Twins Minor League Report (8/3): Near No-Hitter for Pensacola, Seth Gray Slugs Walk-Off Grand Slam for E-Town

TRANSACTIONS

SS Mike Miller signed and assigned to AAA Rochester

LHP Lewis Thorpe optioned to AAA Rochester

OF Jake Cave recalled by Minnesota

RHP Zack Littell recalled by Minnesota

RHP Williams Ramirez released by AA Pensacola

2B Yunior Severino activated from the 7-day IL for A Cedar Rapids

RHP Matt Canterino promoted to A Cedar Rapids

RHP Cody Laweryson assigned to Elizabethton Twins

RHP Benjamin Dunn assigned to Elizabethton Twins

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 7, Pawtucket 4

Box Score

Drew Hutchison: 5 ⅓ IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 64.8% strikes (59 of 91 pitches)

HR: Brandon Barnes (25)

Multi-hit games: Alejandro De Aza (2-for-4, 2B, 2 R, RBI), Ronald Torreyes (3-for-5, 2B, R, RBI)

The Red Wings won a pretty clean game this Saturday.

It was the new guys in the lineup who proved to be the major force as Mike Miller, Brandon Barnes, and Alejandro De Aza all had an extra-base hit and at least one run scored. Mike Miller is the newest of those guys and he made his Rochester debut with a double and a walk. If he continues to do this, they may start to really like him over there.

Alejandro De Aza now has an OPS over 1.000 with the Red Wings so he seems ready in case the Twins (knock on wood) would ever need some more OF depth.

Ryan Eades worked a great outing in relief of Hutchison as he got five outs with three coming via strikeout and just one hit allowed. All in all, Rochester pitching struck out ten without walking a single batter.

BLUE WAHOO BITES

Pensacola 3, Birmingham 1

Box Score

Bryan Sammons: 6 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 5 BB, 6 K, 56% strikes (56 of 100 pitches)

HR: Larnach (3), Costello (3)

Multi-hit games: Ivan De Jesús Jr. (2-for-3, 2B)

Bryan Sammons was very very good on Saturday, notably so with a pair of goose eggs in more than one stat up there. Unfortunately, the five walks inflated the pitch count so he could not go any deeper for the no-hitter.

Gabriel Moya relieved Sammons and gave up the first hit for the Barons in the eighth off a cheeky infield pop-up that didn’t get any home cooking from the official scorer. Either way, the Blue Wahoos’ pitching allowed only a single run on the day.

Trevor Larnach had been having a somewhat rough time recently in his first games at AA, but he hit his third home run at AA on Saturday and that had to have felt good. In fact, the first three Blue Wahoos’ hitters (Lewis, Kirilloff, and Larnach) all had a hit. What are we nicknaming this group? The trifecta? C(Rush)? Let us think about it at least.

MIRACLE MATTERS

Ft. Myers 3, Lakeland 4

Box Score

Blayne Enlow: 6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K

HR: None

Multi-hit games: Yeltsin Encarnacion (2-for-4, R)

The Miracle lost a heartbreaker this Saturday.

They got out to a lead first thanks to a Gabriel Maciel single in the third inning that scored Ernie De La Trinidad.

Blayne Enlow was on the bump and he did the job as he went six innings with just one earned run. Normally I have the pitch count but MiLB.com has it that he threw forty-two pitches and well, I can tell you that that is not true.

The Miracle added two more runs in the seventh off an Aaron Whitefield single to put the game at 3-1. Zach Neff working in his second inning in relief of Enlow in the eighth allowed four straight batters to reach and two runs to make it a 4-3 deficit. The Miracle could not recover.

Aaron Whitefield had a good game as he reached base three times and knocked in a run. ( The second run that scored on his single was not counted as an RBI because that run scored on a throwing error.) He was also picked off once but I won’t dwell on the negative.

