Jeremy Nygaard

You're getting two days of minor league activity in one today, including a slew of transactions. The Twins signed a St. Paul Saint, they promoted two exciting pitching prospects up a level, and they found room for Chris Collabello in Rochester. Meanwhile, the weekend was good to some familiar names to Twins fans - albeit in Rochester. Meanwhile, AA-New Britain is facing elimination and adding some infielders. Could that mean promotions to AAA for a few of the Twins bigger prospects? [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Transactions As many of you know, on Friday Ryan Doumit was activated from the 7-day Concussion D.L. and Chris Colabello was optioned to Rochester to make room. Today, Rochester announced that RP Luis Perdomo was placed on the D.L. with a right calf strain. That opens a spot for Colabello. Also, yesterday 1B Michael Gonzales was activated by Cedar Rapids and earlier this morning MiLB.com posted on Twitter that Kohl Stewart was being promoted to Elizabethton. This likely has been the plan all along - to promote Stewart and Gonsalves together - but the cut on his foot set him a couple of weeks behind. Earlier this evening, the St. Paul Saints announced that the Twins had purchased the contract of 2B Brad Boyer. The Twins later confirmed that Boyer would be heading to New Britain. Don't forget to keep up-to-date on every affiliates roster (and more) on the site's Roster and Payroll page. Reviews are going to be briefer as they'll still be plenty to read. ROCHESTER RED WINGS Lost 2-6 at Buffalo Bison on Friday Pat Dean got the start and was closer to his prior self than his first two AAA starts. He gave up five runs (four earned) in five innings. He walked two and struck out one. He was relieved by Virgil Vasquez who struck out three in the final three innings. He allowed an unearned run to score. Both pitchers have been good in AAA as starters in recent weeks. It will be interesting to see how these two in particular are handled as the season draws to a close. They might both be worth keeping in Rochester for the playoffs. The assumption when Dean came up it was to make a brief appearance, but after two sensational starts it would have been hard to move him down. Darrin Mastroianni was an on-base machine. He went 1-for-2, but reached base twice on walks. Surprisingly, he wasn't able to steal any bases. James Beresford (now batting .294) and Ray Olmedo both had two singles. Chris Parmelee doubled. Won 7-3 vs Louiville Bats on Saturday Scott Diamond squared off with former farmhand Yohan Pino and came out victorious. Diamond was not as good as last time out, lasting five innings, scattering seven hits and a walk, and allowing three runs (two earned.) The bullpen picked Diamond up. A.J. Achter abandoned two of Diamond's runners as he completed two scoreless innings. Shairon Martis finished the game off with two innings of one-hit ball. The offense offered plenty of support. Darrin Mastroianni had three singles and a walk. Again, no stolen bases or attempts (which makes me question how good the leg really feels). Eric Fryer continues to be hot. He had three more hits including two doubles. He drove in three runs. Eduardo Escobar, James Beresford and Chris Colabello all added to hits a piece. Same two teams tomorrow at 6:05 ET with Logan Darnell on the hill. NEW BRITAIN ROCKCATS Lost 0-1 at Binghamton Mets on Friday It's becoming more and more clear that New Britain is going to be the first affiliate eliminated from playoff contention. Their elimination number has decreased to 11 after Friday's loss. Cole De Vries was a tough-luck loser in this one. De Vries pitched five innings of three-hit one (home) run ball, but the offense provided no support. The bullpen of Dan Turpen and Dakota Watts completed the game with three shutout innings. Danny Santana and Reynaldo Rodriguez both had two hits for an offense that only managed to reach base six times and strike out 14 times. Eddie Rosario, Miguel Sano and Even Bigley all struck out three times. Lost 4-5 at Binghamton Mets on Saturday The RockCats jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the 2nd inning, but ended up blowing a 4-0 lead to the team that is clearly - and by clearing, I mean 12 games - better than everyone else in the Eastern League. Miguel Sano warmed up after a cool stretch. He homered in the 3rd - his 15th in AA, 31st overall - and also added a double. Danny Santana had a nice three-hit, three-RBI game that included a double and a stolen base. Matt Summers struck out seven in 5.1 innings. He only allowed one hit, but walked four which ultimately led to three runs scoring. Ryan O'Rourke relieved Summers, but didn't record any outs while allowing a hit, a walk and two runners to score. Cole Johnson struck out four in 2.1 innings and didn't allow a run, but was credited with a blown save after allowing all three of his inherited runners to score. D.J. Baxendale starts for the RockCats tomorrow at 6:35 ET against Binghamton. The squad will need to make a roster move to add Brad Boyer. The intrigue is added when Boyer's primary two positions (2B and 3B) are manned with New Britain's best prospects. With the RockCats out of the playoff hunt, we could surely see some guys moving. FORT MYERS MIRACLE Lost 4-8 at Bradenton Marauders on Friday Despite out-hitting Bradenton 11-8, the Miracle came up short on Friday night. Manuel Soliman got roughed up and chased early (six runs in two innings pitched). Corey Williams struck out two, but walked three, in 2.1 scoreless. Steven Gruver (2.2 IP) and Chad Rodgers (1 IP) both gave up a run. The bats were active but the team struggled to string hits together as they only had six at-bats with RISP (2-for-6). Byron Buxton had two hits and two stolen bases. He's now batting .310 with 17 stolen bases in high-A. Combined, Buxton has 49 steals to go along with 45 extra base hits. His slugging percentage is the biggest thing to take a hit since his promotion. New Britain (and AA) will prove to be the ultimate test. D.J. Hicks had a 3-run blast which puts him at 103 combined RBI for the year. I believe Seth tweeted that when Hicks reached 100, Adam Walker and Hicks were the only two members of MiLB's 100 RBI club. Kennys Vargas did not play today. His numbers have continued to plummet since Sano left the lineup. The reason Vargas was left in Fort Myers was to see how he'd handle being in a lineup without Sano's protection. The results has been "not as good as D.J. Hicks". At literally the same age (Hicks is four months older), the question may become - or has it already been asked and answered - has Hicks passed Vargas on the Organizational Depth Chart? Lost 2-3 at Bradenton Marauders on Saturday (12 innings) Some good stuff here. In the top of the 4th inning, Jason Wheeler hit a Bradenton batter. It