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The Cedar Rapids Kernels spotted visiting Clinton a pair of runs in the first inning of the opening game in their 3-game Midwest League Western Division championship series on Saturday, but after that it was all Kernels as they clobbered the Lumber Kings 9-3. Kernels starter Brady Anderson worked through trouble in each of the first three innings, giving up seven hits, walking a pair and surrendering all three of the runs Clinton would score on the night.With the score knotted at 3-3, Andrew Vasquez, who hadn’t pitched in a game since facing Clinton six days earlier, took the mound for Cedar Rapids to begin the fourth inning and shut down the Lumber Kings for four shutout innings, surrendering just one hit while striking out six. Kernels manager Jake Mauer was appreciative of Vasquez’s work. “He (Vasquez) calmed the game down pretty quick,” Mauer said afterward. “Anderson wasn’t his best and had a hard time putting people away. Andrew had a bunch of rest and he was ready to throw. They had a hard time with his breaking ball.” By the time Vasquez gave way to Max Cordy in the eighth inning, the Kernels offense had plated six more runs, half of them powered by Christian Ibarra’s fifth inning 3-run home run. Ibarra also had a second inning double, driving in Kevin Garcia with the Kernels’ first run of the night. In addition to Ibarra, Luis Arraez, Casey Scoggins, Jaylin Davis and Garcia each also chipped in two hits for Cedar Rapids. Travis Blankenhorn went his teammates one better, however, contributing three hits to the Kernels offense, all singles, and lifting his postseason batting average to an even .500 (6-for-12 in three games). He also drove in a run and scored once. Blankenhorn is one of three Kernels hitting .500 or better in the postseason. Zander Wiel is also at .500 and Arraez is stroking at .692. Blankenhorn didn’t play his first game for the Kernels until August 9, but he has adjusted to Midwest League pitching quickly. “I’m adjusted here,” Blankenhorn, the Twins’ third-round draft pick in 2015, said. “I’ve been playing with these guys a little while now. I think we’re all getting comfortable and starting to hit as a team. We hit very well as a team tonight. “We had some guys that came up with some big hits with runners on base, got a couple RBIs and scored a couple runs.” Cordy contributed a perfect inning of relief work in the eighth inning and Patrick McGuff worked himself into – and out of – a bases-loaded jam in the ninth inning to cap off the win for Cedar Rapids. Cedar Rapids will travel to Clinton for game 2 of the series on Sunday, with game time scheduled for 6:35. If a game 3 is necessary, it will be played Monday evening, also in Clinton. Click here to view the article

It was a beautiful Saturday across the upper Midwest. There was a full slate of games in the Twins system. While there weren't any standout performances there were a lot of players worthy of recognition on this night. Please feel free to ask questions about anything you read today or anything in the Twins farm system in the comments.Continue reading to find out more detail about Saturday in the Twins farm system: RED WINGS REPORT Rochester @ Lehigh Valley IronPigs Box Score Kind of a forgettable night for the Red Wings, except for Trevor Plouffe, who played first base and hit third. He was 2-4 with a home run, a double and a pair of RBIs. Unfortunately the rest of the Red Wings went a combined 1-26 with 12 strikeouts. Byung Ho Park was 0-4 with a pair of strikeouts. Starter Andrew Albers was tagged with his fifth loss of the year to fall to 9-5 after four innings of five-run ball. He gave up eight hits, walked three, and didn't bother to strike anyone out. He also gave up a pair of home runs. D.J. Baxendale pitched great in relief, giving up just a pair of hits over 3.0 scoreless innings. J.T.Chargois gave up two runs (one earned) in the eighth inning to finish things up for the Red Wings staff. Final: Red Wings 2, IronPigs 7 LOOKOUTS LOOK-IN Jacksonville Suns @ Chattanooga Box Score Chattanooga scored all of their runs in one inning, putting a three-spot on the board in the bottom of the sixth. That sixth inning included a Levi Michael triple, a hit batsman, a sacrifice bunt that left the bunter on second base, a single, a pitching change, a stolen base, a strikeout, a ground out, a walk, another stolen base, and it finally ended with a strikeout of the eighth man in the inning to bat. Starter Kohl Stewart picked up the win to move to 6-5 with eight innings of solid work. Stewart struck out just two and walked four and gave up seven