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With the big league team spending the day trying to shake off being swept by the Dodgers, the front office has been busy on the phones. The Twins traded John Ryan Murphy to Arizona, full details here, and there are rumors that Ervin Santana, newly acquired Jaime Garcia, Brandon Kintzler and even Brian Dozier are drawing interest from other teams.Find out everything that happened in the Twins minor league system on Thursday. Transactions: Anthony Recker promoted to Rochester from Chattanooga, taking Murphy’s spot, Brian Navarreto was promoted from Fort Myers to Chattanooga to take Recker’s spot, and the Lookouts also added LHP Gabriel Moya (the return for John Ryan Murphy). Twins signed Indy baller Jimmy Kerrigan and have assigned him to Cedar Rapids, and he’ll join the team Saturday. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 3 @ Indianapolis 1 Box Score I just don’t even know what to do about Kyle Gibson. He started on Thursday night for the Red Wings and tossed 5.0 innings of 1-hit baseball. He struck out five and didn’t walk a soul. Alex Wimmers replaced Gibson, throwing 2.1 innings and giving up no runs, two hits, a walk and grabbed a strikeout. Michael Tonkin threw in 0.2 innings of scoreless ball but then ran into trouble in the ninth, giving up a walk and a pair of hits to start the ninth before striking out the next batter and being replaced by John Curtiss with one out in the ninth and the bases loaded. Curtiss induced a sacrifice fly to give Indianapolis their first run of the night (charged to Tonkin), and then struck out the final batter of the game to earn the save. The Wings used efficient team play, as they had just seven hits, only one for extra bases, a double, to push three runs across, thanks to a lousy 1-10 performance with runners in scoring position. No Wings player had more than one hit, although Kennys Vargas was 1-2 with a double and two walks, and Tommy Field had a pair of walks as well. Niko Goodrum was 1-3 with a walk and a run scored, plus a pair of stolen bases. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Birmingham 9 @ Chattanooga 6 Box Score The Lookouts played from behind most of the night, despite taking an early 1-0 in the first inning. They gave up multiple runs in the third, fourth, sixth and seventh innings, allowing nine runs to cross the plate. Not a great game for the pitching staff. The hitters tallied 11 hits, six for extra bases and threw in another three walks, led by Carlos Paulino, the nine-hitter, who was 2-3 with an RBI, a walk and two runs scored. Nick Gordon was 1-5 with a pair of RBI at the top of the order, and former first-rounder Levi Michael was 2-5 with a solo home run, and 2 RBI. Starter Dereck Rodriguez went 5.2, giving up seven runs, all earned, on six hits and four walks. He struck out four. He was lifted for Randy LeBlanc, who lasted 2.1 innings giving up five hits of his own, and two more runs before Luke Bard came in for the ninth, holding the Barons hitless and grabbing a strike out. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 9 @ Lakeland 2 Box Score The two best performances from the Twins system both came in Lakeland on Thursday night as Eduardo Del Rosario was nearly flawless in his Florida State League debut, and Jermaine Palacios nearly hit the cover off the baseball. Del Rosario pitched 8.0 innings and gave up only gave up one hit, one unearned run, one walk, and he struck out four. This is the second time Del Rosario has thrown 8.0 innings on the year, and might be his best start (though a 7.0 inning shutout game with 10K's back on April 25th is a strong contender as well). Del Rosario turned the ball over to Anthony McIver in the ninth, who ran into a wee bit of trouble and came out after 0.2 innings, after giving up a pair of hits and an unearned run. He was replaced by Andrew Vasquez who struck out the only batter he faced to end the game. Big day with the sticks for the Miracle as Tanner English, Jermaine Palacios and Brent Rooker all went deep as part of a nine-run outburst. Palacios led the way with a 4-5 night that included a solo home run, and three RBI. Zander Wiel also had a nice day, 3-5 with a run scored. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 1 @ Peoria 3 (Game 1) Box Score In the first game of two 7-inning games on Thursday night (making up for a rain out on Wednesday) the Kernels took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first but gave up a pair of runs in the bottom half of the inning and never scored again. The Kernels were just 1-5 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base. No player had multiple hits, but three of the five hits were doubles, one each from Travis Blankenhorn, Ben Rortvedt and Amaurys Minier. The Kernels got a full game out of their starter Tyler Beardsley on just six innings, saving the bullpen for game two. Beardsley pitched 6.0 innings, gave up six hits, three earned runs, struck out one, and gave up a home run. Beardsley gave up a fair number of hits, but was fairly efficient over six innings, throwing just 80 pitches. Quick game at Dozer Park in Peoria, even for a 7-inning game, clocking in just under an hour and a half at 87 minutes. Cedar Rapids 0 @ Peoria 4 (Game 2) Box Score Kernels starter Evan Sanders struggled through 4.0 innings, giving up just three hits, but he walked six and gave up four earned runs. He also struck out four. With a fully rested bullpen after the first game, it was time to bring in a reliever and Patrick McGuff got the call in the fifth. McGuff gave Cedar Rapids 2.0 innings of scoreless ball, giving up a pair of hits and recording three strikeouts. After not scoring for the final six innings in the early game, the Kernels extended their scoreless streak to 13 innings, failing to bring anyone home. The Kernels had just three hits, and a pair of walks for five base runners, and were 0-3 with runners in scoring position. Travis Blankenhorn, Lewin Diaz and Trey Cabbage all had singles. Lewin Diaz and Caleb Hamilton walked. E-Twins E-Notes Elizabethton @ Princeton Postponed, Rain GCL Twins Takes GCL Twins 8 @ GCL Orioles 14 Box Score It takes a lot to blow a 5-0 lead, but after seeing the Twins do in earlier this week, the GCL Twins figured they’d give it a try as well. Up 5-0 heading into the bottom of the third, the GCL Twins gave up 11 runs. A lot of things have to go wrong to give up 11 runs in an inning. But three errors, a passed ball, a home run, a walk, a pair of intentional walks, a walk, six singles and a double will pretty much do it every time. All that before an inning-ending double play. Not a great day for starter Taylor Clemensia who gave up seven runs, but just two earned, through 2.1 innings. Amilcar Cruz suffered as well, giving up four runs, all earned, over 2.2 innings before turning the ball over to Joe Rosenstein who got into the run-giving up game as well, giving up a three spot over 2.2 innings. Dane Hutcheon, mercifully, ended the eighth, and the night for GCL Twins pitchers, striking out the only batter he faced. Hutcheon, you may not be aware, is an infielder. The GCL Twins did manage put eight runs across the plate, so a couple of guys had pretty solid days, led by Benjamin Rodriguez 3-5 with a double, a run scored and 3 RBI. Royce Lewis was 2-4 with three runs scored. Every other GCL Twins player had a hit, except Roni Tapia, who was 0-4 with a K. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Eduardo Del Rosario, Fort Myers Miracle Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Jermaine Palacios, Fort Myers Miracle FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Toledo (6:05pm) – Tim Melville (3-3, 2.63) Birmingham @ Chattanooga (6:15pm) – Fernando Romero (9-6, 2.68) Fort Myers @Lakeland (5:30pm) – Brady Anderson (4-6, 4.65) Cedar Rapids @ Peoria (7:00pm) – Domenick Carlini (3-8, 5.40) Elizabethton @ Princeton (4:00pm) – Bryan Sammons (1-0, 1.83) GCL Red Sox @ GCL Twins (11:00am) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Thursday's games. Click here to view the article

With a full slate of action on Tuesday, fans all across Twins Territory already were getting plenty of chances to watch baseball on Independence Day. Then three of those six games went into extra innings so the fans that made it out to the ballparks in Chattanooga, Tampa, and Fort Myers got free baseball to enjoy on the holiday. One of those games even ended with fireworks in the form of a walk-off home run for the good guys.To find out who the standouts on the Fourth of July were in the minors, and just how many extra innings those teams played, keep reading! TRANSACTIONS Before we get into the games, there were a few Independence Day transactions. In Rochester, Justin Haley was sent on a rehab assignment to the Red Wings and made the start in their game. Outfielder Ryan Strausborger was promoted from Chattanooga and Kennys Vargas was optioned to AAA. The Lookouts also got a pitcher on a rehab assignment, theirs in the form of Zack Jones, who also started the game for Chattanooga though under different circumstances than Haley. RED WINGS REPORT Pawtucket 3, Rochester 5 Box Score The Red Wings got another multi-hit effort from Zack Granite, who went 2-4 with three RBI. He scored one of those with a single in the second inning, and his fourth inning single scored the other two and gave Rochester a 4-2 lead. They extended their lead to three in the fifth on a wild-pitch that allowed Mitch Garver to scamper home from third. Justin Haley made the start for the Red Wings and went the first three innings in his first rehab appearance. He allowed a two-run home run in the third and four hits total while striking out three. Nik Turley came on in relief and went the next five innings. He allowed no runs on two hits and a walk, and added three K’s. Jake Reed pitched the ninth inning and picked up his second save for Rochester. He did allow a solo home run for the final score of 5-3, but also struck out the last two hitters of the game. It was Reed’s first run allowed at AAA. Niko Goodrum scored two runs with a 1-2 day that included a walk. Bengie Gonzalez picked up the other RBI for the Red Wings with a single in the second inning that scored Kennys Vargas. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Tennessee 5, Chattanooga 6 (14 innings) Box Score Chattanooga jumped out to a 5-1 lead after five innings, but weren’t able to keep the Smokies at bay. They scored those five runs thanks to a T.J. White RBI single in the second inning, a Jonathan Rodriguez two-run homer in the fourth, and a two-RBI single off the bat of LaMonte Wade in the fifth. Starter Kohl Stewart gave up a run in the top of the first after a giving up a one-out double, but that would be it for the Smokies against him. He went five innings, allowing four hits and one walk. He struck out one. Relievers Matt Tracy and Paul Clemens each threw two innings, but the Smokies also tagged each of them for two runs to tie the game at five in the top of the eighth. Tracy’s runs came on three walks and double while Clemens’ came on four hits including three doubles. Both relievers also struck out two. Randy Rosario took over in the tenth, and went the next three scoreless and perfect innings while picking up two K’s. Luke Bard came on for the thirteenth inning and pitched a one-two-three frame. Chattanooga had an opportunity in the bottom of the thirteenth as three two-out walks loaded the bases, but Levi Michael grounded out to end the inning. Bard came back out in the fourteenth and again had a one-two-three inning, striking out the final two hitters of this one. Over his last eleven appearances and 17.2 innings pitched, Bard has allowed just one run on twelve hits and six walks, while striking out 30. #FreeBard The Lookouts got another bases-loaded opportunity in the fourteenth after a Nick Gordon single and walks to Edgar Corcino and LaMonte Wade with two outs, and this time the day’s hero came through. Designated hitter Rodriguez knocked his fourth hit of the game, a single to score Gordon and walk it off after a long day. Rodriguez finished 4-6 with two runs scored, two doubles, his tenth home run, a walk, and three runs batted in. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 1, Tampa 2 (14 innings) Box Score Fort Myers fell behind 1-0 in the second inning when starter David Fischer gave up a solo home run. He was pretty good otherwise in his four innings however, allowing just one other hit with one strikeout. Michael Theofanopoulos went the next three scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and a walk, with six K’s. The Miracle tied the game at one in the top of the ninth inning thanks to an RBI single from Mitchell Kranson. His hit scored Jermaine Palacios who had singled to lead off the inning. Sam Clay came on for Theofanopoulos in the eighth and brought the game into extra innings. He finished four scoreless innings and allowed one hit, walked three and struck out two. Position Player Pitcher Alert: Catcher Kevin Garcia was the next arm brought on to pitch and he made it two plus innings. He had the first two outs of the bottom of the fourteenth, but a solo home run ended the game for Fort Myers. The Miracle lineup, despite the five extra frames, had just two at-bats in the entire contest with runners in scoring position and went 1-2. They had six singles after nine innings, and added three more singles for nine total hits on the game after fourteen innings. Max Murphy, Palacios and Kranson all had two hits. KERNELS NUGGETS Wisconsin 2, Cedar Rapids 1 Box Score Cedar Rapids scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the first inning thanks to a sacrifice fly from Lewin Diaz, but that’s all the offense they would push across for the game as this one also turned into a pitcher’s duel. Eduardo Del Rosario made the start for the Kernels and went seven strong innings. He allowed just one run on a solo home run, three hits total, walked none and struck out six. The game was tied 1-1 when he left after those seven innings, and Max Cordy pitched a scoreless eighth before a leadoff walk in the ninth allowed the Timber Rattlers to manufacture the go-ahead run. The lineup for Cedar Rapids collected just six hits and was led by Diaz (2-3, RBI) and Ben Rortvedt (2-3, 2B) who each had two. Lean Marrero added a triple in the fifth inning but was left stranded. As a team they were 0-4 with runners in scoring position and left only five men on base. E-TWINS E-NOTES Princeton 6, Elizabethton 2 Box Score Twins Daily’s 2016 Short Season Pitcher of the Year, Huascar Ynoa, made the start for the Twins and went the first five innings. They were of the scoreless variety as he allowed just three hits and a walk while striking out three. Elizabethton scored the first run of the game in the second inning when Andrew Cosgrove singled in Andrew Bechtold, who had picked up his first double of the year a batter earlier. The Twins made the score 2-0 for their starter in the bottom of the fifth when Jose Miranda led off the inning with his second Appalachian League home run. Bryan Sammons came on in relief of Ynoa for the sixth inning, and an error led to an unearned run to make the score 2-1. Sammons added a scoreless seventh inning and struck out three in his outing. In the eighth, Blair Lakso was summoned to keep the lead but it wasn’t meant to be. With one out there was an errant throw on a steal attempt, then a walk, single, wild pitch, two-run double, and RBI single ended his outing with the score 5-2 Princeton. Jared Finkel came on and got the last out of the inning with a K and he finished the game with another frame, but gave up an insurance run in the ninth on three singles. Down 6-2 in the bottom of the ninth, the Twins did their best to mount a comeback by loading the bases with two-outs for Brent Rooker. Unfortunately his ground ball to third didn’t find a hole and dropped Elizabethton to 8-5 on the season. Miranda finished his day 2-5 with the home run, Bechtold was 1-3 with a double, a run scored, and walk, and Matt Albanese added a double to lead the offensive effort. As a team they were 2-8 with runners in scoring position and left ten men on base. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 6, GCL Rays 4 (10 innings) Box Score The GCL Twins jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the first inning thanks to a Benjamin Rodriguez triple that scored Akil Baddoo and Victor Tademo who had reached base via a walk and hit by pitch, respectively. They made it 3-0 in the third as Royce Lewis drew a walk to lead off the frame and stole second base before Rodriguez singled him in. In the fifth Rodriguez delivered again with a single to score Alex Robles, who had doubled earlier in the inning. The Twins would need all those Rodriguez runs batted in as the Rays finally got to the bullpen of the Twins in the eighth inning. Zack Jones had started the game for his first rehab appearance, and stuck out two in the first inning. Jordan Balazovic then came on and went the next five scoreless innings. He allowed three hits and two walks while striking out six. Matt Jones pitched a scoreless seventh inning before running into a heap of trouble after a strike three got away from the catcher and put a runner on. Four more singles and a hit batter scored four runs to tie the game before Austin Bizzle came one and struck out the two hitters he faced to end the threat. Jose Burmudez brought the game into extra innings with two scoreless frames, including the tenth which started with a runner on second base under the new rules. In the bottom of the tenth, Lewis started on second base for the Twins as he was the last out of the ninth inning. He didn’t have to do much running, as Baddoo launched his first home run of the season in walk-off fashion to give the Twins the 6-4 win and bring on the fireworks. Despite just six hits as a team, thanks to Rodriguez and Baddoo the Twins made the most of them by getting four of those with runners in scoring position. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Eduardo Del Rosario, Cedar Rapids Kernels (7.0IP, ER, 3 H’s, 6 K’s) Hitter of the Day – Jonathan Rodriguez, Chattanooga Lookouts (GW-single in fourteenth inning. 4-6, 2 R’s, 2 2B’s, HR, BB, 3 RBI) WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Pawtucket @ Rochester, Game 1 (3:35PM CST) – RHP Dillon Gee (0-0, 0.00 ERA) Pawtucket @ Rochester, Game 2 (TBD) - TBD Tennessee @ Chattanooga (6:15PM CST) - TBD Fort Myers @ Tampa (6:00PM CST) – RHP Sean Poppen (0-0, -.-- ERA) Wisconsin @ Cedar Rapids (6:35PM CST) – LHP Evan Sanders (0-1, 11.25 ERA) Princeton @ Elizabethton (6:00PM CST) – RHP Moises Gomez (0-0, 14.29 ERA) GCL Twins @ GCL Rays (11:00AM CST) - TBD Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Tuesday’s games! Click here to view the article

The Twins got in a hole early, and catcher Chris Gimenez pitched again, but with a nearly five-hour rain delay before the game started, not many fans stuck around Target Field to see the White Sox beat the Twins 9-0. After the game the Twins optioned Nik Turley back to Rochester and placed Ehire Adrianza on the DL.Find out everything that happened in the Twins minor league system on Thursday. TRANSACTIONS The Twins to add two pitchers before Friday’s game. Twins Daily has learned that Trevor Hildenberger will be one of them.Red Wings sign and add Dillon Gee to roster, place Kam Mickolio on DL. UPDATE: Instead of going to Rochester, Gee will be going to Cleveland on Friday with Hildenberger.John Curtiss promoted to Rochester from Chattanooga.Twins Daily has also learned that SS Jermaine Palacios, C/1B Mitchell Kranson, 2B Brandon Lopez and OF Jaylin Davis have been moved up to Ft. Myers.Jeff Johnson (The Gazette, Cedar Rapids) has said that 1B Amaurys Minier, IF Joe Cronin, IF Jorge Munoz and OF Lean Marrero will join the Kernels from Extended Spring Training.There are also some moves in Ft. Myers which we will report when we receive verification.RED WINGS REPORTLehigh Valley 2 @ Rochester 4 Box Score Yohan Pino gave the Red Wings 4.1 innings of one-run baseball, lifted for Alex Wimmers in the fifth after recording a quick out and walking the second batter of the inning. Pino gave up six hits, but just one run, walked one, and struck out one. Wimmers earned the win with 2.0 innings of one-run ball. Wimmers gave up four hits, struck out two, and walked no one. He gave the ball to Drew Rucinski who got the Wings through the seventh and eighth innings without giving up a run (and only one hit), and Michael Tonkin persevered the Red Wings’ two-run lead, earning his first save of the year. The Red Wings collected five extra base hits, with Mitch Garver leading the way on a 2-3 night with a double, a home run, a pair of RBIs and a walk. Zack Granie continues to hit, and was 2-4 at the top of the line up. Niko Goodrum and Bengie Gonzalez each piled on a couple of hits as well. ByungHo Park was 1-4 but did not strike out, so that’s a moral victory. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Pensacola @ Chattanooga – POSTPONED – Rain The start of the second half of the season will be postponed for a day. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 1 @ Florida 8 Box Score The Miracle scored a run in the top of the first but were 0-7 with runners in scoring position, stranding eight runners and failed to score another run, falling to Florida 8-1. Max Murphy was 3-3 with a walk at the top of the lineup, and number two hitter Alex Perez was 3-4 and accounted for 6 of the 9 Miracle hits on the night but the 3-4-5 hitters were 0-11 with five strike outs, failing to capitalize on a bunch of base runners. Starter Lachlan Wells cruised into the fourth inning before giving up a pair of runs in the fourth, and another in the fifth, and sixth before being lifted for Williams Ramirez. Wells’ line on the night was 5 hits, 4 runs (all earned), one walk, and 8 strike outs. Ramirez gave up two runs of his own before escaping the sixth inning, giving up a pair of hits and a walk. Jonny Drozd finished the game for the Miracle, giving up two runs (one earned) on three hits, and a walk. He struck out three. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 4 @ Quad Cities 0 Box Score Kernels third baseman Travis Blankenhorn has been named the Midwest League Player of the Week. Blankenhorn hit five extra base hits, scored six runs, stole a base, and drew five walks while hitting .407 for the week. Blankenhorn was 1-3 with a walk and two RBIs on Thursday night, driving in half of the Kernels’ runs. Lewin Diaz added another run with a solo home run, and Jermaine Palacios had the remaining RBI to account for all four of the Kernels runs. The Kernels should have scored another five or so runs, but were just 2-12 with runners in scoring position, stranding eight base runners. Eduardo Del Rosario gave the Kernels a fantastic start, picking up his seventh win of the year to move to 7-3. Del Rosario gave up just two hits while keeping the River Bandits off of the scoreboard. He walked one and struck out seven over 6.0 innings. The Kernels bullpen held the Riverbandits hitless over the last three innings with 2.0 innings from Colton Davis, and a scoreless ninth from Hector Lujan. E-Town E-Notes Danville @ Elizabethton – POSTONED - Rain E-Town season opener postponed until tomorrow. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Eduardo Del Rosario, Cedar Rapids Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Mitch Garver, Rochester FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Lehigh Valley @ Rochester (6:05pm) – Matt Tracy (2-0, 7.20) Pensacola @ Chattanooga (6:15pm) – Stephen Gonsalves (2-3, 3.18) Fort Myers @ Florida (6:05pm) – Lewis Thorpe (0-2, 2.12) Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (6:35pm) – Sean Poppen (5-1, 2.80) Danville @ Elizabethton (DH starting @ 5:00pm) – Edwar Colina (0-0, -.--), Moises Gomez (0-0, -.--). Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Thursday's games. Click here to view the article

The Twins were off, but there was plenty of notable news to share across the minor league sytem from Thursday evening. Tyler Jay made his 2017 debut, Lewis Thorpe looked good again in his second start of the year and Nick Gordon set a new career high in home runs. Find out what else happened around the Twins' minor leagues on Thursday.AWARD UPDATE Jermaine Palacios was named the Twins Minor League Player of the month for April. He hit .393 with a .434 OBP and 17 runs scored for Cedar Rapids in a month where it seemed like every night he was doing something notable. TRANSACTION ALERT RED WINGS REPORT Rochester, Durham POSTPONED Another game called off due to rain for the Red Wings. They’ll make this one up on May 30 as part of a doubleheader in Durham in which Rochester will be the home team for Game 2. This was the ninth postponement for Rochester this season. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 5, Montgomery 2 Box Score Tyler Jay made his 2017 debut, giving up a run on a homer and a pair of walks in the eighth inning. It was his first game action since July 30 of last year. It was also a big night for Nick Gordon, who hit his fourth home run of the season. Why is that significant? It represents a new career high for Gordon, who also walked and scored a run. Ryan Eades did his best Kohl Stewart impression, surrendering just one run over 5.3 innings despite zero strikeouts and three walks. Randy Rosario was the first man out of the pen and recorded four consecutive outs, three of them on Ks. The addition of Jay to the Chattanooga bullpen is a huge deal, but what John Curtiss is doing for the Lookouts has been amazing. The Twins sixth-rounder from 2014 recorded his ninth save of the season, getting all three outs via the strikeout. Over 17.2 innings, he has yet to give up an earned run and he’s now up to 25 Ks. With Nick Burdi and now Jay in that same pen, Curtiss is going to continue to be overshadowed in terms of name recognition/prospect hype, but he has been incredible. Edgar Corcino reached base in all four of his plate appearances, going 3-for-3 with a walk. LaMonte Wade had a RBI double and drew a walk. MIRACLE MATTERS Dunedin 5, Fort Myers 4 (Game 1, 9 innings) Box Score The Miracle bats knocked rehabbing big league starter J.A. Happ around for three runs on seven hits over his three innings, but eventually lost in walk-off fashion. Bradley Strong had a single and an RBI double off Happ, who finished sixth in AL Cy Young voting last season. This game was scheduled to go seven innings, but it remained tied at four and went into “extras.” Can it really be extra innings if it’s a nine-inning game? I suppose. Altogether, the Miracle collected 15 hits. Max Murphy was 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and a walk. Strong, Chris Paul, Nelson Molina, Sean Miller and Alex Perez all had two-hit games for Fort Myers. Brady Anderson held Dunedin to two runs on four hits and a walk over five innings. Sam Clay was on the mound for an eventful sixth inning. Clay gave up a single, two walks, threw a wild pitch and catcher Rafael Valera was credited with two passed balls in his (Clay's) inning of work. Alex Muren threw two scoreless innings to lower his ERA to 0.87 (one earned run over 10.1 innings). Anthony McIver was not able to escape the ninth, giving up a walk-off RBI double to Nash Knight (80-grade name). Zander Wiel struckout in the top of the first and did not take the field in the bottom of the inning. He was also absent from the lineup in Game 2. Dunedin 2, Fort Myers 1 (Game 2, 7 innings) Box Score Lewis Thorpe didn’t have to wait another nearly 1,000 days between starts, and he showed flashes of brilliance yet again for the Miracle. The left-hander made his first start in over two years last Friday, and followed that up with four more innings of one-run ball while striking out six batters. After throwing 49 pitches in his debut, Thorpe reached 66 pitches Thursday night. The Twins are surely going to be taking baby steps with Thorpe’s return, but the early results are encouraging. He’s throwing 93-94 mph and has only walked two batters over eight innings pitched. Unfortunately, Fort Myers got swept in the double dip. Murphy and Paul both had multi-hit games again, and Strong drove in the lone Miracle run of the game. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 9, Clifton 2 Box Score Eduardo Del Rosario was very interesting to watch Thursday night. He had some nasty stuff going, striking out nine batters. He also was issued a warning and penalized a couple of balls for going to his mouth, then straight to the ball. To top it off, he was working in a funky quick pitch I hadn’t seen from him in the past. Del Rosario, who turned 22 this week, went six innings and gave up a pair of runs on a two-run homer. The Kernels also have the early favorite for the next player of the month award winner. Jaylin Davis swatted his eighth home run of May, an opposite-field shot he hit with two strikes. It didn’t even seem like he got much of it, but he muscled it over the fence. He finished 3-for-4 with three RBI. Lewin Diaz also homered, his seventh of the season. Palacios celebrated his Player of the Month award by hitting an RBI single in his first at-bat of the game. Colton Davis, Andrew Vasquez and Logan Lombana each threw a shutout inning out of the bullpen. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Eduardo Del Rosario (6 IP, 9 Ks, 2 ER) Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Jaylin Davis (hit his MWL leading 11th home run and drove in three) FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rocester vs. Indianapolis, 5:35 CT, Nick Tepesch (3.16 ERA, 1.40 WHIP) Chattanooga vs. Montgomery, 6:15 CT, Stephen Gonsalves (4.50 ERA, 0.75 WHIP) Fort Myers at Charlotte, 5:35 CT, Dereck Rodriguez (3.06 ERA, 1.16 WHIP) Cedar Rapids at Kane County, 6:30 CT, Max Cordy (starting a bullpen game) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Thursday's games. Click here to view the article

