Twins Minor League Report (8/1): Austin Powers And Jax Delivers

Keep reading to find out more on the night in the Twins minor league system on Wednesday. As always, please feel free to discuss and ask questions.

TRANSACTIONS

• Byron Buxton was placed on the Red Wings disabled list with a left wrist strain.
  
• Rochester added RHP Chase De Jong. He will start on Thursday afternoon.
  
• 1B/3B Ryan Costello came to the Twins from the Mariners where he had been playing at Clinton under former Twins utility man Denny Hocking. He reported to the Miracle, so he received a promotion with his new organization.
  
• 1B/DH Robby Rinn was promoted from Cedar Rapids to Ft. Myers.
  
• 1B/C Ben Rodriguez was sent down to Cedar Rapids because C David Banuelos went on the Kernels DL with a concussion.
  
• IF Victor Tademo returned to the GCL Twins from the Miracle.
  

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 6, Scranton/Wilkes Barre 2

Box Score

Zack Littell put together a strong start and was helped by the bullpen and the bats to earn his third Red Wings win. Littell gave up two runs on five hits and two walks over six innings. He struck out three. Ryne Harper came on and struck out five batters over two perfect innings. Alan Busenitz got the ninth inning and struck out two batters to end the game.

Jon Kemmer went 2-for-4 with his fourth double and first triple since joining the Red Wings. He drove in three runs. Jordan Pacheco went 2-for-4 with his third double. Tyler Austin continued to hurt the team that he played for just two days ago. The former Yankees player went 2-for-4 with his second homer in as many games, his eighth International League homer of the year. And yes, it was a long one again.

https://twitter.com/RocRedWings/status/1024819063564980224

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga, Tennessee

Box Score

Rains in Tennessee caused Tuesday’s doubleheader to be cancelled.

MIRACLE MATTERS

Ft. Myers 8, Jupiter 4

Box Score

Griffin Jax had another strong start. He began the game with six shutout innings. He gave up two runs in the seventh inning. In total, he gave up two runs on six hits and a walk. He struck out seven. Alex Robinson came on and was charged with two runs on two hits over 1 1/3 innings. He struck out two. Colton Davis got the final two outs to record his second save.

Travis Blankenhorn got the Miracle off to a fast start. The first three batters for the team got on to load the bases, but the next two batters struck out. Blankenhorn picked them up in a big way, launching his tenth home run, a grand slam. Royce Lewis went 2-for-4 with a walk and his sixth Miracle double. Caleb Hamilton also went 2-for-4 and stole his fourth base. Taylor Grzelakowski had a single and walked twice. Ernie De La Trinidad went 2-for-2 with a walk and an RBI. That gives him six RBIs through his first four Miracle games.

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 3, Peoria 4

Box Score

Tyler Watson started and went just one inning because he needed 36 pitches to complete it. He gave up three runs on one hit and four walks. He struck out one. Calvin Faucher struck out three over three no-hit innings. Derek Molina worked the next three innings. He gave up one run on two hits. He struck out five. Rickey Ramirez gave up a hit, walked one and struck out one in his inning.

Ben Rodriguez returned to the Kernels due to the David Banuelos concussion. He hit his ninth and tenth home runs for the Kernels. Andrew Bechtold went 2-for-4. Trey Cabbage hit his 15th double.

https://twitter.com/CRKernels/status/1025048580581670912

E-TWINS E-TALK

Elizabethton, Johnson City

Box Score

Rain also caused the postponement of this game. The teams will play a doubleheader on Thursday. Perhaps delaying for a day a huge milestone. With the next Elizabethton win, manager Ray Smith will reach the 1,000 win total.

GCL TWINS TALK

Game 1 - GCL Twins 7, GCL Orioles 6 (resumption from Tuesday)

Box Score

Down a run heading into the bottom of the ninth inning of this game resumed from Tuesday, the Twins put the ball in play enough to score two runs and get a walkoff win.

Before the rains came on Tuesday,Tyler Benninghoff started. He gave up three runs on two hits and three walks over four innings. He struck out two. Then Erik Cha came on and struck out two in his inning. When the game resumed on Wednesday, Junior Navas took the mound. He gave up two runs on four hits over two innings. He struck out one. Steven Cruz gave up an unearned run on one hit and two walks in 1 1/3 innings. Denny Bentley came on for the final two outs.

