Jeremy Nygaard

Join Seth and me tonight for a special Wednesday edition of Twins Hangouts. We shifted away from our typical Tuesday slot because of the All-Star Game, but return at 9pm. Expect there to be plenty of Futures Game (and nachos) talk, as well as other highlights from the weekend. We'll preview the "second half" of the Twins season. Miss an episode? Well, they're all available on our webpage and iTunes. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]If you didn't happen to join us live on a special Wednesday episode of Twins Hangouts, we have it all for you here. We kicked off and gave our All-Star Weekend update. Seth's "Nacho Adventure" (:04) may have been a highlight or a low-point depending on your point of view. We were especially surprised by Celebrity Sunday (:08). We talked about Jeremy's All-Star Game (:13) before remembering that Jennie Finch needed to be discussed (:20). We had our usual "Pleiss Distraction", this time courtesy of ERolf (:23). We had more discussion about the All-Star weekend, including the game (:27) and derby (:34) before switching gears to Twins talk. We made arguments for our Twins first-half MVP (:38), top pitcher (:43), disappointing hitter (:52) and disappointing pitcher (:58). We moved to the minor leagues where we pegged similar awards: hitter (1:00), starting pitcher (1:03) and relief pitcher (1:06). We gave a 12-minute Trade Deadline primer (1:07) before Seth gave a MiLB report (1:19) with scouting reports on some E-town pitchers (1:24). We took questions at 1:27 and had our "closing thoughts" at 1:32. Twelve minutes later, it was all over. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rq8tikQ-TNQ Leave any questions for tonight below!!

As most eyes of the baseball world turn their focus to the Home Run Derby on Monday night and the All-Star Game on Tuesday, a few minor league affiliates are still playing. Both AA and AAA have their All-Star Game on Wednesday night. Red Wings Report The Red Wings have a three-day break before returning to the field on Thursday. Rochester already has Trevor May listed as their scheduled starter. This would put him in line to pitch again next Tuesday... or the same day as the Twins would need their #5 starter for the first time after the break. It's definitely something worth monitoring. Rock Cats Review New Britain 3, Reading 2 Box Score This morning, Ben Badler of Baseball America released an article promoting the prospect status of Tyler Duffey (subscription required). Essentially, Duffey has developed a changeup (in the 79-84 mph range) that Badler calls a "plus pitch". On Monday, Duffey threw 86 pitches and lasted 7 1/3 innings. He allowed only four hits and a walk. The result: two runs, one earned. He struck out eight. Ryan O'Rourke struck out one finishing the eighth and Cole Johnson struck out one in the ninth, getting the save. Offensively, Mike Kvasnicka, Tony Thomas and Kyle Knudson all had two-hit games. Kvasnicka, Aaron Hicks and Reynaldo Rodriguez all had doubles on Monday. Kvasnicka, Hicks and Eddie Rosario (1-for-4, 2 K) each drove in a run. Hicks was picked off and caught stealing. Many players for the 47-47 RockCats will be representing the club in Wednesday's Eastern League All-Star Game. Miracle Matters Fort Myers 8, Dunedin 2 Box Score Danny Santana made his first rehab start today. He started in centerfield while Byron Buxton made his first professional start in right field. By design, after five innings, Kepler came in for Santana and played right, while Buxton slid over to center. Santana, though, went 0-for-3 with a strikeout. Byron Buxton continues to shake the rust off. He was 1-for-5 tonight with two strikeouts. He did throw a runner out at second base. Dalton Hicks, Travis Harrison, Mike Gonzales and Stuart Turner all had two-hit games. Hicks had a double, walk and drove in a run. Harrison drove in two runs and has quietly taken over the team batting average lead (.287). Gonzales doubled and drove in three runs. Niko Goordum and Aderling Mejia both had RBI doubles. Tim Shibuya managed to pitch six innings of one-run ball without striking out a single player. He improves to 6-3. Alex Wimmers had an eventful inning allowing three hits and a walk, but escaped by letting in only one run. He struck out two. Brandon Peterson and Tyler Jones each pitched scoreless innings. Peterson struck out two. The Miracle are now 56-36 on the year. