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There were a number of solid performances throughout the Twins farm system. There were three wins, an extra-inning loss, some good pitching, some good storylines and some very good offense. However, in Sunday’s game, there was a moment that helps remind us that these players are more than prospects, more than pieces in an organizational puzzle.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] They are very young men with families. Sometimes we have to be reminded of that. Fortunately, in this case, the news by the end of the day was more encouraging than originally thought. (see the Cedar Rapids update of this story). With that, check out what happened in the Twins minor league system on Sunday: Rochester Red Wings 6, Charlotte Knights 5 Box Score The Red Wings got a very nice win. Andrew Albers started, giving up four runs on seven hits and two walks, with four strikeouts in six innings. Aaron Thompson gave up one run on three hits in 1.1 innings. Shairon Martis then retired one batter. Tyler Robertson came on and recorded his first save by getting the final four outs, two of them on strikeouts. Antoan Richardson continues to be an on-base machine. He went 2-2 with two walks and his sixth stolen base. Deibinson Romero went 2-4 with a walk and his first stolen base. Clete Thomas and Brian Dinkelman each hit his eighth double. Oswaldo Arcia walked three times on Saturday and twice more on Sunday. New Britain Rock Cats 5, Bowie Baysox 4 Box Score Logan Darnell gave up four runs on ten hits and a walk in seven innings. He struck out six. He improved to 5-4 with a 2.76 ERA. Though it wasn’t his best performance, he continues to rack up innings. In his last five starts, he has thrown 37 innings. Dan Turpen came on and struck out two in two perfect innings for his first save. In the fifth inning, Mark Sobolewski's second Rock Cat home run cut his team's deficit to 3-2. Josmil Pinto’s three-run sixth inning home run, his ninth, gave the Rock Cats a 5-3 lead. Nate Hanson was 2-4. Ft. Myers Miracle 8, Palm Beach Cardinals 1 (6 innings) Box Score The rain and the Miracle won on Sunday. With two outs in the bottom of the 6th, the game was called. Fortunately, the Miracle bats had gotten off to a very fast start and the team had a big lead when the game was called. The Miracle scored five runs in the top of the first. Eddie Rosario singled in a run. Kennys Vargas doubled in two. That was followed by a two-run homer by Matt Koch, his second. In the second inning, the Miracle scored three more runs. Vargas doubled in another run. Koch and Jairo Rodriguez each singled in a run. Vargas now has 17 doubles. Rosario and Levi Michael were both 2-3. Taylor Rogers was named the Twins minor league player of the week and he was also the recipient of the early run support. Rogers went all 5.2 innings. He gave up one run on six hits; he walked none and struck out one. He is now 5-1 with a 1.35 ERA since his promotion to the Miracle. Cedar Rapids Kernels 2, Kane County 3 (10 innings) Box Score The story of this game, both good and bad, was Niko Goodrum. In the third inning, Goodrum came to the plate in a tied game and gave the Twins a 2-0 lead with a two-run single. He proceeded to steal second base. The next batter, Jorge Polanco, singled to left. Goodrum rounded third and attempted to score. The ball beat him by plenty to the plate. There was a collision and Goodrum went down; he was on the ground for quite some time. His neck was secured, he was put on a back board and left the park in an ambulance. Before leaving, he did wave to the crowd. Niko went through some tests at the hospital and was then released. He will be put on the disabled list with a concussion. A corresponding move will likely be made early Monday morning according to manager Jake Mauer. Photo by Rinaldi Photos From a team standpoint, that was about it for the offense. In fact, they didn't score again. Tyler Grimes and Dalton Hicks were each 2-3 with a walk. Michael Quesada went 2-4 with his third double. Hudson Boyd started for the Kernels. The right-hander made a quality start., finishing six innings. He gave up two runs on six hits, walking two and striking out six. One of Kane County's runs came on the 8th home run of the season for 1B Dan Vogelbach. Interestingly, Vogelbach and Boyd were teammates at Bishop Verot High School in Ft. Myers. They had both committed to the University of Florida but in 2011 Boyd was drafted 55th overall by the Twins, and Vogelbach was selected by the Cubs with the 68th overall pick. They both joined the ranks of the professionals. Josue Montanez came on and threw two scoreless innings. He walked one and gave up two hits. Tyler Jones pitched a scoreless ninth, but he gave up a run in the 10th to take the loss. DSL Twins, DSL Reds (Game Postponed by Rain) Please feel free to comment or ask questions below. View full article

