Twins Minor League Report (7/7): Moving Day And Two Palka Dingers

Continue reading to find out more detail about Thursday in the Twins farm system:

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester @ Lehigh Valley IronPigs

Box Score

In his first at bat in Triple-A, Daniel Palka hit a home run, and for good measure he hit another one later in the game, helping power Rochester to victory. Here is a video of Palka's first home run of the evening.

@https://twitter.com/MorrieSilver8/status/751249706794180608

Palka also added a double as part of his 3-5 evening that included three runs scored, a pair of RBIs and a couple of strike outs. The Red Wings also benefited from a big night out of Adam Walker, who was also 3-5. Walker had a pair of doubles, a run scored, a pair of RBIs and a strikeout. There is a lot of power in the middle of that Rochester lineup with those two hitting fourth and fifth, respectively.

Pat Dean struggled on Thursday, giving up 12 hits and seven runs (all earned) over just 4.0 innings. He walked one, struck out three, and gave up three home runs. He was lifted for D.J. Baxendale who pitched two scoreless innings and earned the victory, as Baxendale and the rest of the Rochester bullpen shut down Lehigh Valley the rest of the way. Ryan O'Rourke pitched a scoreless inning and earned his fourth hold of the season. Closer J.T. Chargois came in for a six out save, striking out three and giving up just one hit, earning his sixth save.

Final: Red Wings 8, IronPigs 7

LOOKOUTS LOOK-IN

Birmingham Barons @ Chattanooga

Box Score

Lookouts starter Aaron Slegers gave up a first inning run, but the Lookouts rallied, including six runs in the bottom of the fourth, carrying Slegers to his eighth victory of the year. Slegers final line was 6.0 innings, 7 hits, 2 earned runs, a walk, a strikeout, and he gave up a solo home run. Mason Melotakis pitched a perfect seventh, striking out the side on 12 pitches. Rual Fernandez finished the final two innings, giving up a pair of runs on a hit and two walks. He struck out three.

Chattanooga had contributions up and down the lineup as all nine players recorded at least one hit, and six players had multi-hit games. Zach Granite was 3-5 with a run scored, a double, and two RBIs as the leadoff hitter. D.J. Hicks had a big game, too, 2-5 with a home run and three RBIs. Travis Harrison and Niko Goodrum added home runs as well, both solo home runs.

Final: Barons 4, Lookouts 10

MIRACLE MATTERS

Bradenton Marauders @ Fort Myers (continued from June 26th)

Box Score

With Bradenton back in Fort Myers, the two teams continued a rain-shortened June 26th game, picking up in the bottom of the fourth inning with one out and a 4-0 Miracle lead. In an interesting statistical note, Niko Goodrum hit a home run early in that game prior to the delay, meaning he had a home run in High-A and Double-A in games that ended on Thursday night. Using a total of 13 different hitters, the only Miracle with multiple hits was Joe Maloney, going 2-2, including a triple. The Miracle added one additional run in the seventh.

Miracle starter Randy Rosario did not return to his start, replaced instead by Luke Bard, who earned the win with 2.0 scoreless innings. Brandon Peterson added 2.0 scoreless innings of his own, before being replaced by Todd Van Steensel who pitched a scoreless ninth to finish off the June 26th game in a shutout.

Final: Marauders 0, Miracle 5

Bradenton Marauders @ Fort Myers (Game 2)

Box Score

Coincidentally, Randy Rosario was on the bump to start the second game of the evening, meaning he started both ends of this Miracle double-header. Rosario picked up his fifth win of the year to move to 5-5 with 6.1 innings of 3-run baseball. He gave up 7 hits, 3 earned runs, walked 3 and struck out two. He was lifted for John Curtis who shut down the Marauder threat, retiring both batters he faced to finish the 7-inning game.

The Miracle tallied 12 hits in this seven inning game, including a pair of hits from each of T.J. White, Nick Gordon, and Daniel Kihle (making his High-A debut). Kihle was 2-3 with a double, run scored, 2 RBIs and a strikeout. LaMonte Wade also added an extra base hit (a double), plus an RBI and a walk.

Final: Marauders 3, Miracle 8

KERNELS KORNER

Wisconsin Timber Rattlers @ Cedar Rapids

Box Score

In a good old-fashioned pitchers' duel, the Kernels held on to a 1-0 lead to defeat the Timber Rattlers in front of 2,077 fans at Perfect Game Field. Kernels starter Cody Stashak was perfect through five innings before a broken-bat single broke things up in the top of the sixth, the only hit Stashak would give up over eight innings of stellar work. Stashak walked three and struck out eight. Tom Hackimer pitched a perfect ninth to earn his first save of the year for the Kernels.

