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Following the 2012 season, the Minnesota Twins made the decision to end their time in Beloit. They worked out a Player Development Agreement with the Cedar Rapids Kernels starting in the 2013 season. On Monday night, the Kernels clinched a 2018 playoff berth with a win. It marks the sixth straight season (all six with the Twins) that the Kernels will be in the playoffs. Jake Mauer managed the first four teams. Tommy Watkins was there in 2017. Congratulations to Toby Gardenhire and his coaching staff on another strong, successful season in Iowa!Keep reading to find out more on the night in the Twins minor league system on Mondays, please feel free to discuss and ask questions. TRANSACTIONS RHP Omar Bencomo was activated from the Lookouts DL. Clark Beeker was returned to the Miracle.RED WINGS REPORTRochester 3, Syracuse 6 Box Score When Fernando Romero left the mound with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Red Wings held a 3-1 lead. Ryne Harper came on and allowed both inherited runners to score. Harper went another two innings after getting the third out of the sixth inning.He gave up five hits, walked one and struck out four in his 2 1/3 innings. Romero ended up giving up three runs on eight hits over his 5 2/3 innings. He struck out six without issuing a walk. Byron Buxton had a single and his ninth double in the game. He was the lone Red Wings batter with more than one hit. Johnny Field, Kennys Vargas and Juan Graterol each added a double. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 4, Jacksonville 1 Box Score Casey Crosby was the team’s “opener” on Monday. The left-hander gave up two hits and walked two over two shutout innings. He struck out three. Omar Bencomo went the next five innings to win for the eighth time this season. He gave up five hits without allowing a run. He walked none and struck out four. Devin Smeltzer pitched a scoreless eighth inning. He was charged with a run in the ninth inning and recorded one out. Cody Stashak got the final two outs to record his fourth save. Andy Wilkins had another strong game. He went 1-for-2 with two walks and his 10th home run. Brent Rooker drove in a run with his 32nd double. Jimmy Kerrigan’s sixth double drove in a run as well. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 3, Bradenton 2 Box Score Brusdar Graterol turned 20 years old on Sunday. On Monday, he made his first start as an non-teenager. He threw 5 2/3 scoreless innings. He gave up four hits, walked on and struck out six. Colton Davis came on and struck out three over the next 2 1/3 innings. He gave up no runs on no hits and no walks. He did hit one batter. Kevin Marnon recorded the save despite giving up two runs on three hits in the ninth inning for the save. Alex Kirilloff led the offense. He went 3-for-4 with two RBIs. He had RBI singles in his final two at-bats. Caleb Hamilton’s 18th double drove in the team’s first run. Aaron Whitefield was back in the leadoff spot and responded by going 2-for-4 with his sixth double. Royce Lewis was moved to the #3 spot in the lineup for this game. He went 0-4 and is now 5-for-48 (.104) in his last 12 games. Just a reminder, slumps can happen to anyone. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 5, Kane County 1 Box Score The Cedar Rapids Kernels will head to the Midwest League playoffs for the sixth straight season (also their sixth straight season as a Twins affiliate). Randy Dobnak has been a key starter for the Kernels throughout the season. With seven innings of one-run ball on Monday night, he earned his tenth win of the year. He gave up three hits, walked two and struck out four. Jared Finkel worked the final two innings without allowing a run. He gave up one hit, walked two, hit one and struck one out. Michael Davis continued his impressive professional debut. On this night, the shortstop went 2-for-3 with his eighth home run and three runs driven in. In 36 games with the Kernels (he played three games for Elizabethton), the 24th round pick from Texas Tech has nine doubles and eight home runs. He is now hitting .292 as well. Victor Tademo, making his Midwest League debut, hit his first