Twins Minor League Report (7/19): Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

TRANSACTIONS

Jeremy Hazelbaker was acquired from Tampa Bay for cash considerations and was assigned to Rochester. Another left-handed hitting outfielder, Hazelbaker has hit .258/.327/.500 (.827 OPS) over 285 plate appearances with the Cardinals and Diamondbacks. The 30-year-old was having a rough go of things for Durham, Tampa Bay’s Triple-A affiliate, hitting .210/.293/.397 (.690 OPS).

Cody Stashak was placed on Chattanooga’s temporary Inactive List.

Fort Myers placed Tom Hackimer on the 7-Day DL with an ankle sprain.

RED WINGS REPORT

Game 1: Norfolk 1, Rochester 0 (7 innings)

Box Score

SP: Kohl Stewart (6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K)

HR: None

Multi-hit games: Nick Gordon

Rochester was held to just three hits, two from Nick Gordon, but Kohl Stewart was awesome. Making his fourth Triple-A start this season, Stewart gave up just one run on three hits, all singles, and two walks. He also struck out eight of the 22 batters he faced on the day. Stewart also went six innings and only gave up one run in his last start.

Jeremy Hazelbaker was 0-for-2 with a strikeout in his debut in the organization.

Game 2: Norfolk 1 Rochester, 0 (8 innings)

Box Score

SP: D.J. Baxendale (3.1 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K)

HR: None

Multi-hit games: None

Yes, Rochester played two games, they lost both and the score was 1-0 in both contests. Also, both runs scored over the 15 innings of baseball were on sacrifice flies.

This game was played in Rochester, but it was technically a road game for the Wings, er, they were the Plates tonight, I guess. They were making up a game that was rained out in Norflolk earlier in the season. That meant Rochester was walked off in their own ballpark, which had to feel a little weird.

The only hits by the Plates in this one were a Juan Graterol double and a Jon Kremmer single. D.J Baxendale opened things with 3 1/3 shutout innings before Trevor May tuned in 2 1/3 frames of no-hit ball. Gabriel Moya pitched two innings and gave up the game-winner, though it’ll go down as an unearned run since that was the “bonus” runner that started the inning on second base.

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 5, Mobile 3

Box Score

W: Omar Bencomo (5.1 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K)

SV: Tyler Jay (1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K)

HR: Brent Rooker (16)

Multi-hit games: Brent Rooker, Mitchell Kranson

This one started with a Zander Wiel double followed by Brent Rooker’s 16th home run. The Lookouts built a 4-0 lead thanks to RBI singles from Mitchell Kranson and Rooker, but the BayBears battled back to pull within a run of Chattanooga. Brian Navarretto plated an insurance run in the top of the ninth on a sac fly and the bullpen locked it down.

Omar Bencomo (29) gave up two runs and struck out seven batters over 5 1/3 innings. Williams Ramirez (who turns 26 in a few weeks) gave up a run in his inning of work before Sam Clay (25) delivered 1 1/3 innings of scoreless work. Tyler Jay (24) earned his second save by recording the final four outs. He gave up one hit and had three strikeouts.

Why yes, the Lookouts do have the oldest pitching staff in the Southern League (second oldest in all of Double A), why do you ask?

MIRACLE MATTERS

Fort Myers 4, Lakeland 3 (10 innings)

Box Score

W: Jovani Moran (3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K)

SP: Griffin Jax (7.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K)

HR: None

Multi-hit games: None

Hits were hard to come by for the Miracle, but they made the most of them. They managed to score four runs despite only being able to muster three well-timed hits.

Alex Kirilloff hit a single to load the bases in the first inning, Joe Cronin drew a walk to score the first run and then Ben Rortvedt delivered a two-run single to put Fort Myers up 3-0 in the first inning. They didn’t get another baserunner until the seventh. In the meantime, the Flying Tigers stormed back to tie the game at 3-3.

Griffin Jax gave up just one earned run over seven innings before handing the game off to Jovani Moran, who was making just his third appearance for the Miracle. Moran managed to fend off Lakeland for three innings, keeping the game knotted up.

Things didn’t get off to a very good start in the bottom of the 10th for Fort Myers. Rortvedt was walked to try to set up the double play. To combat that, the Miracle bunted … into a double play. Since offense was impossible to come by, Fort Myers hadn’t recorded a hit since the first inning, they seemed doomed. Instead, Aaron Whitefield delivered a walk-off double that scored Rortvedt from second base.

