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It's fun when the only game results in a win. Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints TRANSACTIONS RHP Melvi Acosta placed on restricted list and removed from active roster (St. Paul) Saints Sentinel St. Paul 6, Indianapolis 3 Box Score Ariel Jurado: 5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K HR: Michael Helman (14), John Andreoli (15) Multi-hit games: Roy Morales (3-for-4, 2 R), John Andreoli (2-for-4, HR, R, 2 RBI) Indianapolis struck first, leaving St. Paul at a 1-0 disadvantage before the first inning concluded; a Brendt Citta line-drive single plated Tucupita Marcano, and Citta reached second after a flub from right-fielder Cole Sturgeon. The Saints battled back; it took a few innings, but Sturgeon—perhaps looking to cancel out his error—broke the dam, tripling to right field while scoring two runs. Chris Williams knocked Sturgeon in with a well-placed groundball. Indianapolis jabbed back, nabbing a second run after a Marcano infield single. One inning later, a Mason Martin homer knotted the game at three. Undeterred, the Saints waited patiently, allowing innings to slip away harmlessly, leading the Guardians into an 8th-inning ambush. Michael Helman dealt the first blow; his solo homer out to right-center broke the tie and netted the speedy utility player his 14th bomb of the season. Three batters later, John Andreoli smoked a two-run shot to center, gifting the Saints the breathing room they needed; Indianapolis did not score in the final two innings. Ariel Jurado pitched five quality innings; July 14th was the last time he allowed more than two runs in an appearance. Ryan Jeffers caught the entire game and walked once in four trips to the plate. Evan Sisk and Brad Peacock both pitched a scoreless inning in relief. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Ariel Jurado Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – John Andreoli PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: Matt Wallner (Minnesota) - 0-for-4 SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Championship Series, Game 1: Wichita @ Frisco (5:05 PM) - LHP Kody Funderburk View full article

With the Wichita Wind Surge regular season over, only the St. Paul Saints were in action tonight. Short staffed from a pitching perspective, the Saints got behind and never rallied. TRANSACTIONS RHP Tyler Beck added to Triple-A St. Paul from Double-A Wichita SAINTS SENTINEL Indianapolis 9, St. Paul 1 Box Score Tonight Austin Schulfer started for the Saints but threw to just three batters after a throw from catcher Ryan Jeffers hit him in the back of the head. He did walk off under his own power and indications are that he should be fine. Tyler Beck, recently added from Double-A Wichita having pitched just one inning this year due to injury, then gave up five runs on four hits and four walks across 1 2/3 innings. Indianapolis tagged St. Paul pitching for one run in the 1st inning, five runs in the 2nd inning, one run in the 4th inning, and another in the 6th inning before the Saints could answer. Wander Javier lifted a sacrifice fly, scoring John Andreoli to break up the shutout, but that was the end of their scoring. Indianapolis wiped that away with a run in the 8th inning and they completed the 9-1 victory. WIND SURGE WISDOM The regular season is over for the Wichita Wind Surge. Winning the finale, they finished the season 78-59. After going 35-33 in the first half, it was a 43-26 second half record that vaulted the Wind Surge into the Texas League Division Series. Wichita will play host to the Tulsa Drillers, who went just 29-40 in the second half after a near opposite 40-27 mark in the first half. Wichita has been a dominant 26-10 at home during the second half while Tulsa has gone just 13-23 on the road. Second rank Twins Daily prospect Brooks Lee was recently promoted to Wichita and will provide a significant boost to the lineup. Edouard Julien and Alex Isola have also been catalysts for the Wind Surge this season. With Kody Funderburk going in the final, he would seem unlikely to pitch in the series. Twins rookie Louie Varland’s brother Gus Varland has pitched 70 2/3 innings for Tulsa this year and should appear in the series. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Evan Sisk (St. Paul) - 2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K Hitter of the Day – John Andreoli (St. Paul) - 2-3, R, BB 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: #9 - Matt Wallner (Minnesota) - 1-3, K #16 - Ronny Henriquez (Minnesota) - 4.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul @ Indianapolis (5:35PM CST) - RHP Simeon Woods Richardson Tulsa @ Wichita (7:05PM CST) - RHP Brent Headrick Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Monday’s games! View full article

