Twins Minor League Report (8/19): Niko Goodrum Homers, Drives in 6 Runs

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 10, Louisville 5

Box Score

The Red Wings actually trailed 5-0 after three innings, but the bats went on a tear to make this look like a pretty one-sided affair. Rochester had 17 hits, but nobody shined brighter than Niko Goodrum, who was 3-for 5 with six RBI. Six!

Even as late as the eighth inning Rochester held just a one-run lead, but Goodrum delivered a two-run single in the eighth and would later score on a Matt Hague single. And to really drive the nail in the coffin, Niko socked a three-run homer in the ninth.

That was Goodrum’s 12th home run of the season, and he also stole his 10th base of the year. It seems like Niko has been around for ages, but he’s still only 25. He was in center field tonight, but has played everywhere on the diamond other than pitcher and catcher this season.

Daniel Palka also tallied three hits and Matt Hague, Kennys Vargas, Tommy Field and Leonardo Reginatto all had two hits each.

Chris Heston got knocked around over his five innings (10 hits, five earned runs), but the bullpen was excellent. Alex Wimmers threw two perfect innings with three strikeouts. Buddy Boshers got the first two batters out in the eighth, but gave up a double and a walk before being lifted for Jake Reed, who managed to end the threat.

Reed walked two batters in the ninth, but he also struck out three, so no worries. It was Reed’s fourth save for Rochester. The win improved the Wings record to 73-53, putting them three games up in the Wild Card race.

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Tennessee 6, Chattanooga 4

Box Score

Fernando Romero had a rough night, failing to even last his customary 5.0 innings for the first time in eight starts. The 22-year-old gave up six runs for the second-straight start, surrendering eight hits while walking four batters over 4.1 innings. His ERA as gone from 2.60 to 3.30 over his last two appearances.

T.J. White hit his 12th homer of the season and Andy Wilkins had a pair of hits and a stolen base. Levi Michael reached base in two of his four plate appearances, and came in to the game with a .359 OBP on the season for the Lookouts. D.J. Baxendale held the Smokies scoreless over the final 3.2 innings.

MIRACLE MATTERS

Fort Myers 8, Tampa 3

Box Score

Clark Beeker earned a victory in his FSL debut, but he finally gave up some runs. The right-hander had four-straight scoreless starts for Cedar Rapids prior to his promotion, but he gave up three runs for the Miracle. Thanks to the bats, however, he was pitching with the lead all night, and those runs didn’t hurt the team in the least bit.

Zander Wiel hit a three-run homer, his 10th of the year, and Brent Rooker added a solo shot of his own. Rooker, who also had three RBI, now has 15 home runs in 53 professional games. Jermaine Palacios had a pair of hits, lifting his FSL average up to an even .300. Brandon Lopez also had two hits and catcher Kevin Garcia had a hit, a walk and scored twice.

Michael Theofanopoulos pitched two scoreless innings before Williams Ramirez finished things off with a 1-2-3 ninth inning.

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 1, Beloit 0

Box Score

Travis Blankenhorn hit a homer in the fourth inning and the Kernels pitching staff managed to make that one-run lead stand, as they held the Snappers to just two hits.

Charlie Barnes got the start and gave up one hit and a pair of walks over 5.0 innings pitched. The Twins 2017 fourth-rounder out of Clemson struck out four batters, and lowered his Midwest League ERA to 3.18. Logan Lombana pitched the sixth and seventh, Eduardo Del Rosario had a 1-2-3 eighth before Hector Lujan picked up his league-leading 15th save thanks to a huge game-ending 5-4-3 double play completed by the combination of Jordan Gore, Blankenhorn and Lewin Diaz.

The homer was Blankenhorn’s ninth of the season. Christian Cavaness was 2-for-3 with a triple and Shane Carrier had the only other hit for the Kernels, extending his hitting streak to 25 games.

E-TWINS E-NOTES

Elizabethton 6, Bristol 2

Box Score

Down to their last out, the Bristol Pirates got a dramatic game-tying homer to send this on into extras, but the Twins prevailed thanks to a huge 12th inning. Gorge Munoz drove in Matt Albanese to score the go-ahead run, but E-Town would pile on three more runs.

Ryley Widell, a seventh-round pick from this year’s draft, gave up just an unearned run over 5.0 innings. He struck out seven, and is now averaging 11.2 K/9 to go with a 2.08 ERA. Moises Gomez gave up that huge game-tying homer, but that was it over his 5.0 innings. Jose Martinez pitched the final 2.0 innings to pick up his fifth win.

All the scoring prior to extra innings came from a Jose Miranda two-run homer in the sixth inning, his team-leading ninth home run of the year. Akil Baddoo had two hits, including the team’s only other extra-base knock, a double. T.J. Dixon was 2-for-6 with an RBI and two runs scored.

GCL TWINS TAKES

Twins 8, Red Sox 2

Box Score

A trio of big names appeared on the mound for the GCL Twins: Lachlan Wells, Tyler Jay and Blayne Enlow. But it was Jean Carlos Arias who stole the show, going 4-for-5 with his fourth home run and ninth stolen base of the season. Emmanuel Morel also had a big game, going 3-for-5 while stealing is 10th and 11th bases of the year.

Wells, pitching for the first time since June, struck out six batters over 4.0 innings of work. He gave up one run on a pair of hits and did not walk a batter. Jay, making just the second appearance of his rehab assignment, had four K's over 1.2 innings. He gave up a run on two hits and a walk, but it was unearned (due to his own error). Enlow finished up the game with 3.1 perfect innings to pick up his second win. He struck out four batters. So over the first 17.1 innings of his career, Enlow has a 1.04 ERA, 9.3 K/9 and a 0.58 WHIP.

All together, that trio of hurlers gave up just one earned run on four hit and one walk while striking out 14 batters.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Charlie Barnes, Cedar Rapids (5.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K)

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: Niko Goodrum, Rochester (3-for-5, HR, 6 RBI, 2 R, SB)

SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Rochester at Louisville, 12:00 pm CT, Stephen Gonsalves (2.08 ERA, 0.77 WHIP)

Chattanooga at Tennessee, 4:30 pm CT, Lewis Thorpe (making Chattanooga debut)

Fort Myers at Tampa, 12:00 pm CT, Brady Anderson (4.19 ERA, 1.45 WHIP)

Cedar Rapids vs. Beloit, 2:05 pm CT, Tyler Beardsley (5.48 ERA, 1.35 WHIP)

Elizabethton vs. Johnson City, 5:00 pm CT, Christian Broussard (8.10 ERA, 1.80 WHIP)

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