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 5, Clinton 8 Box Score Ryan Eades had his fourth consecutive rough start Monday night. He gave up seven runs (four earned) in four innings. He struck out three and walked one. Chris Mazza allowed an unearned run in two innings. Nick Burdi's out-by-strikeouts streak ended at 10. He struck out the first batter and got the final two outs via ground outs. His 2014 stats will never be pretty on account of the short season and his rough first outing, but I think he's redeemed himself. A move up to Fort Myers in the near future wouldn't surprise me. Dallas Gallant allowed a hit in his inning of work. Mitch Garver hit a two-run home run, his ninth. Jason Kanzler had a double in a multi-hit night. Ryan Walker doubled and scored. Logan Wade drove in two runs. Chad Christensen stole his 22nd base. Cedar Rapids dropped to 42-52. E-Town E-Notes Elizabethton 2, Danville 4 Box Score The E-Twins wasted a good start by Stephen Gonsalves and fell to 16-9. Gonsalves pitched the first five innings. He struck out four, allowed four hits and a walk and allowed only one run. Sam Clay relieved Gonsalves and had another terrible outing, his fourth multi-run appearance in seven games. His ERA is up to 14.40. Kuo Hua Lo and Dereck Rodriguez both pitched scoreless innings. Rodriguez, a converted outfielder, has now made seven relief appearances totaling 12 innings, hasn't given up a run and has kept his WHIP under 1.00. Nick Gordon and Tyler Kuresa each had two-hit games. Gordon also stole a base. Trey Vavra doubled. Dutch Deol and Pat Kelly, the 8- and 9-hitters, drove in the team's two runs. GCL Twins Takes GCL Twins 2, GCL Rays 7 Box Score The GCL club lost their third straight and fell to 7-14 on the season. Rainis Silva was 3-for-5 with a double. Roberto Gonzalez was 2-for-5, but struck out three times. Rafael Valera was 1-for-1 with three walks. Zack Larson was 0-for-3 with two walks in his third rehab game. He is 0-for-7 so far, but should re-join the Kernels shortly. Onesimo Hernandez got the start and took the loss. He allowed six runs (three earned) in 4 1/3 innings. He struck out five. Seth Wagner pitched two scoreless innings. Callan Pearce bounced back from a rough outing to pitch a scoreless inning. DSL Twins Notes DSL Twins 7, DSL Padres 1 Box Score The Twins used a 6-run 6th inning to propel their way to victory on Monday. Junior Amarante went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI. The 19-year-old outfielder is now batting .340 in his third go-around in the DSL. Jorge Andrade was 2-for-5 with a double. Andrade has cooled off and is still hitting .344. Seventeen-year-old SS Emmanuel Morel drove in two runs. Jose Ramirez started and struck out four in four innings. Argenis Silva earned the win with two strikeouts in two innings. Daulin Ramirez struck out four in two innings of work, but also walked three. Both runs scored were unearned. Twins Daily Minor League Players of the Day Twins Daily Pitcher of the Day - Tyler Duffey, New Britain Twins Daily Hitter of the Day - Even though he's not eligible to win, Giancarlo Stanton wins all the hitter awards on the account of the home run he hit to the middle of the third deck. Tuesday's Probable Pitchers Rochester returns to play on Thursday at 6:05 (Listen) New Britain returns to play on Thursday at 6:05 Central (Listen) Fort Myers returns to play on Wednesday at 6:05 Central (Listen) Cedar Rapids returns to play on Wednesday at 6:35 Central (Listen) Elizabethton returns to play on Wednesday at 6:05 Central (Listen) GCL Rays @ GCL Twins (11:00 AM Central) - TBD DSL Diamondbacks @ DSL Twins (9:30 AM Central) - TBD

It's always exciting - at least for me - to get to see guys play long before they are major leaguers. Whether it's watching Brian Dozier play for the Beloit Snappers or sit in the Metrodome during a blizzard watching a Tom Windle/Sean Manaea match-up, I enjoy it. I'm no scout, but trying to project how these guys will be against the greatest baseball players in the world is an exercise I enjoy doing. Yesterday, then, would classify as a highlight of my baseball-watching experience. No major leaguers, yet a lot of future All-Stars present. Seth and I were able to catch the U.S. team take batting practice. Baseball-wide, there are a lot of impressive bats that are about to join The Show. But I'm going to keep this entry focused on the three Twins who participated: Jose Berrios, Kennys Vargas and Alex Meyer. JOSE BERRIOS Berrios got the start for the World Team and pitched only the first inning. Baseball America's Josh Norris had him clocked as high as 98 (though I only saw him clocked at 94, 95). He was able to get four swings-and-misses (three on four-seamers, one on a 86 mph change-up) in 12 pitches. Ironically, those four swings-and-misses were the most a Twins starter has had in a single inning at Target Field all year. (I don't know if that is really true. I hope it isn't... but it certainly sounds like it should be.) Berrios has become a near-consensus Top-30 prospect in all baseball, but there are still questions. ESPN's Keith Law sees less in him. Literally. He questions his ability to get downward plane and didn't like his curveball on Sunday. Berrios said after the game that his goal is to make it to Target Field by September. While lofty, it's not impossible... it's not probable either. He threw 103 2/3 regular season innings last year. He's at 101 1/3 already this year. So expect the organization to ramp down his innings as he continues to get accustomed to AA life. Not MLB life. At least not in 2014. KENNYS VARGAS Vargas started at first base and batted cleanup. He struck out in his first and