Twins Minor League Report (8/8): Gran(d)ite Slam, Sammons Scoreless

To find out who did what in the minors on Tuesday, keep reading!

TRANSACTIONS

Before the games on Tuesday there were a few transactions in the system.

Yohan Pino was assigned to Rochester and Ryan Strausborger was released from AAA.

At Double-A the release of pitcher Raul Fernandez was also made official.

In the Gulf Coast League pitcher Vadim Balan was placed on the seven-day disabled list retroactive to August 3^rd.

RED WINGS REPORT

Columbus 2, Rochester 6

Box Score

With Hector Santiago’s rehab start being pushed back a day, Nik Turley got the ball for the Red Wings and spotted the Clippers a 2-0 lead before his offense took an at- bat. A walk and three singles in the top of the first accounted for that scoring, but that was all Columbus would get for the rest of the game as Turley settled in from there.

Rochester tied the game at two in the bottom of the third when Daniel Palka doubled in Zack Granite and Mitch Garver. Tommy Field had doubled earlier in the inning but was thrown out at home on Garver’s single.

The big hit for the Wings came in the fourth, as Zack Granite slugged his fifth home run of the season, a grand slam to make it 6-2.

Turley finished five innings to pick up his fifth win of the season. He allowed those two runs on six hits and a walk while striking out seven. His ERA is now at 2.89 at AAA.

Luke Bard made his first appearance at AAA, and threw two scoreless frames of relief. He allowed two hits and struck out one. Jake Reed finished the final two innings, allowing one hit and picking up a K.

Granite scored two runs and drew a walk in addition to the the big home run. Garver was 3-4 with a run scored and a double. Matt Hague was 2-4 with a double and a run scored and Tommy Field also had two hits including a double, in three at-bats.

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Jackson 3, Chattanooga 0

Box Score

In a theme that will continue throughout this report, there wasn’t much that happened on the offensive side of the game for the Lookouts in this one.

Edgar Corcino (3-4, 2B), Jonathan Rodriguez (2-4, 2B), and T.J. White (2-4) accounted for six of the team's eight hits. The offense was just 1-9 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base.

Felix Jorge made the start for Chattanooga and was very good for most of the game. He ran into his biggest trouble in the eighth after a couple of singles, a sac bunt, and a sac fly made the score 2-0 Generals. The third run (unearned) came with runners on the corners after a throwing error and walk that caused him to be removed. The runner he was responsible for scored during a run-down on a steal attempt that also ended the inning. In 7.2 innings Jorge scattered ten hits and a walk while striking out three.

Nick Anderson finished the final 1.1 innings, allowing one hit and striking out one. In his last 10 games, Anderson has allowed just one run on four hits in 11.1 innings, with 13 K’s.

MIRACLE MATTERS

Fort Myers 0, Palm Beach 6

Box Score

The Miracle managed just four hits and didn’t have a single plate appearance with a runner in scoring position for the entire game. Brandon Lopez was 2-4 on the day and that’s all you really need to know on the offensive side.

Brady Anderson was on the hill for Fort Myers and went the first 6+ innings. At the end of the sixth he had given up just two runs on five hits in the contest. He walked the first hitter of the seventh and gave up a single to the second before he was removed to account for his four runs allowed. He struck out one.

Keaton Steele came on and proceeded to give up four consecutive singles before he got a double-play ball for the first two outs. By that time four runners had scored to make it the final tally of 6-0 Cardinals. Steele added a scoreless eighth to finish the game, having allowed two runs on five hits and two walks, with one K.

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 3, Wisconsin 1

Box Score

Cedar Rapids took an early 1-0 lead after an RBI single from Hank Morrison in the top of the first. He scored Christian Caveness who had doubled to lead off the game.

From there it was all about the pitching on both sides as the game remained 1-0 until the seventh inning.

2017 eighth-round draft pick Bryan Sammons was making his first start since joining the Kernels early in August. The lefty was fantastic for the game's first five innings, picking up his first Midwest League win in the process. He allowed just three hits and walked one, while racking up eight K’s on just 65 pitches (46 for strikes).

Evan Sanders came in for the sixth inning and kept the Timber Rattlers scoreless for the next 2.1 frames. He allowed two hits and struck out three.

The Kernels added two insurance runs in the top of the seventh on a Trey Cabbage home run, his second of the year with in the Midwest League. Cabbage was also the only hitter in the lineup with two hits, as he finished 2-3.