home run of the season. He had spent the majority of this season in extended spring training and in the GCL (though he also played a few games with the Miracle). E-TWINS E-TALK Elizabethton 6, Pulaski 2 Box Score The E-Twins are approaching the playoffs and got a strong all-around game on Monday night. Luis Rijo started and went just two innings, but he was perfect and struck out four. Brian Rapp worked the next three innings. He gave up two runs on five hits and two walks while striking out three. Blair Lakso struck out four, and walked two, over three no-hit innings. Tanner Howell worked a scoreless ninth inning, striking out one. Jean Carlos Arias led the offense. He went 2-for-4 with a walk, his third triple, and his third stolen base. Jared Akins had two hits in three at bats. Trevor Casanova knocked his 14th double, and he had a walk. Ricky De La Torre doubled for the 10th time. GCL TWINS TALK The GCL Twins season came to an end on Saturday. They finished with a 32-24 record which was 1 1/2 games behind the GCL South Division champion GCL Red Sox. STARS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Hitter of the Day: Michael Davis, Cedar Rapids Kernels (2-3, HR(8), 3 RBI). Twins Daily Pitcher of the Day: Brusdar Graterol, Ft. Myers Miracle (5.2 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 IBB, 6 K) PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Midseason Top 20 Twins Prospects performed. #1 - Royce Lewis (Ft. Myers) - 0-4, K #2 - Alex Kirilloff (Ft. Myers) - 3-4, 2 RBI #3 - Brusdar Graterol (Ft. Myers) - 5.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K (88 pitches, 59 strikes) #4 - Nick Gordon (Rochester) - 1-4, K #5 - Stephen Gonsalves (Minnesota) - No game scheduled #6 - Trevor Larnach (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4 #7 - Brent Rooker (Chattanooga) - 1-4, 2B(32), RBI, R, K #8 - Akil Baddoo (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4, K #9 -Wander Javier - out of for the season #10 - Zack Littell (Rochester) - Did not pitch #11 - Blayne Enlow (Cedar Rapids) - Did not pitch #12 - LaMonte Wade (Rochester) - 1-4, R, RBI #13 - Travis Blankenhorn (Ft. Myers) - 0-3 #14 - Lewis Thorpe (Rochester) - Did not pitch #15 - Ben Rortvedt (Ft. Myers) - Did not play #16 - Yunior Severino (Elizabethton) - Did not play #17 - Lewin Diaz (Ft. Myers) - Out for the season (wrist) #18 - Ryan Jeffers (Cedar Rapids) - 1-4 #19 - Jacob Pearson (Cedar Rapids) - 1-2, BB, R, RBI, K #20 - Luis Arraez (Chattanooga) - Did not play #21 - Jose Miranda (Ft. Myers) - 0-4 *Since Wander Javier is out, I’d add #21 to the list. TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Buffalo @ Rochester (DH 4:05 CST) - RHP Zack Littell (5-6, 3.42 ERA), TBD Jacksonville @ Chattanooga (6:15 CST) - RHP Sean Poppen (5-6, 3.44 ERA) Bradenton @ Ft. Myers (5:30 CST) - RHP Andro Cutura (4-6, 3.88 ERA) Cedar Rapids - No game scheduled Pulaski @ Elizabethton (6:00 CST) - TBD GCL Twins - Season Completed Please feel free to ask any questions about Monday’s games, or ask any questions you may have. Click here to view the article

Willians Astudillo helped lift Rochester to a win tonight, going 2-for-4 with an RBI and a pair of runs scored. Tomorrow he'll be back with the Twins, thanks to an injury to Bobby Wilson. Also tonight in the minors, Andy Wilkins hit a home run in extras for Chattanooga and 2018 draftee Andrew Cabezas pitched a gem for E-Town. Come check out what else happened across the system Thursday.Transactions – Andrew Vasquez promoted from Chattanooga to Rochester, Casey Crosby activated from the DL in Chattanooga. RED WINGS REPORT Pawtucket 1 @ Rochester 5 Box Score Some early run support and a strong pitching performance from the whole of the Red Wings staff kept the game well in hand all night. “Starter” Nick Anderson pitched the first inning, scoreless, giving up a hit, a walk, and striking out a pair, before being replaced by Zack Littell. Littell went 5 2/3 innings, struck out six, walked none, gave up six hits and also kept Pawtucket off the board. Andrew Vasquez gave up a run over 1 1/3, but the Red Wings were ahead 5-1 when Ryan Eades came in to pitch the ninth. Eades gave up a hit and struck out a batter in his full inning of work. Willians Astudillo was 2-for-4 with a pair of singles, two runs scored and an RBI. Kennys Vargas stayed hot, 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI, a run scored and a pair of strikeouts. Jon Kemmer added a pair of hits as well, 2-for-4 with a home run, two RBIs and a strikeout. Nick Gordon was 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout. Gordon is hitting just .208/.251/.281 in 88 games for Rochester. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 4 @ Montgomery 2 (10 innings) Box Score The Lookouts were down 0-2 heading to the top of the ninth inning before putting a couple runs on the board to extend the game to extra innings, and then scored another pair of runs in the top of the 10th to win the game on a Andy Wilkins two-run home run. The inning before, Luis Arraez picked up the other two RBIs. The rest of the roster had just four hits and while Brent Rooker has crushed the Southern League and heading into Thursday game he was in the top three in RBIs (1st, 77), doubles (T-1st, 31), home runs (2nd, 22), hits (2nd, 122), extra-base hits (2nd, 57), total bases (2nd, 227) and slugging percentage (3rd, .490), he struggled on Thursday. Rooker was 0-for-3 with a walk. On the bump, Sean Poppen went five innings and gave up just a run on three hits and three walks and struck out six. Cody Stashak saw his scoreless inning streak end at 18 giving up a run in the first of his two innings of work. Austin Adams earned the win with two scoreless innings of relief and Williams Ramirez earned his seventh save of the year with a nice clean 10th inning. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 1 @ Palm Beach 6 Box Score Thursday night was the rubber match in the three game set between Palm Beach and Fort Myers and the last game of year between the two. Fort Myers lost the previous three series this year and are now 4-11 against them. If the Miracle make playoffs they will face Palm Beach. Going into Thursday’s game Alex Kirilloff leads all of MiLB in hits (164) and XBH (67) but went 0-for-4 and only added to his strikeout total with two more on Thursday night. Ryan Costello was 2-for-4 with a solo home run, and Jose Miranda had a pair of hits as well, 2-for-4. On the bump, Bryan Sammons went 4 2/3 innings and gave up five runs on eight hits, and two walks. Colton Davis held off Palm Beach for 1 1/3 innings before Alex Robinson gave up a home run to the only batter he faced. Kevin Marnon finished the game with two scoreless innings. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 4 @ Beloit 5 Box Score Cedar Rapids had a 4-3 lead after six and a half innings but Beloit put up two in the bottom of the seventh to take the lead for good. Trey Cabbage had a pair of hits as part of his 2-for-3 night that include a walk, an RBI and a run scored. Andrew Bechtold had a pair of hits and RBIs, going 2-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts as well. Starter Melvi Acosta gave up three runs over 4 1/3 innings on seven hits but he did manage five strikeouts. Jose Martinez was tagged with the loss giving up those two late runs. He pitched 2 2/3 innings and gave up two runs on three hits and two walks. He struck out a pair. Moises Gomez pitched the eighth and gave up a pair of hits but no runs. ELIZABETHTON TWINS TALK Greenville 7 @ Elizabethton 1 Box Score In Elizabethton the hometown Twins committed three errors and gave up six runs in the last two innings to spoil what had been a very tight ballgame. Jean Carlos Arias was 2-for-4 with a strikeout and Ricky De La Torre was 2-for-3 and only one other batter had a hit, Yunior Severino who was 1-for-4 with a solo home run. As a team the Twins had just five hits and one walk against 10 strikeouts. Andrew Cabezas pitched well over 5 1/3 innings giving up just a single run, a single hit, two walks and he struck out seven. Tanner Howell went 2 2/3 innings and gave up four runs on three hits and two walks. Juan Gamez was tagged with a couple of unearned runs in the ninth inning. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Andrew Cabezas, Elizabethton Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Andy Wilkins, Chattanooga TOP 20 PROSPECT PERFORMANCE 1. Royce Lewis (FM): 0-4, 1 K 2. Alex Kirilloff (FM): 0-4, 2 K 3. Brusdar Graterol (FM): Did not play 4. Nick Gordon (ROC): 0-3, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K 5. Stephen Gonsalves (MN): Did not play 6. Trevor Larnach (FM): Did not play 7. Brent Rooker (CHAT): 0-3, 1 BB 8. Akil Baddoo (CR): 1-3, 1 R, 2 BB 9. Wander Javier: Out of for the season 10. Zack Littell (ROC): 5.2 IP, 6 H, 0 R/ER, 6 K, 0 BB 11. Blayne Enlow (CR): Did not play 12. LaMonte Wade (ROC): 1-3, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K 13. Travis Blankenhorn (FM): Did not play 14. Lewis Thorpe (CHAT): Did not play 15. Ben Rortvedt (FM): 1-4, 1 K 16. Yunior Severino (ET): 1-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI 17. Lewin Diaz (FM): Did not play 18. Ryan Jeffers (ET): 0-2 19. Jacob Pearson (CR): 0-4, 2 K 20. Luis Arraez (CHAT): 2-5, 2 RBI FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester (6:05pm) – TBD Chattanooga (6:15pm) – TBD Fort Myers (5:30pm) – Charlie Barnes Cedar Rapids (6:35pm) –Jhoan Duran Elizabethton (6:05pm) - TBD Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Thursday's games. Click here to view the article

The Twins were off Monday, but there was still good news: Byron Buxton was named American League Player of the Week. Buxton batted .333 with five home runs, 10 RBI, nine runs, two stolen bases and an OPS of 1.161. He is the third Twin (Miguel Sano, Eddie Rosario) to receive the honor this season. The affiliates had a full slate, see how they did below. Read about Monday’s action below.RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 3, Scranton W/B 5 Box Score Felix Jorge gave up five runs in four innings on seven hits. He struck out two. Yohan Pino (two scoreless innings) and Buddy Boshers (two outs) both struck out two in relief. Drew Rucinski recorded the last four outs. Leo Reginatto had two hits and scored two runs. Anthony Recker hit his 16th double of the season. Engelb Vielma doubled and drove in two runs. With both the Red Wings and Lehigh Valley losing, Rochester’s magic number has been reduced to five. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 4, Jackson 5 Box Score A walk-off win tonight for Jackson. Andy Wilkins hit a three-run fourth inning home run and T.J. White doubled in Wilkins later to account for the fourth and final run. Nick Gordon, Edgar Corcino and LaMonte Wade each added a single. D.J. Baxendale struck out four in five innings. He allowed six hits and one run. Alex Muren was tagged for three runs in a single frame, resulting in a blown save. Cody Stashak struck out two in two innings. Todd Van Steensel allowed the game-winning run. Fernando Romero was placed on the DL with shoulder impingement. Chattanooga has already clinched the first-half title and still has a magic number of three after their loss and Montgomery’s win. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 2, St. Lucie 3 Box Score Brent Rooker continued to swing a big stick, homering in his third straight game. He now has 11 in the FSL and 18 since being drafted in June. Unfortunately, the Miracle only managed a Brandon Lopez double and four other singles in the game. Lewis Thorpe started and only pitched one inning, throwing 14 pitches. Unconfirmed reports suggest the team had him throw only one inning as he prepares for the playoffs. Lachlan Wells pitched the next four innings allowing three runs on four hits and two walks. He struck out three and took the loss, dropping to 4-10. Andrew Vasquez and Michael Kohn both had scoreless outings. The Miracle didn’t play this weekend due to rainouts, but still have a nice cushion in the FSL. If they can’t wrap up the league by Sunday, they’ll potentially have to make up their rained out games on Monday. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 4, Quad Cities 2 (10 innings) Box Score Bryan Sammons struck out six in four innings. He allowed four hits and walked two. Two runs scored but only one was earned. Patrick McGuff struck out two in a hitless frame. Ryan Mason allowed a hit in one inning. Colton Davis struck out two in two innings. Royce Lewis and Caleb Hamilton both had doubles and scored runs. Jordon Gore and Ben Rortvedt added hits. Rortvedt also had three more passed balls, running his total to 15. Aaron Whitefield struck out to begin the 10th inning, but reached base anyway after the third strike was dropped. A passed ball advanced him to second, a sac bunt advanced him to third. He then scored on a wild pitch to compete the true middle school girls softball scoring play. Shane Kennedy later homered. Hector Lujan entered in the 10th to save the game. He allowed a hit. Rortvedt had a throwing error on a stolen base attempt and his last passed ball, but Lujan got a couple of groundballs and a foul pop out to end it. The Kernels activated P Evan Sanders and placed P Tyler Beardsley on the DL. Getting Royce Lewis was a shot in the arm and the Kernels are (32-31) in the second half. Regardless how this week plays out, they will be in the MWL playoffs. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 2, Greeneville 3 Box Score The E-Twins managed only six hits and two runs on Monday night. Andrew Cosgrove had a two-run double that scored J.J. Robinson and Andrew Bechtold. Akil Baddoo reached base three times, all by walk. Robinson and T.J. Dixon both had a stolen base. Edwar Colina took the loss allowing three runs on four hits, two walks and two hit batters. He struck out one. Ricky Ramirez and Blair Lasko each pitched two innings in relief. Ramirez allowed one hit and struck out one. Lasko allowed one hit and struck out three. E-town wrapped up the Appy League West on Sunday. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins vs GCL Rays - rained out The two teams will play a doubleheader (hopefully) on Tuesday. The magic number for the GCL Twins remains three. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Bryan Sammons, Cedar Rapids Hitter of the Day – Andy Wilkins, Chattanooga TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester at Scranton/WB (6:05 CST) - LHP Hector Santiago (REHAB) Chattanooga at Jackson (6:05 CST) - TBA Fort Myers at St. Lucie (5:30 CST) - RHP Sean Poppen (2-2, 3.45 ERA) Elizabethton at Kingsport (5:30 CST) - TBA GCL Twins at GCL Rays (11:00 AM CST - doubleheader) - TBA Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Monday’s games. Click here to view the article

Now that the short-season leagues have been underway for a little while we’re starting to see some new names emerge. One of those has been Jovani Moran, who struck out six-straight batters over two perfect innings Friday. And while Hunter Greene was finally signing with the Reds, Royce Lewis was busy hitting a couple of doubles in what was already his ninth professional game. Oh, and there were some significant transactions, too.Find out everything that happened in the Twins minor league system on Friday. TRANSACTIONS Joe Mauer was placed on the DL with an ailing back, leading to Kennys Vargas being called back up from Rochester. Surprisingly, that was the least interesting of the team’s three big transactions on the night. During the Twins game it was announced the team has signed 44-year-old Bartolo Colon to a minor league deal. He’s on his way to Rochester. Last, but certainly not least, was the huge news that Zack Granite was being called up to make his major league debut. With the All-Star break upcoming, the Twins have no need to carry a fifth starter. So Felix Jorge, who started for the Twins Friday night, is being sent back down to Chattanooga to make room for Granite. UPDATE: Edgar Corcino is also getting a promotion up to Rochester. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 6, Tennessee 1 Box Score At this time last season, Andy Wilkins was playing with the Milwaukee Brewers. Tonight, he had a huge game for the Lookouts, hitting a three-run homer to go with a pair of doubles. Edgar Corcino has had an excellent season, earning a mid-season All-Star nod, but he hasn’t been a big source of power. Well, the Puerto Rican right fielder popped his second homer of the year, a two-run shot, and was 2-for-4, pushing his average to .299. Jonathan Rodriguez also had two hits for the Lookouts. Nick Gordon was not in the lineup for Chattanooga. Randy LeBlanc held the Smokies to one run on three hits and a walk over six innings. He struck out four batters. Randy Rosario threw two scoreless innings. At this time last season, Paul Clemens was playing with the San Diego Padres. Tonight he pitched a scoreless ninth inning of a 6-1 game for the Lookouts. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 6, Palm Beach 5 Box Score Fort Myers was leading 3-1 before Williams Ramirez gave up four runs in the top of the fifth. It appeared he may have blown the game for the Miracle … for about 10 minutes. Fort Myers stormed back with three runs in the bottom of the inning, putting them up 6-5 for good. Sean Miller and Jermaine Palacios opened the bottom of the fifth with consecutive walks, but the next two batters were retired. With two outs, Palacios stole second and Miller scored on a throwing error. Brandon Lopez plated Palacios with a double, then Kevin Garcia drove in Lopez with a single. Mitchell Kranson hit his first home run with Fort Myers, a two-run shot in the first inning. Miracle starter Brady Anderson gave up one run over four innings. Michael Theofanopoulos picked up his fourth win after tossing two scoreless innings. Alex Muren threw a scoreless eighth and Tom Hackimer registered his second save by pitching a perfect ninth with two strikeouts. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 5, Peoria 2 Box Score Shortstop Gorge Munoz hit a two-out, two-run double in a big fourth inning for the Kernels. That gave Clark Beeker a 5-1 lead, not that he needed that kind of cushion. The Davidson product put together his seventh start in which he went at least five innings and gave up one or no runs. Beeker improved his record to 8-2 after surrendering one run over six innings. He gave up just three hits and a walk. Alex Robinson earned his second save by pitching 1.1 perfect innings with three strikeouts. Aaron Whitefield and Lewin Diaz each had two hits. Munoz also drew a walk and stole a base in this game. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 5, Johnson City 0 Box Score Charlie Barnes, the Twins fourth-round pick this year out of Clemson, was excellent. He threw five one-hit innings, striking out seven batters while issuing one walk. He was pulled after 65 pitches, 45 of which were strikes. The crazy thing is that he wasn’t even the most dominant E-Town pitcher Friday night. After Juan Gamez threw two scoreless innings, Jovani Moran came on for the Twins. Here’s how the 20-year-old Puerto Rican lefty’s two innings went: BB, K, K, K, K, K, K. Moran now has 16 strikeouts in 8.2 innings this season. Filthy. Jose Miranda drove in three runs, Mark Contreras had a pair of hits and Brent Rooker had the team’s only extra-base hit, a double. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Red Sox 10, GCL Twins 5 Box Score Hunter Green finally signed with the Reds today. Meanwhile, Royce Lewis went 2-for-4 with two doubles and a walk in what was his ninth professional game. The Twins No. 1 pick has gotten off to a great start, hitting .324/.419/.58 (.986 OPS). Akil Baddoo drew four walks (!) and scored twice. Catcher Jhon Alvarez was 2-for-3 with a walk and a run scored. Twins starter Petru Balan struggled, giving up four runs over 1.2 innings, and the bullpen didn't do much better, though Zach Featherstone finished things off with a scoreless inning. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Jovani Moran, Elizabethton (2 IP, 0 hits, 6 Ks) Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: Andy Wilkins, Chattanooga (3-for-4, HR, 2 doubles, 2 RBI, 2 runs) SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester vs. Syracuse, 6:05 pm CT, Aaron Slegers (4.08 ERA, 1.40 WHIP) Chattanooga va. Tennessee, 6:15 pm CT, TBA Fort Myers vs. Palm Beach, 5:05 pm CT, Cody Stashak (3.84 ERA, 1.12 WHIP) Cedar Rapids vs. Peoria, 6:35 pm CT, Griffin Jax (0.00 ERA, 0.57 WHIP) Elizabethton vs. Johnson City, 5:00 pm CT, Bryan Sammons (1.59 ERA, 0.88 WHIP) GCL Twins vs. GCL Red Sox, 9:00 am CT, TBA Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Friday's games. Click here to view the article

