Twins Minor League Report (8/29): Darnell Dazzles; Santana Slugs

It was a busy night in the Twins farm system. Check out all the game stories and highlights below.

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 5, Pawtucket 1

Box Score

On August 7^th, Logan Darnell pitched a scoreless inning in relief for the Red Wings. It dropped his season ERA to 4.20. Through his first 30 games this year (two spot starts, but the rest out of the bullpen) batters hit .307 against him in 45 innings. On August 13^th, he got another start and gave up just one run on one hit over 5.1 innings. Five days later, he gave up no runs in 5.2 innings. On Monday, he threw a five-hit, complete game shutout for the Red Wings. One run over three starts and 20 innings is pretty impressive, so how did he do on this night?

Darnell started with five shutout innings and was terrific again. In all, he gave up one run (in the sixth inning) on five hits and a walk. He struck out eight. As impressive, he was efficient. He needed just 91 pitches to work the eight innings, 69 of them were strikes. With Terry Ryan in attendance, he’s made a strong showing in hopes of a September call-up. Michael Tonkin gave up two hits in a scoreless ninth inning.

By the way, after his four starts, he is now 5-1 and his ERA is down to 2.84 on the season.

The offense managed just six hits, but they too were efficient. Danny Santana led off with his first Red Wings home run. In his second at bat, he hit his second homer. James Beresford drove in two runs with a single.

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 5, Birmingham 2

Box Score

The Lookouts also got a terrific start from a left-hander. David Hurlbut gave up only an unearned run over the first seven innings. He gave up five hits, walked two and struck out five. He improved to 10-6 with a 3.66 ERA. DJ Johnson gave up one run on three hits and a walk over the final two innings.

Stuart Turner went 2-3 with a walk and his 13^th double. Travis Harrison was 2-5. Max Kepler went 1-3 with two walks. Niko Goodrum hit his sixth double.

MIRACLE MATTERS

Ft. Myers 7, Bradenton 3

Box Score

The Miracle scored seven runs and it’s fair to say that they should have had twice as many runs. They had nine hits in the game and 12 walks. The first six hitters in the lineup each got to first base via walk or hit batter at least once. Engelb Vielma led off and went 1-3 with three walks. He stole his 33^rd base of the season. Marcus Knecht went 1-3 with two walks. Logan Wade went 1-3 with two walks and his 20^th double. Jason Kanzler went 2-5 with his eighth triple. Blake Schmit went 2-5. Mitch Garver and Chad Christensen both walked twice.

Stephen Gonsalves didn’t have his best stuff. He went just 4.2 innings and gave up three runs on five hits. He walked four and struck out three. Trevor Hildenberger came on and went the next 2.1 innings. He walked one and struck one out but allowed no runs. Zack Jones struck out three over the final two scoreless innings.

KERNELS NUGGETS

Game 1 – Cedar Rapids 2, Kane County 6

Box Score

Lewis Thorpe made the trek up to Cedar Rapids to watch fellow Australian Sam Gibbons. The right-hander gave up four runs (three earned) on 11 hits in five innings. He walked one and struck out one. Jared Wilson gave up two runs (one earned) on one hit over two innings. He struck out one.

TJ White went 2-2 with a walk. Austin Diemer went 2-3. Nick Gordon added his 22^nd double.

Edgar Corcino and Max Murphy each threw out a base runner at home.

Game 2 – Cedar Rapids 4, Kane County 3 (9 Innings)

Box Score

Randy LeBlanc got the start. He got two outs in the fifth inning, but three runs scored in that inning before he was removed from the game. In his 4.2 innings, he gave up three runs on eight hits. He struck out five without allowing a walk. Luke Bard replaced him. He went 2.1 innings without allowing a run. He gave up one hit, walked two and struck out one. Jeff Johnson from The Gazette in Cedar Rapids tweeted that Bard was “throwing mid-90s and a tad higher.” Nick Anderson came on and threw a scoreless eighth inning. However, he gave up a solo home run in the ninth, the first run he’s allowed in professional baseball, to take the loss.

The Kernels scattered eight hits in the second game. Nick Gordon went 2-4. .

E-TOWN E-NOTES

Elizabethton 2, Kingsport 5

Box Score

Christian Cavaness picked up his first E-Twins hit in the first inning when he led off with a triple. He scored when second-place hitter Jermaine Palacios grounded out. Zander Wiel was also 1-3 with a walk.

Miles Nordgren started and went the first five innings. He gave up five runs (four earned) on eight hits and three walk. He struck out three. CK Irby came on and gave up no hits and no runs over the final four innings. He walked one, hit one and struck out five.

GCL TWINS TAKES

GCL Twins, GCL Red Sox

The teams were supposed to be playing the final regular season game of the GCL season. However, they were unable to play due to rain and the game was cancelled. The Red Sox end the season with a 41-17 record and will advance in the playoffs. The Twins end the year at 27-32.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Logan Darnell, Rochester Red Wings

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Danny Santana, Rochester Red Wings

SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Pawtucket @ Rochester (12:35 CST) – LHP Pat Dean

Chattanooga @ Birmingham (DH @ 1:30 CST) – RHP Greg Peavey, LHP Brett Lee

Bradenton @ Ft. Myers (5:05 CST) – TBD

Cedar Rapids @ Peoria (5:00 CST) – RHP Keaton Steele

Kingsport @ Elizabethton (5:00 CST) – RHP Andro Cutura

GCL Twins @ GCL Red Sox (9:00) – TBD (final game of their season)

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