As has been the case throughout most of the first two months of the 2013 season, the excitement tonight in the Twins minor league system came from the bottom two levels. The Ft. Myers Miracle and Cedar Rapids Kernels combined to score 28 runs. One prospect drilled two home runs in a game. Vance Worley made his second start with Rochester. Was he able to duplicate he quality of his first game? And which Alex Meyer showed up on Saturday?[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] The Twins minor leagues have had quite a few walk-off wins already this year. It was also fun watching the big league club get a walk-off win Saturday afternoon. With that, check out what happened in the Twins minor league system on Saturday, including the Dominican Summer League opener: Rochester Red Wings 3, Charlotte Knights 4 Box Score Vance Worley took the mound for his second Red Wings start. His first was a complete game shutout. His second- not so much. He gave up a first inning run. Then he gave up three runs in the second. Not a good start, but he did go on to throw five shutout innings. Overall, he gave up four runs on ten hits and a walk in seven innings. He struck out seven. Luis Perdomo struck out one in a scoreless ninth inning. The Red Wings had plenty of scoring opportunities. They had eight hits and they also walked 12 times. Somehow they managed to score just three runs. Antoan Richardson led off and went 1-2 with three walks and his fifth stolen base. Oswaldo Arcia was 1-2 with three walks. His sixth Red Wings home run came in the ninth inning and cut the deficit to one. Jeff Clement was 2-4. New Britain Rock Cats 4, Bowie Baysox 3 Box Score Alex Meyer has been, at times solid, but quite inconsistent for the Rock Cats this season. On this evening he was terrific. The lanky right-handed starter went 6.1 innings. He gave up one run on two hits and two walks. He struck out a season-high ten. Blake Martin came on and gave up two runs on two hits and two walks. AJ Achter came on and got the final five outs for his third save. He gave up two hits and a walk but no runs. James Beresford led the way offensively by going 3-4 with his fifth stolen base. He’s now hitting .338 and inexplicably remaining in AA. Danny Ortiz was 2-4. Danny Santana was very good in May and, in the first game in June, went 2-4 with his 10th and 11th stolen bases. Nate Hanson and Curt Smith each doubled. Ft. Myers Miracle 13, Palm Beach Cardinals 4 Box Score The Miracle offense exploded in this game. Angel Morales is also inexplicably still in Ft. Myers. It’s his third season with the Miracle and he had a terrific month of May. In this game he was 3-4 with two doubles. Kennys Vargas was 3-6. Eddie Rosario went 3-5 with his fifth triple. Andy Leer went 2-4 with two walks and his fourth home run. Aderlin Mejia was 2-5 with a walk. Jhon Goncalves went 2-6. Tom Stuifbergen was the recipient of the run support. The Dutch right-hander went six innings. He gave up three runs on seven hits. He walked none and struck out three. Chad Rodgers threw two shutout innings. He gave up two hits, walked two and struck out one. Nelvin Fuentes gave up a run on a hit in an inning. Cedar Rapids Kernels 15, Kane County 2 Box Score Byron Buxton was given a rare night off, and the Kernels’ bats took off. Fifteen runs on fifteen hits and nine walks make for a pretty good day. Dalton Hicks led the way. The burly first baseman went 3-4 with a walk, his sixth and seventh homers and four RBI. Tyler Grimes went 3-3 with two walks and a triple. Jeremias Pineda went 2-3 with two walks and his first home run. JD Williams and Niko Goodrum were each 2-5 with a walk and a double. Jorge Polanco and Adam Walker each added a double. Photo by Rinaldi Photos Lefty Brett Lee was appreciative of the run support, though he needed not much of it. He gave up two runs (1 earned) on seven hits and two walks in seven innings. He struck out four. Finishing the game, Manuel Soliman struck out four in two perfect innings. DSL Twins 5, DSL Orioles 6 Box Score This was opening day in the Dominican Summer League. The Twins squad used seven pitchers to get through nine innings. Onesimo Hernandez gave up one run on four hits (and a hit batter) in three innings. He struck out thre. Carlos Aponte gave up two runs on two hits and a hit batter in one inning. Sebastian Perez gave up one run on two hits in two innings. Robener Cabrera gave up an unearned run on one hit and a walk in one innings. Johan Quezada walked two and struck out two in one scoreless inning. Rendis Reyes got two outs, though he gave up one run on two walks. Ezequiel Zarzuela got the final out. The offense was led by 17-year-old catcher Rainis Silva who went 2-4. Rafael Valera and Carlos Martinez each doubled. Please feel free to comment or ask questions below. View full article