The Kernels managed to scatter seven hits against Timber Rattlers starter Jordan Yamamoto over seven innings, but managed to push just that single run across the plate, an RBI groundout from Rainis Silva in the bottom of the second inning, scoring Jaylin Davis. Davis was the only hitter, on either team, with more than one hit, 2-3 with a double and a run scored.

Final: Timber Rattlers 0, Kernels 1

E-TWINS E-NOTES

Elizabethton @ Bristol Pirates (Game 1)

Box Score

With a doubleheader slated for the evening, a long night was made longer due to a 1-hour rain delay, pushing first pitch back to 7pm, and pushing the start of the second game back to nearly 10pm.

In the first game, Elizabethton managed four runs on just four hits, despite striking out 10 times in seven innings. Lewin Diaz was 1-3, including a home run, and a pair of runs scored. First round draft pick Alex Kirilloff was the only player to record a multi-hit game, 2-3 with a double and an RBI. Kirilloff is hitting .414 through his first 8 games of the season with an OPS over a thousand.

Elizabethton starter Domenick Carlini gave up 10 hits and seven runs (all earned) over 4.0 innings. He walked one, struck out two, and gave up a home run. He was lifted for Hecto Lujan who pitched a pair of scoreless innings, striking out three, and giving up just one hit.

Final: E-Twins 4, Pirates 7

Elizabethton @ Bristol Pirates (Game 2)

Box Score

The E-Twins struggled with the bats again in the second game of the evening, with just five hits. Lewin Diaz was 1-3 with a double, and Shane Carrier was 1-3 with a double, as well. Kirilloff was 1-3 with the Twins' lone RBI.

Tyler Wells didn't make it out of the fourth inning, giving the Twins 3.2 innings of two-run baseball before being lifted for Griffin Jax (phenomenal name, good luck to ya kid), who gave up a pair of runs as well. Wells struck out six without walking anyone. Jax added a strikeout of his own, and also did not give any free passes. Neither pitched particularly poorly, but without much run support, they needed to be better.

Final: E-Twins 1, Pirates 4

GCL TWINS TALK

GCL Twins @ GCL Rays

Box Score

The Twins just barley managed more hits (4) than errors (3) en route to losing handily to the Rays. Ben Rotvedt was 1-4 with a double, the lone extra-base hit for the Rays. The Twins managed just three at-bats with runners in scoring position all evening. Starter Bo Hellquist picked up the loss (0-1), spreading five runs (just two earned) over 4.0 innings, walking one and striking out three. Moises Gomez had a great outing in relief, pitching three scoreless innings, walking no one and he struck out five. Zach Strecker pitched the eighth, giving up two runs on four hits to end the night for the Twins.

Final: GCL Twins 1, GCL Rays 7

DSL TWINS TAKES

DSL Twins @ DSL Orioles2 (Game 1)

Box Score

Final: DSL Twins 5, DSL Orioles2 3

DSL Twins @ DSL Orioles2 (Game 2)

Box Score

Final: DSL Twins 1, DSL Orioles2 6

The DSL Twins split a double-header on Thursday morning. The Twins more or less threw two bullpen games, with Carlos Suniaga the biggest bright spot of the day, pitching 4.0 innings of relief. Suniaga gave up three hits, and a walk, but what really jumps off the page is his nine (NINE!) strike outs. The other six pitchers the Twins used on the evening managed just 7 more Ks.

Over two games, the Twins had just two players record multi-hit games, one in each. Ruben Santana was 2-4 with a hit and an RBI in the first game, and Yestin Encarnacion was 3-4 with a run scored in the second game.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Hitter of the Day - Daniel Palka, Rochester

Pitcher of the Day - Cody Stashak, Cedar Rapids

FRIDAY'S PROBABLES

Rochester @ Scranton/WB - Jose Berrios (8-3, 2.43)

Birmingham @ Chattanooga - Kohl Stewart (2-3, 3.58)

Dunedin @ Fort Myers - Randy LeBlanc (2-2, 4.33, also has a great mustache)

Kane County @ Cedar Rapids - Lachlan Wells (1-0, 1.74)

E-Twins @ Bristol - Ryan Mason (0-1, 14.14)

GCL Twins @ GCL Red Sox - TBD

DSL Orioles2 @ DSL Twins - TBD

Please ask questions and discuss the Thursday games.

-ERolf