third at-bats. His initial at-bat came right-handed with the next three all coming from the left side of the plate. Vargas' second at-bat was pulled down the right-field line for a double... barely. A good throw would have gotten him out, but the off-line throw allowed him to slide in safely. His final at-bat was a routine groundball to the second baseman. Vargas hit some long home runs during batting practice (before it was open to the public), but game situations continue to expose his long swing that doesn't cover the whole plate. But when he connects, he certainly puts a charge into it. Considering that Vargas is on the 40-man, he could get a September call-up. Long-term, though, there are a lot of questions. Defensively, he's a designated hitter even though he approached the Twins about playing some outfield (and they told him to lose weight). Vargas still doesn't make my Twins Top 10, but his production in AA has him trending the right way. ALEX MEYER Meyer was credited with having the best fastball by Baseball America. And that's all he threw. Four four-seam fastballs. 97, 97, 98, 97. Of course, three of those pitches were put into play. (Cue the pitch-to-contact jokes now.) All three were struck pretty solidly, but it's also a pretty small sample size. There's an outside chance Meyer joins the Twins yet this year, though there is a better chance that we see the Twins start to limit his innings. But of course, it's only just begun. Tonight we'll get to see Brian Dozier in the Home Run Derby. Tomorrow, Glen Perkins and Kurt Suzuki represent the Twins in the All-Star Game.

Another Tuesday signals another episode of Twins Hangouts. Seth and I will be live tonight at 9pm. There's been a ton of things that have happened over these last seven days. We'll certainly talk about a number of them, such as the All-Star Game, the Futures Game, Ricky Nolasco and updates on all of the minor league affiliates. Miss an episode? Well, they're all available on our webpage and iTunes. You can also view the event page. Tuesday's show went like this: Introduction and what's up! (:00) We jump into the Ricky Nolasco conversation at the :05 mark. We've turned to Trevor May talk at :18 and continued with other pitching approaches in the organization. At 0:31, we moved onto the All-Star Game. Also, what's up with Suzuki long-term? 0:34 Talking trade deadline: Suzuki, Morales, Willingham. We move on at :49 to talk about the Futures Game and talk about pitchers' debuts. Seth talked Players of the Month at :58. Minor League Update - Rochester (1:02), New Britain, Fort Myers (1:34), Cedar Rapids (1:38), Elizabethton (1:46), GCL Twins (1:54) International Update (2:00) Viewer questions (2:08) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D953Ogzr5Lo

The Twins started their final road-trip before the All-Star Game on Monday in Seattle. They'll make a stop in Colorado before heading home. As was announced Sunday night, the Twins will be represented by RP Glen Perkins and C Kurt Suzuki in next Tuesday's Mid-Summer Classic. Ricky Nolasco is heading back to the Twin Cities to get his "bit of a sore right elbow" checked out. Today's Twins All-Star-related news revolves around two of their top pitching prospects: P Alex Meyer will be replacing P Trevor May (calf) in Sunday's Futures Game. May's "feeling good", but his return to the mound doesn't "line up with" pitching in Sunday's game. My belief - and it's 100% just my opinion - is that May still makes his Major League debut this month. In other All-Star news, several RockCats were named to the Eastern League All-Star game, which will take place next Wednesday night: 1B Kennys Vargas, 2B Tony Thomas, OF Reynaldo Rodriguez, RP Cole Johnson, P Taylor Rogers. Congrats to that group! Also, Kennys Vargas has been placed on the temporarily inactive list to head back to Puerto Rico while his wife has a baby. Let's just say it's going to be a busy next 10 days for Kennys! This afternoon, Miguel Sano met with his surgeon and was given the ok to begin light throwing. He will begin swinging in early August and there is some hope that he will be able to make up for some lost at-bats in the Arizona Fall League before heading down to the Dominican Winter League to work off the rust. All indications are that Sano will be 100% when spring training opens next spring. Other transaction news: The Kernels activated OF Jeremias Pineda and transferred him to Elizabethton. You can view all rosters here. Let's move to the action on the farm: Red Wings Report Rochester 6, Buffalo 7 Box Score Rochester couldn't hold onto a big lead despite getting big games from Doug Bernier (3-for-5) and Eric Farris (2-for-4, 2 2B). James Beresford and Pedro Florimon also added doubles. Sean Gilmartin made it to the seventh inning (6 1/3) allowing four runs (three earned) on seven hits and a walk. He struck out five. Lester Oliveros struggled. He allowed his lone inherited runner to score and gave up two more runs while recording only one out. A.J. Achter picked up four outs while not allowing a