Things were pretty tough in the Twins farm system on Wednesday night. However, on Thursday, there were plenty of highlights for each of the four Twins affiliates. There were several great pitching performances. There were a lot of really strong hitting performances with multiple multi-hit games and some big home runs. One team ended one long streak, and another hopes to have started another long streak. A couple of bullpen arms continued their early-season dominance. One pitcher threw six one-hit innings. Another pitcher had a no-hitter through four innings. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Drew Leachman was removed from the Cedar Rapids Disabled List and returned to their lineup. Matt Tomshaw was put on the 7-Day DL for the Kernels. Josue Montanez was sent back to Extended Spring Training. Oh, and it has been verified that J. O. Berrios has been added to the Kernels roster. The Twins had an off day and flew to Chicago to start a weekend series. There is a lot of information today, plenty for those Adopt-A-Prospect forums! Rochester Red Wings 5, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 4 Box Score It has been a rough and disappointing start to the season for the Rochester Red Wings. Coming into the game, the team was 2-11 and had lost seven straight games. The offense had also not scored a run in 20 innings. The Red Wings got things going in the first inning and were able to hang on for the win. In the first inning, Eric Farris led off with a single. Chris Herrmann scored him on an opposite field double. Clete Thomas singled in Herrmann. Then Chris Colabello launched a towering, two-run blast, his fifth homer of the season. It gave the Red Wings a 4-0 lead before there was an out recorded. In the third inning, Chris Herrmann scored on a fielder’s choice by Colabello for the final run of the game for the Wings. Of course, the offense pretty much stopped after the first four batters. They had just two more hits the rest of the game. Herrmann was 2-3 with a walk and a double. Even Bigley, in his first game back with the Red Wings, went 1-2 with a walk. Virgil Vasquez started and went the first five innings. He gave up two runs (1 earned) on six hits. He walked two and struck out three. Daniel Turpen gave up three hits over the next 1.2 innings while striking out two. Tyler Robertson came on with runners on and two outs in the 7th. He notched a big strikeout. Luis Perdomo got his first save of the year. He went the final two innings, giving up two solo home runs, but got the final out of the Red Wings third win. New Britain Rock Cats 17, Portland Sea Dogs 1 Box Score The goal of any baseball team in any baseball game is to get some runs to support good pitching. Well, in this game, the offense was a bit extreme, and that’s a good thing, but it shouldn’t hide some pretty solid pitching too. 17 runs. 21 hits. 7 walks. The Rock Cats offense came to play. Antoan Richardson went 4-6 with a walk, his second double and his seventh stolen base. James Beresford went 3-3 with three walks and his, you guessed it, third stolen base. Curt Smith went 3-5 with his third double and first home run. Josmil Pinto went 3-6. Reynaldo Rodriguez walked and hit his fourth and fifth doubles. Danny Ortiz went 2-6 with his sixth double. Jhon Goncalves went 2-6 with his first double. All nine Rock Cats batters had at least one hit. Alex Meyer was a little wild but very effective. The lanky righty went the first six innings without giving up a run. He yielded up one hit, walked four and struck out five. Edgar Ibarra came on and worked the 7th and 8th innings. He gave up one run on two hits and two walks. Bobby Lanigan pitched a 1, 2, 3 ninth inning. Ft. Myers Miracle 11, St. Lucie Mets 8 Box Score After starting the season with 12 straight wins, the Miracle finally took their first loss of the 2013 season on Wednesday night. On Thursday, they traveled across the state to play the St. Lucie Mets looking to start a new streak. Thanks to their bats and tremendous bullpen work, the Miracle improved to 13-1 on the season. Things started out well for the Miracle. In the top of the first, AJ Pettersen led off with a double. He came around to score on Miguel Sano’s fifth home run of the year. Pettersen led the offense with three hits. He was 3-5 with his third double and his second stolen base. Sano was 2-4 with a walk and three RBI. Kyle Knudson went 2-5 with his second double. Down 7-6 in the 7th, Kennys Vargas knocked a two-run double to give the Miracle the lead and they didn’t look back. Vargas was 2-4 and the double was his fourth. Lance Ray went 2-3 with two walks and his third double. Madison Boer started and gave up seven runs on six hits and four walks in 2.1 innings. He struck out two. Nelvin Fuentes came on and gave up a run on two hits and a walk in 2.2 innings. He struck out three. Then in the fifth inning the dominant bullpen came in. Ryan O’Rourke has been the guy to come on in close games, often to see the Miracle take the lead. Reflecting this, O’Rourke's record improved to 4-0. He pitched two innings and struck out one. Zack Jones came on and recorded his fifth save by working the final two innings. He walked one and struck out three. Early in the season O’Rourke has pitched nine innings and given up no runs on two hits and a walk while striking out seven. Jones has thrown eight shutout innings. He has allowed one hit, walked two and struck out ten. Cedar Rapids Kernels 4, Peoria Chiefs 13 