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That fire? Oh, don’t worry, that’s just Brent Rooker. In today’s doubleheader for Rochester, Rooker reached safely in six of his seven plate appearances. Hit hit a home run for the fourth straight day and added a pair of doubles for good measure. Come see what else happened across the system Friday.TRANSACTIONS -Free agent RHP Drew Hutchison signed, assigned to Rochester. -Fernando Romero placed on the IL (back strain) -RHP Andro Cutura promoted from Pensacola to Rochester. -LHP Kody Funderburk (oblique strain) and SS Ricky De La Torre (hamstring strain) placed on IL for Cedar Rapids. -Added to the Miracle roster is RHP and 2019 draftee Tyler Beck. -Added to the Kernels’ roster are SS Daniel Ozoria and LHP Petru Balan. RED WINGS REPORT Game 1: Toledo 1, Rochester 0 (7 innings) Box Score Drew Hutchison: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 65.9% strikes (56 of 85 pitches) HR: None Multi-hit games: None Welcome to the organization, Drew Hutchison. On the same day his signing is announced, Hutchison throws five shutout innings for the Wings. He’d pitched to a 5.14 ERA in 63.0 innings with the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate, making his final appearance with them Jun 11. Jake Reed gave up a leadoff triple in the sixth. Jaylin Davis lost a high fly ball in the sun, recovered to make an effort at a diving catch, but couldn’t come up with it. That was followed by an RBI single. Reed managed to induce a double play, then struck out the final batter he faced. Other than that, not much doing in the first half of this twinbill. Brent Rooker reached base in all three of his plate appearances. He hit a double, drew a walk and was hit by a pitch. Game 2: Rochester 9, Toledo 8 (7 innings) Box Score Andro Cutura: 4.0 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 0 K, 59.4% strikes (51 of 69 pitches) HR: Brent Rooker (11) Multi-hit games: Brent Rooker (2-for-3, 2B, HR, BB), LaMonte Wade (2-for-2, 2 BB), Wilin Rosario (2-for-4), Jaylin Davis (2-for-3) Ah, I see now. The Red Wings were just saving all their runs for Game 2. And they needed them all. Andro Cutura had a rough start to his Triple-A debut, giving up four runs in the first inning. But Rochester answered with two runs in the bottom of the first, then added three more to take the lead in the third. Toledo regained the lead in the fifth inning, but the Wings counterpunched again. A big four-run fifth inning was highlighted by a Brent Rooker two-run homer. He’s been on fire, and is now hitting .301/.412/.590 on the season. Here are some highlights of what he's done over the past few days, including today's homer. BLUE WAHOO BITES Pensacola 8, Jacksonville 1 Box Score Randy Dobnak: 7.0 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, 70.3% strikes (64 of 91 pitches) HR: None Multi-hit games: Aaron Whitefield (3-for-5, 2B), Travis Blankenhorn (2-for-4, 2B, 2 BB), Lewin Diaz (2-for-5) Pensacola had a 5-1 lead by the middle of the second inning. Randy Dobnak and Tom Hackimer knew what to do from there, as they combined to shut out Jacksonville from there forward. The Blue Wahoos did not issue a walk in this game. Pensacola was 6-for-17 with runners in scoring position. Travis Blankenhorn, Lewin Diaz and Aaron Whitefield drove in a pair of runs each. Blankenhorn also scored three times. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 11, Jupiter 7 Box Score Tyler Watson: 4.1 IP, 10 H, 7 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 68.4% strikes (54 of 79 pitches) HR: None Multi-hit games: Gabriel Maciel (2-for-4, BB), Royce Lewis (2-for-5), Trevor Larnach (2-for-4, 2B), Ryan Jeffers (2-for-4), Ernie De La Trinidad (2-for-5) This is about a week’s worth of runs in the Florida State League. The Miracle jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the top of the second and never looked back, despite a few nice comeback efforts from Jupiter. The first eight batters reached safely for Fort Myers in that big second inning. Trevor Larnach hit his 23rd double of the year, putting him just one shy of the team-leading mark from last season, which was shared by Travis Blankenhorn and Alex Kirilloff. Gabriel Maciel has gotten off to a hot start in his first exposure to the FSL. He’s reached base five times in his first two games with the Miracle, and stole his first base after swiping eight bags down in Cedar Rapids. Zach Neff pitched 3 2/3 scoreless innings and struck out four batters to earn the victory in what was his High-A debut. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 3, Peoria 2 (11 innings) Box Score Luis Rijo: 5.