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TRANSACTIONS
By acquiring MLB talent and giving up nothing but prospects, there was a lot to follow when it comes to transactions in the minors. Try to keep up…
- Trade #1: Twins acquire RHP Jorge Lopez from the Baltimore Orioles, sending off Cedar Rapids’ LHP Cade Povich (#10 TD prospect), RHP Yennier Cano (St. Paul), RHP Juan Nunez (DSL), and LHP Juan Rojas (FCL) in the deal.
- Trade #2: Twins acquire RHP Tyler Mahle from the Cincinnati Reds, trading away St. Paul IF Spencer Steer (#6 TD Prospect), Wichita slugger Christian Encarnacion-Strand (#16 TD Prospect), and Fort Myers LHP Steve Hajjar (#19 TD prospect) in the swap.
- Trade #3: In a depth trade between division rivals, the Twins sent RHP Ian Hamilton to the Cleveland Guardians for C Sandy Leon. Leon was assigned to triple-A after the move.
- Trade #4: Twins acquire RHP Michael Fulmer from the Detroit Tigers, parting with Wichita RHP Sawyer Gipson-Long (#20 TD prospect) to get Fulmer to swap clubhouses at Target Field.
- To cover the exiting players and corresponding moves with the Twins (IL: Miguel Sano (60 Day), Alex Kirilloff (10 Day); Paternity: Gilberto Celestino; DFA: Jharel Cotton, Aaron Sanchez), the St. Paul Saints received RHP Ben Heller and C Frank Nigro from the Florida Complex, as well as IF Mikey Perez from Fort Myers. OF Jake Cave also had his contract selected by the Twins.
- In Double-A, the Wind Surge transferred C Dennis Ortega from the IL to the Development List.
- For the Mighty Mussels, RHP Zaquiel Puentes was assigned from the FCL, and RHP Regi Grace was activated from the injured list.
- Did I miss any?! Probably…
SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 13, Omaha 4
Box Score
If you were worried that the St. Paul Saints would lose some firepower sending off their top-hitting prospect earlier in the day, you would have been wrong. Very Wrong.
Saints starter Devin Smeltzer was spotted a big lead before he ever took the mound, and his lineup continued to provide him breathing room as the game went on.
The first three hitters of the game reached base for St. Paul, with Matt Wallner’s double scoring two before John Andreoli clubbed the team’s first home run of the game, making it 4-0 after a half-inning.
Smeltzer was able to battle through five innings, surrendering four runs of his own on five hits and a walk, but also struck out six Storm Chasers. Of his 79 pitches, 54 went for strikes (68%) including 12 swinging.
The Saints used the long ball to extend their lead throughout the rest of the game, with Michael Helman blasting a pair of homers, including a two-run blast in the fourth and solo shot in the eighth, with David Banuelos adding another two-run dinger in the sixth.
Helman, in fact, was electric in every at-bat, becoming the second player in affiliated franchise history to ever collect five hits in a game, joining Jose Miranda who did the same in his triple-A debut last year on his 23rd birthday.
Relievers Juan Minaya and Drew Strotman combined to hold the Storm Chasers scoreless over the final four innings. Minaya was nearly perfect, hitting the first batter he faced with a pitch but retiring the next six in a row, including one strikeout. Strotman worked around one hit allowed and three walks in the final two frames by inducing two inning-ending double play balls.
WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 3, San Antonio 4
Box Score
The Missions jumped on Wichita starter Casey Legumina in the first two innings, and Wichita needed to claw their way back the rest of the game.
Legumina got the first two hitters of the game, but a single and a walk were followed by a two-run triple and an RBI double that put them ahead 3-0 early. An error against the leadoff man in the second led to their fourth run a few batters later. In all, Legumina finished four innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on six hits and a walk. He struck out two.
The Wind Surge got their first run of the game in the top of third after DaShawn Keirsey Jr. led off the inning with a single. He advanced to second on a groundout, then third on a balk, before scoring on another groundout off the bat of Ernie Yake.
The bullpen trio of Bryan Sammons (2 IP, H, 3 K), Steven Cruz (1 IP, 2 K), and Denny Bentley (1 IP, BB, K) kept the Missions off the board and gave Wichita a chance the rest of the way.
In the eighth, the Wind Surge had the bases loaded with no outs, but a sac fly and RBI groundout were all they could muster after a pitching change, getting within one heading to the ninth. They went down one-two-three and fall to 51-45 on the season, but still lead the North division with a 16-12 record in the second half.
Julien (2-for-4, R, K) and Nash Knight (2-for-4, K) had multiple hits. The Wind Surge did not have an RBI come from a hit in the scorebook, were 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position, and left six men on base for the game.
KERNELS NUGGETS
Beloit 11, Cedar Rapids 6
Box Score
Luis Rijo took the mound for the Kernels and his outing was predictive of how it would go for their pitchers as a whole, and not in a good way. In his 3 2/3 innings, Rijo ended up surrendering four earned runs on six hits and a pair of walks, while only picking up one strikeout. Bradley Hanner got them through the fourth, allowing one inherited runner to score, but allowed four straight hits to open the fifth, culminated by a grand slam that put the Sky Carp in front 8-3.
