Twins Minor League Report (7/21): Saturday Night’s Allright

RED WINGS REPORT

Norfolk 5, Rochester 3

Box Score

SP: Fernando Romero (7.2 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 3 K)

HR: None

Multi-hit games: Gregorio Petit, Jordan Pacheco

Fernando Romero got off to a terrible start, opening this game by walking the first two batters he faced. He then gave up a single to load the bases with nobody out. The Tides tallied three runs in the first, but Romero was able to recover and pitching into the eighth inning.

Miguel Sano, in his first game since being promoted from Fort Myers, started at third base and went 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout. He drove in a run on a ground out.

Rochester’s lineup is in desperate need of a boost. Over their past six games, they’ve managed to scratch across just five runs. This was their sixth-straight loss and the Red Wings are 3-12 in their last 15 games.

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 12, Mobile 10 (11 innings)

Box Score

W: Tyler Jay (2.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K)

SP: Dietrich Enns (5.0 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 3 K)

HR: None

Multi-hit games: Zander Wiel, Brent Rooker, Mitchell Kranson, Jaylin Davis, Jimmy Kerrigan

Lookouts manager Tommy Watkins has seen a couple of his better leadoff options promoted up to Rochester, but he may have found his new tablesetter tonight. First baseman Zander Wiel hit first for Chattanooga tonight and was 3-for-6 with a pair of doubles, a walk and scored all four times he was on base.

Brent Rooker, who hit directly behind Wiel was also 3-for-6 with two doubles and a walk. He also drove in three runs. That’s a nice one-two punch right there.

This was a crazy game. Mobile led 6-1 after the first three innings but Chattanooga managed to storm back and tie the game at 7-7 in the eighth inning. This one went into extras, and while the Lookouts were able to score in the top of the 10th, the BayBears answered with a run of their own to send this game into the 11th. Chattanooga responded with a four-run inning. That surely would be enough, right? Yes, but Mobile didn’t go down quietly. They managed to score twice before the game finally ended.

Some of the numbers are just silly. The Lookouts were 9-for-27 with runners in scoring position. They had 17 hits and drew nine walks, so there was just constantly traffic on the bases.

Jordan Gore made the jump all the way up from Cedar Rapids earlier this month, but he’s fitting right in. Tonight he hit a triple, drove in three runs and drew three walks. As you’d imagine by the score, there was a lot of bad pitching, but Andrew Vasquez kept rolling along. He was the first man out of the bullpen for Chattanooga and struck out five of the seven batters he faced. Sam Clay struck out three batters in his two innings of scoreless work.

MIRACLE MATTERS

Lakeland 8, Fort Myers 2

Box Score

SP: Andro Cutura (3.2 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K)

HR: Ben Rortvedt (3)

Multi-hit games: Alex Kirilloff

Starter Andro Cutura ran into trouble in the fourth inning and the Ryan Mason, who’s been having an excellent year, got knocked around in the fifth, putting the Miracle behind 8-0 after five innings. The Fort Myers lineup wasn’t able to dig out of that hole, but there were a couple strong performances.

Ben Rortvedt hit a two-run home run, his third already with the Miracle in just 28 games. Rortvedt only had five home runs in 161 pro games prior to being promoted to Fort Myers. Alex Kirilloff was 3-for-4 and scored a run.

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 7, Lansing 5

Box Score

W: Blayne Enlow (6.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K)

HR: Jean Carlos Arias (5)

Multi-hit games: Robby Rinn, Jean Carlos Arias, Jared Akins

Blayne Enlow was in control and the Kernels put up a six spot in the fifth inning of this one. Jean Carlos Arias got Cedar Rapids on the board with a solo homer in the second inning and then capped off the big rally in the fifth with a run-scoring triple.

Enlow completed six innings for the third-straight start and has never had to eclipse 80 pitches over that stretch. The only runs he gave up were unearned, so Enlow’s ERA sits at 3.16 on the season.

Arais was hands down the offensive star of the game, but Robby Rinn had two hits and drove in a pair of runs and Jared Akins also had two hits.

E-TWINS E-NOTES

Elizabethton 7, Princeton 6

Box Score

W: Pedro Garcia (4.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 5 K

SV: Seth Pinkerton (1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K)

SP: Josh Winder (4.0 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 2 K)

HR: Chris Williams (9), Ricky De La Torre (2), Micheal Helman (1)

Multi-hit games: Ryan Jeffers, Ricky De La Torre, Michael Helman

Michael Helman, a member of the 2018 draft class, hit his first professional home run and it was extra sweet because it put the E-Twins up for good. A second baseman out of Texas A&M, Helman also had a single.

Ryan Jeffers was 3-for-4 with a double and scored twice, of course, because that’s what he does. Jeffers is now hitting .422 with an 1.121 OPS. Chris Williams hit a home run, because that’s what he does. The Clemson product now has nine dingers for E-Town. Shortstop Ricky De La Torre hit his second homer of the season.

Josh Winder had a rough start, giving up six runs on eight hits over four innings, but Pedro Garcia bailed him out with four frames of one-hit ball and the bats mounted a comeback.

GCL TWINS TAKES

GCL Red Sox 7, GCL Twins 6 (10 innings)

Box Score

SP: Andriu Martin (4.0 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K)

HR: None

Multi-hit games: LaRon Smith, Yeison Perez

The Twins held a 6-4 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth but the Red Sox managed to tie it up and then won this one in extras. Victor Tademo and Kidany Salva each drove in two runs, LaRon Smith had three singles and Yeison Perez was 2-for-3 with a double.

It’s actually a little crazy that the Red Sox scored only seven runs. Five Twins pitchers combined to surrender 17 hits, they walked four batters and the defense committed four errors.

STARS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Blayne Enlow, Cedar Rapids

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: Jean Carlos Arias, Cedar Rapids

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-4, K

2. Alex Kirilloff (FM): 3-for-4, R

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

4. Nick Gordon (ROC): 1-for-4, RBI, K

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

6. Trevor Larnach (ET): 1-for-4, K

7. Brent Rooker (CHAT): 3-for-6, 2 2B, BB 3 RBI, R, K

8. Akil Baddoo (CR): 1-for-5, R, 2 K

9. Wander Javier: Out of for the season

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

11. Blayne Enlow (CR): 6.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K

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

13. Travis Blankenhorn (FM): 0-for-4, 3 K

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

15. Ben Rortvedt (FM): 1-for-4, HR, 2 RBI, R

16. Yunior Severino (ET): Did not play.

17. Lewin Diaz (FM): 1-for-3, BB, 2 K

18. Ryan Jeffers (ET): 3-for-4, 2B, 2 R

19. Jacob Pearson (CR): Was used as a late sub, only pinch ran and played left field.

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

SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Rochester vs. Norfolk, 12:05 pm CT: Zack Littell

Chattanooga at Mobile, 5:05 pm CT: Lewis Thorpe

Fort Myers: Off

Cedar Rapids at Lansing, 12:05 pm CT: Jordan Balazovic

Elizabethton vs. Princeton, 5:00 pm CT: TBD

GCL Twins: Off

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