Twins Minor League Report (8/10): Gonsalves Delivers In AAA Debut

Find out everything and more that happened in the Twins system on Thursday.

Let’s start with the transaction of the day:

• Glen Perkins was assigned to Chattanooga as part of his rehab.
  
• Chris Paul began his rehab in the GCL. He’s been out since late May with a broken hamate.
  
• Tyler Wells was taken off of the Kernels disabled list and assigned to the GCL. My assumption is that they want him to make one more appearance in the GCL before moving back to the Kernels. Or, maybe there’s more going on with the Kernels roster. We shall see.
  

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 4, Norfolk 6 (11)

Box Score

Stephen Gonsalves made his much-anticipated Red Wings (err… Plates) debut on Thursday night. The left-hander was pretty impressive in this outing. Through three innings, he faced the minimum nine batters. He gave up one run in the fourth inning on three hits. One line drive was painful… and will likely be more painful tomorrow.

As Gonsalves told Twins Daily following his outing, likely with a grimace, “That’s going to hurt tomorrow. 109 (mph) to the oblique.” That was the measurement that the Trackman system provided. As impressive, the lefty calmly reached down to grab the ball and throw the batter out at first base. He took a handful of warmup pitches and stayed in the game. One pitch later, with runners on second and third, he got the inning’s final out.

He looked comfortable the first three innings, and he looked very comfortable over his final three innings. The lone mistake was falling behind big-league veteran Chris Johnson 3-0. Johnson hit a rocket into the left-field bleachers, but that was about it. In seven innings, Gonsalves gave up two runs on four hits. He struck out seven batters without issuing a walk. Throwing strikes was the key for the left-hander.

In his own words, “All went well. Located all my pitches tonight. Was able to throw slider and curve behind in the count and that never happens. But something clicked in my bullpen in Chattanooga, and I've felt great since. Was able to get first pitch strikes on 18 of 25 (batters) and as along as you can get ahead, that's the name of the game. The guy I got behind was the home run.”

Gonsalves left the game with a 4-2 lead and some very good relievers coming in behind him. Michael Tonkin got the eighth inning. He gave up one run on three hits. John Curtiss got the ninth, trying to protect a now-one-run lead. Norfolk tied the game at four when the first three batters reached base. Somehow, Curtiss escaped the ninth inning with the game tied. He pitched a scoreless tenth inning. Drew Rucinski pitched a scoreless 11th inning, but he gave up two runs in the 12th inning to take the loss.

The Red Wings had plenty of base runners and plenty of opportunities. However, they stranded 17 players on base. The eight and nine hitters each had two hits. So did the lineup’s first five batters. Zack Granite went 2-6 with a double. Mitch Garver was 2-6 with a walk and his 25th double. Daniel Palka went 2-6 with a walk. Matt Hague went 2-6 with his 24th double. Byungho Park went 2-5 with a walk. JB Shuck went 2-5 with a walk. Leonardo Reginnato went 2-5 with a walk. He had a two-strike, two-out single to give the Red Wings a 4-2 lead.

The Rochester Plates promotion was successful. Over 13,000 fans in the stands for the game and the special jersey giveaway. It was so successful, they’re going to do it again… every home game in 2018!

https://twitter.com/RocRedWings/status/895811470948171776

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 4, Birmingham 7

Box Score

Kohl Stewart was on the mound for the Lookouts on Thursday night. The right-hander walked just one and struck out six over five innings. Those are certainly encouraging numbers, so maybe let’s just not mention the five runs on seven hits that were also in his line score. However, if Stewart has control and command of his pitches, that walk/strikeout rate could be a thing.

Glen Perkins made his Lookouts debut in the sixth inning. He gave up a hit, but that’s it, in one inning. Then DJ Baxendale made his return to Chattanooga. He gave up two runs (one earned) on three hits in an inning. Gabriel Moya pitched one inning and struck out the side.

Edgar Corcino went 2-4 with a walk. Max Murphy was 2-4 and included his third triple. TJ White was also 2-4. Carlos Paulino went 1-3 with a walk and two RBI.

MIRACLE MATTERS

Ft. Myers , Dunedin

Box Score

Rain postponed another Miracle game on Thursday night. The two teams will play two seven-inning games on Friday.

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 6, Quad Cities 7

Box Score

The Kernels fell behind early and tried to come back but fell just short. Tyler Watson was back on the mound for his second Kernels start since coming from the Nationals organization in the Brandon Kintzler trade. He gave up one run through three innings, but he was charged with two runs in the fourth and the fifth innings. He gave up five runs on eight hits and two walks in five innings. He struck out one.

Logan Lombana came on and gave up two unearned runs on three hits and a walk in two innings. Patrick McGuff struck out one over two scoreless innings.

Jimmy Kerrigan had a big game. The recently-signed outfielder went 3-4 with a walk, his first triple and his second home run. Caleb Hamilton and Ben Rortvedt each had a single and two walks in the game. Christian Cavaness hit his sixth home run of the season and stole his ninth base.

E-TWINS E-NOTES

Elizabethton 2, Greeneville 5

Box Score

Brusdar Graterol had a tough start and the Twins were unable to make a comeback. The flame-throwing right-hander was charged with four runs on five hits over just 2.2 innings. He walked two and struck out four. He needed 69 pitches (just 43 were strikes). Randy Dobnak came on and needed just 64 pitches to work through the final 6.1 innings. He gave up one run on one hit and struck out four.

Akil Baddoo went 2-4 from the leadoff spot. Carson Crites hit his third home run. Mark Contreras went 1-3 with a walk.

GCL TWINS TAKES

GCL Twins 4, GCL Orioles 6

Box Score

The Twins got a lead, but the bullpen was unable to hold it late. Michael Kohn started again on his rehab stint. He walked one and struck one out in his inning. Blayne Enlow came on and threw four shutout innings. He gave up two hits, walked two and struck out four. His ERA dropped to 1.29. Zack Featherstone threw two scoreless innings.

Then came the eighth inning. Kevin Marnon gave up two unearned runs on two hits and a walk in that inning. Joe Rosenstein started the ninth inning. He gave up three runs on three walks and recorded just one out. Amilcar Cruz got the final two outs, but not before giving up one of his own runs and walking three. He did strike out two.

Royce Lewis had an interesting line in the box score. He went 0-4 with a run and a walk and three stolen bases. In MLB history, that’s happened just four times! (Special note, one of the stolen bases was home.)

https://twitter.com/MLBPipeline/status/895745743943720960

Jared Akins went 2-4 with three RBI. He knocked his first professional home run and fourth stolen base. Alex Robles went 2-4 with his sixth stolen base. Ricky De La Torre was 1-2 with two walks.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Stephen Gonsalves, Rochester Red Wings.

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Jimmy Kerrigan, Cedar Rapids Kernels

FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Norfolk @ Rochester (6:05 CST) - LHP David Hurlbut

Chattanooga @ Birmingham (7:05 CST) - RHP Zack Littell

Dunedin @ Ft. Myers (DH @ 4:00 CST) - RHP Randy LeBlanc, RHP Sean Poppen

Quad Cities @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 CST) - RHP Clark Beeker

Greeneville @ Elizabethton (DH at 4:05 CST) - LHP Ryley Widell

GCL Red Sox @ GCL Twins (11:00 am) - TBD

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