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Rain was the story in Ft. Myers as both the GCL’s final regular season game and the Miracle game were postponed. Elizabethton had the day off to prepare for their playoff series. Their regular season ended with a record above .500 for the 28th straight season. The Red Wings came into the night needing to win out for a shot at the playoffs. The Lookouts are hanging on to some hope, and the Kernels needed to work some overtime.Find out everything that happened in the Twins minor league system on Friday night. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 1, Lehigh Valley 7 Box Score The Red Wings came into the final weekend needing to win all four remaining games. The drama of a playoff run ended quickly. The Red Wings were down 5-0 before they even came to bat in the bottom of the first inning. Lefty Jason Wheeler, who has been the Red Wings most consistent starter all season, was able to record only one out. He gave up five runs on four hits, two walks and a hit batter. DJ Baxendale came on and went 4.2 innings. He gave up one run on three hits. He struck out six without issuing a walk. Neil Ramirez struck out four in 1.2 scoreless innings. Jake Reed gave up one run on two hits in 1.1 innings. Alan Busenitz struck out two in a perfect ninth inning. One bad inning of pitching isn’t all that hurt the Red Wings on this night. Phillies prospect Ben Lively threw six perfect innings. Joely Rodriguez came on and threw two more no-hit innings, though he walked two. In the ninth, Elvis Araujo got the first two outs, but then he walked James Beresford. Beresford took second on defensive indifference and scored on a Reynaldo Rodriguez single to end the no-hitter and the shutout. Unfortunately the Red Wings playoff hopes also ended on Friday night. It will be the first time in their history that they have won 80 or more games and not made the playoffs. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 5, Jackson 0 Box Score It all starts with pitching, and Aaron Slegers put together another terrific start. Slegers threw seven shutout innings. He took a no-hitter into the sixth inning. He gave up four hits, walked two and struck out seven. Mason Melotakis and Brandon Peterson each worked a scoreless inning in relief. Niko Goodrum went 3-4 with his ninth double. Dalton Hicks went 2-4 with his 26th double. Travis Harrison wente 2-4 with a walk and his 22nd double. Edgar Corcino contributed his sixth triple. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers , Bradenton Box Score The doubleheader was postponed due to rain. They teams will try to play a doubleheader on Saturday. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 5, Wisconsin 4 (16 innings) Box Score It started out like any other game. A nice 7:00 start time. The score was 4-4 after four innings. And that's where it remained until Nelson Molina again played hero for the Kernels and an unlikely pitcher got his first win of the season. Five hours and 27 minutes after it began, the Kernels ended the game as the winner. Tyler Beardsley started. He threw three no-hit innings but struggled after that. He ended the day having given up four runs (three earned) on four hits and three walks in 4.2 innings. He struck out two. Michael Cederoth went the next 2.1 innings and gave up only one hit. He struck out two. Anthony McIver struck out four over three shutout innings. He gave up two hits and walked one. Max Cordy threw three shutout innings. He gave up two hits, walked two and struck out five. Colton Davis came on for his first Midwest League appearance. He worked a scoreless 14th inning. And then the fun began. Jake Mauer turned to his backup catcher, Kevin Garcia, and he was good. In two perfect innings, he struck out two and became the winning pitcher. In the top of the 16th, Zander Wiel singled with two outs. It was followed by a Nelson Molina triple. Way back in the second inning, JJ Fernandez hit a solo home run to put the Kernels on the board. It was his ninth of the season. In the 4th inning, Zander Wiel's 16th home run gave the team two additional runs. Manuel Guzman singled in the third run that inning and fourth of the game. Wiel and Fernandez each went 3-8 in the game. Brandon Lopez was also 3-8. Molina went 2-6. The triple was his third of the season. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton Box Score The E-Twins final regular season game was scheduled for Thursday night, but it got rained out. They had Friday off in preparation for their three-game playoff series against Johnson City. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins, GCL Red Sox Box Score Rains remained in Southwest Florida and caused this all-important GCL matchup to be delayed until today (Saturday). It will be the final game of the regular season. The Red Sox and Twins are tied at 32-28. The winner will advance to the playoffs and play the Cardinals on Sunday. The loser will be done for the season. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Aaron Slegers, Chattanooga Lookouts Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Niko Goodrum, Chattanooga Lookouts SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Lehigh Valley (5:35 CST) - RHP Tyler Duffey Chattanooga @ Jackson (6:05 CST) -RHP Randy LeBlanc Bradenton @ Ft. Myers (5:05 CST) - RHP Dereck Rodriguez Clinton @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 CST) – RHP Brady Anderson Playoffs Round 1: Johnson City @ Elizabethton (5:00 CST) - RHP Miguel DeJesus GCL Red Sox @ GCL Twins (9:00 am) - LHP Taylor Clemensia Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Friday's games. Click here to view the article

Thursday was a busy day in minor league baseball as the Twins shuffled their affiliate rosters, moving more than a dozen players around. Transaction Report: Daniel Palka has been promoted to Rochester, David Martinez has been released, Edgar Corcino, Tyler Jay, and Felix Jorge have all been promoted to Chattanooga. Omar Bencomo has been placed on the disabled list. Sam Clay, Miles Nordgren, and Daniel Kihle have been promoted to Fort Myers. Max Cordy, Andrew Vasquez, Casey Scoggins, and Christian Cavaness have been promoted to Cedar Rapids. Christian Ibarra has been placed on the disabled list.Continue reading to find out more detail about Thursday in the Twins farm system: RED WINGS REPORT Rochester @ Lehigh Valley IronPigs Box Score In his first at bat in Triple-A, Daniel Palka hit a home run, and for good measure he hit another one later in the game, helping power Rochester to victory. Here is a video of Palka's first home run of the evening. @https://twitter.com/MorrieSilver8/status/751249706794180608 Palka also added a double as part of his 3-5 evening that included three runs scored, a pair of RBIs and a couple of strike outs. The Red Wings also benefited from a big night out of Adam Walker, who was also 3-5. Walker had a pair of doubles, a run scored, a pair of RBIs and a strikeout. There is a lot of power in the middle of that Rochester lineup with those two hitting fourth and fifth, respectively. Pat Dean struggled on Thursday, giving up 12 hits and seven runs (all earned) over just 4.0 innings. He walked one, struck out three, and gave up three home runs. He was lifted for D.J. Baxendale who pitched two scoreless innings and earned the victory, as Baxendale and the rest of the Rochester bullpen shut down Lehigh Valley the rest of the way. Ryan O'Rourke pitched a scoreless inning and earned his fourth hold of the season. Closer J.T. Chargois came in for a six out save, striking out three and giving up just one hit, earning his sixth save. Final: Red Wings 8, IronPigs 7 LOOKOUTS LOOK-IN Birmingham Barons @ Chattanooga Box Score Lookouts starter Aaron Slegers gave up a first inning run, but the Lookouts rallied, including six runs in the bottom of the fourth, carrying Slegers to his eighth victory of the year. Slegers final line was 6.0 innings, 7 hits, 2 earned runs, a walk, a strikeout, and he gave up a solo home run. Mason Melotakis pitched a perfect seventh, striking out the side on 12 pitches. Rual Fernandez finished the final two innings, giving up a pair of runs on a hit and two walks. He struck out three. Chattanooga had contributions up and down the lineup as all nine players recorded at least one hit, and six players had multi-hit games. Zach Granite was 3-5 with a run scored, a double, and two RBIs as the leadoff hitter. D.J. Hicks had a big game, too, 2-5 with a home run and three RBIs. Travis Harrison and Niko Goodrum added home runs as well, both solo home runs. Final: Barons 4, Lookouts 10 MIRACLE MATTERS Bradenton Marauders @ Fort Myers (continued from June 26th) Box Score With Bradenton back in Fort Myers, the two teams continued a rain-shortened June 26th game, picking up in the bottom of the fourth inning with one out and a 4-0 Miracle lead. In an interesting statistical note, Niko Goodrum hit a home run early in that game prior to the delay, meaning he had a home