just so happened it was the same guy who ran over Jairo Rodriguez at home plate yesterday. Allegedly, after the batter was hit both managers ran onto the field and got into a fight behind home plate. The benches cleared and both Doug Mientkiewicz and Bradenton's manager were ejected. (You can get some video here or read it play-by-play style here.) The game itself also quite an affair. Though mostly because of it's length. The offense wasn't great - with only three players collecting hits. Byron Buxton had a double and triple (with ease) to extend his hitting streak to 11 games. He also threw runners out at 3rd and at home and walked twice. He didn't rescue a cat from a tree tonight, though, so he has that going against him. Stephen Wickens extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a three-hit game that included two doubles. Mike Kvasnicka also had a three-hit game. He doubled once. The team as a whole was 0-for-11 with RISP. Jason Wheeler allowed an unearned run in 6.2 innings. He struck out six. Nelvin Fuentes allowed a run in 1.1 innings. Tyler Jones struck out three in three two-hit innings. Adrian Salcedo took the loss. He walked four batters and balked in the winning run. Ouch. David Hurlbut starts tomorrow at Bradenton, 5pm ET. CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS Won 6-5 vs Beloit Snappers on Friday Is it just me or does it seem like the Kernels and Snappers have played 100 times already this year? The Kernels scored early and then barely withstood multiple Snapper rallies to win this game in front of 5,879 fans - the most in Perfect Game Field history. Max Kepler accounted for all (three) of the team's RBI with a triple and a home run. Joel Licon also had two hits. Both Licon and Mike Gonzalez added doubles. Brett Lee pitched 4.2 innings. He walked two and allowed two runs while striking out four. Dallas Gallant picked up the win by striking out three to secure the next four outs. Alex Muran allowed two runs and Madison Boer allowed an additional run, but earned the hold and save, respectively. Won 6-1 at Peoria Chiefs on Saturday The offense we've come to expect out of the Kernels lineup showed up today and helped improve the team to 30 games over .500. Max Kepler was again the story offensively. He homered and double tonight. While Kepler struggles against lefties and has been very inconsistent, he's also shown flashes of being a big-time prospect. The Twins face a very big decision with Kepler as he'll need to be protected from the Rule 5 draft this winter. He's probably three plus years from the Major Leagues - which means he'll be out of options around the same time he's ready. The alternative is exposing him for another team to stash on the 25-man for a year. A story line to keep an eye on. Adam Brett Walker also had two hits, including a double. The question often is asked, "Why is he still here?" Well, simply put, why not? He's getting the chance to be "the man" in this lineup - and he's proving he can do it - which is a confidence booster for both himself and the organization. He's also able to play everyday and get better. Fort Myers is shuffling six players through five spots (and you're not sitting Buxton), adding Walker would only compound the existing log-jam. Plus, while Walker has come a long way defensively, I'm still not 100% convinced he sticks in the OF. Cedar Rapids is a little more cozy than Fort Myers. Travis Harrison, who hit the "first full-year wall" and cooled off, also added two hits. Hudson Boyd struck out three in five innings. He walked four and allowed four hits, but only one runner scored. Former starters Christian Powell (4 K, 3 H, 2 IP) and Mason Melotakis (3 K, H, BB, 2 IP) finished out the convincing victory for the Kernels. Josue Montanez will take the mound in Peoria tomorrow at 5pm ET. ELIZABETHTON TWINS Won 3-2 vs Johnson City Cardinals on Friday (14 innings) It took 14 innings to finally beat the pesky Cardinals, who only managed five hits. The pitching was very good. Felix Jorge pitched the first seven innings, striking out seven and allowing two runs on four hits and two walks. Aaron Slegers pitched three innings of no-hit ball. He struck out four. Slegers could certainly help out Cedar Rapids as they inch closer to the postseason. In fact, with the starters at E-town currently, I'd presume there is a pretty good chance that both Slegers and Ryan Eades may start 2014 in the Miracle rotation. mlbnetwork.mlb.com Brandon Peterson struck out five in three innings of one-hit ball. Josh Burris got the save after retiring the side in the 14th. The E-town bats collected 12 hits but struck out 15 times. Bryan Haar, Rory Rhodes and Zach Larson all had two-hit games. Romy Jimenez added a double. Lost 6-9 vs Johnson City Cardinals on Saturday Yorman Landa lasted five innings, but allowed five runs (three earned) on seven hits and a walk. He only struck out two. Landa has seen the Ks go down and the hits and runs go up as he's progressed through the season. Bryan Haar had three hits. Rory Rhodes added a double. Zach Larson continues his solid year with another hit. Tomorrow's starter is TBD. GCL TWINS Won 7-3 at GCL Red Sox on Friday Jason Kanzler led the offensive charge Friday night with three hits including a double, two stolen bases and two runs scored. While Kanzler's bat hasn't gotten going yet, he remains intriguing due to his speed and defense. Recently-signed Ivory Thomas had two hits and two stolen bases. He's got four in his brief time in the GCL. Jonatan Hinojosa drove in two runs on two hits, including a double. Brandon Easton got another shot as a starter and walked six in three innings. He allowed two runs. Josh Guyer got the next three innings and gave up one run. He struck out two. Miguel Gonzalez (3 Ks in 2 IP) and Tyler Stirewalt (2 Ks in 1 IP) both made scoreless appearances. Won 8-1 vs GCL Red Sox on Saturday More offense and good pitching by the GCL squad earlier today. Eleven hits spread out pretty evenly. Brian Navaretto and Rick Schwarz both doubled. Chad Christensen and Kanzler added #ShowoffDoubles. Navaretto and Will Hurt both drove in two runs. Thomas and Kanzler each stole another base. The bats have been slow to get going - no one in today's lineup has a batting average of over .252 - but you wouldn't have known that judging by today's results. Sam Gibbons struck out six in five innings. He gave up one run on three hits. Seth Wagner made his fourth - and best - appearance as a member of the Twins organization with three innings of one-hit, one-walk ball. He struck out two. Wagner is a big-bodied kid who signed near the deadline. He's a project, but one to keep and eye on. Could he become a lefty version of Michael Tonkin? Check back later tonight when Saturday's games get added. If you have questions or comments, please leave below.