Box Score Things started out so well for the Kernels on this night, but it didn’t take long for things to completely turn around. The Kernels took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on an Adam Walker RBI single. In the second, a Tyler Grimes triple was followed by JD Williams’ first home run of the year. Taylor Rogers started and through four innings he had given up no hits. However, things went sour in the fifth inning. Rogers gave up eight earned runs on seven hits and two walks in 4.1 innings. Manuel Soliman was called on and was hit for five runs (2 earned) on four hits and two walks. Chris Mazza came on and gave up two runs and struck out two in 2.1 scoreless innings. Byron Buxton went 2-4 with a walk and his fifth stolen base. Niko Goodrum went 2-4 with a walk and his fourth double. Dalton Hicks and Adam Walker were each 2-5 with an RBI. Please feel free to comment or ask questions below. View full article

The Twins and the Red Sox had a nice three hour rain delay, and fans were treated to The Sandlot during the delay. There was plenty of excitement in the Twins minor league system as well. One of the Twins' top prospects almost made a little bit of history. One of the Twins minor league affiliates won on a walk off. A couple of non-roster players continued to make their cases for a big league roster spot. With that, check out what happened with the Twins minor league teams on Sunday:[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Rochester Red Wings 11, Lehigh Valley IronPigs 0 Box Score In an attempt not to be too obvious about what to write about to this game, I’m going to write it up a little differently. Let’s try writing this like a hockey post-game and name three stars: Third Star – CF Antoan Richardson – The diminutive leadoff hitter did about as well at his leadoff duties as anyone could hope. The job of a leadoff hitter is to get on base. Richardson was 2-3 with three walks, his third double and his first triple with the Red Wings. He also stole his second base. The former big leaguer should be considered a possible Aaron Hicks replacement when the Twins decide to send him down. Second Star – 1B Chris Colabello – Normally a day like Colabello had on Sunday would be an easy choice for top performance on his team. Colabello went 4-5 with his 16th and 17th doubles of the year. He was also hit by a pitch. The 29-year-old is now hitting .361/.419/.657 (1.076) through 44 games. He has 17 doubles and 11 home runs. He should be coming to the Twins soon. First Star – RHP – Kyle Gibson – Through 7 2/3 innings, the former first-round pick did not allow a hit. With two outs in the 8th inning, he gave up a slicing double down the left field line that landed inches inside the foul line. He gave up a bloop single and a seeing-eye roller through the right side of the infield to lead off the 9th inning. He proceeded to get a strikeout and a ground-ball double play to end the game. Gibson threw his second nine-inning shutout in his past three starts. He ended with three hits allowed, he walked two and struck out eight to reduce his ERA to 3.25 on the year. Maybe the most impressive thing about his performance was that he needed just 93 pitches to do it! And, like the first two stars, Gibson should be performing in a Twins uniform very soon. Ray Olmedo went 3-5. Jeff Clement was 2-6 with his fourth double. New Britain Rock Cats 4, New Hampshire Fisher Cats 7 Box Score The return of BJ Hermsen from his intercostal (rib muscle) injury has been slow. In this start, he gave up four runs on eight hits and two walks in five innings. Two of the hits were home runs. Bobby Lanigan came on and was charged with two unearned runs in his two innings. Jose Gonzalez pitched the final two innings. He struck out two and he allowed one run. A year ago in New Britain, Deibinson Romero hit 23 doubles and 19 home runs. Because of some visa investigations in the Dominican Republic this spring, Romero was unable to get to the States. He had been invited to big league camp for the second time (he was on the 40 man roster several years ago), but he could not make it out of the DR. He was likely scheduled to spend the season in Rochester; instead he was returned to New Britain six weeks into the season. On Sunday, he played in his sixth game with the Rock Cats and went 3-4 with his first home run. It raises his average on the season to .304. Danny Ortiz was 2-4. Ft. Myers Miracle 0, Charlotte Stone Crabs 2 Box Score Matt Summers gave up a single run in the first inning and another in the sixth inning; that was more than enough scoring for the Stone Crabs on this day. Summers went 5.1 innings and gave up the two runs on six hits. He walked one and struck out two. Nelvin Fuentes came on and walked one and struck out one in 1.2 innings. Zack Jones struck out one in his perfect inning. Kyle Knudson led the offense. He went 2-3 with a walk. Levi Michael went 2-5. Kennys Vargas, Andy Leer and Angel Morales each hit a double. Cedar Rapids Kernels 8, Kane County Cougars 7 Box Score On Sunday, the Kernels recorded their