Wednesday's Twins Minor League Daily

The minor league season is about to wrap up. A couple teams -- E-Town and Beloit -- are headed to the playoffs, which is great for fans of the minor league system. Let's take a look at the action down on the farm.

ELIZABETHTON 4, DANVILLE 0

The 2012 Appalachian League Playoffs, Series 1 (the semi-finals), pits familiar post-season foes the Twins and the Braves. The E-Town Twins got the first victory in this best-of-3 series, so they hold a major advantage now. E-Town won on the road, so they will play tomorrow night at home, hoping to wrap up this series with consecutive wins. Here's the rundown of tonight's action:[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]

This game was all about E-Town's pitching. 2012 draft pick, and sure-fire top Twins pitching prospect Jose Berrios turned in a great start, going 6 innings, allowing only 1 hit, striking out 7 and walking 1. Tyler Duffey threw 2 scoreless innings, striking out 4, and J.T. Chargois tossed a scoreless 9th, allowing 1 hit and fanning 1 batter. With pitching performances like that, you don't need too much offense!

Luckily, E-Town was able to string together more than enough offense to make the pitchers comfortable. Right fielder Adam Walker had a big game. He was 3-for-4 with a double, home run and single, and had 2 RBIs. His 2-run homer came in the second inning, thus giving Berrios some breathing room. Shortstop Niko Goodrum was 2-for-5 with an RBI. Jorge Polanco had 2 hits in 4 at-bats. Byron Buxton was 1-for-3 with an RBI, and D.J. Hicks and Candido Pimentel were each 1-for-4, Hicks' hit being a double. Buxton and Walker each stole a base, as well.

Here's the link to the box score.

ROCHESTER -- OFF

NEW BRITAIN 3, TRENTON 1

It still has been a solid season for the Rock Cats, but their performance in August has been dreadful. Unfortunately, they're fighting a very uphill battle for the final playoff spot. They did, however, turn in a good performance tonight. Logan Darnell had a quality start, going 6 innings and yielding 0 runs. He struck out 3 and walked 2. David Bromberg allowed 1 run 2 hits in an inning of work, striking out 2 and walking 2. Bruce Pugh tossed 2 scoreless frames, fanning 3.

Deibinson Romero was 3-for-4 tonight with 2 doubles and an RBI, demonstrating why he was a season-ending All-Star in the Eastern League. MN's own Nathan Hanson was 2-for-4 with a double. Oswaldo Arcia had a triple in 4 at-bats, and is hitting .321. Aaron Hicks also tripled, his only hit in 5 at-bats. He's hitting a solid .285. Rene Tosoni had a double, and Chris Colabello and Daniel Rohlfing each singled.

Here's the link to the box score.

FT. MYERS 9, BRADENTON 8

There was no shortage of offense at this nearly 3 hour game. Tom Stuifbergen started, and went 5 innings. He gave up 7 runs on 10 hits and a walk, striking out 1. He allowed 2 home runs. The bullpen was better, though. Miguel Munoz allowed 1 run on 2 hits in an inning of work, striking out 1. Ryan O'Rourke tossed 2 scoreless innings, striking out 3 and allowing only 1 hit. Michael Tonkin tossed a scoreless 9th, fanning 3 and allowing 1 hit.

There were 12 hits for the Miracle this evening. 3 players each had 3 hits. Levi Michael was 3-for-5 -- all doubles -- and had 3 RBIs. Nice to see some power from Michael. Daniel Ortiz was 3-for-5 with a double and a home run, and also had 3 RBIs. Angel Morales was 3-for-3 with a double, an RBI, and 2 walks. Steven Liddle, Jonathan Goncalves and Aderlin Mejia all singled. Morales also had 2 stolen bases tonight.

Here's the link to the box score.

BELOIT 6, WISCONSIN 5 (12 innings)

David Hurlbut got the start for the Snappers, and went 7 innings. He gave up 4 runs (only 2 earned), allowed 6 hits and struck out 2. Corey Williams threw 1 and 2/3 scorleless out of the bullpen, surrendering 3 hits and striking out 1. Zachary Jones tossed 1 and 1/3 innings, allowed an unearned run, struck out 2, walked 1, and gave up one hit. Steven Gruver earned the win for the Snappers tonight, throwing the final 2 scoreless innings, striking out 1 batter.

JaDamion Williams was 2-for-4 with a walk, Weng-Wei Lin was 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a walk, and TwinsDaily's own Adam Pettersen was the hero of the night, delivering what turned out to be the game-winning single in the top of the 12th. Pettersen was 2-for-5 with 2 RBIs and a run scored. Kennys Vargas and Nate Roberts were 1-for-6 with doubles, and Steven Wickens had singled and walked in 4 trips to the plate. There were 7 combined errors tonight -- 4 from the Snappers (Wickens, Hurlbut, Roberts, and Eddie Rosario). Miguel Sano watchers: he did not play tonight.

Here's the link to the box score.

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Players of the Day for Wednesday, August 29

Pitcher of the Day: Jose Berrios

http://www.sportsgrid.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/berrios.jpg

Hitter of the Day: Levi Michael

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cfMooX0G0nU/T-p4OnmHUiI/AAAAAAAACa4/hioU-yzjRo8/s1600/LeviMichael.jpg

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Schedule for Thursday, August 30

Rochester vs. Buffalo --- RHP P.J. Walters

New Britain @ Trenton --- RHP B.J. Hermsen

Ft. Myers vs. Charlotte --- ???

Beloit @ Wisconsin --- RHP Cole Johnson

Elizabethton vs. Danville (Playoff Game 2) --- LHP Brett Lee

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Please leave any questions or comments here, and thanks for reading.