For those of you that read this regularly - and clamored for Andrew Albers to get his chance - you were probably pretty excited to see him as good as he was tonight for the Twins. Staff Ace? If a guy that doesn't hit 90 and is the definition of "pitching-to-contact" isn't exactly what the Twins are looking for in a Staff Ace, well... Today was also a big day for current minor leaguers recognized around baseball. Let's take a spin around the minor leagues.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] ROCHESTER RED WINGS 9, NORFOLK TIDES 4 (14 innings) Box Score Rochester scored five runs in the 14th inning to put this game away. Chris Parmelee only had one hit (a double) but drove in three and walked four times. Jermaine Mitchell was 5-for-7 with a triple and a home run. Eric Fryer and Eduardo Escobar each had four hits. Logan Darnell pitched five innings (three runs, seven Ks) before turning it over to the bullpen. Edgar Ibarra pitched 1.1 scoreless innings (that's 11.1 scoreless to start his AAA career). A.J. Achter pitched the final three innings and picked up his first AAA win. Earlier in the day, Pat Dean was named International League Pitcher of the Week. The Red Wings are currently 3 games up on Buffalo. Wednesday marks the start of a series against Buffalo at 7:05 ET. The starting pitcher is TBD. NEW BRITAIN ROCKCATS - Day off Though the team had an off day, there was still RockCat news: Miguel Sano was named Eastern League Hitter of the Week. The RockCats are currently six games out of the playoffs. DJ Baxendale and BJ Hermsen will start tomorrow's doubleheader. The first game is set to being at 5:05 ET. FORT MYERS MIRALCE 3, JUPITER HAMMERHEADS 3 Box Score Despite out-hitting Jupiter (14-5), the Miracle failed to score when it counted (2-for-9 with RISP) and failed to hold onto a lead when it counted (three 8th inning runs allowed). Kennys Vargas hit his 18th HR on the year, among three hits. Byron Buxton also had three hits and a stolen base. He was also caught stealing. Jason Wheeler struck out 10 in seven innings of two-hit ball. Tyler Duffey was responsible for the three unearned runs scoring. Zack Jones couldn't abandon the inherited runners and ended up blowing his 4th save of the season. Tomorrow's starter at St. Lucie at 6:30 ET is TBD. CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 3, KANE COUNTY COUGARS 4 Box Score Jorge Polanco had a double and was the only player with a multi-hit game. He also singled. Max Kepler and Adam Brett Walker were each credited with an RBI. Josue Montanez struck out three over seven innings. Dallas Gallant pitched a scoreless inning before Madison Boer surrendered two runs in 2/3 of an inning to blow his first save. The rest of the starting rotation is TBD. Jose Berrios was named the Pitcher of the Week in the Midwest League. ELIZABETHTON TWINS 7, DANVILLE BRAVES 4 Box Score This was the completion of the game started 7/22. Josh Burris allowed one run over the final four innings. He struck out four. Romy Jimenez had a three-run double in today's action. ELIZABETHTON TWINS 2, DANVILLE BRAVES 1 Box Score In today's regularly scheduled game, the E-Twins escaped with a one-run win. Zach Granite, Stuart Turner and Romy Jimenez all had two hits. Stephen Gonsalves made his E-town debut tonight and said it best himself: Luke Bard pitched one inning. He walked a batter, but didn't allow anyone to score. Hein Robb was named the Pitcher of the Week in the Appy League and will pitch at Danville tomorrow night at 7pm ET. GCL TWINS 5, GCL ORIOLES 6 Box Score Engelb Vielma had two hits and walked three times. Will Hurt also had two hits. Both players stole a base. Nelson Molina was 1-for-1 after entering the game as a pinch runner and has improved his batting average all the way up to .090. Amaurys Miner had a double and an error. Jorge Fernandez hit a home run. Lewis Thorpe wasn't as sharp as he has been lately. He allowed three runs in four innings - two walks, three runs, three strikeouts. These two teams will have a re-match tomorrow. If you have any questions or comments, please leave below.

Today's baseball news was focused primarily on 12 players who received 50-game PED suspensions and one other who received a 211-game suspension and has decided to appeal. I haven't turned on ESPN, but I'm sure you could get a more in-depth run-down on these 13 players within 30 seconds on turning it on. Fortunately, no Twins were involved. Former Twin Danny Valencia was investigated and cleared. It turns out he had higher-than-normal amount of "swag", but nothing illegal from Biogenesis. Let's take a spin around today's farm action:[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] ROCHESTER RED WINGS 4, DURHAM BULLS 2 Box Score While the obvious headline coming into the game was the fact that every member of the Twins Opening Day starting outfield (Willingham, Hicks, Parmelee) is in the Red Wings lineup, it was a pitcher who stole the show. Pat Dean, who made his AAA debut after struggling in New Britain - he leads the Eastern League in hits allowed- had a fantastic showing. After allowing two two-out walks in the first inning, Dean sailed through five innings of hitless baseball. He exited after pitching seven innings of two-hit, three-walk shutout baseball. Striking out four, Dean has probably assured himself of another week in AAA, this coming not more than a few weeks after I speculated about his grip on a spot in the AA rotation. Great for Pat and great for the Red Wings, who continue their pursuit of an International League playoff spot. www.mycitizensnews.com The bullpen made the game interesting. Michael Tonkin retired the side in the eighth before running into trouble in the ninth. He left two on for Edgar Ibarra, who allowed them both to score before turning the game over to Shairon Martis with two on and one out. Martis allowed a runner to reach after failing to make a catch. With the bases loaded, he struck out a batter on a full count before recording the third out on a fielder's choice. Josh Willingham was 0-for-3 with a walk and strikeout in his rehab debut. He DH'ed. Aaron Hicks was 0-for-4 with two Ks. Chris Parmelee had two doubles. Both Jeff Clement and Josmil Pinto had three hits. After going 0-for-4 in his AAA debut, Pinto has transitioned well, batting 8-for-14 (.571) since. Scott Diamond makes his first start for Rochester this season tomorrow night at 7:05 pm. The Red Wings are currently two games up in the IL North and 2.5 games up in the Wild Card race. NEW BRITAIN ROCKCATS - Off Day D.J. Baxendale takes the ball at Akron tomorrow at 7:05 ET. FORT MYERS MIRACLE 5, TAMPA YANKEES 6 Box Score The Miracle did nearly everything they could to get a win tonight, but blew a save in the bottom of the 9th to lose to the Tampa Yankees. Darrin Mastroianni playing well in his rehab, reached base twice tonight by walk and, despite going 0-for-3, stole a base too. Mastroianni played right field along- side Byron Buxton and J.D. Williams. Easily the fastest outfield collection in the Twins minor league system, you might be hard pressed to find a faster outfield anywhere in baseball. Buxton had a hit, a walk and stole his 8th High-A base. Willams also stole a base following a walk. Stephen Wickens had two hits and a stolen base. Dougie Baseball apparently likes to give the green light on the basepaths. Matt Koch and Levi Michael both doubled. Jason Wheeler struck out three over five innings. Steven Gruver and Corey Williams bridged the gap to Adrian Salcedo, who gave up a two-run walk-off home run in the 9th inning. Why Salcedo you ask? Excellent question. The Miracle have a day off tomorrow. CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 2, QUAD CITIES RIVER BANDITS 6 Box Score Not a lot to write about tonight. Adam Brett Walker doubled and homered to drive in both runs Kernels runs. Christian Powell allowed five runs (four earned) over five innings while striking out four. Hudson Boyd (2 IP) and Alex Muren (1 IP) each struck out one over three combined scoreless innings. Brian Gilbert allowed a run in his inning of work. If you're looking at making a weekday trip to Cedar Rapids, tomorrow is the day. Josue Montanez will face off with #1 pick Mark Appel at 6:35 CT. ELIZABETHTON TWINS - Off Day Josh Burris and Yorman Landa will start tomorrow in a doubleheader that begins at 6 ET. GCL TWINS 2, GCL RAYS 0 Box Score Rehabbing Cole De Vries pitched three perfect innings, striking out four. Sam Gibbons struck out four over the next four innings. He allowed two hits. Zach Hayden struck out two in one inning. Lester Oliveros, also rehabbing, allowed two hits in his inning of work. Zach Larson (RBI) and Brian Navaretto (double) both had two-hit games. Engelb Vielma drove in a run and stole his sixth base of the season. At 20-19, the GCL team has pulled within one game of the lead in a tight GCL South race. Tomorrow will be a rematch of the same two teams and Noon ET. Leave your questions and/or comments!