hit. Michael Tonkin took the loss on a home run in the top of the ninth. It was former Twins P.J. Walters starting for Buffalo and Bobby Korecky getting the save. Rock Cats Review New Britain 0, New Hampshire 2 (Game 1) Box Score Jason Wheeler threw a (six-inning) complete game, but took the loss. He walked two, but struck out only one. Of his six hits yielded, one was a home run. Eddie Rosario singled. Stephen Wickens doubled. All of the hitters except for Reynaldo Rodriguez managed to strike out. New Britain 2, New Hampshire 0 (Game 2) SUSPENDED - SECOND INNING Box Score This game - a scheduled make-up of a mid-April game - was suspended in the second inning. Too bad too. Adrian Salcedo got the start and had pitched two hitless innings. It's been a rough couple of seasons for Salcedo, who was starting for the first time since 2012. Mike Kvasnicka doubled and Lance Ray tripled in a contest that will be completed tomorrow in a seven-inning game. Miracle Matters Fort Myers has a scheduled day off, so there is no Byron Buxton Monday update. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids also has a scheduled day off. E-Town E-Notes Elizabethton 15, Johnson City 7 Box Score Another offensive outburst from the E-Twins. Max Murphy (now .411) was 3-for-3 with two walks, a double, a home run and four RBI. Newly-demoted Jeremias Pineda went 2-for-6 with four runs scored. Alex Real was 3-for-6 with two doubles and three RBI. Those are just a handful of the offensive highlights of today. Everyone wants to know about Nick Gordon: He went 2-for-5, drew a walk, scored three runs and was picked off/caught stealing. He committed his fourth error of the season and is now batting .359. Michael Cederoth got his first professional win. He went five innings, allowing seven hits. He struck out two and let four runners score. Cameron Booser and Dereck Rodriguez each struck out two in two innings of hitless baseball apiece. GCL Twins Takes The GCL Twins got another day off, though this one comes as the result of a rainy morning. DSL Twins Notes DSL Twins 6, DSL Orioles 15 Box Score Junior Amarante isn't a name even the most buff of prospect buffs is familiar with, but he's doing his best to start earning some recognition. Today he went 2-for-5 with a walkoff single in the bottom of the ninth. Amarante, a right fielder, just turned 19, so he's a tad old for the DSL. (Baseball Reference has his age comp at 0.8.) On the season, Amarante has 14 stolen bases with only one caught stealing. He has a 15-to-15 walk-to-strikeout ratio on the year and is batting .354 on the season. Jermaine Palacios and Luis Arraez both had three-hit days. Twins Daily Players of the Day Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day - Jason Wheeler, New Britain Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day - Max Murphy, Elizabethton Tuesday's Probable Starters Buffalo @ Rochester (6:05 Central) – Alex Meyer (Listen) New Britain @ New Hampshire (6:05 Central) – Tyler Duffey (Listen) New Britain @ New Hampshire – TBD (completion of Monday's suspended game) Fort Myers @ Palm Beach (5:35 Central) – B.J. Hermsen (Listen) Wisconsin @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 Central) - Lewis Thorpe (Listen) Elizabethton @ Johnson City (6:00 Central) - Stephen Gonsalves (Listen) GCL Twins @ GCL Orioles (10:00 AM Central) - TBD GCL Twins @ GCL Orioles (10:00 AM Central) - TBD (make up of Monday's game) DSL Twins @ DSL White Sox (9:30 AM Central) - TBD

Shortly after the International signing period opened today at 8am, MLB.com's Jesse Sanchez tweeted that the Twins had an agreement with RHP Huascar Ynoa. Ynoa ranked 17th on MLB.com's top prospects. Baseball America placed Ynoa 14th on their list. Ynoa is a 6-2, 190 lb righthander who just recently turned 16. Earlier in the process, there was some belief that Ynoa was the top available pitcher in this signing period. Over a year ago, while participating in the 15U WWBA National Championship, Ynoa's fastball sat between 85-91 and Perfect Game called him "among the most impressive arms" at the tournament. As of late, he's been clocked at high as 94. But his ability is polarizing... Baseball America's profile of Ynoa said this: MLB.com said this: Ynoa's older brother, Michael, still holds the record for the largest bonus given to an international pitcher ($4.25m). Michael is 6-7, so there this plenty of time for lots of projection with Huascar. His ceiling is that of someone who could potentially be a top-of-the-rotation starter - he throws four pitches - but saddling anyone at 16 with that label is irresponsible. At the minimum, the Twins have added a potentially high-upside arm for less than $1m. He'll get all the time in the world to develop and will join the DSL Twins in 2015. The Twins still have $2,886,600 to play with in this signing period, but it sounds like Ynoa will be the most expensive signing. Twins beat the Royals on Tuesday so on Wednesday you can get a half price large or extra-large pizza at PapaJohns.com when using the promo code 'TWINSWIN'.