third walk-off win in their past four games. Kane County tied the game at 7 in the top of the ninth, but the Kernels quickly came back to win this one. In the bottom of the inning, JD Williams led off with a double. After a pitching change, Byron Buxton bunted him to third base. Though it was a sacrifice bunt, those in attendance, including manager Jake Mauer who argued the call, believed that Buxton beat the throw to first base. With one out and a runner at third base, the Kane County manager did the obvious, calling for intentional walks to Niko Goodrum and Jorge Polanco to load the bases for Dalton Hicks. Hicks is no stranger to dramatic walk-offs. Recall last year, he came to the plate in the 12th inning of the Appalachian League championship game and promptly hit a championship-winning grand slam. He didn’t need to be as dramatic this time. He flied out to left field, but it was deep enough to allow the speedy Williams to score from third base. Jorge Polanco went 2-3 with two walks, his sixth triple and his first stolen base. Hicks went 2-4 with three RBI. Candido Pimentel was 2-4 with his second double and his fifth and sixth stolen bases. JD Williams was 2-4 with his eighth double and fourth home run. Travis Harrison hit his sixth home run. Byron Buxton stole his 18th base and scored two runs. Matt Tomshaw started and gave up five runs on six hits in six innings. He walked one and struck out seven. Alex Muren came on and threw two shutout innings. However, in the ninth inning, he gave up a two-run homer that tied the game. He walked none and struck out three. Please feel free to comment or ask questions below. View full article

Overall, it was not a good day for the Minnesota Twins’ minor league affiliates. However, you’ll want to see what the Cedar Rapids Kernels’ most productive and most exciting hitters did on Tuesday. Kyle Gibson was back on the mound for the first time since his complete game shutout. How did the Red Wings right-hander follow up his strong performance? Antoan Richardson performed the duties of leadoff hitter very well. Cedar Rapids also made several transactions. Check out what happened in the Twins farm system on Tuesday:[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Rochester Red Wings 4, Durham Bulls 7 Box Score In his previous start, Kyle Gibson threw a complete game shutout against the offensively-challenged Toledo Mud Hens. He threw 114 pitches, so his next start was pushed back a day. On Tuesday night, he faced the good offense of the Durham Bulls. It didn’t go so well. He gave up four runs on seven hits and a walk in just three innings. Tyler Robertson came on and worked two innings. He gave up a run on one hit and one walk, striking out two. Dan Turpen came on and gave up two runs on three hits in two innings; he walked one and struck out one. Luis Perdomo came on and gave up one hit over two innings. Antoan Richardson went 3-4 with a walk and a stolen base. Ray Olmedo went 2-4 with a walk. Chris Colabello was 2-5. On Wednesday, Cole De Vries will make his third rehab start, first with the Red Wings. New Britain Rock Cats 2, Bowie Baysox 8 Box Score BJ Hermsen made his longest start of the season. He worked six innings. He gave up four unearned runs on five hits and two walks. He struck out four. Edgar Ibarra pitched a scoreless seventh inning, walking one and striking out one. Bobby Lanigan pitched the eighth inning and gave up four runs on four hits. The Rock Cat bats managed just four hits. Danny Ortiz hit his 11th double. Jason Christian hit his second triple. Pat Dean will make the start on Wednesday for New Britain. Ft. Myers Miracle 3, Dunedin Blue Jays 9 Box Score It wasn’t a good night for the Miracle. Matt Summers started and gave up three runs on five hits. In 5.2 innings he walked three and struck out five. Chad Rodgers came on and gave up four unearned runs on four hits and a walk in 1.1 innings. Dakota Watts pitched the final two innings and gave up two runs on four hits. Levi Michael went 2-4 with his fifth double and the lone Miracle error. Aderlin Mejia was also 2-4. The two combined for four of the team’s six hits. On Wednesday, Tom Stuifbergen will make the start for the Miracle. Cedar Rapids Kernels 5, Burlington Bees 4 Box Score The Kernels may have only had four hits in this game, but they got a pretty big hit from a pretty big guy who has been a pretty big, productive performer all year. Adam Walker came to the plate in the 6th inning of a tied game. For the third time this season he hit a grand slam. On the year, Walker is now hitting .309/.356/.655 with ten doubles, four triples, ten home runs and 44 RBI in 35 games. 24 of his 43 hits have gone for extra bases. This home run went over the batter’s eye in center field, a monstrous blast. As Jeff Johnson of The Gazette (Cedar Rapids) tweeted, “Cover Kernels since ’99, seen vast majority of games in new ballpark, see 2 balls hit over batter’s eye previously. 2 this year.” Dalton Hicks hit one over the eye earlier this season, and Kennys Vargas did it once last year in a Beloit uniform. Jim Crikket was at the game and tweeted, “Walker is now 5-for-6 with the bases loaded this season. 