Happy Trade Deadline Eve! All is still quiet on the Twins front, though activity around baseball has started to heat up. Division rivals Detroit and Chicago have already been active (with Boston’s help) in a three team trade. Detroit added SS Jose Iglesias, from Boston, to replace Jhonny Peralta (who will be suspended soon) while Chicago traded Jake Peavy to the Red Sox. Detroit also shipped reliever Brayan Villarreal to Boston. In return, the White Sox get OF prospect Avisail Garcia as well as other minor-league prospects from Detroit. Garcia was Detroit's Minor League Player of the Year in 2012. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] If you missed it earlier, Seth tweeted that RockCats P Tom Stuifbergen is set to undergo Tommy John surgery. He will likely miss most, if not all, of the 2014 season. Let’s take a look around the farm. ROCHESTER RED WINGS 5, LEHIGH VALLEY IRONPIGS 4 Box Score The Red Wings will finish this month off tomorrow at 11:35 ET with Andrew Albers on the mound. The current leaders in the International League North, the Red Wings are only three games behind the Indianapolis Indians for the second-best record in the IL. Tonight’s game wasn't looking very promising. Heading into the top of the 8th down 4-0, the Red Wings found their horseshoe. This time it came in the form of walks. Specifically walks with the bases loaded. It happened four times. FOUR TIMES! Four times the Red Wings came to bat with the bases loaded and the at-bat ended up with a walk. It’s as unbelievable as it sounds. Offensively, there wasn’t much else. Deibinson Romero doubled. The 7-8-9 hitters (Brian Dinkelman, James Beresford and Drew Butera) all had two-hit games and scored four of the five runs. Speaking of Butera, when is someone going to connect the Red Wings turn-around to the activation of Drew Butera? Liam Hendriks pitched 6.1 innings. He struck out three and gave up four runs on eight hits. Luis Perdomo picked up the win, recording five outs – four by strikeout. Michael Tonkin picked up the save, with two strikeouts, despite giving up two hits. NEW BRITAIN ROCKCATS 5, AKRON ZIPS (12 innings) Box Score Oh, Miguel Sano. It’s well-known that Sano has had a documentary made about him and a second one currently in production. But this guy is like a soap opera. In his return home after his “benching”, Sano came up with runners on the corners, down one and in extra innings. So what does he do? He doubles in both runners and the team celebrates the win. You can’t make that up. You can’t script it either. He finished 2-for-5 with that double and RBIs. He also walked and struck out once. He’s now batting .240 in AA. Eddie Rosario, Danny Santana and Dan Rohlfing all also had two hits. Rohlfing added a double. Daniel Ortiz also drove in two runs. Santana committed his 27th error of the season. Trevor May threw 99 pitches and got through six innings. He only walked two (his most important stat). He struck five out and allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits. The bullpen was awesome. Before Dakota Watts allowed the run in the 12th (on a wild pitch) the four guys who bridged the gap from May to Watts – Daniel Turpen (1.2 IP), Ryan O’Rourke (1 IP), Matt Hauser (1.1 IP) and Blake Martin (1 IP) – allowed one hit, one walk and struck out four combined. The RockCats are 17.5 games out of first in the Eastern League Eastern Division (and only 2.5 games ahead of the last place team), but they are also only six games out of 2nd place, which earns a wild card berth. It’s possible – not probable – but possible that if the team gets really hot in August, they could be knocking on the playoff door. They’ll look to pick up another win tomorrow at home against Akron. Pat Dean makes the start against Akron at 7:05 ET. FORT MYERS MIRACLE 5, DAYTONA CUBS 2 Box Score Super prospect Byron Buxton is getting a couple of days off to rest. (It has nothing to do with how he did or didn’t handle a recent home run or triple.) It’s just soreness and time to recover as far as I understand. Without Buxton, the Miracle still managed to improve their record to 66-38. They used a combination of walks (7) and stolen bases (5) to supplement their five hits including a double by Stephen Wickens and a triple by Jhon Goncalves. Both Wickens and Levi Michael stole two bases. Matt Summers pitched four strong, shutout innings. He allowed three hits and walked four. He struck out three. His pitch-count got high and was lifted. Corey Williams struck out four in two innings. He allowed two runs (one earned). Chad Rodgers (win) and Tyler Jones (save) combined to complete the game with three hitless innings. They each struck out two. CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 1, BURLINGTON BEES 4 Box Score Adam Brett Walker had a triple and was the only multi-hit player in the lineup today. Getting to watch Walker take batting practice over the weekend was a treat. He has very easy power, though it doesn't have the same sound as Sano produces. Max Kepler had an RBI single and a walk. He also struck out. Kepler was back in the outfield after a very impressive showing at first base over the weekend. Going forward, it makes sense to keep Kepler in the outfield (especially with Vargas and Hicks already at first and other position question marks existing), but I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of Kepler eventually finding his home there. The lineup managed to strike out 16 times. Yikes! Christian Powell struck out six through five innings. He allowed two runs on six hits and two walks. The two walks were to the first two batters in the sixth. Dallas Gallant relieved and allowed one of the inherited baserunners to score before getting out of the inning. In the seventh, he loaded the bases without recording an out. Hudson Boyd came in and allowed two of the runners to score. He returned and retired the side in the eighth inning. Despite Boyd’s lack of success this year, I’m not ready to push him off of prospect lists (ok, maybe off a Top 30, but not a Top 50). Boyd has completely remade his body. It might take a while, but at some point I see Boyd becoming a productive pitcher, though probably as a reliever. The Kernels are now 65-40 (just behind the Miracle) with Josue Montanez taking the hill in Burlington tomorrow at 6:30 CT. ELIZABETHTON TWINS 7, KINGSPORT METS 1 Box Score The pitching tonight was very good. Josh Burris struck out three, walking three and allowing three hits and five shutout innings. Ethan Mildren struck out three in two innings. He allowed an unearned run. Kuo Hua Lo struck out three in his two innings of work. Mitch Garver and Logan Wade doubled. Zach Granite and Kelvin Ortiz tripled. Ortiz drove in three while Granite plated two. Derek Rodriguez stole two bases. Both Bryan Haar and Ortiz also swiped a bag. The E-Twins continue to hang around .500 (19-18) and aren’t nearly as dominant as they have been in the recent past. The win tonight brings them within 3.5 games of the team they’re chasing for the Wild Card spot – the Kingsport Mets Yorman Landa gets the start tomorrow night at 7 pm ET as they look to close the game again. GCL TWINS 2, GCL ORIOLES 3 Box Score Today’s game was a who’s-who of rehabbing players. Darin Mastroianni was 0-for-2 with a walk and a stolen base. He played left field before being replaced in the bottom of the 6th, which was by plan. Wilkin Ramirez, who DH’d the entire game, went 1-for-4 with a strikeout. Lester Oliveros is on the Tommy John comeback trail. In his first appearance since the surgery, he pitched one inning and struck out one batter. Luke Bard, who technically isn’t rehabbing, but shouldn’t be at this level, was credited with a blown save. In recording two outs, Bard allowed a walk and a hit. Of his two runs allowed, only one was earned. As for guys that are playing where they belong, Stephen Gonsalves continued to impress. In three innings, Gonsalves only allowed one hit. He struck out six, but did walk three. His season ERA now sits at 0.63. The offense only managed two hits, but Zach Larson still had a good game despite going 0-for-3. He walked, drove in a run and stole two bases. The 15-18 GCL Twins continue their season with a Noon Eastern game tomorrow. Questions or comments? Please leave them below.