Seth and Jeremy return Tuesday night at 9pm to wrap up the happenings in Twins Territory. We connected Monday night to make sure we could hear each other (we could) and to make sure that our internet was working (it was), so hopefully we have more success than last week. The Twins have given us lots to discuss, and Seth was in Cedar Rapids for three Kernels game. Be sure to get your questions in and listen live or later! [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Miss an episode? Well, they're all available on our webpage and iTunes. The script from the show: Seth and Jeremy are back in your ears after a one-week hiatus from providing you the audio of our video hangout. If you'd like to listen to Episode 30, you can view at at TwinsDaily.com On our 7/1 show we talked about Jorge Polanco and his promotion (:03) and Aaron Hicks and his demotion (:09). We covered all the other transactions the Twins made as well (:15). Seth briefed us on his weekend in Cedar Rapids (:20) and that's well worth the listen. Of course, you can read up on his trip at TwinsDaily as well. We covered the rest of the action in Kernels Land (:27) too before switching great to the Twins (:37). After a 15-minute discussion on the parent club, we switched gears and talked the rest of the minor league. Finally we talked about the International Free Agency period (1:26) that opens today before getting to viewer questions (1:38). Enjoy the discussions, thanks for the questions and we'll see you next Tuesday! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HY5oW1UYf0 Twins beat the Royals on Tuesday so on Wednesday you can get a half price large or extra-large pizza at PapaJohns.com when using the promo code 'TWINSWIN'.

Monday was a pretty busy day for it being just a regular Monday in late June. The Twins left Texas on Sunday knowing that both 3B Trevor Plouffe and SS Eduardo Nunez were ready to be activated from the DL, yet no move was made after last night's game. And, from the sounds of it, all 25 guys in Texas took the plane back to Minneapolis. Monday afternoon, though, the Twins announced that, to make room for Plouffe and Nunez, SS Pedro Florimon (to Rochester) and SS Jorge Polanco (to Ft. Myers) would be optioned to the minor leagues. The Miracle made room for Polanco by sending 2B Rafael Valera back to the GCL and also announced that LP Brett Lee would be activated with SS Aderling Mejia being placed on the DL. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Rochester had two spots available. One of those was filled with Florimon. The other with the activation of OF Wilkin Ramirez. Let's move down to the farm: RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 8, Norfolk 1 Box Score Doug Bernier hit a fifth inning grand slam and Deibinson Romero backed that up with a seventh inning three-run blast. Both long balls followed up a Chris Colabello solo shot in the fourth. Romero and Chris Herrmann had doubles, while Bernier, Colabello and Danny Ortiz (in addition to Romero) all had two-hit games. Scott Diamond struck out three in six innings that saw him allow only four men to reach (three hits, one walk) and the one run that he allowed helped lower his season ERA to 6.56. Lester Oliveros and Deolis Guerra closed the game out with three scoreless innings. The Red Wings are five games behind Syracuse, despite winning their last two. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain 3, Binghamton 8 Box Score Reynaldo Rodriguez hit a pair of solo home runs and Kyle Knudson added an RBI double to complete the scoring for the Rock Cats. Aaron Hicks was 1-for-3 with a walk, but was picked off stealing. Eddie Rosario was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. Taylor Rogers pitched 6 2/3 innings, allowing four runs on six hits and two walks. He struck out three. Adrian Salcedo gave up four hits in recording four outs. He also allowed two runs (one earned). He struck out three. Jim Fuller gave up a walk and home run in his one inning of work. He also struck out three. