Twins Minor League Report (7/16): Romero Strong in Short Start, Rooker Homers Again

Find out everything that happened in the Twins minor league system on Sunday.

RED WINGS REPORT

Lehigh Valley 4, Rochester 3

Box Score

J.R Murphy hit a solo homer, but the Red Wings could muster only three other hits and Tim Melville had his worst start for Rochester. Over 4.1 innings, Melville gave up four earned runs on seven hits.

All that’s a shame, too, because the bullpen was phenomenal. Craig Breslow retired both batters he faced, one on strikes. Mason Melotakis gave up a hit over his 0.2 shutout innings. Alan Busenitz was particularly impressive, striking out four of the five men he faced. John Curtiss finished things off with a perfect inning with two strikeouts.

The Wings were rallying in the eighth, as Matt Hague reached on an error with one out, and would scored on an Edgar Corcino double. ByungHo Park drew a walk, but the Iron Pigs were able to turn two on a Tommy Field grounder to third to end the threat.

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 5, Jacksonville 2

Box Score

Fernando Romero held the Jumbo Shrimp to two runs over his five innings of work, striking out six in the process. Romero threw 82 pitches, 54 for strikes. It was the third-straight start in which Romero pitched exactly five innings despite not eclipsing even 90 pitches. It would appear he’ll be on a pretty strict innings limit for the rest of the season.

The Lookouts were trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the second, but a big two-out rally led to Chattanooga tallying three runs in the inning. Travis Harrison had the big hit of that frame, a two-run double. Nick Gordon had a nice night at the plate, going 2-for-5 with an RBI and a stolen base, but he also made his 19th error of the season.

Jonathan Rodriguez and Max Murphy also had two hits each. Ryan Eades followed Romero with three shutout innings and Paul Clemens pitched a scoreless ninth for his second save.

MIRACLE MATTERS

Fort Myers 6, St. Lucie 3

Box Score

The Miracle improved to 17-5 in the second half behind another great start from Sean Poppen, who lowered his ERA with Fort Myers to 0.55. Poppen held the Mets to one run over 6.1 innings and racked up five strikeouts while walking just one batter.

Zander Wiel hit a two-run homer, his eighth of the season, and the following players got two hits a piece: Sean Miller, Mitchell Kranson and Jaylin Davis. Kranson has had a nice first 20 games since being called up from Cedar Rapids, hitting .304/.360/.430 (.791 OPS).

Tom Hackimer, who has a 0.96 ERA of his own, got the last two outs of the seventh. Alex Robinson gave up two runs over the final two innings, striking out three in the process.

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 8, South Bend 4

Box Score

The Kernels snapped a season-high five-game losing streak with a much-needed offensive explosion. Cedar Rapids had scored just four runs total in their previous six games, but they managed to tally two runs before even recording an out in this one.

Aaron Whitefield led off the game with a walk and stole his 20th base of the season. Joe Cronin followed with a walk and Travis Blankenhorn delivered a two-run triple. Lewin Diaz plated Blankenhorn on a groundout. Diaz was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk. Amaurys Minier hit a three-run homer in the third inning, his second of the year with the Kernels

Anthony Marzi had a three-run lead before even taking the mound. He improved to 3-0 on the season by holding the Cubs to two runs over six innings. Marzi, who the Twins signed out of the Atlantic League, now has a 1.37 ERA and 0.71 WHIP over his first three appearances in the organization.

E-TWINS E-NOTES

Greenville 8, Elizabethton 4

Box Score

Brent Rooker hit his seventh home run of the season in just his 21st game played, but it was one of only four hits on the day for the Twins. Shortstop Jordan Gore delivered the other big knock, a three-run double.

Edwar Colina gave up three runs over 4.1 innings, Rickey Ramirez was rocked for four runs in his 1.2 innings and Jared Finkel gave up a run over two innings. This was a big game in the landscape of the Appalachian League, as the loss dropped E-Town to a half-game back of Greenville in the West division.

GCL TWINS TAKES

Scheduled off day.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Sean Poppen, Fort Myers (6.1 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K)

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: Amaurys Minier, Cedar Rapids (1-for-4, HR, BB, 3 RBI, 1 R).

MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Rochester vs. Charlotte, 4:05 pm CT, David Hurlbut (3.44 ERA, 1.40 WHIP)

Rochester “at” Charlotte (in Rochester), Game 2, Aaron Slegers (3.75 ERA, 1.36 WHIP)

Chattanooga vs. Jacksonville, 10:15 am CT, Felix Jorge (3.14 ERA, 1.30 WHIP)

Fort Myers vs. St. Lucie, 10:05 am CT, TBD

Cedar Rapids at South Bend, 12:05 pm CT, Eduardo Del Rosario (4.48 ERA, 1.33 WHIP)

Elizabethton at Greenville, 6:00 pm CT, Huascar Ynoa (5.06 ERA, 1.81 WHIP)

GCL Twins vs. GCL Rays, 11:00 am CT, TBD

Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Sunday's games.