Twins Minor League Report (8/30): Steer Plays Hero in Kernels Walkoff... Again!

Find out everything that happened happened in the Twins system on Friday, starting with the transaction of the day.

TRANSACTIONS

• Seth Gray was promoted from Elizabethton to Cedar Rapids. Albee Weiss was sent from Cedar Rapids to Elizabethton.
  

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 6, Syracuse 1

Box Score

The Red Wings utilized a bullpen game on Friday night. Conceivably, it was a bullpen game in which as many as five of the pitchers could be in a Twins uniform on Sunday, or certainly by Tuesday.

Devin Smeltzer started and went the first two innings. He gave up just one hit, walked none and struck out three batters. Zack Littell struck out two and walked one in his inning. Brusdar Graterol struck out two in his perfect inning. Sam Clay gave up one run on four hits and a walk over two innings. He struck out five. Trevor Hildenberger faced six batters and got all six of them out. Ryne Harper got the ninth inning. With one out, he gave up two hits and a walk to load the bases. He ended the game with back-to-back strikeouts.

Brandon Barnes went 2-for-3 with a walk and two RBIs in the game. Ronald Torreyes went 2-for-3. Zander Wiel knocked his 24th home run.

BLUE WAHOOS BITES

Game 1 - Pensacola 3, Montgomery 2

Box Score

Bryan Sammons put together another good start for the Wahoos. The lefty gave up two runs on three hits and a walk in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out six batters. Anthony Vizcaya got the final four outs, two on strikeouts, to record the win.

Royce Lewis got the scoring going with a solo home run in the top of the first inning. It was his second AA homer. In the fifth inning, Joe Cronin tied the game with his fifth Pensacola homer. In the top of the seventh, Travis Blankenhorn singled in Alex Kirilloff with what proved to be the winning run.

Larnach and Ryan Jeffers were each 2-for-3 with a walk. Lewis and Blankenhorn were 2-for-4.

Game 2- Pensacola 1, Montgomery 2

Box Score

Griffin Jax started for the Wahoos. He gave up two runs on three hits over five innings. He walked on and struck out five batters. Jovani Moran struck out one in a perfect inning.

Pensacola’s offense didn’t get much going. Travis Blankenhorn went 1-for-2 with a walk and his 18th home run. He also stole his 11th base.

The two teams will not play on Saturday so that the Biscuits can attend the funeral of their teammate Blake Biven’s wife, child and mother-in-law.

https://twitter.com/wsfa12news/status/1167462391396929536

MIRACLE MATTERS

Ft. Myers season was complete following their game on Thursday because of Hurricane Dorian.

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 2, Quad Cities 1

Box Score

For the second time this week, Spencer Steer has provided the Kernels with a walk- off win at home. It’s the third walk-off win this week for the Kernels.

https://twitter.com/JimCrikket/status/1167631572369125376

The Kernels got some strong pitching in this game. Andrew Cabezas started and gave up five hits and three walks but no runs over 5 2/3 innings. He struck out three. JT Perez came on and got all four batters he faced out. Nate Hadley gave up a game-tying run, but struck out five batters over the final two innings.

DaShawn Keirsey provided the offense early. He had three hits. Gabe Snyder drove in Daniel Ozoria with a triple in the seventh inning to start the scoring. With one out in the bottom of the ninth, Ozoria reached on an error and ended up at second base. Steer followed with the winner.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day - Andrew Cabezas, Cedar Rapids Kernels

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Travis Blankenhorn, Pensacola Blue Wahoos

PROSPECT SUMMARY

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

#1 - Royce Lewis (Pensacola) - Game 1 (2-4, HR (2), R, RBI), Game 2 (0-2, BB, K, SB (6)

#2 - Alex Kirilloff (Pensacola) - Game 1 (1-4, R), Game 2 (Did Not Play)

#3 - Brusdar Graterol (Rochester) - 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K (13 pitches, 10 strikes)

#4 - Trevor Larnach (Pensacola) - Game 1 (2-3, BB, K), Game 2 (0-3, K)

#5 - Wander Javier (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Play

#6 - Jordan Balazovic (Ft. Myers) - Did Not Pitch

#7 - Keoni Cavaco (GCL Twins) - Season Complete

#8 - Brent Rooker (Rochester) - Injured List

#9 - Jhoan Duran (Pensacola) - Did Not Pitch

#10 - Blayne Enlow (Ft. Myers) - Season Complete

#11 - Lewis Thorpe (Rochester) - Did Not Pitch

#12 - Nick Gordon (Rochester) - Injured List (lower leg contusion)

#13 - Ryan Jeffers (Pensacola) - Game 1 (2-3, BB), Game 2 (1-3, K)

#14 - Luis Arraez (Minnesota) - 1-4, BB, 2 R, RBI

#15 - Matt Wallner (Cedar Rapids) - 1-3, BB, 2B(2)

#16 - Ben Rortvedt (Pensacola) - Injured List

#17 - Akil Baddoo (Ft. Myers) - Injured (Tommy John)

#18 - Jorge Alcala (Rochester) - Did Not Pitch

#19 - Misael Urbina (DSL Twins) - Season Complete

#20 - Travis Blankenhorn (Pensacola) - Game 1 (2-4, RBI, K), Game 2 (1-2, BB, HR (18), R, RBI, SB(11)

WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Syracuse @ Rochester (5:05 CST) - TBD

Pensacola @ Montgomery - Game moved ahead to a doubleheader on Friday, allowing the Montgomery team to attend the funeral of Blake Biven’s wife, baby and mother-in-law.

Cedar Rapids @ Beloit (6:30 CST) - RHP Josh Winder (7-2, 2.68 ERA)

Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Friday games or any other minor league topics you would like.