Twins Minor League Report (7/3): Arraez And Hanson Have Huge Hits

TRANSACTIONS

Very early on Friday morning, Darrin Wolfson tweeted that Aaron Hicks was on his way to Kansas City. To make room for him, Shane Robinson was again placed on the Family Emergency List.

Earlier in the day, the Twins announced the infielder Doug Bernier had been removed from the 40-man roster. He cleared waivers and stayed with Rochester.

Following the Twins game, Alex Meyer was optioned to Rochester. A corresponding move will be announced on Saturday, but we know that Ervin Santana needs to be activated from the suspended list.

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 6, Lehigh Valley 5 (16 innings)

Box Score

Fans in Lehigh Valley got a lot of extra, free baseball action on Friday night. They also got to see the 2015 AAA debut of JO Berrios.

The 21-year-old right-hander was charged with five runs (four earned) on eight hits and a walk in 5.2 innings. He struck out four. Mark Hamburger came on and gave up a hit in one inning. Ryan O’Rourke got the final out of the seventh inning. Then some bullpen arms got some extended work. Michael Tonkin struck out eight in three perfect innings (read that sentence again). AJ Achter threw two scoreless innings, though he gave up a hit and walked three. He struck out four. Logan Darnell worked four scoreless innings. He gave up three hits, walked three and struck out six to get the win.

In the top of the 16^th inning, Eric Farris singled, and James Beresford advanced him to second with a bunt. Nate Hanson came up and came through with an RBI with a game-winning single. In 16 innings, the Red Wings had just eight hits. Oswaldo Arcia hit his third home run. Eric Fryer walked and added his first homer. He will leave the team now to join Team USA for the Pan-Am Games. Reynaldo Rodriguez hit his 19^th double.

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 1, Birmingham 3

Game 1 - Box Score

The Lookouts had not played in four days, so they played two games on Friday. The team had a scheduled day off which was followed by two rainouts. The bats cooled off with the delay (and the Miguel Sano promotion possibly, too).

In Game 1, the team had just five hits. Jorge Polanco went 2-4 and drove in the lone run. Stephen Wickens walked twice. Kennys Vargas batted third and went 1-3.

David Hurlbut started the first game. The southpaw gave up three runs on six hits and four walks in five innings to take the loss. He struck out three. Alex Muren made his AA debut and threw two perfect innings. He struck out one.

Chattanooga 1, Birmingham 6

Game 2 - Box Score

Game 2 wasn’t any better for the Lookouts. Jorge Polanco went 2-4 in the second game too. He hit his 14^th double. Max Kepler struck out three times, but he added his 14^th double. Mike Gonzales doubled for the 10^th time this year. Kennys Vargas walked twice.

Alex Wimmers started game two. He gave up four runs on seven hits and a walk in five innings. He struck out three. Jake Reed gave up one run in his innings. JT Chargois gave up a run on a hit in his inning.

MIRACLE MATTERS

Ft. Myers 3, Palm Beach 4 (10 innings)

Box Score

Yet another extra innings game for the Miracle. Unfortunately, they ended up on the losing side of this one.

Ryan Eades started and was only able to complete four innings. He gave up two runs on five hits and two walks while striking out five. Corey Williams came on and gave up one run over two innings. He gave up two hits, walked one and struck out one. Matt Summers gave up two hits over three shutout innings. He struck out one. After getting one out, Todd Van Steensel gave up a first-pitch home run to Luke Voit. Voit went 3-5 in the game with two doubles before the walk-off homer.

Jason Kanzler (The Muscles and Mustache Man) led the offense. He went 2-5 with his sixth double and his sixth home run. Bryan Haar and Aderlin Mejia also had two hits. Mitch Garver went 1-3 with a walk and his 13^th double.

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 1, Burlington 4

Box Score

The Cedar Rapids offense continues to struggle. In this game, they had just five hits. TJ White was 1-3 with a walk. Brett Doe hit his eighth double. Nick Gordon had a single and the lone RBI.

Jared Wilson had his first rough start of the year. In just 1.2 innings, he gave up three runs on three hits and four walks. Luke Bard gave up three hits over 3.1 scoreless innings. He struck out two without a walk. Cameron Booser was charged with an unearned run over three innings of relief. He gave up one hit, walked one and struck out three.

E-TWINS E-NOTES

Greeneville @ Elizabethton

Box Score

The game was postponed due to rain..

GCL TWINS TAKES

GCL Twins 4, GCL Red Sox 3 (13 innings)

Box Score

Another extra innings game, but a walk-off win for the GCL Twins on Friday. With two outs in the bottom of the 13^th inning, Jorge Andrade walked. Lean Marrero singled, and then Luis Arraez singled him in to end the game.

Arraez went 3-6 in the game. So did Jermaine Palacios. Lewin Diaz went 1-3 with two walks. Travis Blankenhorn added his third double.

With the extra innings, pretty much everybody got a chance to pitch (slight exaggeration). Luis Hernandez started and gave up three runs on four hits. He walked two without a strikeout. After that, 11 shutout innings from the bullpen. Miguel Gonzalez struck out four batters in three perfect innings. Callan Pearce gave up a hit and a walk and recorded two outs. Max Cordy walked two and hit a batter, but he got two outs before allowing any runs. Hector Lujan struck out one in a scoreless inning. Chris Mazza returned to the mound and threw two shutout innings. He walked one and struck one out. Yorman Landa rehabbed as well. He gave up two hits over two scoreless innings. Brandon Poulson worked the final inning. He gave up a hit and walked two, but he struck out two and gave up no runs.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Michael Tonkin, Rochester Red Wings

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Jorge Polanco, Chattanooga Lookouts

SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Lehigh Valley @ Rochester (6:05 CST) – RHP Tyler Duffey

Chattanooga @ Jacksonville (6:05 CST) – LHP Brett Lee

St. Lucie @ Ft. Myers (5:05 CST) – LHP Mat Batts

Burlington @ Cedar Rapids (5:05 CST) – RHP Zach Tillery

Elizabethton @ Greeneville (6:00 CST) – LHP Brandon Easton

GCL Twins @ GCL Red Sox (9:00 am CST) – TBD

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