Twins Minor League Report (7/14): Future Watch

The Minnesota Twins and the Rochester Red Wings have now begun their All-Star breaks. Andrew Albers and Chris Colabello will be representing the Red Wings at the AAA game. The Twins showed again that if you can get to AAA, you have a shot to play with the Twins. On Sunday, three Twins players were sent back to Rochester while two Red Wings were promoted to the major leagues. Chris Herrmann and veteran Doug Bernier will be with the Twins along with a Player to be Named Later (likely Colabello on Friday).

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Here is a look at what happened in the Twins farm system and at the Futures Game on Sunday:

Futures Game

The USA team topped the World Team 4-2 on Sunday afternoon in New York. Miguel Sano started for the World Team, played third base and batted fourth. He grounded out in his first at bat. He then walked and was hit by a pitch. In the ninth, he flew out to the warning track in center field. It was caught by Byron Buxton, who played the second half of the game. He batted twice and struck out swinging both times.

Rochester 6, Pawtucket 2

Box Score

Earlier in the day, Pedro Hernandez was placed on the disabled list with a strained left forearm, so Aaron Thompson got a spot start. The lefty worked the first three innings. He was charged with two runs on two hits and two walks while striking out three. Luis Perdomo came on and threw two shutout innings. He gave up one hit, walked two and struck out one. Cody Eppley struck out four in three perfect innings. Michael Tonkin, after returning from the Twins the night before, worked a 1-2-3 ninth.

James Beresford went 3-5 and stole his second base. Jermaine Mitchell went 2-4 with his sixth triple. Chris Colabello doubled for the 24^th time this season. The Red Wings now begin their All-Star break and return to action Thursday.

New Britain 1, Trenton 0

Box Score

Virgil Vasquez had his best performance of the season. The veteran was perfect through five. In the sixth inning, an error ended the perfect game, and it was followed by a walk. The no-hitter was broken up by the first batter of the 7^th inning. Vasquez threw eight shutout innings. He gave up one hit, walked one and struck out nine. Edgar Ibarra got the first two outs of the ninth, and Dakota Watts got the final out for his third save.

The Rock Cats also did not put up much offense. They managed five hits in the game; second baseman Eddie Rosario had three of the hits. Danny Ortiz added his fourth triple.

Ft. Myers 7, Lakeland 8 (10 innings)

Box Score

This loss came in extra frames, and manager Doug Mientkiewicz didn’t get to see most of it. Stephen Wickens went 3-4 with two walks and his tenth double. He was caught stealing second base in the third inning. Mientkiewicz disagreed vehemently enough to get ejected. Aderlin Mejia went 2-5 with a walk, bringing his average to .335. Jhon Goncalves went 2-5 with a walk and his seventh stolen base. Evan Bigley homered for the first time with the Miracle. Mike Kvasnicka hit his seventh home run.

Jason Wheeler started and went the first 4.2 innings. He gave up four runs on eight hits and four walks. He struck out just one. Nelvin Fuentes gave up two runs on six hits in 2.1 innings. He also struck out two without walking any. Jose Gonzalez gave up one run on two hits in his inning. Zack Jones struck out two over two scoreless innings. Ryan O’Rourke entered for the tenth inning, and he gave up a run on two hits to take the loss.

Cedar Rapids 7, Bowling Green 6

Box Score

For the second straight day, we start the Cedar Rapids report with “Adam Walker remains hot.” On this day, he went 2-3 with his 20^th double. His college teammate Jonathan Murphy went 2-4 with a walk and his second double. Jorge Polanco was 2-5 with his fourth home run. Joel Licon and Jeremias Pineda were both 2-4. Dalton Hicks won the race to 30 doubles, first in the Twins organization.

Lefty Mason Melotakis put together a solid quality start to earn the win and raise his record to 7-3. In six innings, he gave up two runs on five hits. He walked none (important for him) and struck out two. Alex Muren came on in the seventh and gave up four runs (3 earned) on four hits and recorded just one out which came on a strikeout. David Hurlbut came on and gave up one hit in two shutout innings. Tyler Jones got the final two outs to record his ninth save.

Elizabethton 3, Greeneville 5

Box Score

Randy Rosario is one of The Big Three starters at Elizabethton. All three dominated in their first three Appy League starts and, after Sunday, all three of them have struggled in their fourth start. Rosario went four innings and gave up four runs on seven hits. He walked one and struck out none. Tim Shibuya struck out two in two scoreless innings. Kuo Hua Lo walked one in a scoreless inning. C.K. Irby gave up one run on one hit and a walk in his inning.

Bryan Haar led the offense. He went 3-4. Dereck Rodriguez went 2-4. Rory Rhodes hit his second home run.

GCL Twins

No games on Sundays.

Thanks for checking out today’s Twins minor league report. Please feel free to discuss, comment or ask questions.