Twins Minor League Report (8/19): Pitchers Get It Done... AGAIN!

We've been dealing with dreadful pitching in the major leagues pretty much everyday since... well... 2011. Today was more of the same. In fact, Kyle Gibson was sent back to Rochester after today's outing.

There were some other minor league moves as well. A.J. Pettersen was moved from New Britain to Fort Myers along with Matthew Summers. To make room, Fort Myers sent Alex Swim back across the street.

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On a positive note, those in the FSNorth viewership got to see a glimpse into the Twins future as they broadcast the RockCats game this evening. Another positive was how some rehabbing pitchers fared.

ROCHESTER RED WINGS 7, LOUISVILLE BATS 0

Box Score

If you're looking for meaningful September baseball (and want to cheer for wins), this is one team for you to follow. The Red Wings have been playing very good baseball (and doing it with familiar names).

Tonight, old friend Liam Hendriks was dialed in. Eight innings, eight strikeouts, no runs, four hits. He's probably earned the right to earn a major league salary again. Aaron Thompson pitched the final frame.

Mid-season addition Jermaine Mitchell collected three hits out of the nine-hole.

Chris Parmelee and Josmil Pinto each homered. The team had 12 hits tonight, including six extra-base hits.

Pawtucket also won to keep the gap at two games.

PJ Walters is scheduled to take the ball at 1:05 ET.

NEW BRITAIN ROCKCATS 3, TRENTON THUNDER 10

Box Score

The story of this game was that it was the first chance for many fans to see Miguel Sano and/or Eddie Rosario. (Unless you travel to MiLB games or watched the WBC on MLB Network (Rosario) or the couple of Spring Training games that Sano got into.)

Neither did a lot tonight, but "rehabbing" Pedro Hernandez might have been the best you've seen him. He allowed only five baserunners in four innings and struck out four. He left with the RockCats up 2-0.

After B.J. Hermsen pitched out of trouble in the 5th, but bullpen imploded. The trio of Blake Martin, Daniel Turpen and Jose Gonzalez allowed 10 runs on 11 hits and five walks. Not pretty. There were also some fielding gaffes that wouldn't make your daddy proud.

Offensively, Danny Santana showed his wheels on both advancing on a sac fly from first to second and by tripling. Eddie Rosario hit a gapper to the left-center field wall that scored two runners.

Miguel Sano didn't have any hits but had a loud out in the first and made a nice charging defensive play to nab a runner at first.

Trevor May is on the bump tomorrow as the RockCats take on Trenton again at 7:05 ET.

FORT MYERS MIRACLE - Day Off

CEDAR RAPIDS 2, PEORIA CHIEFS 1

Box Score

While the bats never fully woke up, they did just enough to get the win. The win, however, is credited to Tim Shibuya who pitched a great game. Shibuya went 8-plus innings, allowing only a run on five hits. Though he only struck out two batters, Shibuya only had to throw 76 pitches.

Madison Boer earned the save by abandoning a runner on the third to end the game.

Michael Gonzales had a sacrifice fly to score Jonathan Murphy in the first and added a double later.

Jeremias Pineda singled in Joel Licon in the second inning.

Niko Goodrum and Tyler Grimes added singles. Goodrum also stole two bases (now has 20) and committed his 25th error on the season.

ELIZABETHTON TWINS 2, GREENEVILLE ASTROS 0

Box Score

The E-Twins won again and are currently 1.5 games out of second-place and a shot at the Appy League playoffs.

The pitching was the story of this game too.

Hein Robb went the first six innings. He struck out six, walked two and allowed five hits. Luke Bard walked one and struck two. Carson Goldsmith secured the save by striking out four batters for four outs.

The E-Twins bats offered a balanced attack. Seven of the nine starters accounted for a hit. Zach Larson provided the only extra-base hit (double).

Bryan Haar had two hits while playing third base.

...and sit down for this one: Kohl Stewart is making his Appy League debut tomorrow night at 7:05 ET. Seth is currently making calls to see if the FSN crew from New Britain can be re-routed to Elizabethton. It would simply replace the Twins game and no one would even notice.

GCL TWINS 2, GCL RAYS 2

Box Score

And of course, if you're into good Twins "future" news, I've saved the best for last.

Alex Meyer rehabbed today for the GCL Twins. He pitched the first 3.2 innings. (Eh.) He only allowed two hits. (Good.) Of the 11 outs he recored, nine came by strikeout. (Nine.) Nine! Not a bad afternoon.

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Lewis Thorpe relieved him and struck out six in 3.1 innings. And not to be outdone, Jared Wilson and Jose Abreu struck out three in the final two innings.

That's 18 strikeouts. Today. The Twins have struck out 18 batters the whole month of August. (That's exaggerated... I think.)

Hitting-wise, more of the same. Not a lot of action. Amaurys Minier didn't play again today. He's been nursing injuries on-and-off all season.

Don't choke on your peanuts when I tell you that Nelson freaking Molina led the squad with two hits today. He was 2-for-2 and is batting .290 over his last 10 games. Not bad after starting the year 1-for-52. (He did get caught stealing twice - once after a pickoff. At least that's what the box score called it. I call it "he was so excited to be on base he forgot what to do next".)

Chad Christensen homered. Christensen is a Big 10 guy (Nebraska) and local-ish (Cedar Rapids). He's also versatile (can play any corner). I would think there is a chance he could be promoted aggressively in 2014 and get a chance to play the season in his hometown.