At the time of the 2012 draft, a lot was made of the fact the Twins took a number of hard-throwing college relievers. Shortly after that, we found out the plan was to convert these pitchers into starters. As we approach the stretch-run, some of these “new” starting pitchers are heading into unchartered waters when it comes to innings. My curiosity got the best of me and I did a little research. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]First, I looked at the 2011 draft class and all of those pitchers that became full-season starting pitchers in 2012. There were five: Madison Boer, Matthew Summers, Steven Gruver, Jason Wheeler and Tim Shibuya. In their finals years of college and first taste of pro ball, these five averaged 135.2 combined innings pitched. The outliers were Jason Wheeler, who didn’t pitch professionally, at 103 innings and Tim Shibuya, who pitched 73 2/3 innings for Elizabethton and totaled 184 combined. The other three all fell plus or minus 10 of the average. Let’s fast forward to their first full-seasons in pro ball: Tim Shibuya had shoulder issues which limited him to only 74 innings. (Could that have been a result of the heavy workload the previous year?) Steven Gruver shifted into a swing role and saw his innings drop by 10%. Matt Summers saw his workload increase by 8% and Madison Boer saw his increase by 11%. Jason Wheeler, who, again, didn’t pitch professionally in 2011, saw his innings increase by 52%. But if you figure that he would have gotten around the average of the other guys in E-Town (not considering the overworked Shibuya), it would have put his increase at around 20%. I also wanted to consider the most recent college-reliever-to-full-season-starter that I could remember: Carlos Gutierrez. Gutierrez pitched a combined 65 2/3 innings in 2008 before seeing his innings increase to 107 (+62%) in 2009 and 126 (+18%) in 2010 before, you guessed it, experiencing arm issues and a move back to the bullpen. Gutierrez was also a first-round pick and a more costly investment. You would think the Twins would have been a little more patient with an arm that had already underwent Tommy John surgery as a collegiate. Now let’s consider last year’s crop. There are four pitchers that fit the criteria: Mason Melotakis, Tyler Duffey, D.J. Baxendale and Taylor Rogers. The average of these four was much different: only 108.7 innings which includes Rogers, who pitched 152 2/3 combined innings, a total that is higher than every non-Shibuyan pitcher mentioned. Baxendale and Rogers average innings were actually around 140, which is close to the previous year’s study. So the assumption is that their increase would probably go up somewhere between 10% and 20%. That would put Baxendale at between 140 and 150 innings. (He’s at 101 2/3 as of today.) It would put Taylor Rogers somewhere between 170 and 180 innings. He’s only pitched 89 1/3 so far this year after spending some time on the disabled list. (Hmmm... see previous paragraph). The two that really stand out to me are Mason Melotakis and Tyler Duffery. Mason Melotakis has had a pretty good season starting for Cedar Rapids. But he’s eclipsed last season’s total (86) already and the team still has nearly 40 games to play (plus the playoffs). If Melotakis starts every sixth game for the rest of the season and pitches five innings each start, he’s looking at around 120 innings (which is a 40% increase). Not quite in the Gutierrez range, but definitely a large increase. Tyler Duffey, on the other hand, has already exceeded his total from last year by 52%. If Duffey were shut down today, his workload would be eerily similar to what the Twins did to Carlos Gutierrez. He has adjusted to High-A ball quite well after his promotion from Cedar Rapids, and the Miracle have qualified for the playoffs too. Continuing to trot him out there every five days could lead to issues down the line. How many more innings can you justify putting on his young arm? All pitchers are different. Some arms are simply more resilient, but when you have a guy who has exceeded expectations like Duffey has, when is it time to go all Stephen Strasburg on him and shut him down? If Duffey were to get to 120 innings in 2013 and increase to 150 in 2014, you can take the reins off of him in 2015. Maybe that’s being too cautious. If that’s even a real thing with pitchers today. What are your thoughts, should innings matter? How should the Twins be handling their pitchers at the lower levels?

When Mike Pelfrey was activated from the disabled list earlier this month, P.J. Walters was the odd-man out of the Twins rotation. He was outrighted to Rochester on July 8th and made his first start on July 12th. Once Walters was designated for assignment, it was assumed he’d be joining a rotation that consisted of Vance Worley, Liam Hendriks, Pedro Hernandez, and Cole De Vries, all of whom have major league experience.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] That doesn’t include Andrew Albers and Logan Darnell, both southpaws by way of the Kentucky Wildcats. Having seven capable pitchers at this level, especially with the question marks in the big league rotation - even if all turn out to be AAAA pitchers - seemed luxurious. (http://www.democratandchronicle.com) And then the wheels started to fall off. Cole De Vries experience discomfort in his right (throwing) elbow and was placed on the DL with a strained elbow on July 6. Pedro Hernandez was scratched from his scheduled start on July 14 and placed on the DL with a left (throwing) forearm strain. Even without De Vries, who has battled injuries all year, and Hernandez, who was probably destined for the bullpen anyway, Rochester still had a formidable rotation. But then – as things typically happen in threes – Vance Worley went down with right (throwing) shoulder impingement. By the time Worley rehabs and is ready to pitch again, there is a chance the minor-league season will be over. Former Twin sinkerballer Nick Blackburn, who is recovering from wrist surgery, is set to re-join the Red Wings rotation tomorrow to fill out the starting five. He could be a valuable addition to this staff as he tries to work his way back to the Twin Cities. But since his first game action on June 28 he’s made only five minor-league appearances between the GCL Twins and New Britain. And if that’s not enough “flux” for you, P.J. Walters will be leaving the team after his start on Thursday to be his wife for the birth of their daughter. Despite all the shakeup (or hiccups), the Red Wings have still managed to recover from a horrid (2-11) start to be tied for the lead in the Wild Card race. Just imagine how much better this team could be if they could get healthy and play to their potential, though in that case, Worley, De Vries and potentially Blackburn could be finding themselves flying west.

