Search the Community

The Twins open a seven-game homestand and the big news of the day in the organization on Monday was that Max Kepler and Joe Mauer were named American League co-Players of the Week. Though two affiliates didn’t play Monday, there was still plenty of action and moves. Per Jeff Johnson, Christian Ibarra (pictured) was promoted to Fort Myers along with Manuel Guzman. Travis Blankenhorn and Brandon Lopez will join the Kernels from Elizabethton.RED WINGS REPORT Rochester - OFF DAY Trevor Plouffe’s rehab has ended and Byron Buxton’s return to AAA begins… tomorrow (we think) when the Red Wings open a series in Syracuse. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 0, Jacksonville 2 Box Score The Lookouts failed to get a hit with a runner in scoring position (0-for-4) and got shut out for the second time this month. David Hurlbut gave up two runs (one earned) in 6.2 innings. He allowed six hits and a walk. He only struck out one. He was charged with the loss and is now 7-7. Alan Busenitz made his second scoreless appearance for his new club. He still hasn’t struck anyone out. Mason Melotakis struck out two in a perfect frame. Offensively, Chattanooga spread out five singles and a Ryan Walker double, his ninth. Corcino added a walk to his single to be the only other hitter to reach safely twice. The Lookouts fall to 58-56. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers vs St. Lucis - POSTPONED, RAIN Hammond Stadium’s field was unplayable Monday night, forcing the series opener between the Miracle and the St. Lucie Mets to be postponed until Tuesday. The teams will be play two seven-innings games beginning at 4 p.m. CST. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 8, Peoria 4 Box Score The duo of Christian Ibarra and Luis Arraez (pictured above) combined for seven hits, two doubles, a walk, three runs and five RBIs. Jaylin Davis doubled twice and stole a base, Rainis Silva drove in two runs on two hits and Nelson Molina added another RBI in his two-hit game. Sam Gibbons lasted six inning and picked up a win, his sixth. He only allowed three hits, but issued four free passes and two unearned runs scored. He struck out one and was aided by the ground ball, getting two double plays. Logan Lombana gave up two runs in two innings and Tom Hackimer allowed a hit in the final frame. The Kernels are 61-52 E-TOWN E-NOTES Elizabethton 4, Danville 3 (Game 1; 12 innings) Box Score There’s nothing like planning to play fourteen innings over two games… and then turning one of those seven-inning games into a 12-inning affair. That’s exactly what happened in the front end of Monday’s doubleheader. It took (only) three hours and sixteen minutes before a Shane Carrier walk-off single ended it. Carrier, Alex Kirilloff and Trey Cabbage had two-hit games. The whole offense totaled only nine hits. Cabbage had the only extra-base hit (a double). Kirilloff is batting .361 Jose Martinez gave up three runs in 5.2 innings. He struck out and walked one. Patrick McGuff allowed two hits and a walk in three scoreless innings. McGuff has made 13 relief appearances over two levels and allowed only one earned run in his 20 innings. His has an impressive K/9 of 13.5. Austin Tribby pitched the final 3.1 innings, holding Danville scoreless (and only surrendering one hit) while striking out seven. It was, by far, Tribby’s best professional outing. Elizabethton 1, Danville 3 (Game 2) Box Score Three late-inning runs - fueled by misplays in the field - led to an E-town defeat. Miguel De Jesus was a hard-luck loser, giving up only three hits and two walks in six innings. Two runs came across against him, but only one was earned. De Jesus struck out three. After walking the leadoff batter in the seventh inning, De Jesus was replaced by Hector Lujan, who committed an error allowing the winning run to score. Travis Blankenhorn had two hits and an RBI in his final E-town game. Lewin Diaz also had two hits, including a triple, and is now batting .314. Brandon Lopez had a hit and a walk and will likely complete his career at E-town with a .337 average. He did commit his sixth error of the year. Entering the day at .500 and splitting, see the E-Twins exit the day still at .500: 22-22. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 4, GCL Orioles 0 Box Score The story of this team is three-fold: Huascar Ynoa, Aaron Whitefield and newly-signed Justin Hazard. Ynoa picked up a win on Monday, improving to only 2-4, but he’s pitched much better than his record indicates. In this outing, Ynoa pitched five innings, allowing only four hits. He struck out two. In his stateside debut season, Ynoa has an ERA of 2.17, a K/9 over 9.0 (38 strikeouts in 37.1 innings), a WHIP barely over 1.00 (31 hits, eight walks) and he hasn’t allowed a home run all season. Whitefield, an Aussie who made his brief debut in the GCL last season, continues to tear up the league. Adding two more hits on Monday, Whitefield has increased his batting average to .321. He stole two bases and now has 22 on the season… in 29 games. Defensively, he’s played all three outfield positions as well as first base. Hazard has played in only nine games, but his two hits bring his season total up to 13 (which is seventh on the team). You have to wonder how long the 22-year-old will stay in the GCL. In other news, Gorge Munez tripled and Roni Tapia hit his third home run. Tapia is batting .093, with only four hits. It’s fairly difficult to have 75% of your hits be home runs and barely have a slugging percentage above .300. Zach Strecker picked up a three-inning save and the GCL Twins improve to 20-18. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Huascar Ynoa, GCL Twins Hitter of the Day – Luis Arraez, Cedar Rapids TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester at Syracuse (5:35 CST) - LHP Pat Dean (5-6, 5.08) Chattanooga vs Jacksonville (6:15 CST) - RHP Felix Jorge (0-2, 5.98 ERA) Fort Myers vs St. Lucie (4:00 CST) - RHP Keaton Steele (5-9, 4.21 ERA) Fort Myers vs St. Lucie (Game 2) - TBD Cedar Rapids vs Peoria (6:35 CST) - RHP Brady Anderson (0-0, 5.40 ERA) Elizabethton vs Danville (6:00 CST) - RHP Tyler Wells (1-2, 5.87 ERA) GCL Twins at GCL Orioles (11:00AM CST) - TBD Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Monday’s games. Click here to view the article

If the season started 10 games ago, the Twins would have the second best record in the American League. Too bad the twins have been terrible for the better part of four months. To make things worse, the Twins sent struggling Byron Buxton to Rochester to make room for Trevor Plouffe who is activated from the Disabled List. Continue reading to find out more detail about Saturday in the Twins farm system: RED WINGS REPORT Rochester @ Lehigh Valley IronPigs Box Score Byung Ho Park had another rough day, 0-4 with a strike out, as the Red Wings were rocked by the IronPigs. Buck Britton led the offensive charge, 2-4 with a double and a run scored. The pitching staff didn't fare much better, as starter Jason Wheeler gave up four earned runs over 6.0 innings. He gave up eight hits, walked four, struck out one and gave up a home run. Alex Wimmers had a terrible relief stint, managing just 0.2 innings, giving up five runs (three earned), via five hits. Sean Burnett finished the inning, striking out the only batter he faced. Neil Ramirez gave up a run in the bottom of the eighth to finish the game. Final: Red Wings 1, IronPigs 10 LOOKOUTS LOOK-IN Jacksonville Suns @ Chattanooga Box Score More Omar Bencomo, more of the time! Bencomo gave the Suns fits over 7.0 innings. Bencomo gave up just two hits. He walked one and struck out five. Raul Fernandez and Ryan Eades each gave the Lookouts an inning of scoreless relief to complete a 3-hit shutout. The Lookouts only tallied six hits of their own, but two of them were doubles, and two more of them went over the fence, so that was plenty. Ryan Walker led the way with a 2-3 night, with a double, a home run, two runs scored, two RBIs, and a walk. Nike Goodrum had a two-run dinger as part of his 1-4 night. Zach Granite had a nice night as well, 2-4 with a double and a run scored. Final: Suns 0, Lookouts 4 MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers @ Charlotte Stone Crabs Box Score Fort Myers only gave up one hit, but they gave up TWO runs! To make matters worse, they only managed three hits of their own, scoring just one run, in a tough loss. Dereck Rodriguez was tagged with the loss in his Fort Myers debut, despite 7.0 innings of one hit ball. He gave up two runs, walked two, and struck out six. Cam Booser added a clean inning of relief, sending the Stone Crabs down 1-2-3. Tough night with the sticks for the Miracle, who teamed up for seven strike outs, two walks, and those same three hits. The Miracle scored their lone run on a solo home run from Chris Paul (1-4). Final: Miracle 1, Stone Crabs 2 KERNELS KORNER Peoria Chiefs @ Cedar Rapids Box Score The Chiefs put up three runs in the top of the first against Tyler Beardsley, and then had just one more hit the rest of the night. Beardsley pitched 5.0 innings, gave up three hits, three runs, walked four and struck out one. He was replaced by Williams Ramirez, who had a spectacular relief outing, going three full innings giving up just one hit. Max Cordy pitched the bottom of the ninth. He was a little rocky, walking two batters, but struck out two and kept the Chiefs off the board. Leadoff man Christian Ibarra led the way for the Kernels, he was 2-4 with a solo home run. Luis Arraez and Casey Scoggins each added two hits of their own. Final: Chiefs 3, Kernels 2 E-TWINS E-NOTES Danville Braves @ Elizabethton Postponed, rain. Will be made up as part of a doubleheader on Monday. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day - Ryan Walker - Chattanooga Pitcher of the Day - Omar Bencomo - Chattanooga MONDAY'S PROBABLES Rochester - OFF Chattanooga - David Hurlbut (7-6, 3.62) Fort Myers - Keaton Steele (5-9, 4.21) Cedar Rapids - Sam Gibbons (5-3, 5.00) E-Twins - Game 1 - Jose Martinez (1-3, 7.36) E-Twins - Game 2 - TBD GCL Twins - TBD DSL Twins - TBD Please ask questions and discuss the Sunday games. -ERolf