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 10, Palm Beach 6 Box Score Jorge Polanco came back and was dialed in. He went 3-for-4 with a double. He also walked once. The bottom third of the lineup (Travis Harrison, Stuart Turner, Max Kepler) provided two hits apiece and four total RBI. Nate Roberts, Mike Gonzales and Dalton Hicks all added doubles. It should be noted that Roberts doubled in the first inning, but was replaced at DH by Gonzales in the third inning. DJ Baxendale allowed two home runs and six runs total in four innings. He struck out two and walked none. Eight hits, though? Too much. Brett Lee, fresh off of the DL, picked up his 6th win, this one in relief. He allowed one hit in three innings. He struck out two and should re-gain his spot in the rotation. Steven Gruver (K, BB) and Brandon Peterson (2 K, H) each pitched an inning to shut it down. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids vs Clinton (Suspended after 9th inning, tied at 3) Box Score This game will get due coverage when it finishes, but we should talk about Kohl Stewart. He only lasted four innings, giving up two runs on four hits. He walked two and struck out two. Eyewitness reports had him as throwing "way too many pitches" and, frankly, "not very good". The real news of this game is the storm that hit the stadium hard. Video is courtesy of Jeff Johnson, who covers the Kernels for the Cedar Rapids Gazette. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yxxfP87C-c [h=3]Kernels Wind Tarp[/h]http://cdn.bimvid.com/KCRG/01ebe4c246a5cb45fe6d84fa2fcbffa0ce71407a_fl9-360p.jpg view on site E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 8, Bristol 5 Box Score (Game 1) Trey Vavra had three hits including a double and a stolen base. Dutch Deol (two hits, two RBI) and Tanner English (two hits, two RBI) also had stand-out offensive performances. The star, though, was Max Murphy, who was 2-for-3 with a HR. He also walked twice. Pat Kelly stole two bases. Nick Gordon was 0-for-4, but drove in a run. Derrick Penilla pitched an inning yesterday before the game was suspended. Josue Montanez struck out three in two innings, but gave up two runs on four hits. Keaton Steele gave up a run on three hits in three innings. Kuo Hua Lo gave up two runs in two innings. Jake Reed picked up the save, his second, with a strikeout in an inning. Elizabethton 12, Bristol 1 Box Score (Game 2) Well, E-town erupted for nine first-inning runs in game 2 and never looked back. Again, Max Murphy got it done: 3-for-4, 2B, 2 3B, 3 RBI. Tanner English and Austin Diemer each had three hits and a double. Jonatan Hinojosa had a two-hit game. The team combined for 16 hits. Michael Cederoth pitched 3 2/3 innings. He struck out six, walked one and allowed two hits that resulted in one run. Sam Clay got the win with two innings of one-hit, one-walk, three-strikeout ball. C.K. Irby got the final four outs. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 3, GCL Rays 8 Box Score Logan Wade and Amaurys Minier both had two hits including a double each. Rainis Silva added a triple. Silva's two RBI and Minier's RBI accounted for all three runs. Michael Theofanopoulus took the loss. He allowed six runs (five earned) in 1 1/3 innings. He struck out one and gave up six hits. Wilfredy Liranzo pitched the next 3 2/3 scoreless innings. He struck out five and allowed only three hits and a walk. Zach Hayden and Seth Wagner put up scoreless frames. Eduardo Del Rosario gave up two runs (one earned) in two innings. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter - Max Murphy, Elizabethton Twins (Nominated for "Best Daily Performance of the Year") Pitcher - Scott Diamond, Rochester Red Wings TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester vs Norfolk (12:05pm CT) – Kris Johnson (Listen) New Britain vs Binghamton (6:05pm CT) – Jason Wheeler (Listen) Ft Myers @ Bradenton (5:30pm CT) - TBD (Listen) Cedar Rapids @ Wisconsin (7:05pm CT) – Aaron Slegers (Listen) Elizabethton @ Johnson City (6:00pm CT) – TBD (Listen) GCL Twins @ GCL Rays (11:00am CST) – TBD The Twins lost to the Royals on Monday, so Papa John's Pizza is available at full menu price.

