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Oh, and the Mighty Mussels lost in the playoffs, but that doesn't get the clicks. Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints TRANSACTIONS INF Brooks Lee promoted to Wichita C Dillon Datum placed on development list (Wichita) INF Wander Javier promoted to St. Paul INF Jake Rucker promoted to St. Paul C Roy Morales activated from IL (St. Paul) OF Matt Wallner contract selected by Minnesota RHP Louie Varland recalled by Minnesota (29th man) RHP Drew Strotman designated for assignment RHP Trevor Megill placed on COVID-IL list RHP Dereck Rodriguez contract selected from St. Paul. Saints Sentinel St. Paul 4, Louisville 3 Box Score Randy Dobnak: 4 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 4 K HR: Jake Rucker (1) Multi-hit games: Jake Rucker (2-for-3, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI), Dalton Shuffield (2-for-3) St. Paul won on a walk-off Saturday. The new guys made bold impressions; Jake Rucker announced his presence with a two-run homer, while Wander Javier singled in a run in the 5th inning. With a runner on third in the 9th, Rucker connected with a fly-ball sent deep enough to score the winning run. Randy Dobnak—making his first start since his recent DFA—was erratic, walking three batters in a rust-filled outing. The sinkerballer still struck out four and didn’t allow a run—perhaps proving he still has something in the tank—but the Twins will likely desire to see more command in future starts. Trevor Larnach started in left field and played seven innings. Mike Siani—the Bats’ centerfielder and lead-off man—is the team’s best prospect; he homered and singled in five at-bats. Longtime major-leaguer, Stephen Piscotty, hit 6th for the Bats and DH’d. Wind Surge Wisdom Game One: Wichita 3, Midland 4 Box Score Cody Laweryson: 5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K HR: Alex Isola (10) Multi-hit games: Alex Isola (2-for-4, HR, 2 R, RBI) Wichita lost the first game of their doubleheader on Saturday. Cody Laweryson pitched effectively—although not dominantly—in his five innings of work, striking out five batters while allowing two runs. His Wichita ERA sits at 1.06. Alex Isola spearheaded the offensive performance; the catcher homered and singled, netting two runs in an otherwise dry day for Wind Surge batters. Anthony Prato’s 2nd inning double was the only other extra-base hit in the game. The issue? Wichita grounded into three double plays in the game; Yunior Severino accounted for two of them. Tyler Soderstrom is Midland’s top prospect according to MLB.com. The first baseman singled twice in three at-bats. Game Two: Wichita 1, Midland 9 Box Score Osiris German: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K HR: None Multi-hit games: None Wichita lost a clunker in game two on Saturday. Midland sandwiched a one-run 4th inning with four-run frames before and afterward, ensuring that Wichita would face an uphill battle in their attempt to win; Hunter McMahon and Michael Boyle walked away with battered ERAs. The lone offensive bright spot came when Austin Martin doubled home a run in the 6th inning, but—fitting for a game like this—Midland threw him out trying to stretch the play to a triple. Brooks Lee went hitless with a strikeout in three at-bats during his AA debut. Soderstrom improved off his first game, homering and driving in three to cement his prospect status. Mussel Matters Fort Myers 1, Dunedin 3 Box Score Jordan Carr: 2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 K HR: None Multi-hit games: Tanner Schobel (2-for-4, RBI) Fort Myers lost on Saturday, ending their playoff run in the opening round. All arms were on deck; Fort Myers called upon four pitchers to help lead them, and their combined effort was impressive. Andrew Morris—a 2022 draft pick—lead the way with a trio of scoreless innings, holding the Blue Jays at bay during the crucial switch from the middle innings to the late frames. The staff allowed a high hit total—11, to be precise—but only three runs. The Achilles heel proved to be the offense, as the bats mustered just four hits in the match; Tanner Schobel alone accounted for half of them. Without an extra-base hit, the team could plate only a single run, forcing the pitchers to be perfect, which they were not. The Mighty Mussels’ season is now over. Josh Kasevich and Cade Doughty are Dunedin’s top prospects according to MLB.com; Doughty singled twice and both hitters nabbed an RBI. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Randy Dobnak Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Jake Rucker PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #2 - Brooks Lee (Wichita) - 0-3, K #4 - Austin Martin (Wichita) - 1-6, 2B, RBI #7 - Noah Miller (Ft. Myers) - 0-4 #9 - Matt Wallner (Minnesota) - 1-3, HR, R, RBI, K (Major League debut) #12 - Louie Varland (Minnesota) - 5 IP, 9 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K #14 - Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 1-5, BB, K #15 - Blayne Enlow (Wichita) - 1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 0 K #17 - Cole Sands (St. Paul) - 2 ⅔ IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K #18 - Tanner Schobel (Ft. Myers) - 2-for-4, RBI #20 - Kala’i Rosario (Ft. Myers) - 1-4, K SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Louisville @ St. Paul (12:07 PM) - RHP Ronny Henriquez Wichita @ Midland (2:00 PM) - LHP Kody Funderburk View full article

The Minnesota Twins were swept in a loooong day in Cleveland. Matt Wallner made his MLB Debut and homered off Shane Bieber in Game 1 before Game 2 was a tortuous 15 innings. Down in the minors, Jake Rucker made the jump up from Cedar Rapids to St. Paul to fill out the Saints' roster and ended up starring tonight. He hit a game-tying home run before adding a walk-off sacrifice fly. The Wind Surge were swept in their doubleheader and Fort Myers lost a deciding playoff game, ending their series. View full video

With the Minnesota Twins rained out in New York, we turn our full attention to the minor leagues Tuesday. Cody Laweryson delivered another four shutout innings for Wichita, lowering his ERA with the Wind Surge to 0.94. Also included in tonight's highlights are Will Holland, Austin Martin, Jair Camargo, Brooks Lee, Jake Rucker and more. View full video

Edouard Julien destroyed Jack Leiter. There were two extra-inning thrillers. Jordan Balazovic took the hill again. And there was a four-hour rain delay. Read about all of this and more in Wednesday’s minor league report! Let’s see what happened this Wednesday in the Twins organization. TRANSACTIONS The Twins sent OF Kyle Garlick on a rehab assignment to AAA St. Paul SAINTS (AAA) St. Paul 2, Iowa 4 Box Score The Saints did not start the day well for the Twins minor league affiliates as they fell 4-2 to the Iowa Cubs in an afternoon game. Jordan Balazovic took the ball for St. Paul in this one. Balazovic has had a rough year as he was 0-5 with a 9.26 ERA and a 7.41 FIP coming into today’s game. Balazovic’s first two innings were scoreless on Wednesday, and he was looking like he had maybe written the ship and turned it around. This all changed in the bottom of the third when Iowa put up two runs on four hits, including three straight two-out singles to produce the runs. Balazovic allowed John Hicks to hit a solo homer in the bottom of the fourth, increasing Iowa’s lead to three runs. Balazovic now has allowed 16 home runs in 49 ⅔ innings for St. Paul this year, which equates to 2.9 HR per 9 innings. To put that number into perspective, Twins fan favorite, Emilio Pagan, has allowed 2.1 HR/9 this year. Despite the lead-off homer, Balazovic bounced back and struck out two batters to end the fourth and his outing. Balazovic went four innings, allowing three runs on six hits and two walks while striking out three. The Saints got the deficit within one in the top of the seventh thanks to solo homers from Braden Bishop and Michael Helman. Iowa gave themselves some breathing room in the bottom of the eighth with a solo homer off of Jharel Cotton to increase the lead to two. Jermaine Palacios led off the ninth with a single to get the tying run to the plate, but nothing sufficed, and the Saints dropped the game 4-2. Kyle Garlick played in the first game of his rehab stint and went 1-for-4 with a single and two strikeouts. Helman, Bishop, Matt Wallner, and Mark Contreras all had two-hit games to lead the offense. Drew Strotman and Jovani Moran combined to throw three scoreless innings of relief to keep the Saints in the game. The Saints fall to 57-60 on the year with the loss. WIND SURGE (AA) Wichita 4, Frisco 0 Box Score The Wichita Wind Surge continued their incredible season and defeated Jack Leiter in a very well-played game on Wednesday night. Edouard Julien continued his incredible season by hitting his 16th homer of the year in the top of the first. Julien is now hitting .294 with a .944 OPS at Double-A this year. This gave Wichita starter Cody Laweryson a lead before he ever stepped on the mound. Laweryson never relinquished this early lead and was fantastic, throwing 4 ⅔ scoreless innings while striking out six, dropping