Twins Minor League Report (7/20): Pitching Leads The Way

To see if the Twins’ affiliates came out on top in those games, read on!

TRANSACTIONS

Before we get to the games, a few quick transaction updates:

Wilkin Ramirez was sent to the disabled list for the Rochester Red Wings, and they activated Nate Hanson in his place.

Pitcher Keaton Steele was also activated from the disabled list for Cedar Rapids, and started Monday's game for the Kernels.

RED WINGS REPORT

Gwinnett 6, Rochester 3

Box Score

Lefthander Taylor Rogers kept the Rochester Red Wings in the game for most of it, but was unable to finish his day on high note.

Rochester got out to an early 1-0 lead in the second, when Reynaldo Rodriguez led off the inning with his ninth home run of the season.

In the top of the third the lead was handed to the Braves when they got to Rogers for three singles, resulting in two runs.

The score remained that way through the sixth, with Rogers finishing that inning with only the two runs allowed on four hits and a walk, along with three strikeouts, but it unraveled for him in the seventh.

Consecutive singles, a sac bunt, and intentional walk to load the bases started the inning, then two more singles and a sac fly brought in four runs to make it 6-1 before Cole Johnson came on in relief and escaped the jam.

The Red Wings tried to get back in the game in the bottom half of the seventh, as Rodriguez and Bernier drew walks to put runners on with two outs, and Eric Farris delivered his first triple of the season to drive them in and make the score 6-3.

Johnson recorded one out in the eighth before his own troubles brought in Mark Hamburger to wiggle out his jam with runners on second and third. Hamburger came back out for the ninth to pitch a scoreless inning, allowing a single and striking out two, but the Red Wings went down one-two-three in the ninth.

Rochester was outhit 11-5 on the game, and didn’t get many chances as they were just 1-5 with runners in scoring position and left only five men on base. Rodriguez was the only Red Wings player with multiple hits, going 2-3 with two runs scored and the solo home run.

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Mississippi 1, Chattanooga 4

Box Score

The Lookouts were rained out yesterday, but continued their slight turnaround from a rough start to the month. After starting July 3-9 in their first twelve games, they are 5-1 over their last six.

Starter David Hurlbut did much of the work for Chattanooga, pitching six shut out frames. He scattered five hits and two walks, while striking out two to improve to 6-4 on the season.

He left the game with a 3-0 lead thanks to a single run in the fifth and two in the sixth from the home team. Travis Harrison scored the first run of the game in the fifth, when he led off the inning with a walk and scored on a Stuart Turner double. In the sixth, Max Kepler drew a walk and trotted home on Adam Brett Walker’s twenty-fifth home run of the season to make it 3-0.

J.T. Chargois relieved Hurlbut for the seventh and pitched a scoreless inning, walking one and striking out one. Mississippi got their only run of the game in the eighth off reliever Alex Muren, when consecutive errors from Muren and Kennys Vargas allowed the leadoff man to circle home-to-home in just those two batters.

Niko Goodrum added an insurance run in the eighth with a solo home run, his third of the season with the Lookouts and seventh total.

Stuart Turner had two hits on the night including the RBI double. Walker had a typical day with the big home run, but also struck out twice. Kepler (1-3, R, BB) and Vargas (1-3, BB) each reached base twice in the game.

MIRACLE MATTERS

Jupiter 1, Fort Myers 2

Box Score

It was a pitcher’s duel at Hammond Stadium on Monday night, with the Miracle’s Aaron Slegers facing off against the rehabbing Henderson Alvarez of the Miami Marlins.

Slegers got the best of him with seven strong innings. He walked none and allowed just five hits and one run while striking out five.

Fort Myers got to Alvarez in the third inning, and ended his night with two unearned runs after Alex Swim reached base on an error to start the inning. Swim moved to second on a passed ball, and a single from Mitch Garver and a walk to Brett Doe loaded the bases for consecutive sacrifice flies from Ryan Walker and T.J. White. Those two runs would be just enough, as the Hammerhead’s Drew Steckenrider held the Miracle lineup at bay for the rest of the game.

Todd Van Steensel picked up his twelfth save with Fort Myers with two innings of relief to finish the game. He allowed one hit and struck out one.

White was the only batter with multiple hits for the Miracle, going 2-3 with an RBI, and Swim added a double to the effort.

The Miracle improved to 14-11 in the second half of the FSL season, and 52-43 overall.

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 5, Quad Cities 14

Box Score

Things got ugly early in this one for the Kernels and if it were a Minnesota Baseball Association Town Team game, would have ended a bit early in the eighth inning due to the mercy rule.

Starting pitcher Keaton Steele, fresh off the DL, got through the first two innings unscathed, but recorded just one out in the third as the first four men reached base via single or walk, scoring the first two runs of the game in the process. They tacked on three more to Steele’s line before Jared Wilson escaped later with the bases still loaded.

The River Bandits continued to fill the scoreboard against Wilson in the fourth (two runs), Michael Theofanopoulos in the fifth (four runs) and Cameron Booser in the sixth (one run), before they finally got a damage free and one-two-three seventh from Randy LeBlanc. He was not immune either though, as they’d get him for two more runs in the eighth, both unearned, as Kernels shortstop Sean Miller committed errors on consecutive ground balls to bring the score to 14-4 and the mercy conditions.