run in High-A and Double-A in games that ended on Thursday night. Using a total of 13 different hitters, the only Miracle with multiple hits was Joe Maloney, going 2-2, including a triple. The Miracle added one additional run in the seventh. Miracle starter Randy Rosario did not return to his start, replaced instead by Luke Bard, who earned the win with 2.0 scoreless innings. Brandon Peterson added 2.0 scoreless innings of his own, before being replaced by Todd Van Steensel who pitched a scoreless ninth to finish off the June 26th game in a shutout. Final: Marauders 0, Miracle 5 Bradenton Marauders @ Fort Myers (Game 2) Box Score Coincidentally, Randy Rosario was on the bump to start the second game of the evening, meaning he started both ends of this Miracle double-header. Rosario picked up his fifth win of the year to move to 5-5 with 6.1 innings of 3-run baseball. He gave up 7 hits, 3 earned runs, walked 3 and struck out two. He was lifted for John Curtis who shut down the Marauder threat, retiring both batters he faced to finish the 7-inning game. The Miracle tallied 12 hits in this seven inning game, including a pair of hits from each of T.J. White, Nick Gordon, and Daniel Kihle (making his High-A debut). Kihle was 2-3 with a double, run scored, 2 RBIs and a strikeout. LaMonte Wade also added an extra base hit (a double), plus an RBI and a walk. Final: Marauders 3, Miracle 8 KERNELS KORNER Wisconsin Timber Rattlers @ Cedar Rapids Box Score In a good old-fashioned pitchers' duel, the Kernels held on to a 1-0 lead to defeat the Timber Rattlers in front of 2,077 fans at Perfect Game Field. Kernels starter Cody Stashak was perfect through five innings before a broken-bat single broke things up in the top of the sixth, the only hit Stashak would give up over eight innings of stellar work. Stashak walked three and struck out eight. Tom Hackimer pitched a perfect ninth to earn his first save of the year for the Kernels. The Kernels managed to scatter seven hits against Timber Rattlers starter Jordan Yamamoto over seven innings, but managed to push just that single run across the plate, an RBI groundout from Rainis Silva in the bottom of the second inning, scoring Jaylin Davis. Davis was the only hitter, on either team, with more than one hit, 2-3 with a double and a run scored. Final: Timber Rattlers 0, Kernels 1 E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton @ Bristol Pirates (Game 1) Box Score With a doubleheader slated for the evening, a long night was made longer due to a 1-hour rain delay, pushing first pitch back to 7pm, and pushing the start of the second game back to nearly 10pm. In the first game, Elizabethton managed four runs on just four hits, despite striking out 10 times in seven innings. Lewin Diaz was 1-3, including a home run, and a pair of runs scored. First round draft pick Alex Kirilloff was the only player to record a multi-hit game, 2-3 with a double and an RBI. Kirilloff is hitting .414 through his first 8 games of the season with an OPS over a thousand. Elizabethton starter Domenick Carlini gave up 10 hits and seven runs (all earned) over 4.0 innings. He walked one, struck out two, and gave up a home run. He was lifted for Hecto Lujan who pitched a pair of scoreless innings, striking out three, and giving up just one hit. Final: E-Twins 4, Pirates 7 Elizabethton @ Bristol Pirates (Game 2) Box Score The E-Twins struggled with the bats again in the second game of the evening, with just five hits. Lewin Diaz was 1-3 with a double, and Shane Carrier was 1-3 with a double, as well. Kirilloff was 1-3 with the Twins' lone RBI. Tyler Wells didn't make it out of the fourth inning, giving the Twins 3.2 innings of two-run baseball before being lifted for Griffin Jax (phenomenal name, good luck to ya kid), who gave up a pair of runs as well. Wells struck out six without walking anyone. Jax added a strikeout of his own, and also did not give any free passes. Neither pitched particularly poorly, but without much run support, they needed to be better. Final: E-Twins 1, Pirates 4 GCL TWINS TALK GCL Twins @ GCL Rays Box Score The Twins just barley managed more hits (4) than errors (3) en route to losing handily to the Rays. Ben Rotvedt was 1-4 with a double, the lone extra-base hit for the Rays. The Twins managed just three at-bats with runners in scoring position all evening. Starter Bo Hellquist picked up the loss (0-1), spreading five runs (just two earned) over 4.0 innings, walking one and striking out three. Moises Gomez had a great outing in relief, pitching three scoreless innings, walking no one and he struck out five. Zach Strecker pitched the eighth, giving up two runs on four hits to end the night for the Twins. Final: GCL Twins 1, GCL Rays 7 DSL TWINS TAKES DSL Twins @ DSL Orioles2 (Game 1) Box Score Final: DSL Twins 5, DSL Orioles2 3 DSL Twins @ DSL Orioles2 (Game 2) Box Score Final: DSL Twins 1, DSL Orioles2 6 The DSL Twins split a double-header on Thursday morning. The Twins more or less threw two bullpen games, with Carlos Suniaga the biggest bright spot of the day, pitching 4.0 innings of relief. Suniaga gave up three hits, and a walk, but what really jumps off the page is his nine (NINE!) strike outs. The other six pitchers the Twins used on the evening managed just 7 more Ks. Over two games, the Twins had just two players record multi-hit games, one in each. Ruben Santana was 2-4 with a hit and an RBI in the first game, and Yestin Encarnacion was 3-4 with a run scored in the second game. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day - Daniel Palka, Rochester Pitcher of the Day - Cody Stashak, Cedar Rapids FRIDAY'S PROBABLES Rochester @ Scranton/WB - Jose Berrios (8-3, 2.43) Birmingham @ Chattanooga - Kohl Stewart (2-3, 3.58) Dunedin @ Fort Myers - Randy LeBlanc (2-2, 4.33, also has a great mustache) Kane County @ Cedar Rapids - Lachlan Wells (1-0, 1.74) E-Twins @ Bristol - Ryan Mason (0-1, 14.14) GCL Twins @ GCL Red Sox - TBD DSL Orioles2 @ DSL Twins - TBD Please ask questions and discuss the Thursday games. -ERolf Click here to view the article

On Friday night, the Twins minor league affiliates recorded one win and two losses. Rain took away a Miracle game and they will play a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon. Two starters had quality starts. One starter threw seven shutout innings. There was a big grand slam and some extra-base hits from former (and probably future) Twins as well. And, seven members of the Miracle were named All-Stars. Continue reading if you would like just a little bit more information from your Minor League Report.HEY NOW, YOU’RE AN ALL STAR The Florida State League announced its All-Star rosters on Friday afternoon. Seven Ft. Myers Miracle players were named to the initial roster. These players were named All Stars: LHP Stephen Gonsalves LHP Tyler Jay RHP Kohl Stewart RH RP Todd Van Steensel RH RP Raul Fernandez 1B Trey Vavra OF Edgar Corcino Obviously Stewart won’t be participating since he was promoted to Chattanooga last week. Gonsalves is the favorite to get the start. The one surprise is that SS Nick Gordon is not on the initial rosters. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 5, Louisville 0 Box Score Eighteen half-innings were played in this game. Runs were scored in just one of them. In the top of the 3rd inning, Kennys Vargas came to the plate with the bases loaded. He uncoiled for his eighth home run of the season, a grand slam. Later in the inning, the Red Wings scored a fifth run on a sacrifice fly from Adam Brett Walker. Vargas went 2-3 with two walks. Along with the homer, he also knocked his seventh double. Jorge Polanco went 3-5. Eddie Rosario went 2-5 with his seventh double. Logan Schafer made his Red Wings debut. He batted eighth and played right field. He went 1-3 with a walk. Andrew Albers was again terrific. The Canadian left-hander threw seven shutout innings. He gave up five hits, walked one and struck out five. Marcus Walden and Sean Burnett each worked a scoreless inning to maintain the shutout. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 2, Birmingham 3 Box Score The Lookouts got a real strong start from right-hander Aaron Slegers. He gave up one run on three hits over six innings. He walked three and struck out six. Mike Strong came in and gave up two runs on two hits and two walks in the seventh. His ERA jumps up to 9.95. Corey Williams pitched the eighth inning without allowing a run. The Lookouts managed just five hits and two walks in the game. Dalton Hicks reached base four times. He went 2-2 with two walks. Zach Granite was 2-5 with his sixth double. He also stole his 25th base. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers , Daytona Box Score This game was postponed by rain. The teams will play two games on Saturday afternoon. The Miracle will send out two talented lefties, Randy Rosario and Stephen Gonsalves. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 4, Peoria 13 Box Score Coming off the best start of his career, Miles Nordgren struggled early in this game, but he did show some mental fortitude. In his previous start, he struck out 12 and walked none over seven shutout innings. On this night he gave up eight runs in the first two innings. Yet somehow, he was able to stop the bleeding there and ended up working 5.1 innings. He gave up eight hits, walked two and struck out three. In the sixth, he was relieved by Kuo Hua Lo who got out of that inning. Lo walked two over 2.2 scoreless innings. Cam Booser came in for the first time since his return from the disabled list. It wasn’t good. He gave up five runs on three hits and four walks and recorded just two outs. Sam Gibbons came on and got the final out. Nelson Molina continues to hit. He went 2-4 and drove in two runs. LaMonte Wade went 1-3 with two walks. Daniel Kihle went 2-4, and Alex Perez went 2-5. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Andrew Albers,Rochester Red Wings Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Kennys Vargas, Rochester Red Wings SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Louisville (5:05 p.m. CST) - LHP Jason Wheeler Chattanooga @ Birmingham (6:30 CST) - RHP Kohl Stewart Daytona @ Ft. Myers (DH starting at 3:05 CST) – LHP Randy Rosario, LHP Stephen Gonsalves Peoria @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 CST) – RHP Cody Stashak Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Friday games. Click here to view the article

I don’t think there’ll be much argument when we reach the bottom of today’s article and see who was named this month’s Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Month. In fact, he had such a strong month, he was an easy choice to call back up to the Twins at the end of the month when there was an injury. However, after a poor offensive month overall in the organization in April (blame the cold, right?), there were a lot of very strong hitting performances in the Twins organization in May at each of the affiliates. After struggling to find five hitter options in April, we have 13 players mentioned below between our Top 5 and eight honorable mentions.Before we jump to the top five hitters of the month, here are some more hitters who are very deserving of recognition. These guys had strong May performances. Congratulations to all of the players mentioned below. IF James Beresford (Rochester) – .315/.403/.370 (.774). 34-108 with four doubles, one triple, no homers, 23 runs and seven RBIs.3B Nelson Molina (Cedar Rapids) - .348/.450/.379 (.829). 23-66 with two doubles, 15 RBIs and eight runs scored.OF Max Murphy (Cedar Rapids/Ft. Myers) - .311/.361/.467 (.827) with two doubles, four homers, 12 runs and eight RBIs.OF LaMonte Wade (Cedar Rapids) - .280/.430/.398 (.828) with one triple, three home runs, 18 runs and 17 RBIs (24 BB, 13 K).OF Adam Brett Walker (Rochester) - .215/.315/.495 (.809) with two doubles, eight home runs, 12 runs and 13 RBIs.IF Ryan Walker (Ft. Myers/Chattanooga) - .320/.409/.373 (.792) with two triples, 15 runs and nine RBIs.1B Zander Wiel (Cedar Rapids) - .298/.339/.490 (.830) with seven doubles, two triples, three homers, 13 runs and 22 RBIs.THE TOP FIVE HITTERS Number 5 - Chattanooga – 1B Dalton Hicks - .333/.411/.444 (.855). 33-99 with eight doubles, one homer, 15 runs and 17 RBIs. Hicks was the Twins 17th-round pick in 2012 out of the University of Central Florida. Since signing, he has been one of the most productive, run-producing players in the organization. In 2013, he led all of minor league baseball in RBIs. At 6-5 and 250 pounds, Hicks is an intimidating man in the batter’s box. In addition to hitting for average, he walked 13 times. Hicks has been a big part of that core that has won several league championships. Number 4 – Cedar Rapids – 2B Luis Arraez - .340/.398/.437 (.835). 35-103 with eight doubles, one triple, 15 runs and ten RBIs. The diminutive second baseman from Venezuela has been an instigator at the top of the Kernels lineup. He just turned 19 at the beginning of the season. Having watched him this weekend in Cedar Rapids, he does “leadoff hitter” things. He takes pitches and knows the strike zone. He tracks the ball well, and yet, when he does swing, he takes an aggressive cut. He certainly looks like he has a clue at the plate, a plan, despite his youth. Number 3 – Rochester – 1B Kennys Vargas - .280/.392/.490 (.882). 28-100 with three doubles, six home runs, 12 runs and 22 RBIs. Vargas provides the Twins with depth at first base and designated hitter. After a slow start, he had a very strong May. He hit for some average, but he began taking better at-bats, drawing walks and hitting for power. He was very productive in the middle of the Red Wings lineup. Though he struck out 24 times, he also walked 20 times. Number 2 – Ft. Myers – OF Edgar Corcino - .321/.388/.514 (.902). 35-109 with five doubles, two triples, four homers, 20 runs and 19 RBIs. Signed out of an independent league after a few years in the Tigers system, Corcino has been very impressive with the Twins. The 23-year-old from Puerto Rico put together a very strong month. He hit for average, and while he is aggressive, he generally takes quality at-bats. He is a great athlete who has some power potential. He also has great speed which helps on the basepaths, but also in the outfield where he frequently provides web gems. And the Twins Minor League Hitter of the Month is: Rochester – OF Byron Buxton - .370/.437/.674 (1.111). 34-92 with eight doubles, one triple, six home runs, 23 runs and 14 RBIs. When Buxton was sent down to AAA, he started hitting immediately. In his first three games, he had five hits. But he was still striking out quite a bit. As he got more time and confidence, the numbers started coming too. Once the calendar turned to May, Buxton was red-hot. More important, he wasn’t just getting bloop singles, he was driving. Reverting to his leg kick, Buxton’s timing improved. He began driving the ball all over the ballpark. He hit six home runs, three of them to lead off the game for the Red Wings. He had a lot of doubles, and not just Buxton-speed-hustle doubles, but hard-hit doubles. He walked just nine times in the month (which is OK), but the quality of the at-bats was much improved. There were several times he fell behind 0-2 in the count and took some tough pitches and worked walks. Right when he was at his hottest, he missed a week with back spasms. Imagine the numbers he could have put up with another 25-30 plate appearances. When Danny Santana went on the disabled list late in the month, Buxton was recalled to the big leagues and doubled in his first game back. Will we see a different Buxton in the big leagues this time around. Twins fans certainly want to see that, but probably not as much as Buxton would like to take that step forward in his career. There weren’t a lot of great performances with the bat in April, but May was much better. There were several guys who didn’t get honorable mention who probably warranted discussion as well. Buxton was the easy choice at the top, and I think Corcino was pretty easy choice at number two, but after that, there were just a lot of very solid performances with the bat last month. Starting tomorrow, we’ll see if there were as many strong pitching performances as well. Congratulations to the May Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Month for 2016, Byron Buxton. Click here to view the article

When a guy comes back from an injury, it’s a big deal. When a prospect comes back from two major surgeries, it is a really big deal. When a prospect who is capable of hitting 98 mph with a fastball returns after missing nearly two years, it is remarkable. When a prospect capable of hitting 98 returns and has what can only be called an incredible outing, it is very exciting. In the same game, one player knocked his first two home runs of the season. Two guys added their fourth homers of the season. And hey, Robbie Grossman debuted with the Twins and went 3-4 with a homer and three RBI.For much more on what happened on Friday in the Twins farm system, please continue. TRANSACTIONS It was a pretty quiet day on the transaction front on Friday with just one move announced. The Cedar Rapids Kernels added RHP Fernando Romero and sent Kuo Hua Lo to Extended Spring Training.RED WINGS REPORTRochester 1, Durham 4 Box Score This game was actually pushed forward a half-hour due to expected weather conditions later in the evening. The Red Wings scored one in the ninth inning, but that was it for them. They were facing Baseball America’s 2015 Minor League Player of the Year Blake Snell. The left-hander threw six shutout innings, allowing just three hits. He didn’t walk a batter and recorded ten strikeouts. Overall, the Red Wings had just five hits. Adam Brett Walker and James Beresford each had a single and a walk. Kennys Vargas had the lone extra-base hit, his sixth double. Logan Darnell started for the Red Wings. He was charged with four runs on ten hits over 5.1 innings. He didn’t walk any and struck out two. Buddy Boshers struck out four of the five batters he faced. Ryan O’Rourke had a walk and a hit allowed in his inning, but he did not give up a run. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 3, Jackson 2 Box Score Nick Greenwood was back on the mound for the Lookouts and had another terrific start. He gave up two runs - both in the 6th inning - on six hits over seven innings. He walked one and struck out three. Trevor Hildenberger came on and recorded his third save. He walked two and struck out one over two innings. Offensively, Dalton Hicks continued to lead the way. The slugger went 2-4 with his fourth home run of the year. Joe Maloney added a two-run triple. Zach Granite went 2-4. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 2, Tampa 8 Box Score Before the game, it was announced that Eduardo Escobar and Kyle Gibson would start rehab assignments with the Miracle. Gibson is expected to start on Saturday. Escobar made a start on Friday night. He batted second and played shortstop. He was 1-3 with a triple before leaving the game late (as planned). Max Murphy went 2-3 with a walk in the game. Alex Real added his fourth homer. Chris Paul reached double-digits in doubles with his tenth. Randy Rosario went just 4.2 innings, though he wasn’t helped by his defense. He gave up six runs but just two were earned. Still, he gave up seven hits and walked four in his outing. He did strike out four as well. John Curtiss had his best Miracle outing to date. He struck out two in 2.1 perfect innings. Luke Bard came in and struck out five over two innings. He gave up two unearned runs on a hit and two walks. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 9, Quad Cities 0 Box Score Two years ago at about this time, I was driving down to Cedar Rapids, excited because I was going to get to see lefty Lewis Thorpe and right-hander Fernando Romero, two very exciting, young pitching prospects. While getting some gas, I looked on my phone and noticed that Romero had been placed on the disabled list with an elbow issue. By the time I got to Cedar Rapids, people were pretty clear that he would be out for awhile. In June, Romero had Tommy John surgery. While rehabbing, he had knee injury that required surgery and cost him time. Fast-forward to tonight. The hard-throwing right-hander came back in style. He threw five innings without giving up a run. He didn’t walk a batter and no, he didn’t give up a hit. He struck out four. He finished with 63 pitches. Anthony McIver came in and kept the no-hitter intact into the 7th inning. He struck out four over three scoreless innings. He gave up two hits. Michael Cederoth worked a scoreless ninth. The top five hitters in the Kernels order provided most of the offense. Leadoff man Luis Arraez went 2-3 with two walks and his seventh double. Daniel Kihle led the way. He hit his first two Midwest League home runs. He drove in six runs in the game. LaMonte Wade went 2-5 and stole his fourth base. AJ Murray went 2-5. Five-hitter Zander Wiel went 3-5 in the game. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day –Fernando Romero, Cedar Rapids Kernels Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Daniel Kihle, Cedar Rapids Kernels THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Durham (5:35 CST) - RHP Jose Berrios Chattanooga @ Jackson (6:05 CST) - LHP David Hurlbut Tampa @ Ft. Myers (5:05 CST) – RHP Kyle Gibson (likely followed by Stephen Gonsalves) Quad Cities @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 CST) – RHP Dereck Rodriguez Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Friday games. Click here to view the article

The Twins season continues to topple downhill, but there is a lot of positive going on in the Twins minor league system. A former Twins player has quite the impressive streak going in Rochester. A couple of impressive streaks continued down in Cedar Rapids for a couple of guys who could be in Ft. Myers soon. Another pitcher made his debut for the Kernels. As normal this year, there were a few transactions.Continue to read everything that happened in the big leagues on Wednesday. . TRANSACTIONS There were also a couple of transactions of note since the last minor league report: The Twins lost again, and after the game, Eddie Rosario was optioned to AAA Rochester.Taking Rosario’s spot on the Twins roster will be outfielder Robbie Grossman. The former top prospect of the Astros was released by Cleveland (at his request) just a couple of days ago. On Monday, he signed with the Twins and played for Rochester. On Tuesday, the still-just 26-year-old learned he was joining the Twins.In case you missed it: Cedar Rapids placed C/IF/OF Rafael Valera on the disabled list. RHP Williams Ramirez, our choice for Short-Season Twins Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2015, was brought up from extended spring. Jeff Johnson, from The Gazette in Cedar Rapids, also reported that RHP Fernando Romero is in Cedar Rapids though he has not yet been activated.RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 7, Charlotte 6 (10 innings) Box Score Max Kepler and Kennys Vargas singled to start the 10th inning. Two batters later, Tommy Field grounded out to short and Kepler scored what proved to be the winning run. Kennys Vargas went 2-5. He hit a two-run homer in the first inning for the second straight game. It was also the fourth straight game in which he has homered. According to Red Wings play-by-play man Josh Whetzel, he became the first Red Wing to accomplish that since Sam Horn in 1990. It was his sixth home run of the season which ties him with Daniel Palka for the Twins minor league lead. Kepler went 3-5 in the game and is now hitting .256 with the Red Wings. Wilfredo Tovar went 2-4 with a walk. Stephen Wickens went 2-4. James Beresford hit his eighth double and walked once. Buck Britton hit his second home run. David Martinez made another start. He gave up four runs on five hits and two walks in 6.2 innings. He struck out eight. Alex Wimmers gave up two runs on three hits in 1.1 innings. Ryan O’Rourke threw 1.1 innings without allowing a run. Marcus Walden came in to get the final two outs and record his third save. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 4, Biloxi 5 Box Score As most minor league teams do, the Lookouts played a morning game. It is often called “Education Day” and the stands are full of elementary age kids. Dalton Hicks woke up ready to hit. The powerful first baseman went 4-5 and drove in two runs for the Lookouts. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite enough in this game. Ryan Eades made the start and put together another quality start. The right-hander gave up three runs over the game’s first six innings. He gave up six hits, walked none and struck out six. Jake Reed came in to a 3-3 game in the top of the seventh. He gave up two runs in that inning but worked a scoreless eighth frame. Trevor Hildenberger worked a scoreless ninth. Hicks certainly led the Lookouts offense with his 4-5 day. Joe Maloney hit his ninth and tenth doubles in four at-bats. He also walked once. Shannon Wilkerson added two hits from the leadoff spot. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 3, Dunedin 5 Box Score Brian Navarreto came into this game with five hits in 49 at-bats (.102) on the season. He led the Miracle offense with a three-hit game on Wednesday. Max Murphy went 2-4 including a solo home run. It is his fourth Miracle home run in just his 17th game in the Florida State League since his promotion. Nick Gordon and Trey Vavra each added a single. That was it for the offense. It was Keaton Steele’s turn on the mound on Wednesday. The right-hander from Missouri went the first six innings. He gave up four runs on ten hits. He walked one and struck out two. Yorman Landa came in and gave up one run over the final two innings. He gave up four hits, walked one and struck out one. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 8, Beloit 0 Box Score Randy LeBlanc was at it again on Wednesday night. The lanky right-hander completed six shutout innings and has now accumulated 28 consecutive scoreless innings. He wasn’t even at his best. He gave up four hits, walked three and only struck out one. His ERA drops to 0.78. CK Irby came on in relief. He walked one and gave up a hit, but he struck out three in a scoreless inning. Williams Ramirez came on for his Midwest League debut. He threw two perfect innings and struck out three. Daniel Kihle led the offense with a three-hit game and a walk. Jorge Fernandez hit his seventh an eighth doubles. Zander Wiel was 2-4 with a run batted in. Alex Perez was terrific in the leadoff spot. He went 1-2 with three walks. Luis Arraez drove in two with a double, his sixth. LaMonte Wade had a two-run single. The hit extended his on-base streak to 19 games. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Randy LeBlanc, Cedar Rapids Kernels Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Dalton Hicks, Chattanooga Lookouts THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Durham (6:05 CST) - LHP Jason Wheeler Chattanooga @ Jackson (7:05 CST) - RHP DJ Baxendale Ft. Myers @ Dunedin (5:30 CST) – RHP Felix Jorge Beloit @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 CST) – LHP Sam Clay Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Wednesday games. Click here to view the article

