning. The game was tied 1-1 when Mikey Perez roped a two-run single to left, scoring Miller and Kala’i Rosario. One pitch later, Noah Cardenas hit a two-run homer, his fourth of the year, to give Fort Myers a 5-1 lead.
Manager Brian Meyer called on Juan Mendez to relieve Nowlin in the top of the fifth with a four-run lead. Mendez threw two perfect innings of relief to keep the score intact while striking out two batters. After Mendez was done, Anthony Escobar came in and threw two scoreless innings of his own, lowering his season ERA to 0.93.
Alex Rodriguez (no, not that one) plated Luis Baez with an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh to give Fort Myers another insurance run. Clearwater plated a run in the top of the ninth, but it wouldn’t be enough as the Mighty Mussels held on for the victory.
Mendez picked up the win on the mound for Fort Myers, and multi-hit games led the offense from Rosario and Cardenas. Baez stole two bases, and Miller reached base three times in the win. Fort Myers improved their record to 46-32 with the win.
DOMINICAN DAILIES
GAME ONE
DSL Twins 7, DSL Nationals 2 (Continuation of Suspended Game)
Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Jeferson Lopez (0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K)
Winning Pitcher: Roger Duran (3.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K)
Multi-Hit Games: Daniel Pena (2-for-2)
2B: Anderson Nova (1)
HR: Rafael Cruz (1)
GAME TWO
DSL Twins 8, DSL Nationals 0
Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Jose Betancourt (0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K)
Winning Pitcher: Ledwin Taveras (4.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K)
Multi-Hit Games: Junior Marino (3-for-3), Jose Rodriguez (2-for-4), Anderson Nova (2-for-4)
2B: Nova (2), Rodriguez (7)
TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Jaylen Nowlin (Fort Myers) - 4 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K)
Hitter of the Day – Matt Wallner (Wichita) - 4-for-4, 3 R, 4 RBI, 2B (15), BB
PROSPECT SUMMARY
We will again keep tabs on the Twins' top prospects. You’ll probably read about them in the team sections, but if they aren’t there, you’ll see how they did here.
Here’s a look at how the current Twins Daily Top 20 performed:
#8 - Noah Miller (Fort Myers) - 1-for-2, R, RBI, 2 BB
#12 - Matt Wallner (Wichita) - 4-for-4, 3 R, 4 RBI, 2B (15), BB
#14 - Ronny Henriquez (St. Paul) - 4 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 4 K
#15 - Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 2-for-4, 2 R, RBI, 3B (2), BB
#16 - Christian Encarnacion-Strand (Cedar Rapids) - 3-for-4, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2B (23), HR (20), SB (7)
#17 - Cole Sands (St. Paul) - 2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 4 K
#20 - Sawyer Gipson-Long (Wichita) - 4 2/3 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 0 BB, 6 K
THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
Toledo @ St. Paul (7:07 PM CST) - RHP Jordan Balazovic (0-3, 9.55 ERA)
Arkansas @ Wichita (7:05 PM CST) - RHP Cody Laweryson (1-0, 0.87 ERA)
Cedar Rapids @ Beloit (6:35 PM CST) - RHP David Festa (5-0, 1.91 ERA)
Clearwater @ Fort Myers (6:00 PM CST) - RHP Mike Paredes (4-2, 2.19 ERA)
Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Wednesday’s games!
Thank you for reading, and Go Twins!
MORE FROM TWINS DAILY
— Latest Twins coverage from our writers
— Recent Twins discussion in our forums
— Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email
— Become a Twins Daily Caretaker
Recommended Comments
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.