Twins Minor League Report (8/2): Palka Power, Enlow Excels, Romero Rocks

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

Let’s start with the transaction of the day:

• As Jeff Johnson tweeted after the Kernels game on Tuesday night, Gorge Munoz was sent down to Elizabethton with 2017 draft pick Jordan Gore called up to Cedar Rapids.
  
• You'll see below that LHP Kevin Marnon signed with the Twins and made his GCL debut.
  
• The Twins also signed RHP Randy Dobnak and catcher Taylor Grzelakowski from the Utica Unicorns from the United Shore Professional Baseball League. Dobnak was assigned to Elizabethton. Grzelakowski was assigned to the GCL.
  
• Darling Cuestro, Jose Bermudez and Juan Mojica were sent from the GCL back to the Dominican Summer League.
  

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 3, Lehigh Valley 4

Box Score

The Red Wings clawed back from a 3-0 deficit only to lose by one. Niko Goodrum led the offense with a 3-5 game. Mitch Garver added his 22nd double. Daniel Palka went 2-5 and added his ninth home run. It was his first since returning from his injury. Palka also made a play on defense. Now, we do encourage outfielders to hit the cutoff man, and probably not to throw at the launch angle you see below, but this worked well for the Red Wings.

https://twitter.com/RocRedWings/status/892914839995248640

Tim Melville made the start. The veteran right-hander went the first five innings. He gave up three runs on six hits, a walk and a hit batter. He struck out six. Drew Rucinski came on for the sixth inning. He gave up one run on two hits over two innings. Jake Reed worked two scoreless innings and struck out four. 20 of his 25 pitches were strikes.

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 5, Montgomery 2

Box Score

It was Fernando Romero’s turn to start on Wednesday. He improved to 11-6 and dropped his ERA to 2.60. He gave up one run on six hits over five innings. He hit a batter and struck out six. Of his 72 pitches, 50 of them were strikes.

Dereck Rodriguez, back from his weekend in Cooperstown, returned to the mound and worked two scoreless innings out of the bullpen. He walked two and struck out three. Ryan Eades got the eighth and gave up one run on three hits. Gabriel Moya worked a scoreless ninth inning to record his 18th save and reduced his ERA to 0.77.

Travis Harrison had the big hit early. He went 2-4 with a two-run homer, his third of the season. Levi Michael continues to hit well. He went 2-4. Ryan Walker went 1-2 with two walks. Alex Perez also walked twice. Nick Gordon added his 25th double of the season.

The win ended a rare one-game losing streak for the Lookouts in the second half.

MIRACLE MATTERS

Ft. Myers

Box Score

The Miracle had a rare scheduled day off.

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 1, Kane County 9

Box Score

It was a long night in Cedar Rapids. Lefty Evan Sanders made the start. He gave up five runs on six hits in five innings. He walked four and struck out three. Another lefty, Bryan Sammons came on for his first Kernels appearance. He pitched a quick 1-2-3 sixth inning. His final line was three runs on five hits and two walks over three innings. He struck out three. Logan Lombana gave up a run on two hits in one inning.

The Kernels offense just wasn’t able to bunch together enough hits to score much. Christian Cavaness went 2-4 with his seventh triple. Lewin Diaz went 2-4. Jimmy Kerrigan was also 2-4. He’s hitting .333 and has at least one hit in all five games he’s played for the Kernels.

In the second inning, Ben Rortvedt was called out on strikes to start the inning. That was the last play of the game for manager Tommy Watkins as he was ejected for arguing.

E-TWINS E-NOTES

Elizabethton

Box Score

There are not very many off days once the Appalachian League starts.

GCL TWINS TAKES

GCL Twins 9, GCL Rays 4

Box Score

A couple of pitchers rehabbed. A top 2017 prospect put in his longest outing. The offense provided plenty of offense. And a guy with a fun story made his debut in affiliated ball. Just another day in the Gulf Coast League.

Michael Kohn started for the GCL Twins. He gave up one run on one hit in the first inning. The 30-year-old right-hander pitched in the big leagues from 2010-2015. He hasn’t pitched since May of 2015 because of a shoulder injury. He worked out for a couple of teams, but the Twins offered him a two-year deal with an invitation to major league spring training next year.

Next, Henry Centeno gave up two runs on two hits and a walk in the next 1.2 innings. He struck out one. It was his second rehab appearance. He has missed the whole season so far with an elbow injury.

Next in for the GCL Twins was 2017 draft pick Blayne Enlow. He recorded his first professional win in his longest outing so far. In 4.1 innings, he gave up one run on four hits. He struck out four and did not issue a walk. ‘

The final two innings were pitched by left-hander Kevin Marnon. He signed last week after pitching for the Birmingham/Bloomfield Beavers of the United Shore Professional Baseball League. The Ball State grad threw two scoreless innings. He gave up one hit and struck one out.

The offense was led by Alex Robles who hit his fifth double and his third home run. He drove in four runs. Kidany Salva went 2-5. Ben Rodriguez was 1-3 with two walks. Royce Lewis went 0-2, but he walked three times and stole his ninth and tenth bases.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Fernando Romero, Chattanooga Lookouts

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Daniel Palka, Rochester Red Wings

THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Lehigh Valley @ Rochester (6:05 CST) - LHP Hector Santiago

Chattanooga @ Montgomery (7:05 CST) - RHP Felix Jorge

Jupiter @ Ft. Myers (6:05 CST) - RHP Brady Anderson

Kane County @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 CST) - LHP Tyler Watson

Burlington @ Elizabethton (6:00 CST) - RHP Edwar Colina

GCL Rays @ GCL Twins (11:00 am CST) - No Game Scheduled

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