While the big league club extended its losing streak to eight games and it’s record fell to just 8-26, there were some strong performances in the minor leagues. It’s clear that the Twins have focused on pitching the last several drafts, and on nights like tonight, they had four very solid starting pitching performances. There were also some good games by hitters and some clutch hits. So, even while we all hope for a major turnaround in the big league club, it is nice to have four other box scores to follow!Check out everything that happened on Friday in the Twins farm system. There were a few transactions and four good games to follow. TRANSACTIONS There were also a couple of minor league transactions: Rochester infielder Heiker Meneses was placed on the disabled list with a fractured wrist.Mitch Garver was placed on the Chattanooga disabled list with a concussion. Jairo Rodriguez replaced him on the roster.Andro Cutura was placed on Cedar Rapids’ DL with inflammation in his right elbow. Anthony McIver was called up from extended spring training.RED WINGS REPORTRochester 4, Syracuse 3 Box Score It’s been a rough year for him so far, but John Ryan Murphy’s eighth inning single scored Wilfredo Tovar to give the Red Wings a 4-3 lead. Ryan O’Rourke came in for the 9th and struck out two to record his second straight save since returning to the Red Wings. Jason Wheeler was terrific again. The left-hander struck out nine batters over the first six innings. He gave up two runs on five hits and a walk. The two runs scored on sixth inning home runs from Trea Turner and Scott Sizemore. Buddy Boshers came on to start the seventh inning. He gave up a run on a hit and got just two outs. Marcus Walden got the final out of that inning and worked a scoreless eighth frame. James Beresford led the offense. He went 2-4 with his seventh double and second triple. Max Kepler went 2-4 and drove in the Red Wings first run in the first inning. Kennys Vargas was also 2-4. Stephen Wickens added his second home run. Byron Buxton went 1-4. The win puts the Red Wings at 19-17 on the season. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 2, Pensacola 1 Box Score After a shaky start to his season, Ryan Eades has been improved his last couple of outings. In this game, he gave up just one run on one hit over six innings. He walked three and struck out three. Mason Melotakis pitched a perfect seventh inning. Jake Reed recorded his second save with two scoreless innings. He struck out two. Dalton Hicks led the offense. He went 3-4 in the game. Daniel Palka was 2-4 with his eighth double. TJ White and Shannon Wilkerson were also 2-4. With the win, the Lookouts are now 15-20. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 1, St. Lucie 3 Box Score Another day, another long start for Felix Jorge. On Friday, he went 7.1 innings and was charged with three runs. He gave up six hits, walked two and struck out five. Through seven innings, he had given up just two runs. He left the game and Raul Fernandez gave up one run-scoring hit before getting two outs to end the inning. Jorge got 12 ground outs to go with just one fly out. In the top of the first, a Nick Gordon double (his seventh of the year) scored Tanner Witt. That was it for the Miracle scoring. Gordon and Witt were both 2-4. Edgar Corcino added his fourth double, but that was about it for the offense. The Miracle fall to 20-15 on the year. Jorge’s record falls to 2-3 despite a 1.80 ERA. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 13, Wisconsin 2 Box Score Fair to say that catcher AJ Murray has been the story of this game. The Georgia Tech alum is currently 5-5 with two home runs (his fourth and fifth of the year) and five RBI through seven innings. He came to the plate in the ninth inning and added a walk to his stat line. He scored five runs along with driving in five runs. Lefty Sam Clay - also from Georgia Tech - made the start. He went 5.2 innings and gave up one run on five hits. He walked four and struck out seven. Michael Cederoth got the final out of the sixth inning. He worked two more innings as well. Overall, he gave up no runs and no hits. He walked three and struck out four. With a big lead, lefty Anthony McIver came on to pitch the ninth, making his Midwest League debut. He gave up one run. Daniel Kihle was 2-5 with a double. Nelson Molina went 2-4 with two walks and four RBI. Cristian Cavaness went 2-4 with a walk. All nine Kernels starters had at least one hit. The team accumulated their 13 runs on 16 hits and 10 walks. BONUS VIDEO Bob Sacamento posted the following video of young Huascar Ynoa from extended spring training on Friday afternoon. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Jason Wheeler, Rochester Red Wings Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – AJ Murray, Cedar Rapids Kernels SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Syracuse @ Rochester (6:05 CST) - LHP Logan Darnell Biloxi @ Chattanooga (6:15 CST) - RHP DJ Baxendale Ft. Myers @ St. Lucie (5:30 CST) – LHP Randy Rosario Cedar Rapids @ Wisconsin (1:05 CST) – RHP Dereck Rodriguez Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Friday games. Click here to view the article

Yes, this is the Twins Minor League Report but I think today we can start with a Major League Update. The Twins Won!! That may be the most important story, but down in Rochester, there was another very good and potentially very important story for the Twins. Right-hander Alex Meyer made his first start with the Miracle in almost a year. Nick Gordon had another big game and helped the Miracle to another win. It was a good night to be a Twins fan and a good night in the Twins system.TRANSACTIONS Fernando Abad left the team to be with his family at his grandmother’s funeral in the Dominican Republic. He was put on the Bereavement List. Ryan O’Rourke will likely be summoned from Rochester before Saturday’s game, assuming he gets to the Twin Cities in time. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 2, Buffalo 1 Box Score The story of the night, without question, was the performance of right-hander Alex Meyer. It was just under a year ago that Meyer - who was one of the International League’s top starting pitcher in 2014 - was moved to the bullpen to work on control and command. 2015 was a tough year for the hard-thrower, but when he was sent down from big league spring training the decision was made to give him another shot as a starter. Then weather postponements delayed his first start of the season, but he worked on Saturday in the Red Wings home opener and recorded the save with four shutout innings following Jose Berrios. On Friday night, he made his first start and it went quite well. The right-hander threw 6.1 innings of three-hit, shutout baseball. He struck out eight. Maybe the most important thing is that he walked zero. He also hit 99 mph on the radar gun a few times. He threw 87 pitches and 57 of them were strikes. It’s about as well as anyone could have hoped, and it’s certainly something he can build on. In his next start, he’ll be building upon 10.1 scoreless innings to start the year. He left the game and Ryan O’Rourke ran in to the mound. He threw just one pitch and got the batter to fly out to left field. Loek Van Mil came on to get the final out of the seventh inning. Van Mil gave up a hit to start the eighth inning, and JR Graham came in to replace him. Graham allowed the runner to score on a double but buckled down and got out of the inning with a 2-1 lead. In the ninth, he did not allow a run and recorded his second save. Jorge Polanco was batting third. With two outs in the first inning, Jorge Polanco hit a solo home run to give the Red Wings the lead. Newcomer David Murphy struck out in his first at-bat, but he hit singles off lefty Wade LeBlanc in his next two at-bats. Following one of his singles, John Hicks crushed a double off the wall in left field to advance Murphy to third base. Wilfredo Tovar came up and hit a slow bouncer down the third base line that hit the bag for a single and allowed the second run to score. Tovar was also 2-3 in the game. The Red Wings improved to 4-4 on the season. They’ll send Jose Berrios to the mound on Saturday night in Lehigh Valley where we assume Thrylos will be in attendance and provide us with a report. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 3, Jackson 6 Box Score Aaron Slegers struggled a bit early. The Lookouts fell behind and were unable to quite get back. The lanky right-hander went the first four innings. He gave up two runs on six hits. He walked three and struck out one. Alex Wimmers came on and gave up two runs on three hits over two innings. He struck out two. Mason Melotakis worked his third game and for the third time allowed at least one run. In this game, he gave up a run on four hits. Brandon Peterson came on and gave up one run on one hit and one walk over two innings. The Lookouts scored their first run on a ground out from Zach Granite. In the sixth inning, Dalton Hicks hit his team-leading third home runs of the season. Mitch Garver added his first double. The Lookouts are now 3-6 on the season. Ryan Eades will make his second start on Saturday. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 6, Daytona 5 (10 innings) Box Score The Miracle got ahead, then gave back the lead, but they found a way to get a win. Tyler Jay made his second start of the season. He allowed a solo home run in each of the first two innings, but he settled down after that. In total, he went five innings. He gave up two runs on three hits. He walked one and struck out four. 48 of his 73 pitches were strikes. Jay was replaced by Luke Bard who has been unhittable early this season. It wasn’t his best outing. He gave up two runs on two hits and a walk while striking out one. Todd Van Steensel gave up one hit in his scoreless innings. Yorman Landa struck out three in the eighth. He also pitched the ninth inning, looking for the save. Unfortunately, after getting the first two outs, he walked two and gave up a game-tying single before Tanner English threw out a runner at third to end the inning. When the Miracle grabbed the lead again in the 10th, Trevor Hildenberger came on and recorded his third save of the young season. He gave up a single but struck out two in the inning. Nick Gordon led the offense. He went 3-5 with a couple of big hits. His two-run homer in the eighth inning gave the Miracle the lead. He also led off the 10th inning with a double and scored on a double off the bat of Trey Vavra. Earlier in the game, Vavra singled to extend his hitting streak to eight games. It was his first multi-hit game. Tanner English extended his hitting streak to five games. He went 2-5 with his first double of the season. Logan Wade had a big RBI triple. Alex Swim added a double and Edgar Corcino walked twice. The Miracle improved to 6-3 on the season. Keaton Steele goes on Saturday. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 5, Clinton 11 Box Score For the second straight game, Luis Arraez led off the bottom of the Kernels first inning with a home run. It was his second home run of the season and the second home run of the 19-year-old’s professional career. He went 2-4 with a walk in the game. Zander Wiel went 1-3 with two walks. Max Murphy and LaMonte Wade each had a walk and a double. Sam Gibbons got off to a tough start. He gave up five runs in the first inning. He stayed in though and was charged with seven runs (four earned) on 11 hits and a walk in 4.2 innings. He struck out five. Mike Theofanopoulos came on and gave up four runs (three earned) on five hits and a walk in 1.2 innings. He struck out two. Kuo Hua Lo pitched well. He threw 2.2 scoreless innings and gave up three hits. Jermaine Palacios committed two more errors and has five on the season already. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Alex Meyer, Rochester Red Wings Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Nick Gordon, Ft. Myers Miracle SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Lehigh Valley (5:35 CST) - RHP Jose Berrios Jackson @ Chattanooga (6:15 CST) – RHP Ryan Eades Ft. Myers @ Daytona (6:05 CST) – RHP Keaton Steele Clinton @ Cedar Rapids (4:05 CST) – Sam Clay Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Friday games. Click here to view the article

In Game 1, Max Kepler's two-strike, two-out, two-run single gave the Chattanooga Lookouts a 4-3 win in Game 1 of the Southern League playoffs. After being rained out on Friday, the Lookouts hosted Game 2 against the Montgomery Biscuits. There were opportunities for heroes, but in the end, they fell in extra frames.CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 5, Montgomery 6 (11 innings) Box Score The Lookouts got out to an early lead and got a strong start. The game was tied in the later innings and there was bonus baseball in Chattanooga on Saturday night. The team fell behind in the 10th but got a huge, clutch homer to send it to the 11th. Unfortunately, they did not have a second comeback and fell to the Biscuits. With one out in the bottom of the first inning, Jorge Polanco singled and Max Kepler walked. A Travis Harrison single drove in Polanco. Kepler advanced to third and Harrison took second base on the throw. Dalton Hicks came up next and drove in both runners with a single. The Lookouts had a 3-0 lead. That was it for the Lookout scoring, at least for a long while. Jason Wheeler started and threw well. The left-hander worked six innings and gave up just one run on three hits. He walked two and struck out five. Nick Burdi came on and gave up two really quick runs to tie the game in the seventh. However, Burdi settled down and finished two innings, allowing just the two runs and striking out four. JT Chargois came in and threw a scoreless ninth inning. Bonus Baseball in Tennessee for the playoffs. Chargois came out again for the tenth frame. In it, he gave up two runs before getting the third out. Things looked bleak, but in the bottom half of the 10th inning, Shannon Wilkerson led off with a walk. He rounded the bases when Jorge Polanco blasted a long home run to tie the game at five. Brandon Peterson came on for the 11th inning. The Savage, Minnesota, native really struggled with his control. He walked the first two batters. After a sacrifice bunt, there was another walk to load the bases. Unfortunately, a blooper to center dropped out of Jorge Polanco’s glove and one run scored. Peterson then coaxed a double play, but the damage had been done. The Lookouts went 1, 2, 3 in the bottom of the 11th inning. Polanco went 2-5 with the home run. Adam Brett Walker doubled in his first at-bat before striking out in his final four at-bats. The Lookouts also had four errors in the game. The series is tied at one game apiece and now head back to Montgomery. That is where games three and four, and if necessary, game five, will be played. At 6:20 (central time) on Sunday, the teams will play Game 3. Right-hander Greg Peavey will take the ball for the Lookouts. Click here to view the article

Over the weekend, I handed out the “awards” for Twins minor league relief pitcher and starting pitcher of April. Whether coming out of the bullpen or starting the game, the Twins had some minor leaguers put up some very good numbers.. Today, I am going to profile five Twins minor league hitters who had solid Aprils. There were a few strong offensive performances, but in my mind, one stood out above the rest.Here are my selections for the Top 5 Twins minor league hitters in April. But first, here are a few honorable mentions: Rochester C Josmil Pinto (18-59) .305/.397/.373 (.770) with one double, one homer and nine RBIs.Rochester 2B James Beresford (17-50) .340/.382/.380 (.762) with two doubles and five RBI.Cedar Rapids 1B/LF sTrey Vavra (19-68) .279/.319/.500 (.819) with four doubles, a triple, three home runs and 12 RBIs.THE TOP FIVE HITTERS Number 5 - Chattanooga – Adam Brett Walker - (16-66) .242/.301/.530 (.832) with four doubles, five home runs and 11 RBI.s Walker had a solid month in his Double-A debut for the Lookouts. He put up Walker-like numbers. He didn’t hit for average, but he showed the type of immense power that we have seen in the lower levels. His five home runs led the league and the Twins organization for the month. In 71 plate appearances, he walked six times and struck out 29 times. Four of his six walks came in one game. It was a solid performance for Walker. Number 4 – Rochester – Aaron Hicks - (22-71) .310/.398/.493 (.891) with four doubles, three triples, 1 home run and 12 RBIs. Through the season’s first seven games, Aaron Hicks was hitting just .194. In his final 11 games of the month, he hit .400/.479/.525 (1.004) with three doubles and a triple. Though he’s got a .980 OPS against left-handed pitchers (as a right-handed batter), he has a solid .813 OPS against righties as well. He’s also playing some very good defense in center and right field. He ended the month on an 11-game hitting streak. Maybe May 4th wasn’t the date he was called up, but I can’t imagine it will be too much longer before he’s back at Target Field, patrolling center field. Number 3 - Rochester – Reynaldo Rodriguez - (22-68) .324/.403/.500 (.903) with five doubles, two triples, one home run and nine RBIs. Rodriguez is in his third season in the Twins organization after years in the Yankees and Red Sox systems. The 28-year-old from Colombia is back to playing first base and DHing, but he has been a force in the middle of the Red Wings lineup. After starting the season going 2-16 in his first four games, he went on an 12-game hitting streak. His batting averaged reached