On Friday night, Lewis Thorpe made his first start since August of 2014. On Saturday night, there was another talented left-handed pitcher who made his first start of the season. Stephen Gonsalves went to big league camp, but a few weeks in, he was shut down with a shoulder issue. He’s been in Ft. Myers working his way back since then and on Saturday night he made that start. Extra innings were needed to decide games for the Rochester Red Wings and Ft. Myers Miracle. One Twins minor league hitter got to play hero for the second time in a week. Another Twins prospect went home and had his best game of the year so far.Find out everything and more that happened happened in the Twins system on Saturday night, starting with the transactions of the day. TRANSACTIONS Check out the transactions through the minor league system on Wednesday: The Twins have released catcher AJ Murray and pitcher Michael Cederoth. Both had been in extended spring training this season, on disabled lists.While we mentioned it in yesterday’s minor league report, Chattanooga officially removed Stephen Gonsalves from the disabled list.RED WINGS REPORTRochester 4, Scranton/Wilkes Barre 5 (11 innings) Box Score Nick Tepesch made the start for the Red Wings and gave up three runs in the first inning. But he settled in and finished with four runs on five hits over six innings. He walked one and struck out two. Three of the hits were home runs, producing the four runs he was charged with. Alex Wimmers made his return to the Red Wings and struck out three over two shutout innings. DJ Baxendale came on and threw scoreless ninth and tenth innings. However, with two outs in the bottom of the 11th inning, he gave up the winning run. In his 2.2 innings, he gave up the one run on two hits. He walked three and struck out three. Byungho Park cut the Wings deficit to 4-3 in the sixth inning with a two-run homer, his second of the season. An inning later, John Ryan Murphy singled in a run to tie the game. Niko Goodrum hit his fifth and sixth doubles of the year. Daniel Palka went 2-5 with his sixth double. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 0, Biloxi 2 (5 innings) Box Score Twins fans have been waiting for almost two months to see Twins Daily's #2 Twins Prospect Stephen Gonsalves. Gonsalves has been impatiently waiting to make his 2017 debut. And then… he had to wait a little longer. This game started on time. The Lookouts went scoreless in the top of the first inning. Gonsalves made his trek to the mound for the bottom of the first inning, but before the inning began, a torrential rainfall came, causing a delay. However, when the game resumed, Gonsalves was on the mound. In the first inning, he got two ground outs and an infield pop fly. In the second, he caught a comebacker, which should probably be a Top Play nominee. Then he fielded a groundball, gave up a double, and then fielded another grounder. He struck out the first two batters of the third inning and then got a line out to end the inning. In the fourth inning, he gave up a walk to start the inning. He then struck out the next batter and got a fly out to left for the second out. Unfortunately, he gave up a two-run homer to Angel Ortega before getting the final out. That ended the night for Gonsalves. In total, he gave up the two runs on two hits. He walked one and struck out three. 33 of his 57 pitches were strikes. According to Gonsalves, he had some adrenaline running early. "I had a little adrenaline today, but I kept telling myself I've been here and I've been able to compete well at this level. So I was getting myself comfortable." He put up solid numbers considering he didn't feel like he had all his pitches working. In fact, in his mind, he only had one of his pitches working. "Only thing working for me today was my fastball. I couldn't get anything over other than that. Curveball was getting spiked. Slider wasn't sliding. That's what the double was hit off of. And I kept pushing my change ups. I want to say I only three off speed pitches for strikes out of 15. But my fastball command was all I had working tonight, just beating up kids on the hands. I think I went outside twice and one was the home run." It's that kind of push for perfection and expectations for himself that has pushed Gonsalves up the prospect rankings and up the Twins organizational level. It also was the end of the game. The Lookouts batted in the top of the fifth. Randy LeBlanc went out to the mound to warm up, but then the rains came again. This time, the game was called. Because the game had passed the top of the 5th with the home team winning, the Lookouts lost 2-0. The Lookouts offense had just three hits, two by catcher Dan Rohlfing. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 9, Bradenton 8 (10 innings) Box Score For the second time within the last week, Chris Paul played hero for the Miracle. Earlier in the week, he hit a three-run walk off homer. On Saturday night, it was a walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th inning. Paul went 2-4 with two walks and his 12th double. Bradley Strong and Sean Miller each had three hits in the game. Tanner English went 2-4 with a walk and his first homer. Zander Wiel went 1-2 with three walks and his fourth home run. Dereck Rodriguez started and gave up three runs on seven hits and two walks in five innings. He struck out seven. Jonny Drozd came on for the sixth inning. He gave up five runs (four earned) on five hits and a walk. Williams Ramirez got the next four outs. Sam Clay improved to 5-0 by throwing 2.2 scoreless innings. He gave up three hits, walked one and struck out three to improve to 5-0 and drop his season ERA to 2.25. As you recall, Sam Clay gave up six earned runs in just ⅔ of an inning in his first outing of the season. Since then, he has thrown 23.1 scoreless innings. The Miracle extended their winning streak to seven games with the win. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 4, Wisconsin 2 Box Score It was a very nice night in Wisconsin for the Kernels battery. Let’s start on the mound. Eduardo Del Rosario made the start. He gave up two runs on five hits in eight innings. He walked two and struck out eight. Through seven innings, he did not allow a run. Tom Hackimer came in for the ninth. He recorded his sixth save of the season as he had one strikeout in a perfect ninth inning. Ben Rortvedt was the Twins second-round pick a year ago out of Verona Area High School in Verona, Wisconsin. The Kernels were playing in Appleton which is about 120 miles, or a two-hour drive for Rortvedt’s friends and family. He came into the game hitting just .122. He went 2-3 with a walk and his fourth double, raising his average to .141 on the year. Christian Cavaness went 2-4 with the other RBI. Ariel Montesino added his fifth double. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Eduardo Del Rosario, Cedar Rapids Kernels Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Zander Wiel, Ft. Myers Miracle SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Scranton/Wilkes Barre (12:05 CST) - LHP Nik Turley Chattanooga @ Biloxi (1:05 CST) - LHP Matt Tracy Bradenton @ Ft. Myers (3:05 CST) - RHP Cody Stashak Cedar Rapids @ Wisconsin (1:05 CST) - RHP Tyler Beardsley Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Saturday’s games. Click here to view the article

The Twins minor league Opening Day was subdued by weather postponements and lack of offense, but their affiliates kicked things into gear on Friday. A top prospect hit a walk off, there was a dominating pitching performance and even the team that didn't pick up a victory made a valiant comeback attempt. Here's a look at everything that happened in the Twins minor league system on Friday.RED WINGS REPORT Rochester, Syracuse (POSTPONED) Rainstorms and even some snow has hit Syracuse, wreaking havoc on the Red Wings' season-opening plans. The first two games of their series in Syracuse have been cancelled, but Saturday's forecast shows only a 20 percent chance of precipitation (though the high is just 47 degrees). Assuming they (finally) get their opener in, Jose Berrios will face off against Joe Ross (3.43 ERA over 19 starts with the Nationals last season) in as good a minor league pitching matchup as you could hope to find. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 4, Mobile 3 (10 innings) Box Score Nick Gordon gave the Lookouts their first win of the season in dramatic fashion, hitting a game-tying sac fly in the bottom of the seventh before driving in Tanner English on a walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th inning. Gordon finished 3-for-4 at the plate and started a pair of 6-4-3 double plays in the field. English, who reached safely three times on the night, led off the 10th with a double before Gordon, the very next batter, ended it. Dan Rohlfing hit a home run and Travis Harrison just missed one of his own, smacking a double off the wall. Minor league veteran Matt Tracy started for the Lookouts and went 5 2/3 innings while giving up three runs (just one earned) on seven hits. He struck out four and walked one. Nick Burdi came on in relief, and after his first pitch got by Rohlfing for a run-scoring passed ball he settled in to throw 1 1/3 perfect innings with one strikeout. Raul Fernandez handled both the eighth and ninth innings before John Curtiss came in for the 10th, picking up the win in the process. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 8, Jupiter 11 Box Score Sam Clay had a night to forget, but the Miracle offense broke out after being shut out in their opener. Last season's Midwest League batting champ Luis Arraez had three hits out of the leadoff spot, Zander Wiel drove in three runs and catcher Brian Navarreto hit a solo home run. Fort Myers trailed 4-1 entering the seventh inning, but Clay surrendered six runs in 2/3 of an inning. There will surely be better days ahead for the former fourth-round pick, who made all of his 24 appearances last season as a starter. His teammates did their best to pick him up, but fell just short. Down 11-1 in the eighth inning, Doug Mientkiewicz's boys showed no signs of giving in, as they rallied back for four runs, followed by another three runs in the top of the ninth. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 4, Beloit 0 (7 innings) Box Score In Game 1 of their doubleheader with the Snappers, Eduardo Del Rosario turned in a dominating performance for the Kernels. The wiry 21-year-old right-hander threw six shutout innings while striking out seven and walking one. Del Rosario surrendered just two hits, one of which was on a bunt. Cedar Rapids scored three of their runs in the top of the second inning. Lewin Diaz led off with a double and scored on Jaylin Davis' two-bagger, which was followed by another RBI double by Mitchel Kranson. Davis later added a sacrifice fly in the third inning. Colton Davis pitched the seventh, sealing the shutout for the Kernels. Cedar Rapids 2, Beloit 3 (7 innings) Box Score The Kernals couldn't quite finish off the doubleheader sweep, as Beloit won it on a walk-off double. Lewin Diaz went 2-for-3 with a double and drove in both runs for Cedar Rapids. Tyler Wells followed up Del Rosario's masterful performance with some swing-and-miss stuff of his own, but he also struggled with his command. Over four innings, Wells had six strikeouts, but he also walked four and hit a batter. That wildness is uncharacteristic of the big right-hander, as he issued just 17 walks over 47 1/3 innings last season. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Eduardo Del Rosario, Cedar Rapids Kernals (6 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 7 K) Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Nick Gordon, Chattanooga Lookouts (3-for-4, 2 RBI, walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th) SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Syracuse - (12:05 CST) RHP Jose Berrios Mobile @ Chattanooga - (6:15 CST) - RHP Fernando Romero Jupiter @ Fort Myers (5:05 CST) - TBD Beloit @ Cedar Rapids (5:05 CST) - RHP Sean Poppen Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Friday's games. Click here to view the article