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 6, Great Lakes 3

Box Score

W: Tyler Watson (6.0 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K)

SV: Jose Martinez (2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB 6 K)

HR: Ben Rodriguez (8), Jacob Pearson (4)

Multi-hit games: Akil Baddoo

Tyler Watson set the tone with six innings of shutout ball and Ben Rodriguez mashed a three-run homer that put the Kernels up 4-0 in the third inning, making for a low-stress night, especially when compared to how the other affiliates fared.

Akil Baddoo had an excellent game, going 3-for-5 and was a homer shy of the cycle and Jacob Pearson hit his fourth home run of the season. Jose Martinez made sure things remained under control as he absolutely blew through the Loons’ lineup.

Martinez faced seven men and he struck out six of them. He threw 21 of his 26 pitches for strikes. Wow.

E-TWINS E-NOTES

Greeneville 3, Elizabethton 2 (10 innings)

Box Score

SP: Andrew Cabezas (5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 4 K)

HR: Chris Williams (8)

Multi-hit games: Yunior Severino, Andrew Cosgrove

My goodness, is Chris Williams flexing his muscles or what!? The guy now has eight home runs through 26 pro games. Combined that with his numbers at Clemson this year Williams has 25 homers in 88 games this year. Again, my goodness!

E-Towns’ other run came on a game-tying single from Trevor Larnach. Andrew Cabazas pitched five shutout innings of two-hit ball. Johan Quezada followed with two no-hit innings to go with four strikeouts.

GCL TWINS TAKES

GCL Twins 6, GCL Orioles 3 (11 innings)

Box Score

W: Petru Balan (3.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K)

SP: Kai-Wei Teng (5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K)

HR: None

Multi-hit games: Agustin Marte, Charles Mack, Victor Tedemo, Erick Rivera

The Twins trailed 1-0 heading into the top of the ninth, but they tied it up on a pretty wild play. Here’s the description from the MiLB play log:

“Victor Tademo out on a sacrifice bunt, left fielder Jacob Brown to third baseman Jared Gates. Alberoni Nunez scores. Charles Mack to 3rd. Victor Tademo out at 3rd. Victor Tademo out at 3rd, left fielder Jacob Brown to third baseman Jared Gates.”

Uh ... say what now?

Things continued to get interesting, as the Twins added another run in the top of the 10th thanks to a passed ball. But the O’s also scored in the bottom of that inning. The Twins really broke loose in the 11th, tallying four runs, the big blow being a Tademo double.

Second baseman Agustin Marte was 3-for-5 with a double and Mack was 2-for-4 with a walk. Kai-Wei Tend delivered five frames of one-run ball before J.T. Perez pitched two scoreless innings. Petru Balan gave up an unearned run over his three innings of work and Osiris German also surrendered an unearned run in the 11th

STARS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Jose Martinez, Cedar Rapids

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: Brent Rooker, Chattanooga

TOP PROSPECT SUMMARY

Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed. Please note that this Prospect Summary has been updated.

1. Royce Lewis (FM): 0-for-3, BB, R, E

2. Alex Kirilloff (FM): 1-for-4, R, K

3. Brusdar Graterol (FM): Did not pitch.

4. Nick Gordon (ROC): 2-for-6, SB

5. Stephen Gonsalves (ROC): Did not pitch.

6. Trevor Larnach (ET): 1-for-3, BB, RBI, K

7. Brent Rooker (CHAT): 2-for-4, HR, 3 RBIs, R

8. Akil Baddoo (CR): 3-for-5, 2B, 3B, 2 R, RBI

9. Wander Javier: Out of for the season

10. Zack Littell (ROC): Did not pitch.

11. Blayne Enlow (CR): Did not pitch.

12. LaMonte Wade (ROC): 0-for-6, 4 K

13. Travis Blankenhorn (FM): 0-for-3, K, E

14. Lewis Thorpe (CHAT): Did not pitch.

15. Ben Rortvedt (FM): 1-for-2, 2 BB, 2 RBI, R

16. Yunior Severino (ET): 2-for-5, R

17. Lewin Diaz (FM): 0-for-3, RBI, K

18. Ryan Jeffers (ET): 1-for-4, BB

19. Jacob Pearson (CR): 1-for-4, HR, RBI, R, K

20. Luis Arraez (CHAT): 1-for-4, 2B, R, K

FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Rochester vs. Norfolk, 5:05 pm CT: Ervin Santana

Chattanooga at Mobile, 7:05 pm CT: Sean Poppen

Fort Myers vs. Lakeland, 6:00 pm CT: Brusdar Graterol

Cedar Rapids at Great Lakes, 6:05 pm CT: Bailey Ober

Elizabethton vs. Greeneville, 6:00 pm CT: TBD

GCL Twins vs. GCL Red Sox, 11:00 am CT: TBD

Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the games.