his Double-A ERA to 0.92. The Wind Surge tacked on insurance runs in the sixth, seventh, and ninth innings. In the sixth, Jair Camargo walked, scoring Julien. In the seventh, Austin Martin doubled to score DaShawn Keirsey Jr. In the ninth, Will Holland hit his third Double-A homer to increase the lead to four. Francis Peguero, Ryan Horstman, Alex Phillips, and Steven Cruz combined to throw 4 ⅓ scoreless innings of relief to finish the game, striking out five. Peguero was credited with the win as Wichita moved to 66-49. Julien, Keirsey, and Alex Isola all had two hits to lead the offensive charge. On Thursday, Wichita will turn to Daniel Gossett who is fresh off a no-hitter. KERNELS (HIGH-A) Cedar Rapids 9, Lake County 10 Box Score Cedar Rapids dropped an extra-inning thriller to Lake County on Wednesday by a score of 10-9. The Kernels jumped out to an early lead, putting up five runs in the first inning. Mikey Perez led off with a single, advanced on an error, and was singled home by Brooks Lee. After Seth Gray walked, Jake Rucker smoked a double to score Lee and Gray. The next batter was Wander Javier, who hit his 11th homer of the year to give the Kernels a five run lead before they had recorded an out. The beneficiary of all this run support was Sean Mooney, who was making his first start since being activated from the injured list. Mooney just threw one inning and only faced three batters, getting two strikeouts and a flyout. After Mooney’s scoreless inning, Orlando Rodriguez came in as the bulk reliever for the Kernels. Rodriguez threw 4 ⅔ solid innings, allowing two runs while striking out four. After Orlando was done, the Kernels brought in Miguel Rodriguez who allowed three runs while just getting two outs as Lake County tied the game up at five in the bottom of the seventh. After not scoring from innings two through seven, the Kernels saw the game was tied and had to get it going. After Willie Joe Garry Jr. was hit by a pitch, Charles Mack smashed a two-run homer, his third of the year to give Cedar Rapids the lead. In the ninth, they added another insurance run thanks to a Mikey Perez homer. Going into the bottom of the ninth, the Kernels had a three-run lead and the game was close to done. Well, three batters into the ninth Lake County had tied it up thanks to a three-run homer from Korey Holland. Garry Jr. tied it up in the top of the tenth with an RBI single but Lake County answered in the bottom half to send it to 11 innings. In the 11th, Cedar Rapids did not capitalize and Lake County did, walking off Cedar Rapids in 11 innings. Rucker led the offense with three hits, and Perez, Lee, and Dylan Neuse also chipped in with two hits a piece. Ryan Shreve was credited with the loss for Cedar Rapids as their record falls to 68-48. MIGHTY MUSSELS (LOW-A) Fort Myers 7, Lakeland 6 Box Score After a four hour weather delay, Fort Myers delivered a walk-off victory in eight innings over the Lakeland Flying Tigers. Mike Paredes started on the hill for the Mighty Mussels. He went four innings, allowing three runs on seven hits while striking out one batter. Fort Myers got on the board in the first inning when Tanner Schobel singled, scoring Noah Miller. In the bottom of the fourth, Rubel Cespedes scored Ben Ross with a single to cut the Fort Myers deficit to one run. Then the rain came. Four hours later, the two teams resumed. Four hours after he hit a single, Cespedes came in to score on a wild pitch. One batter later, Misael Urbina drove in Carlos Aguiar with a single to give the Mighty Mussels a lead. The Flying Tigers tied it up in the top of the fifth and the game remained 4-4 until the first extra inning they played (the 8th inning). Juan Mendez came in to pitch for Fort Myers and allowed two runs in the top half of the eighth. With three outs to play with, Fort Myers needed a rally. Kala’i Rosario led off, reaching on an error by the second baseman to score Cespedes, who started the inning on second base. After an Aguiar walk, Luis Baez hit a single to score Rosario and tie it up. On the play, Aguiar was thrown out at home and Baez advanced to third. Three pitches later, Baez scored on a wild pitch to walk it off for Fort Myers. Schobel and Ross each had two hits to lead the offense, and Mendez picked up the win to improve his record to 3-2. Fort Myers improves to 62-50 on the year with the win. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Cody Laweryson (Wichita) - 4 ⅔ IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 6 K Hitter of the Day – Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 2-for-5, 2B (15), HR (16), 2 R, RBI, K PROSPECT SUMMARY We will again keep tabs on the Twins' top prospects. You’ll probably read about them in the team sections, but if they aren’t there, you’ll see how they did here. Here’s a look at how the current Twins Daily Top 20 performed: #2 - Brooks Lee (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-6, RBI #4 - Austin Martin (Wichita) - 1-for-4, 2B (10), RBI, BB, 2 K #7 - Noah Miller (Fort Myers) - 1-for-3, 2B (12), R, BB #9 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 2-for-4, K #11 - Jordan Balazovic (St. Paul) - 4 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 3 K #14 - Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 2-for-5, 2B (15), HR (16), 2 R, RBI, K #18 - Tanner Schobel (Fort Myers) - 2-for-3, RBI, BB, SB (2) #20 - Kala’i Rosario (Fort Myers) - 0-for-3, R, BB, 2 K THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul @ Iowa (6:38 CST) - RHP Louie Varland (1-0, 1.64 ERA) Wichita @ Frisco (7:05 CST) - RHP Daniel Gossett (2-1, 2.74 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Lake County (5:35 PM CST) - RHP Luis Rijo (0-2, 8.03 ERA) Lakeland @ Fort Myers (Doubleheader - first game starts at 3:30 PM CST) - TBD Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Wednesday’s games! Thank you for reading, and Go Twins! View full article

Highlights of the Cedar Rapids Kernels playing at the Field of Dreams in Dyersville, Iowa. They were wearing throwback uniforms and reverted back to an old nickname of the franchise, the Bunnies. What a great experience for those guys. Tonight's video also includes highlights of Edouard Julien and Anthony Prato. View full video

Three top-20 prospects made starts. Two teams played double-headers. Wichita split theirs, but a Varland got a win in each game. Tim Beckham continued his torrid streak. Yunior Severino went bonkers. Read more about it in Wednesday’s minor-league report. Let’s see what happened this Wednesday in the Twins organization. TRANSACTIONS The Twins activated RHP Sonny Gray from the 15-day IL The Twins optioned LHP Jovani Moran to AAA St. Paul The Twins sent OF Kyle Garlick on a rehab assignment to AAA St. Paul SAINTS (AAA) St. Paul 3, Columbus 4 Box Score The Saints took a tough loss to the Columbus Clippers on Wednesday by a score of 4-3. Ronny Henriquez made the start for the Saints and he kept the Saints in the game, going 4 and ⅔ innings, allowing three runs on five hits and two walks while striking out five. Henriquez’s record drops to 0-3 on the year while his ERA is an unimpressive 7.45. The Saints got a run right away in the top of the first when Tim Beckham drove in Alex Kirilloff with a single. Beckham continues to be on a tear as he carries a 1.343 OPS through 13 games with the Saints. Henriquez was tagged for three runs in the second inning when the Clippers collected two singles and two doubles against him. The game remained 3-1 for quite a while thanks to Henriquez settling in and 1 and ⅓ innings of scoreless relief from Evan Sisk. Unfortunately, the Saints couldn’t figure out starter Aaron Civale who was making a rehab start. Civale went 4 and ⅔ innings, striking out seven and not allowing a run. The Clippers picked up an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh to push their lead to three. This run would prove to be huge as the Saints scored two runs in the top of the eighth off of sticky-stuff merchant James Karinchak thanks to RBI singles from Mark Contreras and Michael Helman. The Saints loaded the bases in the eighth but couldn’t score as Jose Godoy lined out to end the threat. Kyle Garlick grounded into a double play to end the game as he finished 0-for-5 on the day in the first game of his rehab assignment. The Saints fell to 31-30 on the year with the loss. Helman led the offense, going 2-for-4 with a double. WIND SURGE (AA) GAME 1: Wichita 7, Tulsa 4 Box Score In game one of a double-header with Tulsa, the Wichita Wind Surge won by a score of 7-4. TwinsDaily’s #12 prospect Louie Varland got the start for Wichita and was very solid once again. Varland threw five innings, allowing two runs on six hits and a walk while striking out four. Varland picked up his sixth win of the year and his ERA is down to 3.27. He has consistently been one of the Twins organization’s best pitchers and he would be deserving of a promotion to give him a new challenge at AAA. Game one of this double-header was the DaShawn Keirsey show. He started the scoring for the Wind Surge in the top of the second when he hit a sacrifice fly to score Matt Wallner. After Edouard Julien tied the game at two