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

The Twins minor league season is almost complete, which is kind of sad. But, what is good to see is that a lot of minor leaguers are ending the season very strong. Today we begin to hand out our August minor league awards, and we will start with the starting pitchers. In all the years and months of me doing these, I have never seen a month with so many really strong starting pitching performances. Just look at those who were selected as honorable mention to see how strong they were in the month.Let’s get right to it. Before we get to our Top 5 starting pitchers for the month of August, here is that extensive list of others who deserve to be recognized for a strong month. Actually, there are a ton of honorable mentions AND I had to do a Top 6 starters just to write more about another Twins starting pitching prospect. This is a good thing (even if it's more work!). HONORABLE MENTION Jordan Balazovic - GCL - 6 GS, 2-1, 2.33 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 27.0 IP, 25 H, 4 BB, 13 KTyler Beardsley - Elizabethton/Cedar Rapids - 5 GS, 2-2, 2.57 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 28.0 IP, 22 H, 7 H, 17 KMiguel DeJesus - GCL/Elizabethton - 5 GS, 0-2, 2.74 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 23.0 IP, 16 H, 9 BB, 17 KClark Beeker - Elizabethton - 6 G, 3 GS, 1-1, 1.52 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, 23.2 IP, 15 H, 5 BB, 26 KRyan Eades - Chattanooga - 6 G, 4 GS, 1-0, 2.22 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 24.1 IP, 22 H, 5 BB, 24 KTyler Fox - GCL - 5 G, 4 GS, 1-0, 1.96 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 23.0 IP, 19 H, 6 BB, 15 KNick Greenwood - Rochester - 5 GS, 3-1, 2.25 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 36.1 IP, 30 H 5 BB, 17 KBo Hellquist - 6 G, 5 GS, 3-2, 2.43 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 29.2 IP, 26 H, 5 BB, 23 KTyler Wells - 5 GS, 4-1, 2.57 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 28.0 IP, 20 H, 9 BB, 31 KKeaton Steele - 5 GS, 3-2, 1.91 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 33.0 IP, 28 H, 5 BB, 22 KCody Stashak - 3 GS, 0.0, 0.54 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 16.2 IP, 13 H, 3 BB, 10 KTHE TOP SIX STARTING PITCHERS #6 - Dereck Rodriguez - Ft. Myers - 5 GS, 2-2, 1.87 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, 33.2 IP, 27 H, 3 BB, 18 K The first two months of the season were really tough for Rodriguez. He struggled to throw strikes and command the strike zone. He was hit often and hit hard. Then in early June, a switch flipped and he turned it on. Soon after, he was promoted to Ft. Myers and he's been very good there. He's been throwing a lot more strikes and hasn't been getting hit as hard. He's got a few fewer strikeouts, as you'd expect from a higher level, but his command is much improved. #5 - Lachlan Wells - Cedar Rapids Kernels - 4 GS, 3-0, 1.46 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 24.2 IP, 18 H, 8 BB, 20 K Signed out of Australia, Wells has moved quickly to start his career. A year ago, he debuted in the GCL and pitched well. He pitched for Australia in the World Cup at the end of last season. He began this season in extended spring training but before the Elizabethton season started, he was moved up to the Kernels. He has been terrific since. He continues to grow. The left-hander stands 6-1 and 186 pounds but he still has room to grow. In 12 starts with the Kernels, Wells (19) is 6-4 with a 1.77 ERA. #4 - Eduardo Del Rosario - Cedar Rapids Kernels - 5 GS, 3-0, 1.69 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 26.2 IP, 21 H, 7 BB, 34 K Like Wells, Eduardo Del Rosario began the season in extended spring training after a solid 2015 in the Gulf Coast League. He was promoted in June to the Kernels and really struggled early, but he appears to be figuring some things out. As you can see from the numbers, he had a terrific month of August. Del Rosario is a wiry sort. He is 6-0 and about 160 pounds. Overall, the 21-year-old is 6-3 with a 3.65 ERA in 15 Kernels starts. #3 - Fernando Romero - Ft. Myers Miracle - 4 GS, 2-1, 1.16 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, 23.1 IP, 16 H, 4 BB, 29 K Like Wells and Del Rosario, Romero began the season in EST. However, he was there because he had missed the two previous seasons with Tommy John surgery and a knee surgery. He was called up to Cedar Rapids in mid-May. He made only a handful of starts before moving up to the Miracle where he didn't miss a beat. He's young and has very few innings above the Gulf Coast League, but he has the stuff of a true ace, something Twins fans have been longing for. He continued his strong showing in August, right up until he was shut down with about two or three starts to go after hitting his predetermined innings limit. After posting a 1.93 ERA in five Kernels starts, he ended his time with the Miracle with a 1.88 ERA in 11 starts. #2 - Brady Anderson - Cedar Rapids Kernels - 5 GS, 3-0, 1.24 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 29.0 IP, 25 H, 6 BB, 17 K Anderson reported to EST after signing with the Twins as a non-drafted free agent out of Florida Gulf Coast University in Ft. Myers. Likely signed to fill innings in the GCL, Anderson dominated that league. When the Kernels needed a starter in early August, they didn't turn to an Elizabethton starter. Instead, Anderson skipped the Appy League and went into the Kernels rotation. He gave up three runs in five innings in his first outing. Over his final four outings (24 innings), he gave up just one run. Non-drafted signees are typically just happy for an opportunity. However, once given that opportunity, Anderson has fully taken advantage of it. And the Twins Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month is... Chattanooga – LHP Stephen Gonsalves - 5 GS, 3-2, 0.28 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 34.2 IP, 25 H, 8 BB, 38 K Gonsalves (22) is the veteran of this group of Top 5 starters. He was solid in Ft. Myers to start this season (5-4, 2.33 ERA), but after one rough outing with the Lookouts - his second with the team - he has dominated Southern League hitters. In his first August outing, he threw six innings with no earned runs. Then he threw a complete game shutout. The next two starts he threw six shutout innings. In once start, he held a no-hitter through six innings. Aside from a game with a bunch of walks, Gonsalves has figured out a way to get hitters out. In the offseason, he added to his pitch repertoire with a slider/cutter pitch. He said it has been a huge strikeout pitch for him, especially against left-handers. Gonsalves has eaten a lot of innings, though the occasional control issues have kept him from pitching more. He has struck out more in AA than he did in Ft. Myers. With the Lookouts, he went 8-1 with a 1.82 ERA. In August, Gonsalves allowed hitters to bat just .125/.227/.144 (.371) against him. During the month, he gave up just two extra-base hits, both doubles. He’s also allowed just one home run during his time with the Lookouts as well, and three all season. Gonsalves has just continued to improve as he has moved up the Twins system. That's what I like to see, certainly what he would like to see, and most important, it's what the front office hopes to see as well. There is a decent chance that Gonsalves will be the organization's #1 prospect heading into the 2017 season. There is a good chance that we will see him in big league spring training, and there is a strong chance that we will see him in a Twins uniform, making starts, sometime during the 2017 season. The Twins have one more spot available for them for the Arizona Fall League. Don't be surprised if that pitcher is Gonsalves. There were so many strong starting pitching performances in August, but the choice of Stephen Gonsalves was very easy. Feel free to discuss below. Feel free to agree or disagree with the order, if you like as I went back and forth many times, but congratulations these individuals on a terrific month. Click here to view the article

One of the great things about being a baseball fan is you can always find plenty to be positive about if you’re willing to look hard enough. While 2016 has been a bleak year for the Twins, having 100-plus players in the organization means there are 100-plus opportunities to find some bright spots. It’s no secret that the biggest issue for the Twins has been their pitching. While some of the prospects like Jose Berrios and J.T. Chargois have struggled in their brief time in the major leagues, there are plenty of other pitchers in the system trending in the right direction.If you’re looking for the brightest stars shining in the system, Stephen Gonsalves (1.97 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 9.9 K/9) and Fernando Romero (1.89 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, 9.0 K/9) are having as good of seasons as anyone in the entire minor leagues. But there has been and will be plenty of coverage about those two as they rocket their way up the Twins prospect rankings. Digging a bit deeper, you can find a few less heralded pitchers who have really put things together over the past couple of months. Unlike Gonsalves and Romero, these guys aren’t going to be in the running for pitcher of the year awards or sit atop any prospect lists, but what they’re doing shouldn’t be ignored. Here is a list of one pitcher from each of the Twins’ top four affiliates who has turned things up as the minor league season is winding down. Rochester: D.J. Baxendale Baxendale began the season in the Chattanooga Lookouts’ rotation and pitched well enough to be named a midseason Southern League All-Star. He had a 3.44 ERA and displayed excellent control (1.8 BB/9), which has been his calling card throughout his professional career. That performance earned him a promotion, but it wasn’t to the Rochester rotation. Along with a new team, Baxendale shifted to a new role out in the bullpen. After averaging 6.6 K/9 as a starter in Double A, the Arkansas