Former Twins pitcher Ryan O’Rourke came on for the bottom of the ninth inning, continuing his rehab. The inning started with an error on the third baseman. Then a bunt single down the third base line. And then another, to load the bases. There was a fourth grounder toward third base which scored the tying run despite the throw coming home. Finally, Tyler Webb came up and hit a sacrifice fly to end the game.

Yeison Perez went 2-for-4 with his seventh double and two RBI. Erick Rivera and two hits and two RBI. Hunter Lee also had two hits. Charlie Mack went 1-for-3 with a walk.

Game 2 - GCL Twins 1, GCL Orioles 0 (8 innings)

Box Score

The regularly scheduled game ended up going an extra inning, but this time the Orioles won in a walkoff.

Donny Breek, the reigning Twins minor league pitcher of the month, gave up four runs (three earned) on five hits over four innings. He walked one, hit one and struck out five. JT Perez came on and struck out one in a 1-2-3 inning. Osiris German got the sixth inning and struck out two. Petru Balan pitched a scoreless seventh inning, but in the eighth frame, he gave up the tying run (who started the innings at second base) and one more run to take the loss.

Alberoni Nunez got the Twins off to a big start. He hit a first-inning grand slam. Agustin Marte went 2-for-4 with his fourth double.

STARS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Hitter of the Day: Ben Rodriguez, Cedar Rapids Kernels (2-4, 2 HR, 2 RBI).

Twins Daily Pitcher of the Day: Griffin Jax, Ft. Myers Miracle (7 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 96 pitches, 71 strikes)

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 (Ft. Myers) - 2-4, BB, 2B(6), 3 R

#2 - Alex Kirilloff (Ft. Myers) -1-3, HBP, RBI, K

#3 - Brusdar Graterol (Ft. Myers) - Did not pitch

#4 - Nick Gordon (Rochester) - 0-4

#5 - Stephen Gonsalves (Rochester) - Did not pitch

#6 - Trevor Larnach (Elizabethton) - Rained out.

#7 - Brent Rooker (Chattanooga) - Rained out.

#8 - Akil Baddoo (Cedar Rapids) - 1-3, 2 BB

#9 -Wander Javier - out of for the season

#10 - Zack Littell (Rochester) - 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K (97 pitches, 60 strikes)

#11 - Blayne Enlow (Cedar Rapids) - Did not pitch

#12 - LaMonte Wade (Rochester) - 1-4, 2B(8), R

#13 - Travis Blankenhorn (Ft. Myers) - 1-4, HR(10), 4 RBI, R, K

#14 - Lewis Thorpe (Chattanooga) - Rained out.

#15 - Ben Rortvedt (Ft. Myers) - Did not play

#16 - Yunior Severino (Elizabethton) - Rained out.

#17 - Lewin Diaz (Ft. Myers) - will have surgery on his wrist soon. Out for season.

#18 - Ryan Jeffers (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4

#19 - Jacob Pearson (Cedar Rapids) - 0-3, BB, BB, R, K

#20 - Luis Arraez (Chattanooga) - Rained out.

#21 - Jose Miranda (Cedar Rapids) - 1-4

*Since Wander Javier is out, I’d add #21 to the list.

THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Scranton/Wilkes Barre @ Rochester (11:35 am CST) - RHP Chase De Jong (1st Red Wings/Twins start)

Mississippi @ Chattanooga (6:00 CST) - LHP Lewis Thorpe (6-4, 3.61 ERA)

Jupiter @ Ft. Myers (6:00 CST) - Bullpen Game started by Jovani Moran

Cedar Rapids @ Peoria (7:00 CST) - RHP Randy Dobnak (7-3, 3.53 ERA)

Elizabethton @ Johnson City (DH @ 4:00 CST) - RHP Tyler Palm, RHP Andrew Cabezas

GCL Twins - No Game Scheduled

Please feel free to ask any questions about Wednesday’s games, or ask any questions you may have.