3 of those hits are grand slams.” Photo by Rinaldi Photos The Kernels added an important insurance run an inning later. Byron Buxton hit a routine fly ball to centerfield. The centerfielder dropped the ball and kicked it around a bit. In the meantime, Buxton raced all the way around the bases. I’m sure Mr. Crikket will read this (maybe?) and be able to tell us more, but I envision a guy running around the bases really, really quickly. Lefty Brett Lee was very impressive on the mound. He threw six shutout innings before his own throwing error led to two unearned runs in the seventh inning. He gave up eight hits, but walked just one and struck out ten for the win. Coming into the game, he had 13 strikeouts in 24.2 innings. He now has 23 strikeouts (and seven walks) in 31.2 innings on the year. Manuel Soliman came on and threw a scoreless eighth before being charged with two in the ninth. David Hurlbut got the final two outs to record his third save. Hudson Boyd will make the start on Wednesday for the Kernels. On Tuesday, the Kernels made several transactions. Lefty Josue Montanez returns to the team. Michael Quesada was officially added to the roster after his 50 game suspension. Jeremias Pineda, who came to the Twins last August in the Danny Valencia trade, was promoted to Cedar Rapids as well. Romy Jimenez, on his birthday, was sent down to Extended Spring Training. Please feel free to comment or ask questions below. View full article

On July 2nd, the Rochester Red Wings were 11 games behind Pawtucket in the International League Northern Division. With a win tonight, and a Pawtucket loss, the Red Wings are now 60-51 and in sole possession of first place in the division. The Red Wings have now won 19 games in July, their most since 1999. Defense has been a big part of the Red Wings success. They have not committed an error in their last nine games, a span covering 82 innings. In fact, looking at errors, the Red Wings' 66 miscues on the season are the fewest in all minor league baseball. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Check out what else happened in the Twins Minor League system on Monday: Rochester 5, Norfolk 3 Box Score It’s been a pretty busy week for PJ Walters. On Friday, he became a father again to a little girl. He had very little sleep and caught a 6 a.m. flight to Rochester to make the start on Monday night. They immediately put him to work, and Walters came through. He needed 116 pitches to complete seven innings, but he gave up just one run on seven hits. He walked three and struck out five. He got the win and is now 5-2 with a 3.57 ERA with the Red Wings. Cody Eppley came on to start the eighth inning, but he got just one out and left with runners on first and third after giving up two hits and a walk. Aaron Thompson came in and preserved the 5-3 lead for the Red Wings. Michael Tonkin came on for the ninth inning and gave up one hit and no runs to record his seventh Red Wings save. Antoan Richardson led the offense. He went 3-4 with his 13th double. Oswaldo Arcia gave the team a lead in the third inning when he hit his 10th homer. He was 2-3 and was hit by a pitch. Eduardo Escobar was 2-4 with his fifth double. New Britain No game Scheduled. Ft. Myers 5, Daytona 0 Box Score Lefty Matt Tomshaw began the 2013 season in the Cedar Rapids bullpen; since his promotion to the Miracle he has been primarily a starter. The crafty southpaw had his best start of the year, throwing eight shutout innings. He gave up four hits, walked three and hit one while striking out four. Nelvin Fuentes gave up one hit in a scoreless ninth inning to maintain the shutout. Plenty of hitters helped the Miracle to this win. Byron Buxton went 2-5 with his sixth stolen base. Stephen Wickens was 2-4 with his seventh stolen base. Dalton Hicks was 2-4 with a walk. JD Williams went 1-2 with two walks and his sixth stolen base. Matt Koch went 1-2 with a walk, was hit by a pitch and hit his sixth home run of the season. Former Twins starter Scott Baker, rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, started the game for the Cubs. He went 3.1 innings and gave up two runs (1 earned) on three this. He walked two and struck out two. Cedar Rapids 4, Clinton 3 Box Score JO Berrios started this closely contested game. The young right-hander went the first six innings. He gave up three runs on five hits. He walked three and struck out two. Alex Muren came on and gave up one hit and two walks in two scoreless innings; he improved to 6-1 since his promotion to the Kernels. Brian Gilbert came on for the 9th inning and recorded the save. Max Kepler gave the Kernels an early lead with a two-run double, his eighth of the season. He later scored on a wild pitch to tie the game. Travis Harrison went 2-4 and scored the go-ahead run. Jeremias Pineda went 2-4 with his fifth double. Adam Walker hit his 24th double and stole his eighth base. The Kernels are now 65-39 after their three-game sweep of the LumberKings. Elizabethton 