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 67.1 K% (47 of 70 pitches) HR: None Multi-hit games: Estamy Urena (2-for-3, BB) The Kernels entered the bottom of the ninth up 2-0, but Peoria hit back-to-back solo homers to send it into extras. Gilberto Celestino delivered the go-ahead run with a double in the 11th inning and Alex Schick managed to pitch around the “bonus” runner starting the inning at second base in both the 10th and 11th innings to earn the win. Shick struck out three of the seven batters he faced. Luis Rijo is on quite the roll. He’s pitched five shutout innings and surrendered just one hit in all three of his most recent starts now. E-TWINS E-NOTES Kingsport 7, Elizabethton 2 Box Score Andriu Martin: 4.0 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 75% strikes (57 of 76 pitches) HR: None Multi-hit games: Anthony Prato (2-for-5), Charles Mack (2-for-5), Seth Gray (2-for-5), Tyler Webb (2-for-4), Willie Joe Garry Jr. (2-for-4, 2B) The Twins had plenty of traffic on the bases and Andriu Martin pitched pretty well for the most part, but Kingsport hit a couple of big homers off him. Charles Mack extended his season-opening hit streak to four games, and Tyler Webb now has recorded multiple hits in three of E-Town’s four games. Seth Gray had his second straight multi-hit game. Matt Wallner was 1-for-4 with a walk. Max Smith, the Twins’ 31st-round pick, picked up his first professional hit tonight. STARS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Alex Schick, Cedar Rapids Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: Brent Rooker, Rochester TOP PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed 1. Royce Lewis (FM): 2-for-5, RBI, R, K, E (throw) 2. Alex Kirilloff (PNS): 1-for-5, RBI, R, K 4. Trevor Larnach (FM): 2-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI 5. Wander Javier (CR): 0-for-4, 2 K 6. Brent Rooker (ROC): 1-for-1, 2B, BB, HBP | 2-for-3, 2B, HR, BB 3 RBI, 2 R 11. Nick Gordon (ROC): 0-for-3 13. Ryan Jeffers (FM): 2-for-4, 3 RBI, R 14. Ben Rortvedt (PNS): 1-for-3, 2 BB, R 16. Gilberto Celestino (CR): 1-for-5, 2B, RBI, K 18. LaMonte Wade (ROC): 1-for-3, K | 2-for-2, 2 BB, 2 R 20. Jose Miranda (FM): 0-for-4, HBP, R, K, E (fielding) SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester at Toledo, 6:05 pm CT (TBD) Pensacola at Jacksonville, 5:35 pm CT (Charlie Barnes) Fort Myers at Jupiter, 4:30 pm CT (Jordan Balazovic) Cedar Rapids at Peoria, 6:35 pm CT (Josh Winder) Elizabethton at Kingsport, 5:30 pm CT (TBD) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the games. Click here to view the article

As you recall, last Thursday, I had the opportunity to interview Lake County (Cleveland Low-A affiliate) left-handed pitcher Juan Hillman about the start to his young career and his relationship with top Twins prospect Nick Gordon (The article was posted yesterday here). That same day, I was also able to interview another Lake County left-handed starting pitcher about his early career and his relationship with another top Twins prospect. Let’s get to know a little more about Brady Aiken and Twins prospect Stephen Gonsalves.As you recall, lefty Brady Aiken was the #1 overall pick in the 2014 draft, but he chose not to sign with the Houston Astros. In 2015, he fell to Cleveland with the #17 overall pick. However, he had undergone Tommy John surgery several months earlier. As he recalls, he talked to a lot of Cleveland executives, including current Twins Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey, upon being drafted. “Obviously there are a few teams you’re talking to, and you have a general idea of where you’re going to go in the draft. I talked to, from the Indians, a lot of people .I did speak with him (Falvey) a bit. I talked with pitching coordinators. Especially with where I got drafted, it was more the rehab side of it because I’d had surgery and I was coming into the Cleveland organization going straight into rehab. I talked a lot to some front office guys about the rehab side of it, and what would happen if I got drafted by them. Where I would go? What would happen and what that process would be like?” In 2016, he worked a combined 46.1 innings between the organization’s rookie league and short-season affiliates. So 2017 is his first full season of pitching. Although he’s off to an 0-4 start for Lake County, he feels good about where he is at so far in the process. “I’m doing good. Surgery was a couple of years ago, so that’s kind of behind me. Health-wise, I’m doing good. Looking forward to this year. It's been a good year so far, but I’ll just continue to keep working.” Looking back to his high school days, a smile crossed Aiken’s face as he discussed the incredible talent that they had. He went to high school at Cathedral Catholic High School in San Diego. Aiken was a year behind to Twins pitching prospect Stephen Gonsalves and 2016 Twins draft pick Alex Schick (who is currently on the Kernels disabled list with elbow