Join us again tonight (Tuesday) as Seth and I discuss the last week in the Twins baseball. We'll be going live at 9pm, shortly before the Twins and Angels kick off their series. We'll be taking questions, so please leave below. Topics you'd like us to discuss? Let us know! Last week we went two hours and 42 minutes. This week we promise to keep it shorter and sweeter. Or will we? [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39nSnwrLxyI

The Twins have a scheduled off day before starting a series in Anaheim against the Angels. The club is expected to make a move before tomorrow's game. The belief is they'd like to get down to 12 pitchers. While the exact moves are unknown, it should be noted that Chris Herrmann was replaced in tonight's game for no apparent reason. We should know more tomorrow. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]Moving on to Monday's action: RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 2, Buffalo 4 Box Score It would be great to read about Alex Meyer's return to the win column... or at least a return to pitching a good game. However, it wasn't good. It lasted only 3.2 innings (and 73 pitches), but not before giving up seven hits, four runs (two home runs), two walks and three strikeouts. This is Meyer's third consecutive start where he's failed to make it to the fifth inning. It should be noted, too, that Meyer is only ten innings short of his innings total of last year. Edgar Ibarra (two innings) and A.J. Achter (2.1 innings) each allowed two hits in scoreless appearances. The lineup left some things to be desired. Deibinson Romero, Daniel Ortiz and Chris Rahl each had two hits, including Rahl's home run and Ortiz's triple. James Beresford also tripled. Ortiz was stranded on third base to end the game. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain 3, Altoona 4 Box Score Like all good things, the Rock Cats 12-game winning streak has come to an end. Despite winning 15 of their last 16 coming into tonight, New Britain (39-33) still trails Portland (50-26) by nine games in the Eastern League East Division. Virgil Vasquez was tasked to continue the streak and allowed four runs in six innings. The bullpen trio of Jim Fuller, Matt Summers and Dan Turpen combined for three shutout innings and five strikeouts, but the offense didn't offer enough support to get the win. Offensively, Eddie Rosario paced the lineup with three hits. He drove in a run and scored once also. Tony Thomas and Aaron Hicks added doubles. Hicks scored on a Rosario hit in the bottom of the ninth, but Rosario - the tying run - was stranded on third on when Reynaldo Rodriguez foul-popped out to end the game. Seth informed us on Twitter around 10 PM that it "appears" that Kennys Vargas will be on the Futures Game roster when it is announced tomorrow. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 12, Charlotte 1 Box Score The Miracle got it done early and often tonight. Nate Roberts collected his first hit of the year. And his second, third and fourth. He also hit three doubles, scored three runs and drove in two. If you're not familiar with Roberts - and you probably aren't unless you've followed the system closely for a long time - he is an on-base machine who has struggled (and that's not putting it too strongly) to stay healthy. Jorge Polanco, Niko Goodrum and Jairo Rodriguez all had two hits. This is the fifth-straight multi-hit game for Polanco. Rodriguez and Tyler Grimes both doubled. Goodrum stole his 13th base of the season. Travis Harrison was the only member of the lineup who didn't score a run; one of two (Dalton Hicks being the other) who didn't get a hit and one of two (Aderling Mejia, too) who didn't drive in a run. Harrison saw his 14-game hit streak come to an end. Jose Berrios was on the hill and was his normal self. In six innings, he allowed five hits and no walks. He struck out eight and allowed only one run. Two triples and the run occurred after Berrios had sat in the dugout and watched the hitters bat around and force a pitching change. In his last 10 games, Berrios is 7-1 with a 1.56 ERA. He's struck out 82 in 63.1 innings. He's only walked 16 and allowed 42 hits (for a WHIP of 0.92). No one is really sure why Berrios is still in Fort Myers and he's probably solidified his status as a mid-season Top 50 prospect in all of baseball. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids had a scheduled day off on Monday. Tomorrow they will begin a series in Peoria. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 1, Pulaski 2 Box Score The E-Twins fell to 3-2 on the season. E-town's pitching allowed only two runs on 12 hits. Derrick Penilla, back from Cedar Rapids, pitched 4.2 innings. He struck out five and allowed an unearned run on seven scattered hits. Randy LeBlanc allowed four hits in 2.1 innings. Cameron Booser allowed one hit in two innings. Offensively, the offense was pretty stagnant. Max Murphy and Brett Doe doubled and Austin Diemer, who had the only RBI, and Tyler Mautner singled. That was it for the offense. The team was 1-for-4 with runners in scoring position. Since his four-hit debut, Nick Gordon has gone 1-for-17 (0-for-4 tonight) and is batting .227. Fortunately, the cold streak has only included three strikeouts (but no walks). GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 5, GCL Orioles 7 Box Score The rookie league team dropped their 3rd straight game to start their young season. Amaurys Minier failed to get a hit for the first time this year, but he did walk twice and score a run. Again, he started the game in left field and finished it in first base. Minier remains the top prospect on the roster. Manuel Guzman, a shortstop, had the only multi-hit game for the team. Miguel Gonzalez made his season debut and it was forgettable. In 3.1 innings, he allowed eight walks and five earned runs. He did strike out four though and walked none. Onas Farfan made his professional debut. He collected five outs (two by strikeouts) and walked three. Reyson Zoquiel took the loss, giving up two runs in two innings. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Nate Roberts, Fort Myers Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Jose Berrios, Fort Myers TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Scranton/WB (6:05 CST) – Logan Darnell (Listen) Altoona @ New Britain (5:35 CST) – Pat Dean (Listen) Ft. Myers @ Charlotte (9:00 AM CST) – D.J. Baxendale (Listen) Cedar Rapids @ Peoria (7:00 CST) - Ethan Mildren (Listen) Pulaski @ Elizabethton (6:00 CST) – Michael Cederoth (Listen) GCL Orioles @ GCL Twins (11:00am CST) – TBD