A lot of people hit homers today, like a lot; someone hit a walk-off, Chris Sale pitched against a team in the low minors, and someone else hit two homers. Read all about that and more in this edition of the minor league report. TRANSACTIONS OF Mark Contreras recalled by the Minnesota Twins Saints Sentinel St. Paul 7, Buffalo 4 Box Score Aaron Sanchez: 5 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 5 BB, 3 K HR: Michael Helman 2 (3, 4), John Andreoli (6) Multi-hit games: Jake Cave (2-for-5), Tim Beckham (2-for-4), Michael Helman (3-for-5, 2 HR, 3 R, 2 RBI), Elliot Soto (4-for-5, R, 3 RBI), John Andreoli (2-for-5, HR, R, RBI) The Saints won handily on Saturday. Former AL ERA champ Aaron Sanchez received the nod on Saturday. He was sporadic, walking a batter an inning while allowing three runners to score; he ended the day with a 2.00 WHIP. But the Saints’ bats pulled through. One-day big-leaguer, Elliot Soto, brought home a pair of runs with a single in the 4th inning. The Buffalo Bisons then chipped back, netting a few runs before parking themselves firmly in front of St. Paul at a 3-2 clip. Michael Helman wanted no part of that, and he sent a solo shot out to left before John Andreoli blasted his own homer, this time to center. If you thought Helman was done, then you would be wrong, my friend. Helman sent another solo homer out to left, this time staking a three-run lead that expanded after Soto brought him one final run with an RBI single. The Saints may have found good fortune on Saturday; their pitchers walked more batters than they struck out (eight to seven), but Buffalo could not take advantage of the free passes. Sometimes, it’s better to be lucky than good. Wind Surge Wisdom Wichita 2, San Antonio 4 Box Score Louie Varland: 5 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 K HR: None Multi-hit games: Cole Sturgeon (2-for-5, HR, R, RBI), Kevin Merrell (2-for-3, 2 B, R) Wichita lost a weird one on Saturday. Every batter for Wichita, outside of one got a hit on Saturday; they had 10 in total. Yet, the team went a hearty 0-7 with RISP, and that’s how you score two runs off 10 hits. Heck, half of their RBIs on Saturday came from a bases-loaded walk. Cole Sturgeon realized that if you hit a homer, then you’re always in scoring position, and simply blasted a ball out to right field for his sixth homer of the season. Kevin Merrell had the other extra-base hit: a double in the 6th. Louie Varland was just good, not his usual dominant self on Saturday. The righty had a full stat line, allowing eight runners against five strikeouts with three earned runs bookending his start. Cody Laweryson made his AA debut after receiving a promotion on Friday. The righty worked two scoreless innings with three strikeouts and two singles allowed. He did work himself into some trouble in the 9th inning, but Chris Williams threw out a runner to end the inning. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 6, West Michigan 5 Box Score Sean Mooney: 4 ⅔ IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K HR: Wander Javier (6), Christian Encarnacion-Strand (16) Multi-hit games: Seth Gray (2-for-4, 2 RBI) The Kernels won a walk-off on Saturday. Sean Mooney started the game and did an adequate job keeping his team in the game, allowing two runs over 4 ⅔ innings. Mooney also struck out six. Cedar Rapids’ bats picked up immediately on Saturday; Kyler Fedko brought home two runs on a 1st inning triple, giving the Kernels the quick advantage. The Whitecaps scratched back with a pair of sacrifice flies in the 3rd and 5th innings to tie the game. West Michigan didn’t stop there. A pair of plays involving errors from Charles Mack allowed the Whitecaps to take a two-run lead. With two on in the bottom of the 8th inning, Wander Javier launched a go-ahead three-run homer to centerfield, giving the Kernels their first lead since the 1st inning. The Whitecaps tied up the game in the 9th inning with a solo homer, but Christian Encarnacion-Strand punished such silliness by cracking a walk-off shot in the bottom of the inning. It was Encarnacion-Strand’s 16th home run of the season. Mussel Matters The Mighty Mussels were supposed to play a doubleheader, but rain intervened, and neither game occurred. Fort Myers will play two games on Sunday starting at 10:30 AM. Complex Chronicles FCL Twins 7, FCL Red Sox 6 (10 innings) Box Score Cleiber Maldonado: 4 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K HR: None Multi-hit games: Jefferson De La Cruz (3-for-5, 2 R), Andres