hits, including a home run, but yielded just two runs. Jake Reed came on for the ninth and pitched a 1-2-3 inning to earn his third save of the year. Final: Jacksonville 2, Lookouts 3 MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers @ Charlotte Stone Crabs Box Score The Miracle used a three-run first to get out in front of the Stone Crabs, but then did not score again. Their pitching staff gave up a pair of runs in the bottom half of the first, another run in the second, and fell behind after giving up another run in the third. They would give up one more run in the eighth, to give Charlotte some insurance. No Miracle hitter had more than one hit, but DH Tanner English (hitting leadoff) picked up three walks as part of an 0-2 night and T.J. White hit a two-run home run as part of that three-run first inning. Starting pitcher Fernando Romero pitched only three innings, giving up five hits, four runs, three earned, with two walks, one strike out and zero home runs (if only he had managed to pitch 6 innings we'd have a lovely 6/5/4/3/2/1/0 line). Todd Van Steensel gave the Miracle 2.1 scoreless innings, Randy Rosario did the same over 1.2, and then Luke Bard gave up a run in the eighth to end the night. Final: Miracle 3, Stone Crabs 5 KERNELS KORNER Peoria Chiefs @ Cedar Rapids Box Score Christian Ibarra (2-4 with a home run, a walk, and two runs scored) led the way for the Kernels in defeat, and Nelson Molina (3-4 with an RBI) helped out, but otherwise the Kernels bats were quiet, garnering just one more hit from the rest of the team. Starter Lachlan Wells earned a no-decision despite leaving after seven innings while down three runs when the Kernels rallied to tie the game in the eighth. Reliever Logan Lombana pitched a scoreless eighth. Unfortunately the Chiefs got to reliever Anthony McIver in his second frame, the tenth inning, giving up three runs on three hits and a pair of walks. He struck out one. Final: Chiefs 7, Kernels 4 E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton @ Johnson City Cardinals Box Score Not much doing in Elizabethton as the Twins lost by three runs (and committed three errors), despite out-hitting the Cardinals 9-6. The Twins didn't manage any extra- base hits, just 9 singles. Lewin Diaz was 2-4 and Roberto Gonzalez was also 2-4, the only hitters with multiple hits. Twins starter Sean Poppen fell to 2-3 with the loss, pitching 5.0 innings giving up six hits, five runs, four earned. He struck out four, walked two and gave up a home run. He was replaced by Austin Tribby and eventually Tribby gave way to Quin Grogan. The two relievers combined to throw 3.0 innings of no-hit baseball, but the game was already out of hand. Final: E-Twins 2, Cardinals 5 GCL TWINS TALK GCL Red Sox @ GCL Twins Box Score Ten hits for the GCL Twins, including a 3-4 night from Justin Hazard (great name), which included a double. Heiker Meneses had a nice night as well, going 2-4 with a walk. Bo Hellquist had a nice start, giving up one run over 6.0 innings. He gave up five hits, walked no one and struck out a pair. Callan Pearce was tagged with the loss giving up a run in 2.1 innings or relief. Garrett Kelly recorded the final two outs of the night and gave up a run as well. Final: GCL Red Sox 3, GCL Twins 2 DSL TWINS TAKES DSL Twins @ DSL D-backs2 Box Score The DSL Twins pitched a one-hitter, giving up a double to the leadoff batter in the bottom of the ninth inning. I'm not sure what happened, and sometimes weird things happen in the DSL, but despite not recording any outs in the bottom half of the ninth inning, the game ended after the double. Juan Mojica pitched six innings of no-hit ball, walked one, and struck out six to start the night for the Twins. Frandy Torres pitched two more hitless innings, and then Amilcar Cruz gave up the only hit of the game, that leadoff double in the bottom of the ninth. Four DSL Twins had 2-4 nights, as the Twins racked up 11 hits and two walks against just four strike outs. Darling Cuesto and Antonio Tovar each had identical 2-4 nights with a run scored, a double, and an RBI. Jorge Parra was 1-3 with a double and three RBIs. Final: DSL Twins 6, DSL D-backs2 0 TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day - Trevor Plouffe, Rochester Red Wings Pitchers of the Day - DSL Twins Staff SUNDAY'S PROBABLES Rochester - Jason Wheeler (9-2, 2.81) Chattanooga - Omar Bencomo (3-6, 4.41) Fort Myers - Dereck Rodriguez (Fort Myers Debut) Cedar Rapids - Tyler Beardsley (Cedar Rapids Debut) E-Twins - TBD GCL Twins - OFF DSL Twins - OFF Please ask questions and discuss the Saturday games. -ERolf Click here to view the article