Oh, it's going to be a good one on Tuesday night! Seth and Jeremy are going to be joined live by John Manuel (of Baseball America fame) and Jim Crikket/Steve Buhr (of Knuckleballs Blog fame) on the newest edition of Twins Hangouts. Miss an episode? Well, they're all available on our webpage and iTunes. There is plenty to discuss, like the draft (that's why John is coming on) and the first half of the minor-league season (Boom! Here's Steve.) [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] There's also the Twins. We obviously need to cover Trevor Plouffe's injury and the recall of Pedro Florimon. But we're looking straight into the face of a pitching "situation" and I have a feeling that people aren't going to be happy about it. Hangout run-down: 0:00 - We're back 0:05 - Pino a little bit... 0:06 - John Manuel!!! 0:37 - Draft recap 0:38 - Steve Buhr - TMI 0:41 - Steve talks Kernels 1:20 - Yohan Pino and the roster decisions 1:35 - Perkins vs Pinto 1:43 - Jeremy makes a great point, according to Seth After Jeremy's good point he forgot to updated this... 2:03 - Jose Berrios 2:15 - Preview the Etown/GCL rosters 2:20 - Viewer questions Oh, and if you have questions... leave them below! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kS4HFY-kLV0

The Twins opened up their annual Fenway Series on Monday night with Kevin Correia looking to defend his spot in the rotation. Saturday's injuries to Trevor Plouffe (who went on the disabled list with a rib cage muscle injury) and Eduardo Nunez (who's day-to-day with a hamstring issue) led to Sunday's recall of Pedro Florimon. The Deduno Rotation Watch continues but, as you'll read later, we can eliminate one possibility. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]The Twins also announced the signing of 17 additional draft picks (which brings the total to 24). One of the 16 unsigned players is 2nd round pick Nick Burdi, whose college career (hopefully) came to an end today. He allowed an unearned run in one inning pitched. Louisville lost to Texas 4-1. Burdi can now negotiate with the Twins. Texas closer/draftee John Curtiss will see his career continue. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 6, Pawtucket 1 Box Score The day belonged to Trevor May. Most Twins fans hoped that May would be making only a brief tune-up on his way to joining the parent club; instead, he exited with one out in the ninth after losing his shutout. Entering the ninth, May had only allowed two hits on 11 strikeouts. He issued his only two walks of the game in the ninth and also allowed a hit before giving way to the bullpen. He threw 120 pitches on the way to picking up his 7th win of the season. The offense was led by the combo of Deibinson Romero and Josmil Pinto. Pinto paced the lineup with three hits, including a double. Romero had two extra-base hits: a double and a home run. The 8- and 9-hitters, Doug Bernier and Chris Rahl, each had two RBI. The Red Wings improve their record to 40-30, which has them in a tie with Syracuse for the IL North lead. UPDATE: Per our Rochester reporter, C.J. Fee, Sean Gilmartin will be promoted from New Britain to Rochester and make the start tomorrow night. The rest of the rotation will be pushed back. The action around Thursday's original starter, Logan Darnell, and Thursday's new starter, Alex Meyer, should get the speculation wheels turning. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain had a scheduled day off. They start a series in Harrisburg tomorrow with Tyler Duffey on the bump. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 6, Bradenton 2 Box Score Very quietly, Jason Wheeler is having a heckuva season. He struck out 10 in six innings tonight, allowing only two runs on five hits and two walks. His ERA sits at 2.51 and no one will be mad (besides his manager and teammates) if this was his last start for the Miracle. Brandon Peterson pitched a scoreless seventh, striking out two and Tim Shibuya picked up a two-inning save, striking out three. Of course, after lighting the FSL All-Star Game on fire, Adam Walke returned to his team and was the only hitter in the lineup who failed to get a hit. Jorge Polanco had two hits, including a triple and a walk. Stephen Wickens drove in two. Dalton Hicks had a two-run home run. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids is enjoying their All-Star break before starting their second half on Thursday. The Midwest League All-Star Game is on Tuesday night. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Trevor May, Rochester Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Josmil Pinto, Rochester TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Pawtucket @ Rochester (6:05 CST) – Sean Gilmartin (Listen) New Britain @ Harrisburg (6:00 CST) – Tyler Duffey (Listen) Bradenton @ Ft. Myers (6:05 CST) – Matt Tomshaw (Listen) Cedar Rapids – All Star Break (Listen) - Kohl Stewart should make an appearance. Please leave questions/comments below.