Cedar Rapids scored their first run of the game in the sixth inning, as Zack Larson singled in Tanner English who had led off the inning with a walk. In the seventh, a triple from Austin Diemer and a double from Miller brought a little bit of life to the game, but three runs on the Kernels scoreboard weren’t much help. They added a fifth run in the top of the ninth, when English connected for his third home run of the season, making the final score of 14-5.

Edgar Corcino (2-4, BB) and Miller (2-4, R, 2B) each had two hits to lead Cedar Rapids, and as team they were 1-9 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base.

E-TOWN E-NOTES

Elizabethton 12, Burlington 1

Box Score

The Elizabethton lineup scored early often and late often on Monday, leading to a 12-1 blowout of the Burlington Royals. They were aided by another stellar performance from starter Dereck Rodriguez, who continues to impress early in his transition to a pitcher with Elizabethton.

The Twins racked up nineteen hits, and went a combined 8-21 with runners in scoring position. Though normally you might see fourteen men left on base as a bad thing, combined with the twelve runs on the scoreboard you can see how many chances they gave themselves.

They jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the first inning, primarily due to the bat of newly signed first baseman Zander Wiel of Vanderbilt. His first professional home run was a two-run shot to make it 3-0 and Elizabethton would need no other insurance, though they took out a pretty large policy the rest of the game.

They added two more in the second inning, and single runs in each of the third and fourth. They were held in check for the next two innings, before adding three to board in the seventh, and single runs again in each of the eighth and ninth.

Rodriguez retired the first eleven Royals of the game before a single in the fourth with two outs finally got a runner on base for the home team. They got just one more single off Rodriguez in the fifth, and he faced the minimum over his final three innings, including retiring the final seven Royals he faced. He didn’t walk a single batter, and picked up three strikeouts along the way to improve his Appalachian League record to 3-0 in five starts.

Alex Robinson came on in relief to finish the final two innings, allowing one run on one hit, a double in the ninth and two walks.

Rainis Silva was 4-4 in the game and got on base in all five plate appearances for Elizabethton, scoring three runs in the process as he doubled and homered to drive in three. Kamran Young was 2-5 with a double, run scored and a walk. Leftfielder Chris Paul had three hits including a double, scored three runs and drove in one. Weil was 2-4 with three RBI’s and a walk to go along with his first pro home run. Travis Blankenhorn notched three hits and a walk, scoring one and driving in one. Ariel Montesino also joined the multiple-hit parade, going 2-4 with a walk, double, run scored and RBI. All nine starters for the Twins had at least one hit and Amaurys Minier was the only starter not to score a run.

The win brought Elizabethton’s record to 12-13, and they shoot for .500 at home against the Princeton Rays tomorrow.

GCL TWINS TAKES

GCL Orioles 0, Elizabethton 1

Box Score

Pitching was again the name of the game here, and Twins pitchers had a combined no-hitter through the first seven innings.

Eduardo Del Rosario went the first five to get it started, walking two and striking out five. Max Cordy walked one and struck out two in the sixth, and Stephen Pryor struck out two in a perfect seventh. Next up in the eighth was John Curtiss, who got the first batter on a ground out to bring the team to 7.1 no-hit innings, but a walk to the next batter would be as far as he could bring them. The Orioles Jack Graham was up next, and was the first to get lucky, sneaking a ground ball through the right side for a base hit and putting a runner in scoring position. Obviously disappointed and perhaps angry the hit got through, Curtiss proceeded to strike out the next two hitters and keep the 1-0 Twins lead.

The Twins got that run in the second inning, as singles from Jermaine Palacios, Ruar Verkerk and Kerby Camacho brought Palacios around to score with two outs.

Johan Quezada was brought in for the save opportunity, and fared much like Curtiss. He got a groundout to start the inning, but then a walk and single put the game-tying runner on second base again. After a pinch-runner and pinch-hitter substitution, Quezada got a ground ball to third to end the game and pick up the save.

Rosario improved to 2-0 in the Gulf Coast League in five starts and lowered his ERA to 1.96 with the five no-hit frames.

On offense, the Twins got multiple hits from Luis Arraez (2-3, BB), Palacios (2-3, R) and Verkerk (2-3) and eight hits as a team. Because they were all singles however, they were just 1-5 with runners in scoring position and left only five men on base.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Pitcher of the Day – Dereck Rodriguez, Elizabethton Twins (W, 7.0 IP, 2 H’s, 0 ER’s, 0 BB’s, 3 K’s)

Hitter of the Day – Rainis Silva, Elizabethton Twins (4-4, 3 R’s, 2B, HR, BB, 2 RBI)

TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Gwinnet @ Rochester (6:05 PM CST) – RHP Tyler Duffey (4-4, 2.24 ERA)

Montgomery @ Chattanooga (10:15 AM CST) – TBD

Jupiter @ Fort Myers (6:05 PM CST) – RHP Chih-Wei Hu (5-2, 2.20 ERA)

Wisconsin @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CST) –RHP Felix Jorge (4-3, 2.06 ERA)

Princeton @ Elizabethton (6:00 PM CST) – RHP Alex Tapia (1-1, 2.95 ERA)

GCL Twins @ GCL Orioles (11:00 AM CST) – TBD

Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Monday’s games.