Twins Minor League Report (7/26): Vargas Homers Twice

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 7, Indianapolis 1

Box Score

Home runs were the name of the game for the Red Wings on Wednesday. Mitch Garver hit his 15th AAA home run this year in the first inning. Niko Goodrum extended the lead to 3-0 with a solo home run in the second inning. Kennys Vargas hit two home runs, a solo and three-run shot, in the later innings to extend the lead even further.

Vargas led the team with four RBI. Matt Hague had two doubles and scored both times. J.B. Shuck had three hits including a double.

Dillon Gee pitched well, striking out seven over six innings, allowing only one run on six hits. Jake Reed hit a batter, but then got five straight groundball outs in his two innings of work. John Curtiss closed the game, striking out two in a perfect ninth inning

At 59-44, the Red Wings are four games behind Lehigh Valley in the wild card race.

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 1, Birmingham 3

Box Score

The story of the night was Michael Kopech, stud prospect for the White Sox, who will be a thorn in the Twins' side for a long time. He struck out twelve and spit flames.

Jonathan Rodriguez provided most of the offensive punch for the Lookouts with two hits (one double), a walk and the team's only RBI. Levi Michael had two singles. Carlos Paulino had one. Nick Gordon drew two walks and scored the team's only run.

Kohl Stewart allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits and four walks. He struck out two. Raul Fernandez pitched two scoreless innings. Ryan Eades gave up a run in his two innings of work.

At 24-8, the Lookouts have a nice cushion as division leaders.

MIRACLE MATTERS

Fort Myers 2, Lakeland 5

Box Score

The Miracle took a one-run lead in the top half of the fourth inning, but allowed five runs in the bottom half to create a deficit from which they couldn’t recover.

Sean Poppen made his fifth start since his promotion and had the roughest outing of his young career. In five frames, he gave up five runs on 11 hits and a walk. He struck out four.

Keaton Steele struck out one in three scoreless innings.

Offensively, the bats were quiet. Tanner English and Zander Wiel each doubled. Wiel drove in Mitch Kranson, who had walked, in the fourth. Jermaine Palacios drove English in with a groundout in the ninth. Brian Navarreto provided the only other base hit.

The 19-13 Miracle have gone through a cold stretch and now find themselves 1.5 games out of first place.

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids at Peoria - POSTPONED (RAIN)

A doubleheader will start at 5:30 on Thursday.

E-TWINS E-NOTES

Elizabethton 0, Pulaski 1

Box Score

Not a lot to say about this two-hour, action-starved game.

Nick Brown gave up a solo home run in the fourth inning, allowing the game’s only run. He yielded only three hits and a walk over six innings, striking out four, but took the loss. Charlie Barnes pitched two innings in relief, striking out one.

Offensively, the E-Twins only had four hits: A double by Shane Carrier, his seventh, and singles by Mark Contreras, Rainis Silva and T.J. Dixon. Though they drew four walks, the team hit a collective 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position, sealing their fate.

The E-Twins have a 1.5 game lead at 20-14.

GCL TWINS TAKES

GCL Twins 1, GCL Orioles 12

Box Score

Another game that was lacking in offense for the good team.

Four hits produced one (unearned) run. Three of those hits came off the bat of leadoff hitter Emmanuel Morel, two of which were doubles. He scored the only run. But the rest of the lineup went 1-24 (a single by Jared Akins) and that was all she wrote.

Glen Perkins did throw another inning. He allowed a hit, a walk and struck out one.

Blayne Enlow piggybacked him and threw 3.2 innings, allowing a run on one hit. He struck out three.

The trio of Matt Jones, Jose Bermudez and Juan Mojica was bad. Eleven runs on 10 hits and seven walks over four and a third innings. I’m going to leave the specifics out - someone’s family might be reading - but if you’re into blood and gore, you can click the box score above.

The GCL Twins drop to 16-11.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Pitcher of the Day – Nick Brown, Elizabethton

Hitter of the Day – Kennys Vargas, Rochester

THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Rochester at Indianapolis (6:05 CST) - RHP Kyle Gibson (0-2, 2.92 ERA)

Chattanooga vs Birmingham (6:15 CST) - RHP Dereck Rodriguez (4-1, 2.95 ERA)

Fort Myers at Lakeland (5:30 CST) - RHP Eduardo Del Rosario (0-0, -.-- ERA)

Cedar Rapids at Peoria (5:30 CST) - RHP Tyler Beardsley (3-4, 5.98 ERA)

Cedar Rapids at Peoria (Game 2) - LHP Evan Sanders (1-2, 8.40 ERA)

Elizabethton at Pulaski (6:00 CST) - LHP Bryan Sammons (1-0, 1.83 ERA)

GCL Twins at GCL Orioles (11:00 AM CST) - TBA

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