More close games in the system today. With the deadline looming, all affiliates at the max and all affiliates in their playoff hunts, it will be interesting to see how each team is shuffled in the coming weeks. The Twins, too, may be looking for help both sooner and later. Some of the guys on the doorstep fared well today; others didn’t. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] ROCHESTER RED WINGS 5, SYRACUSE CHIEFS 3 Box Score The Red Wings got back to their winning ways behind the left arm of Andrew Albers. He threw 91 pitches in 5.1 shutout innings. He struck out four and walked two. Albers collected his 10th win and dropped his ERA to 2.97. (How much longer before he replaces fellow Canadian Scott Diamond in the rotation? Discuss amongst yourselves.) Edgar Ibarra, making his second AAA appearance pitched 2.1 perfect innings, striking out four. He didn’t allow a ball out of the infield. If the Twins find themselves re-tooling their bullpen, Ibarra adds another lefty to the mix. Michael Tonkin pitched the ninth and it wasn’t pretty: two hits – including a home run – and a walk resulted in three earned runs. He struck out one. Oswaldo Arcia continues to make his presence felt. Today he was 3-for-4 with another home run. Eric Farris doubled in two runs. Chris Parmelee was 1-for-5 with two strikeouts. Logan Darnell starts tomorrow at 7:05 ET. NEW BRITAIN ROCK CATS 3, BINGHAMTON METS 5 Box Score The 9th inning rally fell short as Nate Hanson, who was batting as the potentially winning run, grounded into a fielder’s choice with both Danny Santana and Eddie Rosario on base. Pat Dean continued his consistently up-and-down season. Tonight, he managed only three innings, allowing four runs on five hits. With the Rochester rotation in flux and the trickle-down effect being felt in New Britain, Dean’s rotation spot is probably safe, but a move to the bullpen wouldn’t be surprising. Daniel Turpen pitched three shutout innings. Ryan O’Rourke gave up a run in 2/3 of an inning. Dakota Watts struck out one in recording four outs. Cole Johnson struck out the side in the 9th. More of the same offensively tonight: Nate Hanson homered. Miguel Sano hit another home run today and went 2-for-4. He struck out twice. Danny Santana had his fourth multi-hit game in his last five games. Eddie Rosario also had two hits and added a stolen base. D.J. Baxendale and B.J. Hermsen will both get starts in tomorrow’s doubleheader. FORT MYERS MIRACLE 1, BREVARD COUNTY MANATEES 0 Box Score Levi Michael’s RBI single in the top of the 7th was the difference in this rain-affected game. Aderlin Mejia doubled. Byron Buxton, Jhon Goncalves and J.D. Willams all added singles. Goncalves (8th) and Williams (2nd) both stole bases. Jason Wheeler pitched the first 5.1 innings before the rain delay. He struck out four while scattering three hits and two walks; he also hit a batter. He retired nine batters by groundout, two by flyout. Adrian Salcedo pitched the next 2.2 innings. He struck out four and allowed only two hits. Tyler Jones picked up his first High-A save with two strikeouts in the ninth inning. (This is interesting: Corey Williams hasn’t pitched since July 15, when he gave up five runs and recorded only one out.) Tyler Duffey looks to continue his stellar season tomorrow night at 6:35 ET. CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 2, FORT WAYNE TINCAPS 1 Box Score After “cooling off” yesterday – and by that I mean “not homering” - Adam Walker got back on it this afternoon. Hitting a 2-run, sixth-inning home run, Walker's blast accounted for enough runs to get the Kernels the win. Walker now has 21 home runs and 85 RBI. The 21 home runs lead the MWL by six over five others (including Travis Harrison). The 85 RBI are also league-leading. Former Kernel DJ Hicks had 82; the current second-place RBI man is Beloit 2B Chris Bostick with 70. Walker's slugging is 2nd to only super-prospect Byron Buxton, now at High-A Ft. Myers. Adam Walker has been swinging such a hot bat, he needs to apply sunscreen to himself. ( BY ADAM CAIRNS/THISWEEK) So why is Walker not a top prospect you ask? Well, the strikeout rate has always been concerning, but this year has been an improvement. He’s athletic enough to hold down a corner outfield position (for now anyway). The biggest factor is he’s of league-average age. What you’re buying in Walker is his power – and no doubt it’s there – probably a 70 tool. The difference between him and his measuring stick, Miguel Sano, is that Sano showed more power in the same league at nearly two years younger than Walker. Walker missed Baseball America’s preseason Top 30 Twins prospects, but was included in their “Plus One” Edition, checking in at 31st. He should be ranked considerably higher coming into next year. Many folks are wondering when Walker is going to be promoted to Fort Myers. There isn’t a rush. Much like the Twins wanted to see how Kennys Vargas did without Miguel Sano in the lineup, Adam Walker is getting a chance to prove his worth without Byron Buxton and DJ Hicks in the lineup. While moving up yet this season is possible, it makes just as much sense to start Walker in Fort Myers in 2014 and move him up mid-season if the power keeps up. At that point, we’re looking at a 22-year old in AA and knocking on the door the following season (2015) at 23. Getting back to today’s game, Walker’s college teammate Jonathan Murphy reached base four times (2-for-3, two walks) and Jorge Polanco, Max Keper and Travis Harrison all doubled. The offense, again, was done in by a lack of production with runners in scoring position (0-for-5). Also of note, Niko Goodrum was injured while covering second base on a stolen base attempt. He left the game with a twisted knee. Joel Licon replaced him at second base, while Polanco got the start at shortstop. Mason Melotakis got his 8th win of the season, going six innings. He allowed a run on four hits. He struck out six and reports were that he looked good. There is some concern with his four wild pitches, but a 9:3 GO:FO rate is pretty good. Melotakis, who pitched a combined 86 innings last year, is already over 90 for this season. It will be interesting to see how he is handled as the year progresses and the playoffs approach. David Hurlbut picked up a three-inning save, his sixth, with three perfect innings. J.O. Berrios will be on the hill at Fort Wayne tomorrow at 6:05 pm. ELIZABETHTON TWINS 4, DANVILLE BRAVES 5 Box Score After E-Town staged a late-inning rally, a ninth-inning run by the Braves gave them a victory over the Twins. Randy Rosario hit the ground running this season, but has struggled in his last two starts. After giving up four earned runs on July 14, today he lasted only three innings and gave up three runs (two earned) on four hits and, more alarmingly, four walks. He struck out three. The bullpen struck out ten in the final six innings (including Carson Goldsmith, 4 and Andre Martinez, 3). Brandon Peterson took the loss. Dereck Rodriguez was the standout offensive performer, contributing both a double and a home run while driving in two runs. His batting average is up to .306. Logan Wade also doubled. Stuart Turner and Mitch Garver both drove in a run. The series continues tomorrow at 7pm ET with Tanner Mendonca the scheduled starter. GCL TWINS – OFF DAY Kohl Stewart is scheduled to pitch tomorrow. Please leave your questions and/or comments below.