Centeno (2-for-5, 2B, 2 R, RBI), Breilin Ramirez (3-for-5, 2 R) The FCL Twins won in extra-innings on Saturday. Rehabbing big-leaguer Chris Sale started for the FCL Red Sox. Sale ended up striking out six over 2 ⅔ IP—because of course he did—but the FCL Twins did knock out three hits against him. Cleiber Maldonado, now the owner of my favorite name in the system, was phenomenal on Saturday. The lefty punched out six batters while allowing just one run over 4 innings; he dominated by any metric. The FCL Twins had three players with multiple hits and fortunately, all three batters hit back-to-back-to-back; six of the Twins’ runs came from Jefferson De La Cruz, Andres Centeno, and Breilin Ramirez. Dominican Dailies DSL Twins 0, DSL Mariners 4 Box Score Cesar Lares: 4 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 5 BB, 6 K HR: None Multi-hit games: Yasser Mercedes (2-for-3, 2B) The DSL Twins lost in a shutout on Saturday. Yasser Mercedes nabbed one of the two extra-base hits for the DSL Twins; Junior Del Valle had the other. Del Valle also stole a base. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Cleiber Maldonado Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Michael Helman PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #1 - Royce Lewis (Minnesota) - Injured List #2 - Austin Martin (Wichita) - 0-1, K #3 - Jose Miranda (Minnesota) - 1-for-3, 2B, R, RBI, 2 K #4 - Jordan Balazovic (St. Paul) - Did Not Pitch #5 - Simeon Woods Richardson (Wichita) - IL #6 - Matt Canterino (Wichita) - IL #7 - Spencer Steer (St. Paul) - 1-4, RBI, BB #8 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Ft. Myers) - IL #9 - Noah Miller (Ft. Myers) - Did not play #10 - Marco Raya (Ft. Myers) - Did Not Pitch #11 - Cade Povich (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Pitch #12 - Louie Varland (Wichita) - 5 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 K #13 - Ronny Hendriquez (St. Paul) - Did not pitch #14 - Blayne Enlow (Wichita) - Did not pitch #15 - Matt Wallner (Wichita) - 1-4, BB, 2 K #16 - Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 1-4, RBI, BB, K #17 - Cole Sands (St. Paul) - Did Not Pitch #18 - Christian Encarnacion-Strand (Cedar Rapids) - 1-4, HR, R, RBI, BB, 2 K #19 - Steve Hajjar (Ft. Myers) - IL #20 - David Festa (Cedar Rapids) - Did not pitch SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul @ Buffalo (12:05 PM) - RHP Mario Sanchez San Antonio @ Wichita (1:05 PM) - RHP Sawyer Gipson-Long Western Michigan @ Cedar Rapids (2:05 PM) - RHP John Stankiewicz Fort Myers @ Lakeland (10:30 AM) - LHP Jaylen Nowlin View full article

Happy Mothers Day! The Midwest League and the Florida State League did not have games scheduled on Mothers Day. Pensacola was in Chattanooga, but the rains came and wiped out their game. The weather in Rochester, NY, was not good, but they were able to get their game in. Find out how Miguel Sano, Lewis Thorpe and the Red Wings did. Also, who were the choices for Twins Minor League Hitter and Pitcher of the Week?Find out everything that happened happened in the Twins system on Sunday, starting with the transactions of the day. TRANSACTIONS RHP Zack Weiss was activated from the Injured List.If you missed the late-Saturday night Twins transactions, here you go:v yler Duffey, the 26th man in the double header, was sent back to Rochester. Kohl Stewart was optioned to Rochester with Martin Perez coming back from the paternity list. Also, Willians Astudillo was activated from the Injured List and Romero was optioned to Rochester.AWARDS The Twins announced their weekly Hitter and Pitcher of the Week: Hitter of the Week: Trevor Larnach, Ft. Myers Miracle.It t was a big week for the Twins 2018 first-round draft pick out of Oregon State In six games, he hit .440 (11-for-25) with two double and two home runs, his first two of the season.Pitcher of the Week: Jordan Balazovic, Ft. Myers Miracle -Called up from Cedar Rapids, Balazovic made his first start for Ft. Myers… and threw seven perfect innings. He also had 10 strikeouts in the game. He was the Twins 5th round pick out of secondary school in Mississauga, Ontario, in 2016. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 6, Durham 4 Box Score The Red Wings were the only Twins affiliate to get their game in on Sunday. However, the weather was cold and drizzly throughout the game, so the Red Wings are actually treating the game like a rain check and allowing fans who were there to get another ticket later in the season. Very nice. Lewis Thorpe made the start for the Red Wings. He gave up three runs on five hits. He didn’t walk any batters and struck out seven. The three runs came on back-to-back home run balls. Things were interesting for the Red Wings offense right from the start. Nick Gordon doubled to lead off the winning, but a couple of pitches earlier, he may have tweaked a muscle. He left the game in the 3rd inning. Two batters later, LaMonte Wade took a called third strike and didn’t like it. He was ejected and replaced by John Andreoli. Luke Raley got the scoring started in the third inning. He singled in Miguel Sano to give the team a 1-0 lead. Durham got their three runs in the fourth inning. In the bottom of the fourth, MIguel Sano came up with the bases loaded and walked. That was followed by the fourth home run of the season for John Andreoli, a grand slam that gave the Wings a 6-3 lead. (I watched that eighth inning. From reports I’ve heard, Reed is sitting 87-89 mph with the fastball, certainly not where it was while he was one of the better relievers in baseball. His slider actually didn’t look too bad. But he will need, likely, the full 30 days of rehab and then see where he is at. It’s possible that he could continue to rehab, or the optimist’s view would be that he finds that velocity and is able to be a late-inning cog for the Twins. That feels a little bit optimistic, even more me, at this point.) Preston Guilmet came on for the ninth inning. He allowed two base runners, but recorded a strikeout to end the game. Thorpe improved to 3-2 and Guilmet recorded his fourth save. BLUE WAHOO BITES Pensacola, Chattanooga Box Score Jorge Alcala was supposed to pitch for the Wahoos on Sunday, but instead he will make a start on Monday. In fact, the game was suspended due to poor weather and field conditions and a double header will be played on Monday. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers Box Score The Miracle did not have a game on the schedule for Mother’s Day. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids Box Score The Kernels did not have a game on the schedule for Mother’s Day. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day - Lewis Thorpe, Rochester Red Wings Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – John Andreoli, Rochester Red Wings PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #1 - Royce Lewis (Ft. Myers) - No Game Scheduled #2 - Alex Kirilloff (Pensacola) - Rained Out. #3 - Brusdar Graterol (Pensacola) - Rained Out. #4 - Trevor Larnach (Ft. Myers) - No Game Scheduled. #5 - Wander Javier (EST) - Injured, early May return #6 - Brent Rooker (Rochester) - 0-4, HBP, 2 K #7 - Jhoan Duran (Ft. Myers) - No Game Scheduled #8 - Lewis Thorpe (Rochester) - 7 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 7 K (100 pitches, 70 strikes) #9 - Blayne Enlow (Cedar Rapids) - No Game Scheduled #10 - Akil Baddoo (Ft. Myers) - No Game Scheduled #11 - Nick Gordon (Rochester) - No Game Scheduled #12 - Stephen Gonsalves (Rochester) - Injured List, late-May return possible #13 - Ryan Jeffers (Ft. Myers) - No Game Scheduled #14 - Ben Rortvedt (Ft. Myers) - No Game Scheduled #15 - Yunior Severino (Cedar Rapids) - Injured List #16 - Gilberto Celestino (Cedar Rapids) - No Game Scheduled #17 - Zack Littell (Rochester) - Did Not Pitch. #18 - LaMonte Wade (Rochester) - 0-1, K (ejected) #19 - Jorge Alcala (Pensacola) - Rained Out. Will Start Monday. #20 - Jose Miranda (Ft. Myers) - No Game Scheduled MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester - No Game Scheduled. Pensacola @ Chattanooga (DH @ 5:15 CST) - RHP Jorge Alcala (4-1, 4.81), RHP Brusdar Graterol (4-0, 1.91 ERA) Bradenton @ Ft. Myers (5:30 CST) - RHP Jordan Balazovic (1-0, 0.00 ERA) Quad Cities @ Cedar Rapids (DH @ 5:30 CST) - RHP Josh Winder (1-1, 2.45 ERA), RHP Austin Schulfer (3-1, 2.38 ERA) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Sunday’s games. Click here to view the article

Thanks to pitching that has been great all year, the Pensacola Blue Wahoos were able to throw their fourth shutout of the year, this one coming with 18 strikeouts. What else went on in the land of the Twins minor league system? Follow me and I’ll take you through it.TRANSACTIONS -OF Mark Contreras tranferred from AA Pensacola to A+ Fort Myers -RHP Jacob Blank transferred from A+ Fort Myers to Rookie ball Elizabethton RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 8, Lehigh Valley 13 Box Score Chase De Jong: 2.0 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, 52.1% strikes (38 of 73 pitches) HR: John Andreoli (2) Multi-hit games: John Andreoli (2-for-4, R, RBI), LaMonte Wade (2-for-5, 2 R), Luke Raley (2-for-4, R, 2 RBI), Randy César (3-for-4, 2 R, 2 RBI) Another Saturday, another day where Chase De Jong started against the IronPigs and I got to write about it. In relief of