inflammation). Can you imagine a high school team that has produced three professional pitchers? How could they lose? “Our team… my junior year, we had nine guys who were committed to D1 schools, and they were high-level D1 schools too. It was pretty awesome! There was a guy who now plays for the Reds who had Tommy John. Stephen’s with the Twins. Schick is with the Twins. I’m sure I’m missing some right now, but I know there’s a bunch of guys in college who are still playing and doing well.” He continued, “It was pretty cool. We were pretty good, and like you said, we had really good pitching and really good hitting. We’d play three or four games a week. Stephen would throw one. I would throw another, and Schick would throw another. And we had a guy, Andrew Wright, who would throw another one. It was that kind of rotation. If we had more games in a week, we had another guy who’s at Irvine that would throw. So it was pretty crazy how much talent we had at one school.” Aiken still heads back to San Diego during the offseason and hangs out with Stephen Gonsalves. “We are pretty good buddies. We talk pretty often. He’s one of my good friends from back home. I always see him in the offseason. We always spend time together.” But Aiken also has seen how Gonsalves has improved on the baseball diamond since the two led their high school team on the field. “From high school, the one thing that’s been big, from the changes he’s made… the command is there. He’s always been one who knows the game and is ahead of the game mentally, and that’s something that you can see paying off for him now. Working on some pitches. I know he didn’t throw a curveball or a slider in high school and I know he has one now. His command is really good. His mental side of the game is really good. He knows what he wants to do, and that’s what he does. It works for him.” Despite the fact that Gonsalves, the Twins (and Twins Daily) minor league pitcher of the year in 2016, has not pitched yet in 2017, Aiken thinks that there is a chance Twins fans will see him pitching at Target Field in the near future. “I know he’s in a really good spot right now, and I wouldn't be surprised if he’s up with the big squad by the end of this year, or maybe even next year.” However, asked which of the two is the better golfer, Aiken chuckled and gave it some deep thought. “I know he’ll find this somewhere, but I’m a better golfer than he is. He’d like to think otherwise, but we played many times together in the offseason. I’ll beat him. He’ll beat me. It’s a pretty good matchup, but I’d say I’m better than him.” Competition is a good thing, right? Back to Brady Aiken. What are his goals for the remainder of the 2017 season? “For me, it’s kind of a personal thing. This is my first full season. Not really thinking about where I want to be at the end of the year. Just kind of focusing on what I want to do now. Maintaining health is most important, obviously. So maintaining the health and growing every day. I’ve kind of been working on some mechanical things with my coaches. Just trying to lock that in. Make sure I can be repeatable and stuff like that. Go out there and compete on a daily basis.” Aiken is off to a slow start, He did not pitch against the Kernels. He missed them by one day as he was the Lake County starter in their Friday night game at Quad Cities. He’s struggled with control, but it is likely just a matter of time before he takes off and returns to the status of one of baseball’s best starting pitcher prospects. Gonsalves should return to the Lookouts rotation in about two or three weeks and will likely soon reclaim his spot as a top Twins starting pitching prospect. Can you imagine that high school team at Cathedral Catholic? Two top left-handed pitching prospects who were on the same high school team! How fun would that have been to watch? How fun for those who did watch them to see them both making their climb up the minor league systems toward the big leagues! Click here to view the article

It's early in the minor league season and there are plenty of games left to be played. However, it's great to see some of the Twins affiliates playing well to start the year. Nick Gordon is hot to start the season and he looked to continue that streak. Rochester was scheduled to play two games due to some early season weather problems. Would Gordon stay hot? Could the Red Wings sweep their twin-bill? Read on to find out all about Sunday's results.RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 6, Syracuse 2 (Game 2- 7 Innings) Box Score Nick Tepesch made his debut in the Twins organization on Sunday by starting the first game of a double-header. He allowed two runs on six hits while striking out two and walking two. His first inning was all over the board. He allowed two hits, two walks, and