0, Kingsport 4 Box Score Felix Jorge started and gave up one run in each of the first three innings. One of them was unearned. He went four innings and gave up six hits, walked two and struck out seven. Andrew Ferreira gave up a run on one hit and three walks in 1.2 innings. He struck out three. Austin Malinowski came on and struck out four in 3.1 scoreless innings. He gave up one hit and walked one. There was not much offense for the E-Twins on this night. Carlos Avila went 1-1 with two walks. Mitch Garver hit his seventh double. GCL Twins 9, GCL Orioles 4 Box Score The Twins were down 3-2 going into the bottom of the 7th inning. Brian Navarreto stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and connected for his third home run. The team added three more runs in the 8th. Jorge Fernandez went 3-4 with his second stolen base. Will Hurt and Adonis Pacheco each tripled. Wilkin Ramirez returned to the field and went 1-2 with a double. Darin Mastroianni was in a game for the first time in a long time. He went 1-3 with two RBI. Alex Wimmers started and worked the first four innings. He gave up one run on two hits. He walked two and struck out six. Dan Sattler gave up two runs (1 earned) on one hit and one walk in just 0.2 innings. Tyler Stirewalt gave up two hits in the next 1.1 innings. Zach Hayden gave up one hit, walked one and struck out one in his inning. Jose Abreu recorded his third save, giving up one run on four hits in the final two innings. Amaurys Minier has not played since leaving a game on July 24. He has a strained quad. Thanks for checking out today’s Twins minor league report. Please feel free to discuss, comment or ask questions. View full article

After eight Minnesota Twins minor league games to report on Thursday night, it was nice that all six Twins' affiliates played just one game on Friday night. There were a couple of one-run losses, and a walk-off win. Two teams had little offense, and the one team that seemingly gets big offense every day did so again. Brett Lee was easily the pitcher of the day with a complete game when his team needed it the most. With the extreme struggles and frustrations surrounding the Twins' big league team, it’s nice to have some good teams and terrific prospects to follow throughout the minor leagues. Here is a look at what happened in the Twins farm system Friday:[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Rochester 7, Pawtucket 8 Box Score PJ Walters returned to the Red Wings rotation Friday night. He started with three scoreless innings before giving up one in the fourth and three in the fifth. He allowed those four runs on five hits in 4.1 innings. He walked four and struck out three. Luis Perdomo gave up two runs on a hit and two walks over 1.2 innings. He struck out three. Blake Martin gave up two runs on two hits and two walks (while striking out two) in one inning. AJ Achter threw a 1-2-3 inning. Antoan Richardson provided much of the offense on this night. The speedster went 4-5 with three doubles (12 on the year). Chris Colabello went 1-3 with two walks. Doug Bernier hit his fifth triple. New Britain 1, Trenton 4 Box Score The offense was pretty much non-existent for the Rock Cats in this game. They managed just six hits. Miguel Sano and Josmil Pinto were both 1-2 with two walks. DJ Baxendale took the mound. The righty gave up three runs (2 earned) on nine hits and a walk in 4.2 innings. He struck out two. After that point, the bullpen got some usage. Cole Johnson came on and struck out two over the next four outs. BJ Hermsen gave up a hit and recorded a strikeout in his scoreless inning. Dan Turpen entered and gave up a run on a hit and recorded just one out. Tom Stuifbergen came on and got the final two outs of that inning. Matt Hauser worked a scoreless inning. Ft. Myers 0, Lakeland 5 Box Score Speaking of little offense, the Miracle were shut out Friday night. Jhon Goncalves went 2-3 with a walk and his 18th double. Byron Buxton went 1-3 with a walk. Levi Michael went 1-2 with two walks. Manuel Soliman started and went 4.1 innings. He was charged with four runs on seven hits. He walked three and struck out two. Chad Rodgers came on and gave up one run on two hits in 2.2 innings. He walked one and struck out two. Zack Jones pitched the final two innings. He gave up two hits and no runs; he struck out four. Cedar Rapids 7, Dayton 1 Box Score On Thursday night, Kernels pitchers gave up 13 runs on 11 hits and ten walks. Manager Jake Mauer was none too happy about it, and he told the Metro Sports Report after the game, “We’ve just got to get better. These guys have to find a way to throw the ball over the plate.” Later, he added, “You’ve got to go out there and you’ve got to compete. It’s your day. You just have to do it one day a week. That’s all we ask.” On Friday night, Brett Lee competed, giving Mauer and his Kernels teammates exactly what they needed. The left-hander went nine innings for his team. He gave up one run on five hits. He threw strikes, walked one and he struck out three. He improved to 6-4 with a 3.54 ERA on the