product is now averaging over a strikeout per inning out of the Rochester pen. Over 30.1 innings with the Red Wings, Baxendale has a 1.19 ERA and 34 strikeouts. He’s pitched at least two innings in seven of his 22 appearances. A former 10th-round pick, the 25-year-old Baxendale has never been viewed as much of a prospect, but the way he’s pitched at the highest level of the minor leagues has to have captured the attention of the front office. With a new regime expected to take over, however, it’s anyone’s guess whether Baxendale will remain in relief or go back to starting next season. Chattanooga: Ryan Eades Eades’ totals for the year don’t look like much to get excited about, but since returning to the Lookouts’ rotation, he has been on a nice roll. The former second-round pick was bumped to the bullpen in early July and saw his ERA balloon to 5.13 in the middle of that month. He smoothed things out and managed to get back into the rotation on Aug. 14, partially due to performance but luck also played a big role. While he may not have technically earned his way back into the rotation, he’s certainly pitched like he intends to stay there since. Maybe being sent to the pen was a wake-up call, maybe he learned some things out there, maybe it’s as simple as he has a fresh arm ... whatever it is Eades has looked like a different pitcher. Over four starts, the LSU product has a 2.42 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and four times as many strikeouts (20) than walks (5). His 8.1 K/9 over that period is a nice increase over his career mark of 6.6. Eades hasn’t lived up to his impressive college resume or $1.3 million bonus up to this point, and this could just be him getting hot over a small sample, but I wonder if we are seeing his turning point. Fort Myers: Dereck Rodriguez Rodriguez started the year in Cedar Rapids and got off to a rough start. Coming off a season in which he was named the Appalachian League Pitcher of the Year, Rodriguez looked lost, pitching to a 7.71 ERA through June 2. From there he really turned things around. The Twins took notice and quickly bumped him up to Fort Myers. The 24-year-old has carried that momentum over, and through four starts in the Florida State League has a 2.36 ERA and 0.97 WHIP over 26.2 innings. He isn’t posting as many strikeouts since the promotion (just 5.1 K/9), but he has issued just two walks. That’s not two walks as in per nine rate, that’s two walks as in total. While the FSL is a notorious pitcher’s haven, that kind of control is impressive no matter the setting. Since hitting that low point in early June, Rodriguez has pitched at least six innings in all 13 of his starts. That’s an especially impressive feat considering this is just his second season as a starting pitcher and third overall since being converted from the outfield. Cedar Rapids: Eduardo Del Rosario Much like Rodriguez, Del Rosario’s 2016 got off to a rotten start. His season started in June, but the lanky 21-year-old didn’t really get rolling until the start of July. Here’s a breakdown his numbers by month. June: 6.58 ERA, 1.58 WHIP, 5.2 K/9 July: 2.83 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 9.4 K/9 Aug.: 1.69 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 11.5 K/9 Del Rosario has pitched out of his mind over his last eight starts in particular, tallying a total of 58 K's against just 14 walks over that stretch of 44.2 innings. He is far and away the most intriguing prospect on this list, but it’s important that Del Rosario keeps logging innings and developing his body before he really shoots his way up the rankings. Regardless, he has definitely established himself as a guy to keep an eye on. Aside from Berrios and Chargois, there has been plenty of frustration over the lack of progress from other highly-touted prospects like Tyler Jay, Kohl Stewart, Nick Burdi and the handful of other relievers the Twins took with high draft picks. But luckily in baseball hope springs eternal. All those guys will get another shot to break out next year. But in the meantime, Gonsalves and Romero are reason enough to be excited and there are plenty of under-the-radar guys beyond the four listed above taking big steps forward right before our eyes. Click here to view the article

One of the great things about being a baseball fan is you can always find plenty to be positive about if you’re willing to look hard enough. While 2016 has been a bleak year for the Twins, having 100-plus players in the organization means there are 100-plus opportunities to find some bright spots. It’s no secret that the biggest issue for the Twins has been their pitching. While some of the prospects like Jose Berrios and J.T. Chargois have struggled in their brief time in the major leagues, there are plenty of other pitchers in the system trending in the right direction. If you’re looking for the brightest stars shining in the system, Stephen Gonsalves (1.97 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 9.9 K/9) and Fernando Romero (1.89 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, 9.0 K/9) are having as good of seasons as anyone in the entire minor leagues. But there has been and will be plenty of coverage about those two as they rocket their way up the Twins prospect rankings. Digging a bit deeper, you can find a few less heralded pitchers who have really put things together over the past couple months. Unlike Gonsalves and Romero, these guys aren’t going to be in the running for pitcher of the year awards or sit atop any prospect lists, but what they’re doing shouldn’t be ignored. Here is a list of one pitcher from each of the Twins’ top four affiliates who has turned things up as the minor league season is winding down. Rochester: D.J. Baxendale Baxendale began the season in the Chattanooga Lookouts’ rotation and pitched well enough to be named a midseason Southern League All-Star. He had a 3.44 ERA and displayed excellent control (1.8 BB/9), which has been his calling card throughout his professional career. That performance earned him a promotion, but it wasn’t to the Rochester rotation. Along with a new team, Baxendale shifted to a new role out in the bullpen. After averaging 6.6 K/9 as a starter in Double A, the Arkansas product is now averaging over a strikeout per inning out of the Rochester pen. Over 30 ⅓ innings with the Red Wings, Baxendale has a 1.19 ERA and 34 strikeouts. He’s pitched at least two innings in seven of his 22 appearances. A former 10th-round pick, the 25-year-old Baxendale has never been viewed as much of a prospect, but the way he’s pitched at the highest level of the minor leagues has to have captured the attention of the front office. With a new regime expected to take over, however, it’s anyone’s guess whether Baxendale will remain in relief or go back to starting next season. Chattanooga: Ryan Eades Eades’ totals for the year don’t look like much to get excited about, but since returning to the Lookouts’ rotation, he has been on a nice roll. The former second-round pick was bumped to the bullpen in early July and saw his ERA balloon to 5.13 in the middle of that month. He smoothed things out and managed to get back into the rotation on Aug. 14, partially due to performance but luck also played a big role. While he may not have technically earned his way back into the rotation, he’s certainly pitched like he intends to stay there since. Maybe being sent to the pen was a wakeup call, maybe he learned some things out there, maybe it’s as simple as he has a fresh arm ... whatever it is Eades has looked like a different pitcher. Over four starts, the LSU product has a 2.42 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and four times as many strikeouts (20) than walks (5). His 8.1 K/9 over that period is a nice increase over his career mark of 6.6. Eades hasn’t lived up to his impressive college resume or $1.3 million bonus up to this point, and this could just be him getting hot over a small sample, but I wonder if we are seeing his turning point. Fort Myers: Dereck Rodriguez Rodriguez started the year in Cedar Rapids and got off to a rough start. Coming off a season in which he was named the Appalachian League Pitcher of the Year, Rodriguez looked lost, pitching to a 7.71 ERA through June 2. From there he really turned things around. The Twins took notice and quickly bumped him up to Fort Myers. The 24-year-old has carried that momentum over, and through four starts in the Florida State League has a 2.36 ERA and 0.97 WHIP over 26 ⅔ innings. He isn’t posting as many strikeouts since the promotion (just 5.1 K/9), but he has issued just two walks. That’s not two walks as in per nine rate, that’s two walks as in total. While the FSL is a notorious pitcher’s haven, that kind of control is impressive no matter the setting. Since hitting that low point in early June, Rodriguez has pitched at least six innings in all 13 of his starts. That’s an especially impressive feat considering this is just his second season as a starting pitcher and third overall since being converted from the outfield. Cedar Rapids: Eduardo Del Rosario Much like Rodriguez, Del Rosario’s 2016 got off to a rotten start. His season started in June, but the lanky 21-year-old didn’t really get rolling until the start of July. Here’s a breakdown his numbers by month. June: 6.58 ERA, 1.58 WHIP, 5.2 K/9 July: 2.83 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 9.4 K/9 Aug.: 1.69 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 11.5 K/9 Del Rosario has pitched out of his mind over his last eight starts in particular, tallying a total of 58 Ks against just 14 walks over that stretch of 44 ⅔ innings. He is far and away the most intriguing prospect on this list, but it’s important that Del Rosario keeps logging innings and developing his body before he really shoots his way up the rankings. Regardless, he has definitely established himself as a guy to keep an eye on. Aside from Berrios and Chargois, there has been plenty of frustration over the lack of progress from other highly-touted prospects like Tyler Jay, Kohl Stewart, Nick Burdi and the handful of other relievers the Twins took with high draft picks. But luckily in baseball hope springs eternal. All those guys will get another shot to breakout next year. But in the meantime, Gonsalves and Romero are reason enough to be excited and there are plenty of under the radar guys beyond the four listed above taking big steps forward right before our eyes.