With the score 3-0 in the bottom of the eighth and after Sanders had struck out the leadoff man, in came Max Cordy from the bullpen. He got a ground out but then three consecutive leadoff singles scored one and put the tying run on base. Hector Lujan came on and snuffed out the threat with ground out to keep the Kernels in front 3-1. Lujan added a scoreless ninth to pick up his twelfth save. He gave up one hit and struck out one.

E-TWINS E-NOTES

Game 1: Elizabethton 5, Bluefield 7 (7 innings)

Box Score

In game one of their doubleheader, the Twins weren’t able to recover from an early Bluefield outburst and fell 7-5.

Starter Melvi Acosta was charged with all seven runs in the first two innings. Two were unearned due to a throwing error in the first from Andrew Bechtold, but Acosta also threw three wild pitches to aid the Blue Jays. He gave up seven hits and three walks total, and did not strike out any in 2.0 innings.

Juan Gamez came in for the third inning and stabilized it from there. He threw 3.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit and three walks. He struck out one. Jared Finkel finished the game for the Twins with two strikeouts.

Elizabethton scored two runs in the fourth inning on a wild pitch and a sac fly, then one in the fifth thanks to an RBI single from Jose Miranda. They added two more in the sixth with a RBI single from Mark Contreras and an RBI double from Akil Baddoo to account for all their scoring.

Miranda (2-4, R, RBI), Kolton Kendrick (2-4, R), and Rainis Silva (2-2, R, RBI) each had two hits.

Game 2: Elizabethton 12, Bluefield 3

Box Score

In the makeup game from their postponement yesterday, the Elizabethton offense came alive to pound Bluefield into submission.

Starter Nick Brown went the first six innings, and after two it was 2-0 Blue Jays. On the night he surrendered only three runs on five hits and three walks. He struck out seven.

The Twins offense scored multiple runs in each of the third, fourth and fifth innings that put them well out front after five. Rainis Silva drove in two with a single which was followed by a Matt Albanese double for two more in a five-run third. Silva added an RBI double and scored again on a single from J.J. Robinson in a two-run fourth. They added four more in the fifth and another run in the sixth for their final tally of 12 runs.

The offense as a whole made up for the lack of offense elsewhere in the system, as they outhit the Blue Jays 19-5 and were 9-21 with runners in scoring position. Seven hitters in the lineup had at least two hits led by Albanese who was 4-4 with two runs scored, two doubles, and two RBI. Silva drove in three, and Akil Baddoo scored three runs out of the leadoff spot with a 1-4 night including a walk.

Reliever Jovani Moran finished off Bluefield with a one-two-three seventh, punctuating the blowout with a strikeout.

GCL TWINS TAKES

GCL Orioles 8, GCL Twins 1

Box Score

The Twins weren’t able to get much going on Tuesday afternoon as they managed just seven singles as a team and struck out twelve times. Overall they were 1-12 with runners in scoring position and left twelve men on base.

The lone RBI came off the bat of Jean Carlos Arias in the bottom of the ninth inning to score Dane Hutcheon who had singled earlier. Ricky De La Torre went 2-5 on the game and Royce Lewis was 1-3 with a walk.

Former major leaguer reliever Michael Kohn continued to work his way into game action after signing a minor league contract with the Twins on July 19^th. He pitched a scoreless first inning and struck out two. Tyler Wells came on from there and went the next 3.2 innings. He allowed two runs on three hits and three walks while striking out five. He was replaced with two outs in the fifth after his second walk of the inning. David Gerics went two innings and allowed four runs on three hits and a walk. He struck out two. Petru Balan was the final pitcher of the day for the Twins, and gave up two runs on six hits and two walks in 2.1 innings to finish the game.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Pitcher of the Day – Bryan Sammons, Cedar Rapids Kernels (W, 5.0 IP, 3 H’s, BB, 8 K’s)

Hitter(s) of the Day – Matt Albanese, Elizabethton Twins (4-4, 2 R’s, 2 2B’s, 2 RBI)

WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Columbus @ Rochester (12:35PM CST) – LHP Hector Santiago (1-1, 3.55 ERA)

Fort Myers @ Palm Beach (5:30PM CST) – LHP Lewis Thorpe (3-4, 2.79 ERA)

Greenville @ Elizabethton (6:00PM CST) – TBD

GCL Twins @ GCL Orioles (11:00AM CST) – TBD

Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Tuesday’s games!