Matt Mullenbach finished the fifth and added a scoreless sixth before he too, ran into some trouble in the seventh. While both his runs allowed were unearned due to an error, it was 10-3 after seven. Jon Olsen (1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 K) and Ryan Shreve (1 IP) finished off the game for the Cedar Rapids pitching staff.
The Kernels did have a lead after the third inning, thanks to an RBI single from Yunior Severino in the first that he followed up with a two-run homer in the third that made it 3-2. This continues a scorching hot start to the second half of the season for the infielder.
While they did rack up 13 hits as a team, they were just 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position, compared to 15 hits and a 6-for-16 effort from Beloit to account for the scoring discrepancy.
Kyler Fedko (3-for-5, 2 R, 2B), Rucker (2-for-5, R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, K), Severino (2-for-4, 2 R, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, K), Gray (2-for-5, RBI, K), and Will Holland (2-for-4) all had multiple hits in the loss.
MUSSEL MATTERS
Bradenton 2, Fort Myers 1 (7 innings)
Box Score
After a two-hour delayed start, the Mighty Mussels game on Tuesday would only go seven innings. Fort Myers probably would have liked to have those two more.
Right-hander Pierson Ohl took the bump and was fantastic over his five innings. He allowed no runs, scattered five hits, and struck out seven Marauders, including all three in the fourth inning.
He left the game with a 1-0 lead, but it could have been more, as the Mighty Mussels managed to only scratch one run across the plate in the second inning after having the bases loaded with no outs. That run came in the form of a sac fly from Daniel Ozoria to score Dillon Tatum, who had drawn a walk to lead off the frame.
They loaded the bases again in the third but were unable this time to score any runs, as hits were hard to come by for the home team. They had just three singles in the game, were 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position, and left only five men on base.
After Ohl’s game was done, Malik Barrington came on for the sixth and Bradenton took advantage of two consecutive walks and a wild pitch to start the inning. Barrington would record just two outs, allowing the go-ahead runs on a flyout and single before being replaced by Zaquiel Puentes. Puentes finished the final 1 1/3 innings, striking out two in his first Mighty Mussels game of the season.
COMPLEX CHRONICLES
FCL Orioles 1, FCL Twins 7 (7 innings)
Box Score
The Twins used a five-run fifth inning to pull away from the Orioles, and kept them in check the rest of the way to secure the victory.
Veteran Ryan Horstman started on the mound and struck out all three hitters he faced in the first. Develson Aria then went the next three innings, allowing one run on four hits while striking out six. Leyner Ponce (1 IP, 2 BB, K), Cole Bellair (1 IP, H, K), and Ricardo Velez (1 IP, K) each tacked on a scoreless inning.
With the bases loaded in the fifth, the Twins got a 2-run single from Andres Centeno, which was followed by a two-run double off the bat of Gregory Duran that made the score 6-1. Willie Joe Garry Jr. tacked on an RBI single to cap the scoring.
Garry Jr. (2-for-4, RBI) and Duran (2-for-3, 2 R, 2B, 2 RBI, BB) each had two hits, and Jefferson De La Cruz added a 2-RBI triple in the fourth.
DOMINICAN DAILIES
DSL Twins 4, DSL Miami 0 (7+ innings)
Box Score
The Twins pitching staff held Miami to just four hits in the game, which was called official in the bottom of the seventh inning.
DSL standout Miguel Olivares picked up his first win of the year by finishing five innings. He allowed three hits, walked one, and punched out five, lowering his ERA in 39 total innings to just 1.15. Leonardo Lugo picked up his first save by going 1+ innings, allowing one hit, one walk, and striking out one.
The offense was led by two hits from Brayan Acuna (2-for-4, RBI) and Anderson Nova (2-for-3), and got a triple from Yasser Mercedes, and two-run homer from Ricardo Pena. Mercedes also stole two bases, giving him 20 on the season in 30 games.
TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day - Pierson Ohl, Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (5 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 7 K)
Hitter of the Day - Michael Helman, St. Paul Saints (5-for-5, 4 R, 2B, 2 HR, 3 RBI)
PROSPECT SUMMARY
#8 - Noah Miller (Fort Myers) - 0-for-3
#12 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 1-for-5, R, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 K
#15 - Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 2-for-4, R, K
WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Omaha (7:05 PM CDT) - RHP Ronny Henriquez (1-4, 5.71 ERA)
Wichita @ San Antonio (7:05 PM CDT) - TBD (Sawyer Gipson-Long had been scheduled)
Beloit @ Cedar Rapids (12:05 PM CDT) - LHP Aaron Rozek (7-4, 4.35 ERA)
Bradenton @ Fort Myers (6:00 PM CDT) - LHP Jaylen Nowlin (3-3, 4.24 ERA)
Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Tuesday’s games!
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