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Both the Lookouts and the Kernels found themselves in a do-or-die situation on Sunday. The Lookouts were attempting to become the co-champions of the Southern League after failing to clinch in Game 4 on Saturday. The Kernels lost Game 1 of their three game semifinal series on Saturday which lead to an all-important Game 2 on Sunday. With everything on the line, which players would shine? Could both teams find a way to win?CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 3, Montgomery 2 Box Score It didn't take long for the Lookouts to find themselves in a hole. Dietrich Enns allowed a solo home run to lead off the game and Chattanooga was down 1-0. The lead wouldn't last long as Andy Wilkins smashed a game-tying home run to lead off the second. Enns ran into some more trouble in the fourth. With two outs in the frame, he allowed three consecutive hits before Nick Gordon gunned down a man at the plate. The Lookouts bullpen was outstanding in relief. Randy LeBlanc, Todd Van Steensel, and Anthony McIver combined for five shutout frames to keep Chattanooga in the game. McIver didn't allow a base runner in the final two innings while striking out one. As the bottom of the ninth began, LaMonte Wade stepped to the plate with the Lookouts trailing by one. He had singled to start the frame and put the tying run on base. Jonathan Rodriguez stepped to the plate with a chance to cap off his tremendous season. He cracked a walk-off home run and Chattanooga was crowned co-champions of the Southern League. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 7, Quad Cities 4 Box Score The Kernels took a tough luck loss on Saturday as they fell 5-4 in extra innings to the River Bandits. Since the Midwest League semifinals are a best-of-three series, the Kernels found themselves with their backs against the wall on Sunday afternoon. It was win or go home. After a scoreless first frame, Lewin Diaz led off the second inning with a double. He moved to third on a Caleb Hamilton ground out and came in to score on a Jimmy Kerrigan sacrifice fly. Shane Kennedy kept the inning going with a two-out walk but the biggest hit of the frame came on a Shane Carrier two-run blast to put the Kernels up 3-0. Travis Blankenhorn kept things going in the third inning as he started the frame with a solo shot to right field. With the Kernels up 4-0, Blankenhorn led off the fifth inning with a walk. Aaron Whitefield and Diaz both singled to move Blankenhorn around the bases. Caleb Hamilton doubled to score Whitefield and Kerrington drove in Lewis with a ground out for a 7-0 advantage. Charles Barnes started for Cedar Rapids and pitched five shutout frames. He scattered five hits while striking out three and walking three. The bullpen ran into a little trouble in the sixth inning. Partrick McGuff and Randy Dobnak combined to allow four earned runs with each only collecting one out. Colton Davis picked up the bullpen as he went 2.1 frames and allowed only one hit. Hector Lujan earned his first save this postseason as he struck out one and allowed one hit in the ninth. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Charles Barnes, Cedar Rapids Kernels Hitter of the Day – Jonathan Rodriguez, Chattanooga Lookouts MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Cedar Rapids vs. Quad Cities (5:35 CST) - RHP Tyler Wells (5-3, 3.11 ERA) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Sunday’s games. Click here to view the article

Though only two of the Minnesota Twins affiliates were in action on Tuesday, there was plenty of excitement in the minor leagues as two of their leagues' All-Star Games were scheduled. Too bad for you and me only one of them was played due to some pesky weather. In the one that was played however, a Twins player had a big hit to put his team in the lead. In the two regular-season games that were played, one pitcher made his AAA debut while another made his first start since being drafted. Read on to find out how all of your favorite prospects who did play fared on Tuesday night!RED WINGS REPORT Buffalo 3, Rochester 4 Box Score The Red Wings scored early and held off the Bisons to win their fourth game in a row and move above .500 at 34-33 on the season. In the bottom of the first inning, RBI doubles from Mitch Garver and Byungho Park were followed by a sacrifice fly from John Ryan Murphy to jump out front 3-0. Starter Aaron Slegers kept Rochester out front through five innings before he ran into enough trouble to chase him after recording the first two outs of the sixth. In his 5.2 innings, he allowed three runs on six hits and three walks, while striking out six. With runners on first and second, Jake Reed was summoned from the bullpen for the first time at AAA, and struck out the final hitter of the sixth to keep Slegers in line for win. The offense had added the needed insurance run for their starter thanks to the speed of shortstop Engelb Vielma in the fourth inning. He reached base on a bunt single, stole second base and advanced to third on the errant throw before trotting home on a Matt Hague single. It was Vielma’s first stolen base at AAA. Reed also pitched the seventh inning, allowing a single but picking off the runner before also notching his second strikeout in a scoreless Red Wings debut. Ryan Pressly picked up the two inning save, his third with the Red Wings with two scoreless innings to finish the game. He walked one and struck out two. J.B. Shuck (2-5, R), Park (2-4, R, 2 2B’s, RBI, BB), and Niko Goodrum (2-4) each had multiple hits to pace the offense. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Southern League All-Star Break North All-Stars @ South All-Stars Unfortunately for the Southern League and host Pensacola, the All-Star Game scheduled for Tuesday was cancelled on account of Tropical Storm Cindy pounding the region with rain. As a consolation prize, I recommend you read about the “toxic” road that was taken by the Blue Wahoos franchise to reach the point of hosting the game. The Lookouts were represented on the North Division squad by pitchers Fernando Romero, Mason Melotakis (though he was promoted to Rochester this week), and John Curtiss; and position players Nick Gordon, Edgar Corcino, and LaMonte Wade. Chattanooga kicks off the second-half of the season at home on Thursday against the Blue Wahoos. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 0, Jupiter 2 Box Score Left-hander Anthony McIver made his first professional start on Tuesday night after his first 64 career appearances came as a reliever. You could say it went well, so maybe it will stick for a bit longer? He went the first 3.2 innings, allowing no runs on just one hit while striking out four. The lone hit allowed came in the fourth inning and he was removed immediately as he had likely reached his pitch limit, at 60. Tom Hackimer came on for the final out and then went two more scoreless innings. He gave up one hit and one walk, and struck out one in his 2.1 innings. Unfortunately for those two pitchers, the Miracle offense was nowhere to be found in this one, as the first eleven hitters of the game were retired by HammerHead starter Scott Squier. As a team they struck out four times and managed just three hits and one walk against him in his 6.2 innings of shutout baseball. Fort Myers did threaten in the eighth inning as they had runners on second and third with one out, but strikeouts of Max Murphy and Zander Wiel closed the door on the opportunity. David Fischer was tagged with the loss as he gave up single runs in both of the seventh and eighth innings in finishing the game for the Miracle. Those runs scored on four hits and a walk in his two innings. Fort Myers finished the game 0-2 with runners in scoring position and left only six men on base as a team. They look to pick up their first second-half win of the season on Wednesday after dropping the first two games of their three game series versus Jupiter. KERNELS NUGGETS Midwest League All-Star Break West All-Stars 5, East All-Stars 2 Box Score The Midwest League All-Star Game in Midland, Michigan (home of the Great Lakes Loons, affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers) was able to be played on Tuesday night and all six of the Kernels representatives played, with their four position players also starting the game. Jermaine Palacios was the shortstop, batted second in the Western division lineup, and was 1-2 with a single before being lifted in the mass substitutions in the fifth inning. Lewin Diaz batted clean-up and manned first base, and put his squad out front 2-1 in the fourth inning with a two-run home run. If not for a two-home run game from one of his all-star team mates, he might have been player of the game (he’ll have to settle for the Twins “Daily” MiLB Award) Travis Blankenhorn was at third base and batted sixth in the lineup. He flew out in both his plate appearances. Mitchell Kranson started the game as the designated hitter, but also finished the game at first base. He doubled in the fifth inning and was 1-4 on the game. Pitchers Sean Poppen and Clark Beeker both gave scoreless appearances. Poppen struck out one in a one-two-three second inning, and Beeker gave up a double in the sixth and was replaced with two outs. The Cedar Rapids Kernels get back to action on Thursday on the road against the Quad Cities River Bandits, whom the Kernels edged out for the second Western Division playoff-spot in the first half. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Anthony McIver, Fort Myers Miracle (3.2 IP, 2 H’s, 4 K’s) Hitter of the Day – Lewin Diaz, Cedar Rapids Kernels (1-2, HR, 2 RBI in MWL All-Star Game) WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Buffalo @ Rochester (12:35PM CST) – LHP Hector Santiago (first rehab start) Chattanooga – No game. Southern League All-Star break. Fort Myers @ Jupiter (5:30PM CST) – RHP Cody Stashak (2-3, 4.02 ERA) Cedar Rapids – No game. Midwest League All-Star break. Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Tuesday’s games! Click here to view the article

With a 3-1 win on Thursday night, the Twins’ Class A affiliate, the Cedar Rapids Kernels, have advanced to the second round of the Midwest League’s playoffs for the third consecutive season. Cedar Rapids swept the first two games of the three-game series over the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. The Kernels have qualified for the playoffs all four years that they’ve been affiliated with the Twins and all four seasons under manager Jake Mauer.Eduardo Del Rosario (1-0) worked six innings on Thursday for the win, giving up just one run while striking out five T-Rats. Del Rosario surrendered five hits, all singles. He also picked off two runners, one at second base and one at first. Second baseman Luis Arraez, who was the MWL batting champion, notched four singles in a 4-for-4 night to lead the Kernels offense. Added to his 3-for-5 night on Wednesday in game one of the series, Arreaz finished the two-game series with a .778 batting average. photo by Steve Buhr (Luis Arraez) Casey Scoggins, who went 2-for-4 with one double on Thursday, was the only other Kernels batter with more than one hit on the night. All of the Kernels’ meaningful offense came in the bottom half of the third inning. After falling behind Wisconsin 1-0 in the top half of the third, Scoggins shot a double down the right field line and moved to third base on a groundout. With two outs, Arraez dropped an RBI single into left field and then scored on a Zander Wiel triple to right-center. Travis Blankenhorn’s single to right field scored Wiel for the final run of the game. Tom Hackimer threw 2 scoreless innings of relief, striking out four in the process. Anthony McIver came on in the ninth to nail down the save. The sweep means the Kernels have earned a day off on Friday before starting round two of the MWL playoffs with a home game against Clinton on Saturday. Clinton, a Mariners affiliate, swept Peoria in two games, as well. Game time Saturday is set for 4:00 pm. Game 2 and, if necessary, a deciding game 3, of the Western Division playoffs will be played Sunday and Monday at Clinton. Click here to view the article