in the fifth with his fourth homer of the year and Andrew Bechtold scored on a wild pitch, Keirsey hit a solo-shot for his third homer of the year to give the Wind Surge a two-run lead. In the top of the seventh, Keirsey drove in Wallner with an RBI groundout to give Wichita a five-run lead going into the bottom of the seventh. Osiris German picked up the two-inning save for Wichita, allowing two runs on two hits while striking out three. The save was his second of the year. Keirsey finished 1-for-2 with three RBI and a walk. Leobaldo Cabrera reached base three times via a hit and two walks, and Wallner scored two runs to lead the offense. With the win, the Wind Surge improved to 33-24 on the year. GAME 2: Wichita 3, Tulsa 4 Box Score In game two of the double-header, the Wind Surge were not so lucky as Tulsa beat them to get the double-header split. Kody Funderburk took the mound for Wichita but could not improve on his 6-1 record as he took the loss in this one. Funderburk went 3 and ⅔ innings and gave up three runs (two earned) on five hits and two walks while striking out three. Funderburk was tagged for two runs in the first inning when MLB’s #61 prospect Andy Pages took him deep for his tenth of the year. In the fourth inning, Tulsa got another run on an error to push the lead to three. The Wind Surge responded with one in the bottom of the fourth when Wallner scored on a Dennis Ortega groundout. After Tulsa scored another run in the sixth, Keirsey continued to swing a hot bat when he drove in two runs with a single. Wichita cut the deficit to one run and had runners on second and third but couldn’t capitalize. Steven Cruz and Jordan Gore each threw 1 and ⅓ innings of scoreless relief for Wichita, but it wasn’t enough as Wichita fell 4-3 to Tulsa. Wichita’s record fell to 33-25 with the loss. One interesting anecdote from this double-header was that Varland’s older brother Gus picked up the win in game two for Tulsa. Each Varland brother picked up a win in the double-header so the Varland family couldn’t have much to complain about. KERNELS (HIGH-A) Cedar Rapids 7, Dayton 2 Box Score Two of the best high-A teams faced off on Wednesday, as Cedar Rapids came into the matchup at 37-21 while Dayton came in at 37-20. Cedar Rapids came away victorious in a 7-2 victory. The Kernels sent TwinsDaily’s #20 prospect David Festa to the mound. Festa continued his excellence in his first full professional season, throwing five strong innings, allowing two runs, and not walking any batters while striking out five. Festa has not allowed more than three runs in any of his 11 outings this year, and his ERA is down to 2.19 while striking out 65 batters in 53 innings. Dayton took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second, but the Kernels answered in the bottom half when Wander Javier doubled in Dylan Neuse to cut the deficit in half. Yunior Severino came up huge for the Kernels on multiple occasions on Wednesday. In the bottom of the fourth, he smashed a solo home run to tie the game at two. Two innings later, he hit a two-run homer to give the Kernels the lead for good. A Patrick Winkel solo bomb immediately followed his blast to give the Kernels back-to-back home runs. In the bottom of the seventh, Severino singled in Kyler Fedko, who tripled, to increase the lead to five. The Kernels bullpen was fantastic Wednesday, throwing four scoreless innings and only giving up three hits. Bobby Milacki threw one and ⅔ innings, Miguel Rodriguez threw one and ⅔, and Tyler Palm got the final two outs of the game to secure the victory for the Kernels. Severino carried the offense as he went 4-for-4 with two runs, four RBI, and his first two home runs of the 2022 season. The Kernels improved their record to 38-21 with the win. MIGHTY MUSSELS (LOW-A) GAME 1: Fort Myers 5, Bradenton 4 Box Score Fort Myers and Bradenton finished a game that was started Tuesday and postponed, and the Mighty Mussels came out on top by a score of 5-4. Before the game was postponed Tuesday, Jaylen Nowlin started on the mound for Fort Myers. He threw three innings of one-run baseball, striking out seven. Nowlin has now struck out 48 batters in 27 innings this year. Nowlin let up a homer in the top of the third to start the scoring, but Fort Myers responded with two runs in the bottom of the third despite not getting a hit. Noah Cardenas and Keoni Cavaco each drew bases-loaded walks to score runs. After the bottom of the third, the game was delayed due to lightning, and it would be picked up Wednesday. John Wilson started on Wednesday for the Mighty Mussels (started