a high of .345. Number 2 – Cedar Rapids – Zach Granite – (24-67) .358/.463/.463 (.925) with five doubles, one triple, one home run and five RBIs. After playing in just 21 games for the Cedar Rapids Kernels in 2014 because of two separate injuries, Zach Granite was sent back to Iowa to start the season and get caught up. After hitting like he did at the top of the Kernels order, he was promoted when the calendar turned to May. Granite, the Twins 14th round pick in 2013 out of Seton Hall, is not going to hit for a lot of power. However, he takes really good at-bats, doesn’t expand the strike zone, hits line drives and turns singles into doubles and doubles into triples. He’s a very good base runner and base stealer. He can be a terrific instigator at the top of a lineup. The April Minnesota Twins Minor League Hitter of the Month is... Chattanooga Lookouts 1B Dalton (DJ) Hicks (22-66) .333/.436/.576 with five doubles, one triple, three home runs and 11 RBIs. Listed at 6-5 and 250 pounds, Hicks is a powerful presence in the middle of the Chattanooga lineup. For one reason or another, he is an under-rated “prospect,” but he has been one of the more productive hitters in the Twins organization since the Twins used their 17th round pick in 2012 on the slugger out of the University of Central Florida. He drove in 25 runs in 31 games for Elizabethton that first year. His walk-off grand slam won the Appalachian League title for the E-Twins. In 2013, he spent two-thirds of the season in Cedar Rapids and the final third in Ft. Myers. His 110 RBIs was one more than Kernels teammate Adam Brett Walker. He spent all of the 2014 season with the Ft. Myers Miracle and was a key component in the Miracle’s Florida State League championship. Right now, he is the three-hitter in that power- and potential-packed Lookouts lineup. In May, he was the organization’s top hitter. However he credits some of his hot start to his teammates. Hicks said, “It’s always important to get off to a hot start. Obviously easier said than done. But, when you play with the guys I play with, it’s pretty easy to be patient and look for what I want to hit knowing the guy behind me will get the job done if I don’t.” Though he hit .414 with a 1.071 OPS in the season’s first eight games to jump-start his season, he remained consistent throughout the whole month. Over the final ten games of the month, he hit .270 and still had a .968 OPS thanks to finding his power stroke. For the second straight season, his manager is former Twins infielder Doug Mientkiewicz. When you have success, a lot of it is due to what work and preparation was done in the offseason. The 25-year-old credits his offseason work. “Working with Slice (Miracle hitting coach and long-time big leaguer Jim Dwyer) and Dougie from last year, I knew what I needed to ‘fix’ in order to have better success.” This Chattanooga team is pretty special. Many of the players were on last year’s Miracle championship team and the Elizabethton championship team. They won a lot of games in Cedar Rapids in 2013 as well. They may be off to a slower start early this season, but Hicks said the atmosphere in the Lookouts clubhouse is the same. “It’s the same as it has always been. This is a special group. We know that. We are a team that likes to have fun. Guys are always looking out for each other on and off the field.” As for the remainder of the season, Hicks won’t set many goals. “I’m not a guy with big goals. The best advice I think I have ever received is to always ‘stay the same’ and look at making today the best today. When we as baseball players can be the same, day in and day out, success will find its way our way. At the end of the year, goals will take care of themselves.” Dalton Hicks – who is also just fine if you prefer to call him DJ – made the best of his April. He is a big part of this Chattanooga Lookouts roster, and he is a name the Twins fans should really get to know. ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- There were several strong performances in April around the organization. Earlier in the week, we named the Twins Relief Pitcher and Starting Pitcher of the month of April. Please feel free to discuss. Click here to view the article

Things have been tough for the Twins minor league affiliates in the last week or so. That said, there are still plenty of positives to find, even in some of the frustrations. There are a couple of extended hitting streak. There were several home runs on Tuesday. There was an extra-innings win. Miguel Sano also returned to the field after missing two games. Twins Daily is the spot for all of the Twins minor league information! Check back each day.RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 3, Columbus 5 Box Score Alex Meyer was back on the mound for the Red Wings on Tuesday night. He gave up five runs on nine hits in four innings. He struck out two and walked none. Of the 68 pitches that he threw, 42 of them were strikes. It appears that he’s working on throwing more strikes, and he did that, but some of them may have hit too much of the plate. After two scoreless innings, he gave up a two-run double to a rehabbing Nick Swisher. Stephen Pryor got the next five outs, three of them on strikeouts. Logan Darnell got four outs, one via the K. Ryan Pressly came on and struck out four in two perfect innings. The Red Wings were not able to do much against former big leaguer Shaun Marcum, who is now 3-0 with a 2.00 ERA for Columbus. The Red Wings got some power in this game from a couple of players from Puerto Rico. Danny Ortiz homered for the third time this season. Eddie Rosario went 2-4 with his third home run. Both homers were against Marcum in the sixth inning. Australian James Beresford added two hits in the game. Reynaldo Rodriguez went 0-4. It ended a 12-game hitting streak during which he hit .429/.500/.690 with four doubles, two triples, a home run and eight RBI. With the loss, the Red Wings fall to 10-8. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 6, Tennessee 7 Box Score The Lookouts got plenty of offense on this night, but another rough start from Greg Peavey, and the team fell to 8-10. For Greg Peavey, it started out rough. In fact, the Smokies’ lead-off hitter, Jacob Hannemann homered to lead off the bottom of the first inning. Two batters later, Kyle Schwarber hit his second home run in as many days, his fourth of the season. Dalton Hicks stayed hot in this game. In the top of the third inning, he launched a game-tying, two-run homer. It was his third of the season, and his third in the last four games. The lead didn’t last long as Peavey gave up a two-run homer to Bijan Rademacher in the bottom half of the inning. In the fourth inning, the Lookouts got to within a run on a bases-loaded infield single from Buxton. However, in the bottom of the fourth inning, the Smokies got that run back. Peavey was replaced in the fifth inning by Cole Johnson who worked a scoreless inning. The Lookouts took the lead in the sixth inning. Mike Gonzales led off with his second homer. Adam Brett Walker followed it with a double. With two outs and the bases loaded, Dalton Hicks came through with a two-run single. Johnson followed it up with another 1-2-3 inning. Johnson did give up one in the seventh inning that tied the game at six. Dallas Gallant came on for the eighth inning. The leadoff batter hit a liner to right field. Travis Harrison went for the shoe-string catch and the ball got by him. It was called a single with a two-base error. One out later, a soft single scored the go-ahead run. Peavey went four innings and was charged with five runs on eight hits and a walk. He struck out one. Cole Johnson gave up one run on two hits over three innings. He struck out three. Dallas Gallant gave up the unearned run in the eighth inning on two hits. Hicks again led the offense. He went 2-4 with a walk and his third homer. Mike Gonzales was 2-5 with his third double and second home run. Adam Brett Walker hit his third double, but then he walked four times too. Byron Buxton went 1-3 with two walks and his fourth stolen base. Miguel Sano returned to the lineup after missing two games. He went 0-5 with three strikeouts. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 1, Palm Beach 3 Box Score Aaron Slegers got the loss, but he gave the Miracle exactly what they needed in this game. After playing a lot of extra innings in the last four or five days, the Miracle needed a starter to give them some innings. Slegers gave up three runs (2 earned) on four hits and a walk over eight innings. Alexis Tapia, who will likely pitch for Elizabethton this summer, made his Florida State League debut with a scoreless ninth inning. The offense had plenty of opportunities. The Miracle had seven hits and walked five times, but they were only able to cross the plate once. Bryan Haar hit his third double and scored one batter later when Mitch Garver singled him in. Logan Wade led the offense. He went 2-4 with his fourth double. He also committed two errors at third base. Niko Goodrum walked twice. The Miracle fall to 7-13 through their first 20 games. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 1, Quad Cities 0 (11 innings) Box Score The Kernels began another commuter series with a Tuesday morning game in Davenport, Iowa. After a league-wide day off on Monday, it’s safe to say that the bats may not have made the trip with the team. However, the Kernels scored their first extra-innings run of the season in the 11th to grab another win. Zack Larson led off the 11th with a single. The next two batters had sacrifice bunts and in each case, the pitcher made an error. With the bases loaded, third baseman T.J. White ended the game with a sacrifice fly. Jared Wilson made the start and threw the first five shutout innings. He gave up four hits, walked four and struck out two. Randy LeBlanc came on and gave up two hits over three scoreless innings. He struck out three. Cam Booser got the ninth and 10th innings. He gave up two hits, walked two but struck out three. After gaining the lead, Trevor Hildenberger pitched a scoreless 11th inning for the save. It was his second save of the year. Larson led the offense, going 2-5. Zach Granite and Nick Gordon led off the game with back-to-back singles. That gives Granite an eight-game hitting streak. Gordon extended his hit streak to seven games. The Kernels are now 13-6. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Ryan Pressly, Rochester Red Wings Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Dalton Hicks, Chattanooga Lookouts WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Columbus @ Rochester (5:35 CST) – LHP Jason Wheeler Chattanooga @ Tennessee (11:00 CST) – RHP DJ Baxendale Ft. Myers – No Game Scheduled Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (7:00 CST) – LHP Mat Batts Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Tuesday games. Click here to view the article

Rain and weather conditions caused postponements in Rochester and in Cedar Rapids. Both teams will try to play doubleheaders on Saturday. Two games washed out, but the Ft. Myers Miracle played almost enough to make up for it. Chattanooga got a home run from Miguel Sano to end their losing streak. Also, today is the first time I’ve provided a Twins organizational statistical leaderboard, so you can see which minor leaguers are leading the way so far.RED WINGS REPORT Rochester, Syracuse Box Score The temperatures hovered right around the freezing mark and there was snow in the air and on the ground in Rochester on Friday. The teams will attempt to play a doubleheader on Saturday CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 3, Mississippi 2 Box Score All series in the Southern League are five-game series. Mississippi had won the first four games of the series, but the Lookouts got some strong pitching, a little power and a clutch hit in the ninth inning to take the final game of the series. D.J. Baxendale got the start for Chattanooga. The right-hander entered the game with 12.1 shutout innings. In the seventh inning, he got a strikeout to start the inning. That put him at 18.2 scoreless innings to start the season. Unfortunately, he gave up a run before recording the second out of the inning and a second run which tied the game at two. Nick Burdi got the final out of the seventh inning and pitched a scoreless eighth as well. The game was scoreless through the first five innings. In the top of the sixth inning, Miguel Sano came to the plate with a runner on base and launched his third home run of the season. (Click here to see Sano's home run) The score remained tied at two until the top of the ninth. Stuart Turner led off the frame with a walk. Stephen Wickens pinch-ran for him. One out later, Jorge Polanco singled Wickens to second base. Max Kepler drilled a single to right field that scored Wickens and gave the Lookouts a 3-2 lead. Closer Zack Jones came in for the ninth inning. He got a strikeout, a groundout and a soft infield pop out to end the game. It was his third save of the season. Max Kepler made his second straight start in center field. Byron Buxton is healthy. Doug Mientkiewicz chose to give Buxton another day off, hoping it will help jump-start his season. The manager also switched up his lineup. He flip-flopped Miguel Sano and Travis Harrison, moving Sano down to fifth in the order. Also, after missing two games, Adam Brett Walker returned to the Lookouts lineup. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 3, St. Lucie 4 (17 innings) Box Score If your team is going to play 17 innings – essentially two games in one – you would sure like to win the game. Unfortunately, that was not to be for the Miracle on Friday night as they lost a heartbreaker to the St. Lucie Mets. Ethan MIldren started and gave up three runs on eight hits. He struck out four batters without issuing a walk. The bullpen took over after that. Down 1-0 after two innings, the Miracle got a leadoff double from Jason Kanzler. He was bunted to third and after a Niko Goodrum walk, Kanzler scored on an infield single by Aderlin Mejia. The Miracle were down 3-1 going into the fifth inning. Niko Goodrum led off that inning by crushing his second home run of the season, cutting the deficit to one. Two innings later, Kanzler got things going again with a leadoff single. After another sacrifice bunt and another Goodrum walk, Aderlin Mejia singled in Kanzler to tie the game at three. That’s where the game remained through 16 innings thanks to an impressive, workman-like effort by the Miracle bullpen. Tim Shibuya came on and threw three, one-hit innings. He struck out six. JT Chargois struck out two batters in his inning. Brian Gilbert got a walk and a strikeout over his two innings. Brandon Peterson threw two scoreless innings, walking two and striking out two. Alex Muren worked out of trouble with scoreless innings in the 15th and 16th. Madison Boer entered the game in the bottom of the 17th. He gave up two hits before issuing an intentional pass to Michael Conforto, his third intentional walk of the game. With one out and the bases loaded, Boer gave up a sacrifice fly that ended the game. Mejia went 3-8 in the game with the two RBIs. Niko Goodrum went 2-5 with three walks and his second home run. Jason Kanzler went 2-6 with a walk and a double. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids, Kane County Box Score Rain washed out this game on Friday night. The Kernels and Cougars will attempt to play two games on Saturday afternoon in Iowa. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – DJ Baxendale, Chattanooga Lookouts Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Dalton Hicks, Chattanooga Lookouts SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Syracuse @ Rochester (11:35 CST) – RHP Mark Hamburger and TBD Chattanooga @ Tennessee (6:05 CST) – RHP Alex Wimmers Ft. Myers @ St. Lucie (5:30 CST) – RHP Ryan Eades Kane County @ Cedar Rapids (2:00 CST) – RHP Michael Cederoth & RHP Felix Jorge TWINS MINOR LEAGUE BATTING LEADERS (through Friday, April 24) From time to time, I’ll take a look at the leaderboard in the organization. Below are the top five at several offensive categories: BA: Dalton Hicks (.395), Trey Vavra (.362), Zach Granite (.340), Josmil Pinto (.325), Reynaldo Rodriguez (.319), Nick Gordon (.302) OBP: Dalton Hicks (.480), Zach Granite (.456), Josmil Pinto (.438), Trey Vavra (.388), Aaron Hicks (.375), Niko Goodrum (.364) SLG: Trey Vavra (.660), Dalton Hicks (.558), Adam Brett Walker (.556), Aaron Hicks (.490), Zach Granite (.468), Niko Goodrum (.462) OPS: Trey Vavra (1.047), Dalton Hicks (1.038), Zach Granite (.924), Aaron Hicks (.865), Josmil Pinto (.863), Adam Brett Walker (.832) Hits: Zach Granite, Dalton Hicks, Trey Vavra (17), Nick Gordon, Zach Granite, Alex Swim (16) 2B: Niko Goodrum (7), Travis Harrison (6), Dalton Hicks (5), Zach Granite (4), 10 tied with 3. HR: Adam Brett Walker (4), Brock Peterson, Miguel Sano, Trey Vavra (3), 4 tied with 2. Runs: Zach Granite (16), Trey Vavra (10), Tanner English, Marcus Knecht, Miguel Sano (9), 4 tied with 8. RBI: Nick Gordon (14), Zack Larson, Trey Vavra (12), Dalton Hicks (9), 4 tied with 8. SB: Tanner English (6), Zach Granite (5), Zack Larson (4), 4 tied with 3. Innings: Tyler Duffey (20.2), Kohl Stewart (20.1), Stephen Gonsalves (20.0), DJ Baxendale, Taylor Rogers (19.0), Mat Batts (18.1) ERA >= 12 IP: Pat Dean, Ryan Eades, Felix Jorge (0.75), Stephen Gonsalves (0.90), DJ Baxendale (0.95), Mat Batts (1.47) WHIP >= 12 IP: Chih-Wei Hu (0.61), Stephen Gonsalves (0.65), Mat Batts (0.71), Pat Dean (0.75), Tyler Duffey (0.87), Felix Jorge (0.92) BB/9 > 12 IP: Chih-Wei Hu (0.5), Stephen Gonsalves (0.9), Aaron Slegers (1.2), Tyler Duffey (1.7), Ethan Mildren (1.8), Mat Batts (2.0). K/9 >= 12 IP: Felix Jorge (14.2), Stephen Gonsalves (13.5), Jose Berrios (12.9), Alex Meyer (12.3), Pat Dean (11.2), Chih-Wei Hu (10.0) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Friday games or the leader board. Click here to view the article