Twins Minor League Report (8/16): Vasquez Tosses No-Hitter

Teammates talk a lot about the type of person that Vasquez is. He is selfless and happy to serve as a mentor for players. The organization knows that he could be pitching at AAA, or even the big leagues if needed. For him to have this moment is a great thing!

Vasquez told a reporter following the game that he, "wanted to do this for (my teammates) as much as myself."

He said that it was the first time he had pitched to Matt Koch this season, so he credited him a lot. He also gave a lot of credit to his defense which he used quite a bit, recording just two strikeouts.

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Reynaldo Rodriguez of the Rock Cats had a huge day in the doubleheader, but he now is overshadowed by his fellow AA veteran. Check out the Rock Cats highlights and everything that happened throughout the Twins farm system on Saturday night.

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester, Syracuse

Box Score

The Red Wings game was postponed by rain.

ROCK CATS REVIEW

Game 1 – New Britain 5, Harrisburg 1

Box Score

JO Berrios is back and pitched very well in Game One. He threw five scoreless innings before giving up a run in the sixth. In all, he went 5.1 innings and gave up one run on five hits. He walked two and struck out five. Edgar Ibarra came on for the final five outs and had five strikeouts for his first save.

Reynaldo Rodriguez supplied the offense in this game. He went 3-3 with his 34^th double, and his 17^th and 18^th home runs. He drove in four runs. Levi Michael and Michael Gonzales both went 2-3.

Game 2 – New Britain 9, Harrisburg 0

Box Score

Rodriguez was big in Game 2 of the day too, but the story in this game was the performance of Virgil Vasquez. The veteran right-hander threw a seven-inning complete game NO-HITTER, the first ever by a New Britain pitcher at New Britain Stadium. He needed just 69 pitches to throw the no-hitter. He retired the last 18 batters he faced.

Reynaldo Rodriguez went 2-2 with two walks and his 19^th home run. Jorge Polanco went 3-4 with his fourth and fifth AA doubles and his sixth stolen base. Mike Gonzales went 1-2 with two walks and his third double.

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MIRACLE MATTERS

Game 1 – Ft. Myers 2, Palm Beach 4

Box Score

The Miracle bats just were unable to provide much run support. They had just four hits. Adam Walker went 1-1 with two walks. He hit his 17^th double and drove in his 90^th run of the year. Max Kepler hit his 15^th double. Travis Harrison went 1-3 with a walk.

Aaron Slegers made the start in this one and lost for the first time since joining the Miracle. He gave up four runs on five hits and two walks in six innings. He struck out two. Nick Burdi had an interesting outing. He gave up a hit, walked a batter and hit a batter, but did not allow a run in his inning. He struck out two.

Game 2 – Ft. Myers 4, Palm Beach 0

Box Score

Matt Tomshaw pitched really well and won for the tenth time this season. The lefty went all seven innings and did not allow a run. He gave up four hits, walked two and struck out five.

Dalton Hicks drove in three runs. He hit a sacrifice fly in the first inning, and his 22^nd double drove in two more in the third inning. Aderlin Mejia went 1-2 with a walk. He stole his 17^th and 18^th bases as well. Niko Goodrum walked twice and stole his 31^st base.

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 4, Peoria 2

Box Score

Jonatan Hinojosa has only been back with the Kernels a short while, but he has had some big moments already. In this game, he went 2-4 and drove in three of the Kernels’ runs. Engelb Vielma went 1-3 with a walk and drove in the other run. He also stole his ninth base. Ryan Walker went 2-3. Mitch Garver was 1-2 with two walks.

Lewis Thorpe made the start and went the first 5.1 innings. He gave up two runs on five hits. He walked two and struck out five. Chris Mazza got the next five outs, three on strikeouts. Jake Reed then came on and threw two shutout innings. In the ninth, he struck out the side and ended with four strikeouts. He has now thrown 17.2 scoreless innings for the Kernels.

E-TWINS E-NOTES

Elizabethton 5, Johnson City 9 (11 innings)

Box Score

These teams needed extra frames to decide this one. Felix Jorge started and gave up three runs on seven hits over five innings. He walked none and struck out four. Kuo Hua Lo gave up two runs on two hits and a walk in his inning. Sam Clay then gave up three hits, but no runs, in 1.2 innings, with two strikeouts. CK Irby came in with runners on but got a strikeout to end the eighth inning in a tie game. Irby pitched scoreless innings in the ninth and tenth as well. Unfortunately, he gave up four runs (2 earned) in the 11^th inning. Keaton Steele got the final two outs of the 11^th.

The Elizabethton team had just six hits in the game. The big one came off the bat of Jorge Fernandez who hit his first home run of the season and drove in three runs. Trey Vavra added his 16^th double of the short season. Tanner English went 1-3 with a walk.

GCL TWINS TAKES

Game 1 – GCL Twins 11, GCL Red Sox 10

Box Score

Last week, this game began and went just two innings before it was suspended by rain. The Twins were already down 10-3 after Alexis Tapia gave up four runs in the first inning and Mike Theofanopoulos was charged with six unearned runs in the second innings. When they returned to action on Saturday morning, Miles Nordgren took over on the mound. He threw five no-hit, no-run innings. He walked one and struck out two. Reyson Zoquiel and Seth Wagner each pitched a scoreless inning as well.

The Twins offense also responded with four runs in the fourth and four runs in the eighth inning. Nelson Molina led the way. He went 3-5. Jarrard Poteete was 1-3 with a walk, and his one hit was a big one. He hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning. Ariel Montesino went 1-2 with a walk and a triple. TJ White went 1-3 with two walks.

Game 2 – GCL Twins 2, GCL Red Sox 1

Box Score

In the regularly-scheduled game, DJ Baxendale was on the mound to make another rehab start. He went four innings and yielded only an unearned run. He gave up one hit, walked one and struck out five. Mike Theofanopoulos came on and threw the final three innings without giving up a run. He gave up two hits, a walk and struck out two.

The Twins didn’t have much offense in this game. In fact, they had just two hits. Rafael Valera went 1-2 with a walk. He also stole his eighth and ninth bases of the season. Nelson Molina and Zach Larson drove in the two runs.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Virgil Vasquez, New Britain Rock Cats

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Reynaldo Rodriguez, New Britain Rock Cats

SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Syracuse @ Rochester (DH @ 4:05 CST) – Logan Darnell, Sean Gilmartin

Harrisburg @ New Britain (12:35 CST) – Jason Wheeler

Palm Beach @ Ft. Myers (3:05 CST) – TBD

Peoria @ Cedar Rapids (2:05 CST) – Ryan Eades

Princeton @ Elizabethton (5:00 CST) – Derrick Penilla

GCL Red Sox @ GCL Twins (DH @ 9:00am CST) – No Game Scheduled

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

A quick reminder:

Thanks to the Twins win against the first-place Kansas City Royals on Saturday, it means that on Sunday you can get 50% off a Large of Extra Large pizza when you use the “TWINSWIN” promotion code at PapaJohns.com.