the fourth inning) and threw one and ⅔ innings, allowing three runs on two hits and three walks. Bradenton took a 4-2 lead in the top of the fifth, and the Mighty Mussels had some fighting to do. The game remained 4-2 until the bottom of the seventh, thanks to three innings of scoreless relief from Matt Mullenbach who allowed one hit and struck out four. In the bottom of the seventh, the Mighty Mussels loaded the bases on walks and Cavaco grounded into a force-out, scoring Luis Baez. Fort Myers stranded two runners on, though, as the score was now 4-3 going into the final two innings. Juan Mendez followed Mullenbach, throwing one and ⅓ innings of scoreless relief into the bottom of the ninth. Baez led off the bottom of the ninth with a single, and Jake Rucker followed with a walk-off two-run homer to give the Mighty Mussels the win. With the win, the Mighty Mussels improve to 36-21 on the season as the Twins system continues to dominate both levels of A-ball. GAME 2: Fort Myers 6, Bradenton 1 Box Score In game two of the double-header, Fort Myers pulled off a victory in less dramatic fashion than game one. Left-hander Jordan Carr took the mound to start for the Mighty Mussels eight days after being assigned to Fort Myers from the FCL Twins. After being hit around in his first start, Carr pitched way better in his second go-around as a starter on Wednesday, throwing five innings of one-run ball, only allowing four baserunners and striking out five. The game was locked in a 0-0 tie until the bottom of the fourth inning when Fort Myers rallied for four runs. After back-to-back singles from Noah Miller and Cardenas to open the inning, Mikey Perez singled in a run. Cardenas came around to score on a wild pitch, and singles from Kala’i Rosario and Baez scored runs for Fort Myers to give them a four run lead with three innings to play. In the bottom of the sixth, Rosario swung at the first pitch he saw and connected for a two-run homer, his sixth homer of the year to give the Mighty Mussels a 6-1 advantage. Regi Grace and Hunter McMahon each threw an inning of scoreless relief to shut the door on Bradenton, and the Mighty Mussels finished the day with a double-header sweep. Rubel Cespedes finished the game 2-for-2 with two runs scored and a walk, and Rosario went 2-for-3 with three RBI and the homer. With the win, the Mighty Mussels improved to 37-21 and clinched a first half division title and a spot in the Florida State League Playoffs. COMPLEX CHRONICLES There was no game for the FCL Twins on Wednesday. They will be back in action Thursday against the FCL Braves. DOMINICAN DAILIES DSL Twins 13, DSL Yankees 4 Box Score Starting Pitcher: Ledwin Taveras (5 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 3 K) Multi-Hit Games: Junior Marino (3-for-5, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI), Ricardo Pena (2-for-5, HR, 2 R, 4 RBI) 2B: Marino (1) 3B: Rafael Cruz (2), Jose Rodriguez (1) HR: Pena (1) TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Jordan Carr (Fort Myers) - 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 5 K Hitter of the Day – Yunior Severino (Cedar Rapids) - 4-for-4, 2 R, 4 RBI, 2 HR (2) PROSPECT SUMMARY We will again keep tabs on the Twins' top prospects. You’ll probably read about them in the team sections, but if they aren’t there, you’ll see how they did here. Here’s a look at how the current Twins Daily Top 20 performed: #3 - Jose Miranda (Minnesota) - 0-for-3, BB #7 - Spencer Steer (St. Paul) - 1-for-5, 2 K #9 - Noah Miller (Ft. Myers) - 2-for-6, R, 2 BB #12 - Louie Varland (Wichita) - 5 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 4 K #13 - Ronny Henriquez (St. Paul) - 4.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 5 K #15 - Matt Wallner (Wichita) - 1-for-3, 2 R, 4 BB, 2B (11) #16 - Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 1-for-6, R, RBI, HR (4), BB, SB (8) #18 - Christian Encarnacion-Strand (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-5, 3 K #20 - David Festa (Cedar Rapids) - 5 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 5 K THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul @ Columbus (11:05 AM CST) - RHP Josh Winder (0-0, 18.00 ERA) Wichita @ Tulsa (7:05 PM CST) - RHP Simeon Woods-Richardson (2-3, 3.40 ERA) Dayton @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CST) - LHP Brent Headrick (6-1, 1.86 ERA) Bradenton @ Fort Myers (6:00 PM CST) - TBD Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Wednesday’s games! Thank you for reading, and Go Twins! View full article