With the promotion of Jose Berrios to the Twins, we can debate who the top Twins prospect prospect is in the minor leagues. Nick wrote about the Pitching Pipeline, specifically those in the upper levels in his article yesterday. He wrote the following: “While Mejia is closest to the big leagues, he is not Minnesota's top pitching prospect. That honor, almost indisputably, goes to Gonsalves at this point.” While I would say that it remains disputable, there is no question that Gonsalves is pitching as well as anyone in minor league baseball right now. On Wednesday evening in Montgomery, Gonsalves left after six innings, having thrown six no-hit innings. You can find much more below on how good he’s been over his last eight Lookouts starts, but we caught up with the lanky lefty following his tremendous outing.According to Gonsalves, the key to his outing was his slider. “My slider was my go-to tonight. I threw it 22 times.” He used it to get strikeouts and when he was behind in the count “to get me back in the count.” While he likely would have loved to keep pitching, he knew that wasn’t going to happen. He didn’t lobby his manager, Doug Mientkiewicz, to stay in the game. “No, I didn’t. I looked at the scoreboard and joked it off.” In his previous start, Gonsalves gave up only an unearned run in a nine-inning complete game. He told milb.com that he wasn’t feeling good coming out of the bullpen at the start of that game. True to form, Gonsalves said that he still wasn’t at 100% on Wednesday night. “The changeup wasn’t there tonight, which is rare, but I was still able to mix it in. Fastball command hasn’t been there the last two games, but everything else was, so it’s been a battle.” If the recent performances of Stephen Gonsalves represent a battle, there are a lot of exciting days ahead for Gonsalves, the Twins and Twins fans! With that, let’s get to the Minor League Report for Wednesday, including more on Gonsalves’ terrific night and streak. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 3, Scranton/Wilkes Barre 4 Box Score This game was close throughout with all of the runs scored before the fifth inning, but the Red Wings were unable to get a win and fall to 68-57 on the season. Daniel Palka gave the Red Wings a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning when he connected for his 10th AAA home run. It was his 31st of the season. Andrew Albers was back on the mound for Rochester. He threw two scoreless innings before giving up two runs in the third and fourth innings. In all, he gave up the four runs on 11 hits and a walk in six innings. He struck out five. Jake Reed threw much better in his second AAA appearance than in his first. He faced four batters and got them all out, two on strikeouts. Sean Burnett got the final two outs. The other two runs the Red Wings scored came in the top of the fourth when Adam Brett Walker slugged a two-run homer. He now has 25 homers on the season. He knocked in Reynaldo Rodriguez, who had hit his seventh double of the year. James Beresford went 2-4. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 6, Montgomery 3 Box Score In his second AA start, Stephen Gonsalves gave up six earned runs in just 3.2 innings for the Lookouts. Since then, he has been remarkable. I’ll explain in more detail in just a moment, but on Wednesday night, it all came together. The southpaw started and threw six shutout innings. Not only that, he completed the six innings without giving up a hit. He walked two and struck out nine. Unfortunately, with 105 pitches, he was done after six innings. Alan Busenitz came on and gave up three runs on two hits, a hit batter and a walk in just one inning. Mason Melotakis came in to pitch the eighth inning. He threw one pitch, a strike, and then the rains came and the game was delayed. When things resumed, Zack Jones took over. He walked one and struck out four in two scoreless innings to record his first save of the year. His Lookouts ERA drops to just 1.46. Ryan Walker went 2-3 with a walk and his tenth double. TJ White was 2-3 with a walk, his third double and two RBIs. Niko Goodrum hit his sixth double while Edgar Corcino knocked his third AA double. Zach Granite stole his 44th bag. Now let’s get back to Gonsalves. In his eight starts since that clunker in his second AA game, Gonsalves has been one of the best pitchers in minor league baseball, not just in the Twins system. Here is how his numbers look in those eight starts: Gonsalves is 5-0 with a 0.71 ERA and a 0.86 WHIP. In 51 innings, he has given up just four earned runs. He has allowed 22 hits and walked 22 while striking out 58 batters. His K-rate since then is at 10.2 K/9 and his walk rate is 3.9 BB/9. In other words, he’s been incredible. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 3, St. Lucie 6 Box Score Miles Nordgren returned to the Miracle .He gave up six runs (four earned) on nine hits and two walks in 5.2 innings. He struck out five. John Curtiss gave up just one hit over the final 2.1 innings. He walked none and struck out three. Tanner English led the offense. The outfielder went 2-4 with his third triple and third home run. Daniel Kihle went 2-3. AJ Murray added his ninth double. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 4, Peoria 1 Box Score The Kernels got off to an early lead and it was more than enough for Eduardo Del Rosario on this night. The right-hander posted his best start of the year. He threw six shutout innings. He gave up four hits, walked one and struck out six. He improved to 5-2. Logan Lombana came on. He gave up one run on two hits and three walks in 1.1 innings. He struck out one. Anthony McIver picked up his eighth save by recording the final five outs. Three of the outs came on strikeouts. Kevin Garcia went 2-4 with his seventh double and an RBI. Luis Arraez with another multi-hit game. He went 2-4 and drove in a run. Nelson Molina added his 12th double. Zander Wiel hit his eighth triple. With his third straight multi-hit game, Luis Arraez is now hitting .347. In was his 98th game played this year, and he now has 43 multi-hit games. 2-hit games: 27 3-hit games: 12 4-hit games: 3 5-hit games: 1 E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton Box Score The E-Twins had a rare off night. They return to action on Thursday. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 2, GCL Rays 4 Box Score The Twins fell behind 2-0 after two innings. They managed to tie the score at two in the top of the seventh inning, but gave two runs right back in the bottom of the inning. That’s how the score stayed, and they fell 4-2. There wasn’t much offense for the Twins in the game. They managed just five hits. Zach Featherstone had two of them. Kidany Salva’s seventh-inning triple scored the Twins’ two runs. Lefty Taylor Clemensia started for the Twins. He gave up two runs (one earned) on two hits. He walked three and struck out three. He hurt himself a bit with two errors. Callan Pearce was charged with two runs on two hits. He walked one, hit one, and struck out one over his three innings. Pearce left the game with two runners on base, and both scored off of Onas Farfan who gave up one hit over 1.2 innings. He struck out two. Kolton Kendrick returned to the Twins lineup. He went 0-2 in his first game since mid-July. He had a bone bruise caused by being hit by a pitch. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day –Stephen Gonsalves, Chattanooga Lookouts (though Eduardo Del Rosario’s honorable mention is very well deserved) Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Tanner English, Ft. Myers Miracle THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Buffalo @ Rochester (6:05 CST) - LHP Jason Wheeler Montgomery @ Chattanooga (6:15 CST) - RHP Aaron Slegers (vs Chi-Wei Hu) Ft. Myers @ St. Lucie (5:30 CST) - RHP Fernando Romero Cedar Rapids @ Peoria (7:00 CST) – RHP Sean Poppen (1st MWL start) Elizabethton @ Burlington (6:00 CST) - TBD GCL Rays @ GCL Twins (DH @ 9:00 am CST) - TBD Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Wednesday's games. Click here to view the article

As you will find out reading the rest of this report, I don’t have to say much more in this opening other than pitching was fantastic on this night throughout the Twins’ affiliates after the clunkers the MLB team put on display in their double-header. They were 6-0 on the day (7-0 if I include the DSL), and you can check out all the standout pitching performances, including Stephen Gonsalves achieving “Ace” status by taking down his fifth Southern League opponent, the Birmingham (Red) Barons, in dominating fashion, by reading on!RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 5, Syracuse 3 Box Score Rochester took an early lead in the first inning, thanks to a solo home run from Daniel Palka, his seventh with the Red Wings and twenty-eighth of the season. After that, it was a pitcher’s duel until the seventh inning. Red Wings starter Nick Greenwood went those first seven innings. Through the sixth, he had scattered just five hits in keeping the Chiefs off the board. Logan Schafer added a solo home run of his own in the top of the seventh for a 2-0 lead, but in the bottom frame the Syracuse lineup finally got to Greenwood. A single, double, and two-run single tied the game before Greenwood induced a double play ball to end the inning and his night. All told, he pitched seven innings, with two earned runs allowed on eight hits while striking out four. He factored into the decision as in the top of the eighth Byron Buxton led off with a single and later scored after some small ball to put Rochester back out front 3-2. Sean Burnett came on and pitched a scoreless eighth, “retiring” all four hitters he faced as his lone strikeout ended up with the runner on first. He was credited with his ninth hold. The Red Wings pushed their lead to 5-2 in the top of the ninth thanks to an RBI double from Mitch Garver and RBI single from Leonardo Reginatto. Twins organization newcomer, Pat Light came on for the ninth and picked up his ninth International League save of the year and second with the Red Wings. Hopefully that was a good enough consolation prize, as he perhaps was supposed to be on his way to Minnesota earlier in the day. He allowed three hits and one run two score in the ninth, but also recorded all of his outs via strikeout. Rochester got multi-hit efforts from Palka (2-5, R, HR, RBI), Reynaldo Rodriguez (2-4, RBI), and Schafer (3-5, 2 R’s, HR, RBI) to lead their offense and improve to 66-53 on the season. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 7, Birmingham 1 Box Score The Lookouts got a dominating starting performance out of lefty phenom Stephen Gonsalves in this one, who finished it for his first nine inning complete game of his career. Interesting enough, it was also the first time he had ever finished more than seven innings in a game. He allowed just one unearned run in the second inning thanks to a Heiker Meneses error that put a runner on second to start the inning. The rest of the game he allowed just two hits and two walks, and racked up eight strikeouts. From the third through the end of the ninth he faced the minimum, picking up three double-play balls to assist along the way. He improved his record with the Lookouts to 5-1, and lowered his ERA to 2.01. In support of Gonsalves catcher Stuart Turner had a big game, going 3-4 with a double and two RBIs. Travis Harrison scored two runs and added a double. Edgar Corcino had two hits including an RBI triple. They scored four of their seven runs in the fourth inning, and added a single run in the sixth and two in the eight for the final score. Zach Granite stole his 40th base of the year. Is it too early to discuss Gonsalves to AAA?! Outside of one short appearance on July 6th in which he allowed six runs, Gonsalves has allowed just two, zero, zero, one, two, one, and zero runs in each of his other starts with Chattanooga not including today’s gem. He is striking out 10.6/9 IP in AA. MIRACLE MATTERS Charlotte 0, Fort Myers 1 Box score Not to be outdone by Gonsalves, the Miracle also got a fantastic outing from Cody Stashak in his second game in the Florida State League. He went the first seven innings, holding the Stone Crabs to just four hits and one walk. He struck out two and improves to 2-0 with Fort Myers. The Miracle’s lone run came in the seventh inning to break the stalemate, as Tanner Witt led off with a double and scored on a double play ground out off the bat of Alex Perez. Fort Myers got two hits on the game from Nick Gordon and Witt. Both of Witt’s hits were doubles to give him nine on the season. Randy Rosario finished the game’s final two innings, and picked up his first FSL save of the season in the process. He allowed no hits, walked one, and struck out two. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 2, Kane County 0 Box Score Like their high-A friends, the Kernels also blanked their opponent on this night. Eduardo Del Rosario went the first five innings in this one and scattered five hits and a walk. He ran his pitch count a little high, at ninety-four four five innings, but went deep into several counts that mostly ended with strikeouts. He had eight for the game. The Kernels scored both their runs in the second inning, after Travis Blankenhorn led off the frame with his first Midwest League double. Later with the bases loaded and two outs, an error on a Luis Arreaz fly ball to left field scored both runs. Nelson Molina and Blankenhorn each had two hits on the game to lead the lineup. Cedar Rapids got two scoreless innings of relief from both Williams Ramirez (2.0IP, H, BB, 2 K’s) and Anthony McIver (2.0IP, H, 3 K’s). Ramirez got his fourth hold, and McIver his seventh save. The victory was manager Jake Mauer’s 300th with the Kernels, and they improved their record to 62-53 on the season and at 26-20 in the second half currently reside in second place in the Western division. E-TWINS E-NOTES Kingsport 2, Elizabethton 5 Box Score In keeping with the day’s theme, the E-Twins also got a strong effort from their starting pitcher on Thursday night. In this one, it was right-hander Alex Schick. Kingsport took a 1-0 lead in the first inning thanks in part to an errant pickoff throw from Schick, but he settled in after that, scattering for hits and two walks in his six innings. He struck out five and improves to 4-1 with Elizabethton. He got plenty of offensive support, as Elizabethton scored two runs in the second, and three in the third to take the lead for good. The big blow was a two-run home run of the bat off Mitchell Kranson, his second of the year. Manuel Guzman added two hits, including a double. The bottom third of the order consisting of Trey Cabbage, Caleb Hamilton and Robert Molina each added an RBI. Quin Grogan pitched into the ninth inning, but was lifted after allowing two runners on and uncorking a few ill-timed wild pitches. His final line included 2.1 innings pitched and one run allowed on one hit and one walk, while striking out one. Hector Lujan finished the ninth for his second Appalachian League save. He retired both men he faced on groundouts, but the first of those scored the run credited to Grogan. Elizabethton improves to 25-22 on the short season, and are 1.5 games back of Johnson City for the West Division lead. GCL TWINS TAKES Twins 4, Orioles 3 Box Score It was a team effort on the pitching front for the GCL Twins in this one, as they used five pitchers on the night, with all of them recording a win, hold or save in their stats. Justin Fox got the Wwn as the starter. He went five innings, allowing just one run on five hits and two walks. He struck out three. Daniel Martinez, Garrett Kelly, and Callan Pearce all picked up holds for their efforts. Martinez pitched a scoreless sixth, Kelly a scoreless seventh and eighth, and although he was charged with two runs (one earned) Pearce also was credited with a ‘H’ after Zach Strecker came on with the tying runner on first in the ninth. Strecker got the save by striking out the first batter he faced, and getting a fly out to end the game. The Twins scored single runs in each of the third, fourth, seventh, and ninth innings to give themselves enough cushion. No hitter had more than one hit, but Gorge Munoz, Brian Olson, and Lean Marrero each had doubles, and Aaron Whitefield slugged his second home run of the season to lead the offense. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Stephen Gonsalves, Chattanooga Lookouts (CG-W, 9.0IP, 0 ER’s, 3 H’s, 2 BB, 8 K’s) Hitter of the Day – Logan Schafer, Rochester Red Wings (3-4, 2 R’s, HR, RBI) Also a special shout-out to the DSL Twins centerfielder, Humberto Muldanado, who was 3-5 with three runs scored, two doubles, a triple, and three RBI’s to lead the DSL Twins to a 12-8 victory against the DSL Orioles2. FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Scranton/Wilkes-Barre @ Rochester (6:05PM CST) – LHP Jason Wheeler (9-3, 2.97 ERA) Chattanooga @ Birmingham (7:055PM CST) – RHP Aaron Slegers (8-6, 3.59 ERA) Charlotte @ Fort Myers (6:05PM CST) – RHP Fernando Romero (3-2, 2.79 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Kane County (6:30PM PM CST) – RHP Miles Nordgren (3-61, 3.16 ERA) Kingsport @ Elizabethton (6:00PM CST) – RHP Sean Poppen (2-3, 3.34 ERA) GCL Red Sox @ GCL Twins (11:00AM CST) – TBD Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Thursday’s games. Click here to view the article

Minnesota Twins fans welcomed a member of the Chicago White Sox to Target Field with a standing ovation. More proof that in baseball Anything can happen. Of course, that player was former Twins great Justin Morneau, so it’s not so bad after all. It’s not so bad when the TWins win the game 2-1 in 12 innings on a walk-off walk. Anything can happen in baseball and that’s especially true in minor league baseball. There were one-run games, an extra innings game, a team with back-to-back shutouts and so much more.Continue on to learn more about the scores and highlights from the Twins affiliates on Friday. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 4, Lehigh Valley 2 Box Score Pat Dean has certainly had his struggles since returning to the Red Wings following a solid MLB showing in May. On this night, he picked up his fourth AAA win of the year. The lefty gave up two runs on six hits and two walks over 5.1 innings. He struck out two. Neil Ramirez came on and walked one in a scoreless inning. Ryan O’Rourke struck out three of the four batters/outs he got. DJ Baxendale got the final out of the eighth inning on a strikeout after allowing a hit. JT Chargois earned his eighth Red Wings save with a 1-2-3 ninth inning. He struck out one. The Red Wings had just six hits in the game. Wilfredo Tovar went 2-3 with his 20th double. Logan Schafer went 1-1 with two walks. He stole his third base and scored three runs. Tommy Field went 1-3, but he drove in three of the team’s four runs. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 6, Tennessee 7 (11 innings) Box Score Felix Jorge was back on the mound, but he was done long before the game was decided as the game went a couple of extra innings. Jorge went the first five innings. He gave up three runs on five hits, a walk and hit a batter. He struck out two. Omar Bencomo came on and gave up a run on two hits and a walk over his two innings. Zack Jones gave up one run on two hits and a hit batter in his inning. Jake Reed gave up a run on two hits in the ninth. Brandon Peterson worked a scoreless 10th inning, but he gave up one run in the 11th inning to take the loss. Edgar Corcino has been making the adjustment to AA lately. He went 1-3 with two walks and the hit was a big, two-run home run. Zach Granite had a single and walked twice at the top of the order. Engelb Vielma and Levi Michael were each 2-5. Travis Harrison was also 2-5, hitting his 18th double which drove in the game-tying run in the bottom of the ninth, but was thrown out at third trying to stretch the double into a triple. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 6, Clearwater 7 Box Score Like the Lookouts, the Miracle found a way to lose late in the game. Offensively, Trey Vavra led the way. He went 4-5 with his 16th double and two RBIs. Nick Gordon went 3-5 with two RBIs. He also stole his 12th base. Alex Perez went 2-4. Sam Clay made a start and in one way it was quite solid. While he typically gets good strikeout numbers, he has had some control issues at times. In five innings, he struck out nine without issuing a walk. However, he was charged with four runs on six hits. He also hit two batters. John Curtiss came in and gave up two runs on three hits in 1.1 innings. He struck out two. Michael Theofanopoulous recorded three outs, two of them on strikeouts. He gave up a hit and hit a batter. Nick Anderson got the last two outs of the eighth inning. However, he gave up a run in the ninth to take the loss. He struck out three in his 1.2 innings. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 4, Kane County 0 Box Score For the second straight night in Kane County, the Cedar Rapids pitching staff threw a shutout. On this night, Eduardo Del Rosario put together his best start yet. The skinny right-hander threw six shutout innings. He gave up two hits, walked four and struck out 11. He was replaced by Williams Ramirez who struck out three over two perfect innings. Tom Hackimer gave up a hit in a scoreless ninth frame. Luis Arraez led the offense. He went 3-5 with his third home run of the year. Casey Scoggins went 2-5 with his first triple. Zander Wiel hit his 23rd double, and JJ Fernandez hit his 21st double. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 3, Bristol 0 Box Score The teams were supposed to play two, seven-inning games, but the rains remained. They were able to get through five innings of the first game and called it complete. The Twins got a solid start from Alex Schik. The right-hander from Cal-Berkeley worked all five innings. He gave up no runs on two hits and a walk. He struck out three. He got help from his catcher, to be sure. Two of the five innings ended when Robert Molina picked off runners at first base. The Twins scored each of their runs in the fourth inning. Alex Kirilloff and Lewin Diaz singled. Mitchell Kranson singled in Kirilloff for the first run. Diaz was thrown out at third. Amaury Minier came up and hit his sixth home run of the year. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 0, GCL Red Sox 5 Box Score On Friday afternoon, the GCL Twins hosted the cross-town Red Sox. Taylor Clemensia, a left-hander from Amsterdam, started. He was charged with two unearned runs on two hits over 4.2 innings. He walked one and struck out ten batters. He was replaced by Clark Beeker who went the next four innings. He gave up three runs on four hits and a walk while striking out five. Garrett Kelly came in to get the final out. The Twins managed just five hits in the game. Aaron Whitefield stole his 17th base. Catcher Dominic Blanco went 1-3 in the game with a double. The 20-year-old had been with the Mariners but was released earlier in the month. The Twins signed the 6-3, 215 pound backstop and will give him an opportunity. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Eduardo Del Rosario, Cedar Rapids Kernels Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Trey Vavra, Ft. Myers Miracle SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Lehigh Valley @ Rochester (6:05 CST) - LHP Nick Greenwood Tennessee @ Chattanooga (6:15 CST) - LHP Stephen Gonsalves Clearwater @ Ft. Myers (5:05 CST) - RHP Fernando Romero Cedar Rapids @ Burlington (6:30 CST) – RHP Cody Stashak Bristol @ Elizabethton (5:00 CST) - RHP Sean Poppen GCL Red Sox @ GCL Twins (9:00 am CST) - TBD Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Friday's games. Click here to view the article