There were post-game fireworks at Target Field on a beautiful night for baseball. Let's take a look at what happened around the club's affiliates. ROCHESTER RED WINGS 1, SYRACUSE CHIEFS 7 Box Score This was the first of a few, from the Twins' perspective, relatively action-free games. Oswaldo Arcia returned to AAA and homered. He also walked once and struck out once. Jeff Clement and Drew Butera both doubled. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Liam Hendriks pitched 5.1 innings. He allowed ten hits and two walks, striking out three. The seven runs against him were all earned. Shairon Martis struck out three in 1.2 innings. Michael Tonkin allowed two hits, but pitched a scoreless eighth. It was also announced today that Nick Blackburn has joined the Red Wings. They have not officially made a move, but with the recent losses of Worley and Hernandez, the Red Wings need another starter. Andrew Albers (9-4, 3.11) pitches tomorrow at 5 pm ET against Syracuse. NEW BRITAIN ROCKCATS 2, BINGHAMTON METS 10 Box Score Miguel Sano was 1-for-4 with a double and three strikeouts. Sano also hit a long, towering flyball that went just foul. The fact that Terry Ryan says his glove is in front of his bat right now, is encouraging. The bat will come around. Josmil Pinto was 2-for-4 and is knocking on Rochester’s door (or waiting for the Twins to trade a catcher, I guess). Eddie Rosario was 0-for-4 with 3 K's and an error. Nate Hanson homered. Such is the life for Trevor May. He threw 103 pitches (only 58 strikes) but didn’t make it out of the 4th inning (3.2). He struck out six, but walked three. He threw two wild pitches and hit a batter. He allowed five runs (four earned) on seven hits. Not the type of game the Twins want to see, especially as people start to wonder if May is ready for a promotion to Rochester. Bruce Pugh (1.1 IP, 3 BB, K, ER), Jose Gonzalez (2 IP, 3 H, 2 R) and Matt Hauser (IP, 3 H, 3 ER) all struggled to keep Binghamton off of, and from running around, the bases. Only BJ Hermsen had a scoreless appearance. Pat Dean (5-9, 4.61) is on the hill tomorrow at 6:35 ET. FORT MYERS MIRACLE 3, DUNEDIN BLUE JAYS 1 (10 innings) Box Score The Miracle were able to pull out an extra innings win thanks to a two-run, zero-hit 10th inning. Byron Buxton was 0-for-5 with four K's, but his 10th inning fielder's choice (in which he beat out a double play) allowed an insurance run to score. That came after J.D. Williams hit a bases-loaded (thanks to three walks) dribbler that resulted in an error and allowed the go-ahead run to score. Offensively, though, the game was a struggle: DJ Hicks was 0-for-5 with 3 K's. Kyle Knudson was 0-for-4 with 2 K's. Kennys Vargas did have a double for the team’s only extra-base hit. Matt Summer certainly threw a gem. He completed eight innings allowing an unearned run on three hits and three walks. He struck out six and got 11 outs on the ground (compared to three in the air). Summers has been phenomenal since being returned from New Britain. With the injuries in AAA, it would be surprising if Summers didn’t get to head back to New Britain and get another chance. Chad Rodgers pitched a scoreless ninth (to get the win) and Zack Jones struck out the final batter in the 10th to secure his 11th save. Kyle Davies (1-3, 4.01) matches up against Brevard County at 5:05 ET tomorrow. CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 0, FORT WAYNE TINCAPS 1 Box Score The Kernels managed nine hits, but only went 1-for-9 with RISP and left 13 runners on base. Jonathan Murphy continued his hot play, collecting two hits and walking once. Niko Goodrum and Adam Walker also had two-hit games. Walker doubled, but didn’t homer today. (Wuss.) Tim Atherton made his fourth start after spending the previous year and a half in the Beloit/Cedar Rapids bullpen. He certainly looked the part of starter tonight. The Aussie pitched seven innings of five-hit, one-run ball. He walked no one and struck out nine. Atherton is the oldest pitcher on the staff who has been with the team all season (Shibuya and Gallant were injured, Brewer was a MiL FA), so I’m curious to see if he remains with the club for the rest of the year. I view Atherton similarly to Manuel Soliman in a “let’s give them some innings to see what they’ve got” way. Tonight, Atherton had some stuff. Caleb Brewer pitched a shutout eighth inning. Mason Melotakis (7-3, 3.83) faces Fort Wayne tomorrow at 2:05. ELIZABETHTON TWINS 2, DANVILLE BRAVES 3 Box Score Another one-run game in the Twins system; this one didn’t go the Twins way. Former Twins-draftee Jared Dettmann pitched really well for the Braves affiliate today. The Twins managed eight hits. Three of them came off the bat of leadoff hitter Zach Granite. Granite and Dereck Rodriguez, who had two hits, each drove in a run. Tanner Vavra also had two hits. Granite stole his 8th base of the season. Hein Robb scattered five hits and two walks over five innings. He struck out six and allowed only one run, leaving the game with the E-Twins in a position to win. Austin Malinowski opened the sixth and didn’t fare well. He retired only one batter, but allowed two hits, two walks and two runs. He threw a wild pitch and left his relief, Brandon Bixler, with two runners on. Bixler, on the other hand, shined. He struck out all five batters he faced, with four of them going down swinging(!). Brian Gilbert, another 2013 draftee, pitched two innings, facing the minimum six batters. GCL TWINS 2, GCL RED SOX 3 (10 innings) Box Score The GCL affiliate also didn’t get a lot of offensive output in today’s extra-innings loss. Noted prospect Amaurys Minier went 0-for-3 with a strikeout. He was replaced in the 7th inning in what appeared to a move to upgrade the defense. Chad Christensen, who has manned all four corners at times this year, played LF, collected a hit and stole a base. Engelb Vielma has really taken ahold of the everyday SS job. Today he was 1-for-4 with a run scored. He also stole his fourth base and committed his sixth error. Zach Larson, who has clearly been the club’s best player through the season’s first 25 games, came in as a pinch-hitter and was intentionally walked. It will be interesting to see how Larson is handled over the next month. Will the Twins try to get him to E-Town to give him a chance to break next year with a full-season squad? Today’s game was Fernando Romero’s and Leonel Zazueta’s turn to piggyback. Romero went the first four, giving up a run on three hits and a walk. He struck out four. Zazueta also gave up one run on three hits and a walk. He struck out one in his two innings. A collection of pitchers finished the game, including a rehabbing Dan Sattler (one K in 1 IP) and Tyler Stirewalt (loss, 5 outs, 3 K's). Miguel Gonzalez, one of the Twins bigger international signees in 2011, continues to work every two to three days out of the bullpen. He struggled in his 1/3 of an inning today. He allowed a double to the first batter he faced, sending an inherited runner to third. Before walking the next batter, he balked in the winning run. He got his only out on a swinging strikeout. If you’re in the Fort Myers area next week, Kohl Stewart is scheduled to pitched Monday and Stephen Gonsalves is scheduled to go on Tuesday. If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below.