De Jong after his two innings of work, Jake Reed fired off three excellent innings with only one earned run and six strikeouts. Now it only seems like a matter of if, not when Reed shows up on the Twins sometime this season. The offense was able to put up eight runs thanks in part to a John Andreoli blast and two doubles from Randy César that buffed up his RBI totals. While the eight runs were great, it was just not quite enough to match the IronPigs offense and the Red Wings dropped the game in the end. BLUE WAHOO BITES Pensacola 5, Mobile 0 Box Score Sean Poppen: 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 11 K, 64.6% strikes (51 of 79 pitches) HR: None Multi-hit games: Jaylin Davis (2-for-3, R), Tanner English (2-for-2, 3 R, 2 RBI), Ernie De La Trinidad (3-for-4, RBI) Pensacola yet again got another great start from their starting pitcher, this time from the owner of one of my favorite names in the Twins system, Sean Poppen. Poppen was relieved after five innings by Jovani Moran who was relieved after two innings by Cody Stashak who fired off two innings of his own, with the carnage totaling 18 total strikeouts for Blue Wahoos pitching. The Blue Wahoos scraped together five assorted runs throughout the game from a myriad of singles (both of the infield and outfield variety) in support of the excellent pitching and it was enough to beat the BayBears pretty handily. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 2, Charlotte 7 Box Score Charlie Barnes: 1 2/3 IP, 7 H, 7 ER, 5 BB, 0 K, 55.2% strikes (32 of 58 pitches) HR: None Multi-hit games: Royce Lewis (2-for-5), Lewin Diaz (2-for-4, RBI), Travis Blankenhorn (2-for-3, R, BB), Michael Helman (2-for-4) Charlie Barnes went 1 2/3 innings and surrendered seven runs with five walks against the Charlotte Stone Crabs. Tom Hackimer came in and did fine work by striking out five over 2 1/3 innings without allowing a hit or a walk. Relievers Alex Phillips and Anthony Vizcaya followed suit with a combined five innings of work that came with six punchouts and only three hits. The Miracle bullpen in total fired off 7 1/3 innings with 11 punchouts and just three hits. The two runs for the Miracle came from a fourth inning Lewin Diaz single and a ninth inning sacrifice fly from Ryan Costello. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 4, Beloit 5 Box Score Josh Winder: 5.0 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 70.1% strikes (54 of 77 pitches) HR: Chris Williams (3) Multi-hit games: Andrew Bechtold (2-for-4, R) The Kernels went for the series sweep against the Beloit Snappers but came up just a bit short and had to settle for taking two of three instead. The scoring started in the bottom of the first when Chris Williams made another deposit into his charity fund that gives home run balls to lucky fans in the outfield stands, his two-run shot was his second homer in as many days. The Snappers responded by scoring the next five runs of the game with the earned runs being split between Kernels starter Josh Winder and reliever Tyler Palm. The Kernels were able to answer back in the seventh with runs coming from a Michael Davis double and a Gabriel Maciel single but the inning ended with the Kernels trailing by a run and the game would end in the same fashion. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Sean Poppen Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Randy César PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #1 - Royce Lewis (Ft. Myers) - 2-for-5, K #2 - Alex Kirilloff (Pensacola) - Injured list #3 - Brusdar Graterol (Pensacola) - Did not pitch #4 - Trevor Larnach (Ft. Myers) - 1-for-4, R, K #5 - Wander Javier (EST) - Season has not started #6 - Brent Rooker (Rochester) - Did not play #7 - Jhoan Duran (Ft. Myers) - Did not pitch #8 - Lewis Thorpe (Rochester) - Did not pitch #9 - Blayne Enlow (Cedar Rapids) - Did not pitch #10 - Akil Baddoo (Ft. Myers) - 1-for-5, K #11 - Nick Gordon (Rochester) - Injured list #12 - Stephen Gonsalves (Rochester) - Injured list #13 - Ryan Jeffers (Ft. Myers) - 1-for-4, 2 K #14 - Ben Rortvedt (Ft. Myers) - 0-for-3, BB #15 - Yunior Severino (Cedar Rapids) - Injured list #16 - Gilberto Celestino (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-2, K #17 - Zack Littell (Rochester) - Did not pitch #18 - LaMonte Wade (Rochester) - 2-for-5, #19 - Jorge Alcala (Pensacola) - Did not pitch #20 - Jose Miranda (Ft. Myers) - Did not play SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Mobile @ Pensacola (5:05 P.M.) - RHP Jorge Alcala (Most other leagues are off for Easter Sunday) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Saturday’s games. Click here to view the article