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 3, Burlington 2

Box Score

Matt Cantinero: 2 ⅔ IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 3 K, 47.7% strikes (31 of 65 pitches)

HR: Wander Javier (7)

Multi-hit games: Gilberto Celestino (2-for-4, R)

Matt Cantinero made his Kernels debut and did not allow any hits or runs but fought his command as he failed to hit the 50% strike mark. I watched some of his start and it looked like he could not keep the breaking ball down specifically but this was most likely just nerves. Also, his delivery has more funk than a Red Hot Chili Peppers album from the 80’s.

The Kernels only scored one time and it was from Wander Javier who blasted a three-run homer in the sixth inning to take the lead. It has not been the easiest of time for Wander at Cedar Rapids but the power is starting to flash as this was his second homer in nine games.

Yunior Severino made his return to the Kernels’ lineup and he got a hit while striking out twice.

E-Town E-Notes

Elizabethton 9, Bristol 6

Box Score

Ryley Widell: 4 ⅓ IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 2 K

HR: Seth Gray (8)

Multi-hit games: Seth Gray (2-for-5, HR, 2B, 1 R, 4 RBI), Anthony Prato (3-for-3, 2 R, RBI)

Good pro tip: if you give up a lot of runs, make sure to score more runs. Thanks, I’ll be here all week.

It was looking bleak for Elizabethton as they were down headed into the bottom of the ninth and there were some shenanigans regarding the sprinkler system:

https://twitter.com/BadderUpSports/status/1157823463014502400

Anyway, it was a 6-4 game in favor of Bristol in the ninth before a Willie Joe Garry Jr. single scored a run to make it a little closer. DaShawn Keirsey walked to load the bases before Seth Gray hit a walk-off grand slam. That was Gray’s second extra- base hit of the day and he chose a great time to do it.

https://twitter.com/ETwinsBaseball/status/1157839069256310785

GCL Twins Takes

GCL Twins postponed

The GCL Twins were postponed today so I have nothing to tell you here, move on.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Bryan Sammons

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Seth Gray

PROSPECT SUMMARY

Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed:

#1 - Royce Lewis (Pensacola) - 1-for-4, 3B, R

#2 - Alex Kirilloff (Pensacola) - 1-for-4

#3 - Brusdar Graterol (Pensacola) - IL

#4 - Trevor Larnach (Pensacola) - 1-for-4, HR, R, RBI, 2 K

#5 - Wander Javier (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-2, 2 R, 2 BB, K

#6 - Jordan Balazovic (Ft. Myers) - Did not pitch

#7 - Keoni Cavaco (GCL Twins) - Postponed

#8 - Brent Rooker (Rochester) - Injured list

#9 - Jhoan Duran (Pensacola) - Did not pitch

#10 - Blayne Enlow (Ft. Myers) - 6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K

#11 - Lewis Thorpe (Rochester) - Did not pitch

#12 - Nick Gordon (Rochester) - Day to day

#13 - Ryan Jeffers (Pensacola) - Did not play

#14 - Luis Arraez (Twins) - Did not play

#15 - Matt Wallner (Elizabethton) - 0-for-4, R, K

#16 - Ben Rortvedt (Pensacola) - 1-for-3, BB

#17 - Akil Baddoo (Ft. Myers) - Out for year with Tommy John surgery

#18 - Jorge Alcala (Pensacola) - Did not pitch

#19 - Misael Urbina (DSL Twins) - 0-for-4, R, BB

#20 - Travis Blankenhorn (Pensacola) - IL

SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Rochester @ Pawtucket (12:05 A.M.) - RHP Adam Bray

Birmingham @ Pensacola (5:05 P.M.) - RHP Edwar Colina

Fort Myers @ Lakeland (12:00 P.M.) - RHP Bailey Ober

Burlington @ Cedar Rapids (2:05 P.M.) - RHP Tyler Palm

Bristol @ Elizabethton (5:00 P.M.) - RHP Tyler Benninghoff

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