season. Photo by Cedar Rapids Kernels Adam Walker led the offense. He gave the Kernels an early lead with a long, three-run home run, his fifteenth of the season. He was 2-4 and added another RBI. Dalton Hicks went 1-3 with a walk and his 29th double. Elizabethton 6, Bristol 5 Box Score The E-Twins came from behind to win this game. Down a run in the 8th frame, Stuart Turner doubled in the tying run. Then, with two on and two out in the bottom of the ninth, Mitch Garver singled in Bryan Haar with the winning run. Haar was 3-4 with a walk and his second double in the game. Garver was 3-5. Turner was 2-5 and the double was his first of the year. Rory Rhodes and Ryan Walker each added two hits. Yorman Landa started and was charged with three runs (2 earned) on five hits in five innings. He walked four and struck out six. Brandon Peterson gave up two hits in a scoreless inning. Andrew Ferreira gave up two runs on one hit and three walks in his inning. Brandon Bixler struck out four over two scoreless innings. GCL Twins 7, GCL Red Sox 8 Box Score The GCL Twins fell behind early in this one, tried to claw its way back and fell just short. Sam Gibbons started. He was charged with seven runs (3 earned) on seven hits; he walked one and struck out none. Lewis Thorpe came on and worked the next 3.2 innings. He gave up only an unearned run on three hits. He walked none and struck out five. Dan Sattler pitched another scoreless inning. Miguel Gonzalez gave up one hit and struck out three over two scoreless innings. Amaurys Minier went 2-5 with his fourth home run. Jason Kanzler was 2-4 with a triple, three RBI and his fifth stolen base. Brian Navarreto and Jonatan Hinojosa each went 2-5. Adonis Pacheco was 1-2 with two walks and his fourth double. Thanks for checking out today’s Twins minor league report. Please feel free to discuss, comment or ask questions. View full article

The Minnesota Twins had the day off. So did the Cedar Rapids Kernels and the Ft. Myers Miracle. New Britain and Rochester’s games were affected by weather, nothing new during this season. So, today’s Minor League Report may not be long, but hey, there is still baseball to write about so we’re going to do just that. There have been several transactions throughout the organization in the past week. On Wednesday, it was Drew Leachman who was promoted from Cedar Rapids to Ft. Myers. He started for the Kernels on Opening Night, but he jarred his left shoulder on a stolen base that night and didn’t play for two weeks. He went 9-21 in five games since his return, including seven hits in back-to-back games. Rochester Red Wings 6, Syracuse Chiefs 5 (Suspended – 11th) Box Score This game went to the 11th inning. Evan Bigley singled to lead off the inning. It was followed by a walk to Eric Fryer. Doug Bernier bunted the runners up a base. After Ray Olmedo was intentionally walked, Chris Herrmann came through with an RBI single to give the Red Wings a lead. At that point, the Chiefs went to change the pitcher and just then game was suspended due to rain. It will be completed on Thursday before the two teams will play their regularly scheduled nine inning game. Andrew Albers started for the Red Wings. The Canadian left-hander gave up five runs on nine hits (including 2 home runs) and two walks in six innings. He struck out six. Tyler Roberson came on and threw three shutout innings. He gave up just two hits, walked two and struck out four. Tim Wood pitched a scoreless tenth inning. So, who will come in for the save opportunity in the bottom of the 11th? Chris Herrmann photo by Brace Hemmelgarn Herrmann led the offense on this night. He went 4-6 with three RBI and his second stolen base. Chris Colabello went 2-4 with a walk. Evan Bigley was 2-4 with his first AAA homer of the year. Doug Bernier went 2-4. Ray Olmedo was 1-2 with a walk and his second double. A Joe Benson double tied the game at five. Game 1 - New Britain Rock Cats 5, New Hampshire Fisher Cats 0 Box Score Trevor May put together his best start of the season for the Rock Cats. The hard-throwing righty threw all seven innings and did not give up a run. He gave up three hits, walked three and struck out four. Antoan Richardson went 3-4. Mark Sobolewski returned to the Eastern League and went 2-4 with his first double. Reynaldo Rodriguez went 1-3 with a triple. Jhon Goncalves hit his first AA home run. Game 2 - New Britain Rock Cats 0, New Hampshire Fisher Cats 3 Box Score Lefty Pat Dean was good on this night, but not good enough, as his offense did nothing to support him. Dean went six innings in this second game of a doubleheader, scheduled for only seven innings. He gave up three runs on seven hits. He walked none and struck out three. Jhon Goncalves had a triple and was hit by a pitch. Jason Christian had the only other Rock Cats hit, a single. Alex Meyer will take the mound for the Rock Cats on Thursday when they play at 9:35 A.M.(!) central time. Ft. Myers Miracle – No Game Scheduled Cedar Rapids Kernels – No Game Scheduled Please feel free to comment or ask questions below. View full article