I hope you enjoyed watching the HR Derby. And by that I really mean, “I hope you enjoyed imaging what next year’s Home Run Derby is going to be like”. The best part about it being at Target Field next year is that you, well, won't have to hear anyone saying "back...back...back...back". [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] The Twins are obviously off for the All-Star Break. ROCHESTER RED WINGS – off for AAA All-Star Break. Chris Colabello participated in the AAA HR derby on Monday night. He went homerless in the first round. NEW BRITAIN ROCK CATS 2, HARRISBURG SENATORS 3 (10 INNINGS) Box Score Miguel Sano returned from the Futures Game and promptly went 0-for-4 with 2 strikeouts and a walk. He’s batting .196 in the midst of this “humbling experience”. Eddie Rosario continues to show he belongs, going 1-for-4 with a double and a walk. He also had a hand in the game’s only double-play. Reynaldo Rodriguez hit his 12th home run of the year (and - for now - has delayed Kennys Vargas’ promotion). Trevor May started tonight and had mixed results. The positive: seven innings pitched, three hits allowed, six strikeouts. The not-so-positive: 105 pitches/65 strikes, four walks. While the pitch-count is not a big deal, he’d be able to reduce his pitches if he could cut back on his walks. In this system, he will spend much more time in the minors if he continues to issue free passes. Cole Johnson struck out two in two innings before Matt Hauser allowed a walk-off home run in the 10th. The benches cleared at some point in the game. Details aren’t fully known and no one was ejected; it appears a pitcher and batter were chirping at each other which likely resulted in players coming out of their dugouts and milling about. Congratulations to Virgil Vasquez, who was named the Eastern League Pitcher of the Week. FOR T MYERS MIRACLE 9, LAKELAND FLYING TIGERS 10 Box Score I think you could classify tonight’s loss as a “heartbreaker”. The Miracle jumped out to a quick – and big – lead after scoring twice in the 2nd and six times in the 5th. Unfortunately, giving up enough runs in the last five innings, including five in the 9th, can really bite you in the behind. The Miracle plated one in the bottom of the 9th but Kennys Vargas struck out with the tying run on 2nd base. Kyle Davies started and lasted 6.2 innings. He allowed four runs on eight hits. He walked three and struck out two. Adrian Salcedo recorded four outs and gave up a home run. Corey Williams came in to the get the save. Instead, he got only two men out and before he left had given up five runs. Chad Rogers relieved him and struck out two for the final outs. Byron Buxton was 2-for-6 with a strikeout. Mike Kvasnicka (two RBI) and Andy Leer (four RBI) also had two-hit games. The star of the show offensively was Evan Bigley who is looking like he’s ready to return to AAA. Tonight he was 4-for-5 with a double. Levi Michael was hitless but drove in two and had a stolen base. CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 5, BOWLING GREEN HOT RODS 6 Box Score A couple things helped (though not enough to win the game) the Kernels’ today. First, Rays Top 100 pitching prospect Taylor Guerrieri exited the game after only two innings with an apparent arm injury. The Kernels also set a season high for home runs with four. Jose Berrios struggled. In five-plus innings of work, he allowed five runs on six hits and three walks. He struck out four, but also had a wild pitch and allowed a home run. He took the loss. If you’re looking for something positive, Berrios induced five groundball outs and only one fly-ball out. Caleb Brewer allowed two of Berrios’ runners to score. Hudson Boyd replaced Brewer and allowed one of his runners to score, too. Madison Boer pitched a hitless 9th inning. Let’s talk about the bats instead. Dalton Hicks hit his 31st double of the season. Travis Harrison went deep (again) for #15 (but really number 16). Max Kepler hit his fourth home run since joining the team about a month ago. The offensive story, though, was Adam Walker. This year, Walker came out of the gate on fire before cooling down in June and early July. Something clicked (or re-clicked) on July 11th. Since that game he is 9-for-17 with five home runs (including the two he hit today). He also has 12 RBI in that span giving him 79 on the year. Yes, he did strike out twice and there likely will always be a lot of swing-and-miss in his game. But if Walker can progress through the system and keep his strike out rate at no more than 25%, his right-handed power will still be a valuable addition to the Twins lineup. ELIZABETHTON TWINS 1, GREENEVILLE ASTROS 3 Box Score Scanning the box score, the only thing of note you will find is that 2nd round pick Ryan Eades pitched the final inning of the game and had a 1-2-3 inning (with no strikeouts). Offensively, E-town managed only four hits including a double by Mitch Garver and Bryan Haar's fifth triple. On the mound, the four pitchers who threw before Eades combined to walk 10. Tanner Mendonca started and had trouble keeping guys off base (two hits, four walks) and once they got on, keeping them at that base (two for three in stolen base attempts, in only 1.2 innings). GCL TWINS 0, GCL ORIOLES 3 Box Score The GCL Twins gave up 12 hits, but only 3 unearned first-inning runs to take the loss today. Leonel Zazueta got the start and was charged with the loss despite not being on the hook for any earned runs (though he did give up six hits, including a home run, in his three innings of work). Fernando Romero struck out three in his three innings of work. Daniel Sattler, working back from Tommy John surgery, struck out one in a two-hit inning. The rehabbing Mike Gonzales got two of the five hits today. He also walked once. Engelb Vielma, Jason Kanzler and Zach Larson each had a hit. It appears that tomorrow will be Kohl Stewart’s turn in the rotation.