The Twins completed a sweep of the Oakland A’s at home on Sunday to bring their record to 18-11 on the season. The Minor League affiliates had a busy schedule on Sunday as the Saints and Mighty Mussles saw lopsided scores, the Wind Surge played a double header, the Kernels had a low scoring victory that saw their stater’s best performance of the season. TRANSACTIONS Twins placed OF Trevor Larnach on the IL (right adductor strain) Twins recalled C Jose Godoy. OF Jake Cave was activated from the temporarily inactive list. C Roy Morales activated from the Development List and promoted to the Saints. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 3, Iowa 10 Box Score SP: Cole Sands - 3 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 6 K HR: David Banuelos (2) Multi-hit games: Mark Contreras (2-5, 2 2B, RBI (17), 2 K) The Saints played the final game of their 12-game homestead on Sunday with the conclusion of their series against the Iowa Cubs. On Saturday, the Saints crushed the Cubs in a 9-2 victory. On Sunday, they received the other end of the stick. The Cubs got to the Saints early in the top of the second scoring four runs on five hits and a walk off of starter Cole Sands. Sands had a better go in both the first and third innings giving up only one hit in each of those innings. The high number of strikeouts and a tiring second inning had Sands at 71 pitches through three innings, and six Saints relievers came in to finish out the game. At the plate, many of the Saints bats went cold aside from Mark Contreras who had two doubles and an RBI for the Saints on Sunday. The Saints lineup also featured the return of Jake Cave from the temporarily inactive list leading off for St. Paul and going 1-for-4 with a double and RBI. One of the newest additions to the Saints roster, second baseman Kevin Merrell, spoke on adjusting to the new clubhouse after his promotion from Wichita and which players he has gravitated to as mentors with the Saints. “There are so many guys in there with a ton of experience, and I just need to watch closely and see what I can pick up. It’s been an easy transition, there’s a lot of phenomenal dudes on this team,” said Merrell. Merrell is a former first-round draft pick by the Oakland Athletics in 2017 and went 33rd overall in the draft. Merrell has already found a teammate on the Saints he wants to learn as much as possible from, that teammate being Saints infielder Elliot Soto. Merrell explained, “He can talk to anybody. He’s super encouraging, and he’s very confident in what he does. I think that’s contagious for a lot of us. He’s played for a long time. He’s 32 or so, has a lot of experience, and I would say he stands out the most for me.” The Saints will start a two-week road trip on Tuesday with two different stops, the first being in Columbus, Ohio for a week-long match-up with the Clippers. WIND SURGE WISDOM Game 1 Wichita 4, Tulsa 7 Box Score Game 1 SP: Chris Vallimont - 3 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 2 K HR: None Multi-hit games: None Game 2 Wichita 5, Tulsa 6 Box Score Game 2 SP: Casey Legumina - 2.1 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 6 BB, 5 K HR: Austin Martin (1), Michael Helman (4) Multi-hit games: Martin (2-4, R, HR, RBI (8)), Edouard Julien (2-3, R, 2 2B, RBI (10), K) The Wind Surge entered Sunday afternoon riding an eight-game win streak and had a doubleheader scheduled with the Tulsa Drillers to finish out their five-game series. Unfortunately for the WInd Surge, they were swept in the doubleheader. Chris Vallimont was on the mound for his sixth start of the season. Vallimont had a strong first inning recovering from a leadoff triple to Drillers shortstop Jacob Amaya. Amaya scored in the next at-bat on a sacrifice groundout. Vallimont continued to cool off in the second with a 1-2-3 inning, but the Drillers picked up three more runs in the third off of Vallimont which later knocked him out of the game. The Wind Surge bats were cold throughout Game 1 and although they tallied seven hits, no Wind Surge player was able to tally more than one hit. Wind Surge third baseman Spencer Steer managed to drive in two of their four runs in the game. ----------------------------------------------------------- Game 2 brought a better hitting game for the Wind Surge, but they still fell short in another loss against the Drillers. Game 2 was started by Casey Legumina who made his first start for the Wind Surge after three starts with Cedar Rapids to start 2022. Legumina gave up two walks in the top of the first inning but left the runners on base to get out of a jam. He continued that success in the second and retired the minimum in order. The third inning was where Legumina struggled the most, walking four batters and giving up two hits including a home run to Drillers left fielder James Outman. Austin Martin fans were able to rejoice at least in Game 2 as he hit his first home run of the season. Third baseman Michael Helman also had a home run in the sixth inning that brought Wichita within one run. The Wind Surge were unable to score more runs in the bottom of the seventh in order to tie the game and force it into extras. The Wind Surge begin their next series on the road against Northwest Arkansas Tuesday morning for another six-game series with the Naturals. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 2, Quad Cities 1 Box Score SP: Sawyer Gipson-Long 5.1 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K HR: None Multi hit games: Jair Camargo (2-5, K) The Kernels completed their final game against the River Bandits on Sunday taking a win to complete a 4-2 series victory of Quad Cities. The 2-1 victory for the Kernels was the smallest scoring game of the series as Anthony Prato and Wander Javier drove in the only two runs. Javier hit into a force out in the bottom of the 8th inning to score Aaron Sabato with the game-tying run. They went to extra innings. In the bottom of the 11th inning, Javier was on third base when Anthony Prato his a fly ball to right field, deep enough to end the game. Sawyer Gipson-Long had his best start of the season on Sunday. He had season highs in the start with innings pitched (5 1/3) and strikeouts (6). He also did not give up any runs or walks in the game. The Kernels will be on the road in Peoria to play another six-game series against the Chiefs. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 9, Lakeland 1 Box Score SP: Steve Hajjar 3 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 8 K HR: None Multi-hit games: Jake Rucker (3-4, 2 R, SB (6), RBI (6)), Mikey Perez (2-3, 2B, 3 RBI (7), 2 BB), Kyle Schmidt (2-5, 2B, 2 RBI (13), 2 BB, 2 K), Daniel Ozoria (2-4, R) The Mighty Mussels completed their series against the Lakeland Flying Tigers with a lopsided 9-1 victory which brought about a series split. The Mighty Mussels pitching was dominated by Steve Hajjar and Marco Raya. Hajjar started the game and threw three no-hit innings, walking four and striking out eight out of the nine outs. Raya came into the game in the top of the fifth. Although Raya gave up a home run in the top of the sixth, he only allowed one other base runner on a hit and struck out four to earn the win. The Mussels offense lit up all afternoon scoring nine runs on 11 hits without the help of a home run. Mussels third baseman Jake Rucker led the offense with a three-hit game. The Mussels will begin their next series at home on Tuesday night against Palm Beach for another six-game series against the Cardinals Low-A affiliate. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Sawyer Gipson-Long (Cedar Rapids) - 5.1 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K Hitter of the Day – Jake Rucker (Ft. Myers) - 3-4, 2 R, SB (6), RBI (6) PROSPECT SUMMARY We will again keep tabs on the Twins top prospects. You’ll probably read about them in the team sections, but if they aren’t there, you’ll see how they did here. Here’s a look at how the current Twins Daily Top 20 performed: #1 - Royce Lewis (Minnesota) - 1-3 #2 - Austin Martin (Wichita) - Game 1, 0-2, R, 2 BB Game 2, 2-4, R, HR, SB, RBI #4 - Jose Miranda (Minnesota) - 1-4, R, 2B, RBI (3) #10 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Ft. Myers) - 0-3, R, 2 BB #11 - Noah Miller (Ft. Myers) - 1-4, R, RBI (6), BB, K #13 - Cole Sands (St. Paul) - 3 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 6 K #15 - Marco Raya (Ft. Myers) - 3 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K #16 - Spencer Steer (Wichita) - Game 1, 1-4, SB, 2 RBI (20) #18 - Christian Encarnacion-Strand (Cedar Rapids) - 1-4, SB, BB, K #19 - Edouard Julien (Wichita) - Game 1, 0-3, BB, K Game 2, 2-3, R, 2 2B, RBI (10) TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS All Twins Minor League Affiliates are off on Monday and will resume their games on Tuesday, May 10. The only Monday in which there will be minor-league games is July 4th (and some for the Saints in September). St. Paul @ Columbus (6:05 PM CST) - Ronny Henriquez Wichita @ Northwest Arkansas (11:05 AM CST) - Ben Gross Cedar Rapids @ Peoria (6:05 PM CST) - TBD Palm Beach @ Fort Myers (5:30 PM CST) - David Festa Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Sunday’s games. View full article