Twins Minor League Report (8/17): Gonsalves World

According to Gonsalves, the key to his outing was his slider. “My slider was my go-to tonight. I threw it 22 times.” He used it to get strikeouts and when he was behind in the count “to get me back in the count.”

While he likely would have loved to keep pitching, he knew that wasn’t going to happen. He didn’t lobby his manager, Doug Mientkiewicz, to stay in the game. “No, I didn’t. I looked at the scoreboard and joked it off.”

In his previous start, Gonsalves gave up only an unearned run in a nine-inning complete game. He told milb.com that he wasn’t feeling good coming out of the bullpen at the start of that game. True to form, Gonsalves said that he still wasn’t at 100% on Wednesday night.

“The changeup wasn’t there tonight, which is rare, but I was still able to mix it in. Fastball command hasn’t been there the last two games, but everything else was, so it’s been a battle.”

If the recent performances of Stephen Gonsalves represent a battle, there are a lot of exciting days ahead for Gonsalves, the Twins and Twins fans!

With that, let’s get to the Minor League Report for Wednesday, including more on Gonsalves’ terrific night and streak.

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 3, Scranton/Wilkes Barre 4

Box Score

This game was close throughout with all of the runs scored before the fifth inning, but the Red Wings were unable to get a win and fall to 68-57 on the season.

Daniel Palka gave the Red Wings a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning when he connected for his 10th AAA home run. It was his 31st of the season.

Andrew Albers was back on the mound for Rochester. He threw two scoreless innings before giving up two runs in the third and fourth innings. In all, he gave up the four runs on 11 hits and a walk in six innings. He struck out five. Jake Reed threw much better in his second AAA appearance than in his first. He faced four batters and got them all out, two on strikeouts. Sean Burnett got the final two outs.

The other two runs the Red Wings scored came in the top of the fourth when Adam Brett Walker slugged a two-run homer. He now has 25 homers on the season. He knocked in Reynaldo Rodriguez, who had hit his seventh double of the year. James Beresford went 2-4.

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 6, Montgomery 3

Box Score

In his second AA start, Stephen Gonsalves gave up six earned runs in just 3.2 innings for the Lookouts. Since then, he has been remarkable. I’ll explain in more detail in just a moment, but on Wednesday night, it all came together. The southpaw started and threw six shutout innings. Not only that, he completed the six innings without giving up a hit. He walked two and struck out nine. Unfortunately, with 105 pitches, he was done after six innings.

Alan Busenitz came on and gave up three runs on two hits, a hit batter and a walk in just one inning. Mason Melotakis came in to pitch the eighth inning. He threw one pitch, a strike, and then the rains came and the game was delayed. When things resumed, Zack Jones took over. He walked one and struck out four in two scoreless innings to record his first save of the year. His Lookouts ERA drops to just 1.46.

Ryan Walker went 2-3 with a walk and his tenth double. TJ White was 2-3 with a walk, his third double and two RBIs. Niko Goodrum hit his sixth double while Edgar Corcino knocked his third AA double. Zach Granite stole his 44th bag.

Now let’s get back to Gonsalves. In his eight starts since that clunker in his second AA game, Gonsalves has been one of the best pitchers in minor league baseball, not just in the Twins system. Here is how his numbers look in those eight starts:

Gonsalves is 5-0 with a 0.71 ERA and a 0.86 WHIP. In 51 innings, he has given up just four earned runs. He has allowed 22 hits and walked 22 while striking out 58 batters. His K-rate since then is at 10.2 K/9 and his walk rate is 3.9 BB/9. In other words, he’s been incredible.

MIRACLE MATTERS

Ft. Myers 3, St. Lucie 6

Box Score

Miles Nordgren returned to the Miracle .He gave up six runs (four earned) on nine hits and two walks in 5.2 innings. He struck out five. John Curtiss gave up just one hit over the final 2.1 innings. He walked none and struck out three.

Tanner English led the offense. The outfielder went 2-4 with his third triple and third home run. Daniel Kihle went 2-3. AJ Murray added his ninth double.

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 4, Peoria 1

Box Score

The Kernels got off to an early lead and it was more than enough for Eduardo Del Rosario on this night. The right-hander posted his best start of the year. He threw six shutout innings. He gave up four hits, walked one and struck out six. He improved to 5-2. Logan Lombana came on. He gave up one run on two hits and three walks in 1.1 innings. He struck out one. Anthony McIver picked up his eighth save by recording the final five outs. Three of the outs came on strikeouts.

Kevin Garcia went 2-4 with his seventh double and an RBI. Luis Arraez with another multi-hit game. He went 2-4 and drove in a run. Nelson Molina added his 12th double. Zander Wiel hit his eighth triple.

With his third straight multi-hit game, Luis Arraez is now hitting .347. In was his 98th game played this year, and he now has 43 multi-hit games.

2-hit games: 27

3-hit games: 12

4-hit games: 3

5-hit games: 1

E-TWINS E-NOTES

Elizabethton

Box Score

The E-Twins had a rare off night. They return to action on Thursday.

GCL TWINS TAKES

GCL Twins 2, GCL Rays 4

Box Score

The Twins fell behind 2-0 after two innings. They managed to tie the score at two in the top of the seventh inning, but gave two runs right back in the bottom of the inning. That’s how the score stayed, and they fell 4-2.

There wasn’t much offense for the Twins in the game. They managed just five hits. Zach Featherstone had two of them. Kidany Salva’s seventh-inning triple scored the Twins’ two runs.

Lefty Taylor Clemensia started for the Twins. He gave up two runs (one earned) on two hits. He walked three and struck out three. He hurt himself a bit with two errors. Callan Pearce was charged with two runs on two hits. He walked one, hit one, and struck out one over his three innings. Pearce left the game with two runners on base, and both scored off of Onas Farfan who gave up one hit over 1.2 innings. He struck out two.

Kolton Kendrick returned to the Twins lineup. He went 0-2 in his first game since mid-July. He had a bone bruise caused by being hit by a pitch.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day –Stephen Gonsalves, Chattanooga Lookouts (though Eduardo Del Rosario’s honorable mention is very well deserved)

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Tanner English, Ft. Myers Miracle

THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Buffalo @ Rochester (6:05 CST) - LHP Jason Wheeler

Montgomery @ Chattanooga (6:15 CST) - RHP Aaron Slegers (vs Chi-Wei Hu)

Ft. Myers @ St. Lucie (5:30 CST) - RHP Fernando Romero

Cedar Rapids @ Peoria (7:00 CST) – RHP Sean Poppen (1st MWL start)

Elizabethton @ Burlington (6:00 CST) - TBD

GCL Rays @ GCL Twins (DH @ 9:00 am CST) - TBD

Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Wednesday's games.