struck out two. He settled in from there before turning things over to the bullpen. With the Wings down 2-0, Tommy Field got things started in the fourth inning. He doubled to start the frame before Kennys Vargas drove him in with a two-out single. The next two batters walked but Ben Paulsen left the bases loaded. Paulsen would get another opportunity. In the sixth inning, Matt Hague singled before ByungHo Park struck out and Vargas grounded out. Daniel Palka and Mitch Garver collected back-to-back singles before Paulsen smacked a three-run shot. Trevor Hildenberger in his Triple-A debut struck out the side in the sixth to keep the game at 5-2. After tacking on another run in the top of the seventh on a Vargas double, Hildenberger faced one over the minimum in the ninth for his first save. Rochester 10, Syracuse 4 (Game 2- 7 Innings) Box Score Rochester pounded out four home runs including Daniel Palka's first two home runs of the year (see video of both below) to defeat Syracuse in game two. It was a tight game until the fifth and sixth frames when the Red Wings lit up the scoreboard for eight runs. The two through six hitters all combined for multiple hits. Paulsen homered for the second straight game. Drew Rucinski started for Rochester and pitched well. In four innings of work, he limited the Chiefs to one run, a home run, on three hits. He struck out five and failed to walk a batter. Alex Busenitz pitched two scoreless innings and was credited with the win. Alex Wimmers had a rough final frame as he allowed three solo home runs. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 5, Mobile 4 Box Score For the second time in three games, the Lookouts were walk-off winners against the BayBears. Edgar Corcino started the 10th inning with a single. After two fly outs, a wild pitch moved Corcino to second. With first base open, Jonathan Rodriguez walked. LaMonte Wade followed with a walk to load the bases. This left Dan Rohlfing to play the hero as he drew the walk to win the game. Friday night's hero, Nick Gordon, got the game off to a fast start as he cranked his first home run of the year. He finished the day 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored. He has seven hits in the team's first four games including two three-hit efforts. Felix Jorge made his first start of the year. In four innings of work, he allowed two runs on six hits with three strikeouts. Todd Van Steensel and Nick Burdi combined for three shutout innings. Raul Fernandez struggled with control in the ninth as he allowed three walks and took the blown save. Luke Bard earned the win as he allowed one hit and struck out one. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 2, Jupiter 3 Box Score Keaton Steele cruised through four innings before running into some trouble in the fifth. The first four batters of the frame reached base and two runs would eventually cross the plate. Randy Rosario and Michael Theofanopoulos combined to allow one earned run and struck out four over the final four frames. The seventh inning is where the Miracle missed their opportunity. Daniel Kihle plated a run with an RBI single. With one out, Fort Myers loaded the bases. Sean Miller struck out and Nelson Molina grounded out to end the frame. Kihle and Miller both finished the game with multiple hits including their second doubles of the year. Fort Myers scored a ninth inning run to cut the lead to one but that was the end of their luck. The Miracle begin a seven-game road trip on Monday. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 6, Beloit 1 Box Score Alex Schick tied his career high with seven strikeouts and pitched a career-high seven innings on the way to his first victory of the year. He struck out at least one batter in each of the first six innings. Max Cordy took over for Schick and struck out the side as part of a perfect eighth inning. Alex Robinson finished the game with a perfect frame while striking out one. Travis Blakenhorn and Jermaine Palacios combined for six hits and four runs scored. Blankenhorn knocked his second home run, his second home run in as many days. Brandon Lopez joined the hit parade with three hits of his own. Mitchell Kranson went 2-for-4 with a double. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Alex Schick, Cedar Rapids Kernels Hitter of the Day – Ben Paulsen, Rochester Red Wings WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester at Buffalo (12:05 CST) - LHP Jason Wheeler (0-0, 0.00 ERA) Chattanooga vs. Mobile (6:15 CST) - RHP Paul Clemens (0-0, 0.00 ERA) Fort Myers @ Tampa (6:00 CST) - RHP Randy LeBlanc (0-0, 0.00 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Kane County (6:30 CST) - RHP Clark Beeker (0-0, 0.00 ERA) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Sunday’s games. Click here to view the article