On a night when big league teams were changing the future of their franchise, three Twins affiliates were continuing to try to secure first half playoff spots. Chattanooga entered play on Monday with a slim half game lead over Tennessee. Montgomery, the Lookouts' opponent on Monday, sits two games behind Chattanooga. Cedar Rapids is in a similar situation. They enter the final week of the first half with a one game lead over Kane County and a two game lead over Quad Cities. The Kernels start a series in Quad Cities on Tuesday but they couldn't look past their Monday match-up with Burlington. Did either team get closer to clinching a playoff birth?News and Notes: Nik Turley was named International League Pitcher of the Week. The left-handed pitcher struck out a career-high 15 batters over six scoreless innings. He was rewarded for his strong start as he made his MLB debut on Sunday. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 5, Montgomery 0 Box Score Felix Jorge pitched into the seventh inning for the sixth straight start and he allowed two runs or fewer for the fourth straight appearance. In this game, he pitched seven scoreless frames and limited the Biscuits to three hits. Jorge struck out five and walked two as he lowered his season ERA to 3.00. The Lookouts improved to 11-1 in games started by Jorge this season. Chattanooga took a while to get their bats moving in this one. In the top of the fifth, Dan Rohlfing singled before Nick Gordon's 18th double of the season moved him to third. Edgar Corcino drove in the first run of the game with a one-out single. However, Gordon ended up being stranded ninety feet from home. When the seventh frame rolled around, the Lookouts scored without recording a hit. Edgar Corcino walked and moved around the bases on a passed ball and two wild pitches. Things opened up in the top of the ninth with two outs. Corcino singled and LaMonte Wade reached on a throwing error that saw both runners move up a base. Jonathan Rodriguez collected a two-run single and came around to score on a Andy Wilkins double. Two more wild pitches pushed across another run to make the score 6-0. Mason Melotakis struck out the side during a perfect eighth inning. After watching a long top of the ninth, Melotakis allowed a double in the bottom half of the inning, He still managed a pair of strikeouts to end the night with five strikeouts in two innings of work. Tennesse lost for the second straight day so the Lookouts moved to a game and half up in their division. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers --, Charlotte -- (Postponed) Fort Myers and Charlotte were postponed on Monday. The teams will play a doubleheader on Tuesday starting at 4:30 CST. Each game is scheduled to be seven innings. The Miracle have already been eliminated from first-half playoff contention. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 0, Burlington 1 Box Score The Kernels were nearly no-hit hit in this contest as an eighth inning single from Travis Blankenhorn was the lone hit. Blankenhorn reached base twice in four plate appearances. Mitchell Kranson drew a pair of walks. Christian Cavaness and Ben Rortvedt also reached base once. Cedar Rapids only had two opportunities to bat with a runner in scorning position. Tyler wells did his best to keep the game close. He allowed one run on four hits over five innings of work. He struck out eight and walked two. It was his first loss since last August. Ryan Mason and Alex Robinson each pitched two shutout frames with neither walking a batter. Mason struck out one and Robinson struck out two. Had they been no-hit it would have been the first time since May 1, 2015. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Felix Jorge, Chattanooga Lookouts (7 IP, 0 ER, 5 K, 2 BB, 3 H) Hitter of the Day – Andy Wilkins, Chattanooa Lookouts (2-for-5, 2 2B, RBI, R) TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Scranton/WB (5:35 CST) - TBD Chattanooga @ Montgomery (7:05 CST) - TBD Fort Myers vs. Charlotte (4:30 CST) - LHP Lewis Thorpe (0-2, 1.38 ERA) Fort Myers vs. Charlotte (Game 2)- RHP Brady Anderson (2-2, 3.86 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (6:35 CST) - RHP Sean Poppen (4-1, 2.63 ERA) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Monday’s games. Click here to view the article