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Jake Cave hit a walk-off single for Rochester against old friend Buddy Boshers, and no, there’s nothing wrong with Jordan Balazovic. His start for Fort Myers was severely shortened due to a rain delay. Every affiliate won tonight, three of them by a single run. Come check out what else happened Friday night.TRANSACTIONS -RHP Cole Sands has been promoted from Cedar Rapids up to Fort Myers. -RHP Tanner Howell was activated from extended spring training and assigned to Fort Myers. -Fort Myers also placed RHP Ricky Ramirez on the 7-Day IL due to lumbar back spasms. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 5, Buffalo 4 (10 innings) Box Score Lewis Thorpe: 6.0 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 66.3% strikes (55 of 83 pitches) HR: John Andreoli (6) Multi-hit games: Jake Cave (2-for-5) The Wings trailed 4-1 heading into the bottom of the eighth inning in this one, but battled back and ended up winning on a Jake Cave walk-off single. Buddy Boshers was on the mound, which is notable not only because he’s a former Twin, but also because Cave delivered against a lefty. Mitch Garver caught all nine innings, was 1-for-4 at the plate and scored a run. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 8, Lakeland 3 Box Score Melvi Acosta: 4.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 57.1% strikes (36 of 63 pitches) HR: Aaron Whitefield (4), Ryan Jeffers (5) Multi-hit games: Whitefield (2-for-5, 2B, HR), Jeffers (2-for-5, HR), Trevor Larnach (2-for-4, BB), Hunter Lee (2-for-4) As I mentioned in the intro, Jordan Balazovic started this game. He struck out a couple batters in 1 1/3 innings of perfect ball before a rain delay forced him out of this game. Once play resumed, Melvi Acosta took over for the Miracle. Aaron Whitefield hit a three-run homer in the fourth inning. Whitefield also doubled and scored on a Hunter Lee two-run single in the eighth in what was another nice night for the Miracle lineup. Ryan Jeffers hit his fifth home run, Trevor Larnach reached safely in three of his five plate appearances and Lewin Diaz had a single and a walk. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 6, Beloit 5 Box Score Tyler Palm: 3.0 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 61.3% strikes (46 of 75 pitches) HR: Andrew Bechtold (4) Multi-hit games: Ben Rodriguez (2-for-3, BB) The Kernels were trailing 4-3 after a busy first three innings, but things stayed that way until the eighth. Beloit retired the first two Cedar Rapids hitters, then melted down. Four straight walks followed by a fielding error by the pitcher resulted in a three-run inning for the Kernels. Jose Martinez was great over the middle innings for Cedar Rapids, throwing four one-hit innings while striking out four batters. Zach Neff gave up an unearned run over the final two frames and earned his first save of the season. The bats didn’t do a lot of damage. They combined for just five hits, and Andrew Bechtold’s solo home run was the only that went for extra bases. But they also drew six walks, two of which came from Jacob Pearson. STARS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Jose Martinez, Cedar Rapids Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: Jake Cave, Rochester TOP PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed 1. Royce Lewis (FM): 0-for-5, 3 K 2. Alex Kirilloff (PNS): 0-for-1, 2 BB, E (fielding at 1B) 4. Trevor Larnach (FM): 2-for-4, BB, K 8. Lewis Thorpe (ROC): 6.0 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 66.3% strikes (55 of 83 pitches) 11. Nick Gordon (ROC): 0-for-3, BB, R, RBI, 2 K 13. Ryan Jeffers (FM): 2-for-5, HR (5), R, RBI 14. Ben Rortvedt (PNS): 0-for-3, 2 K 16. Gilberto Celestino (CR): 0-for-5 18. LaMonte Wade (ROC): 1-for-4, HBP 20. Jose Miranda (FM): 1-for-5, R, K SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester vs. Buffalo, 6:05 pm CT (Sean Poppen) Pensacola vs. Mississippi, 6:05 pm CT (Jeff Ames) Fort Myers at Lakeland, 5:00 pm CT (Jhoan Duran) Cedar Rapids at Beloit, 6:30 pm CT (Josh Winder) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the games. Click here to view the article

Earlier this week, we announced the Twins Daily Minor League Hitter (Ryan Jeffers) and Starting Pitcher (Bailey Ober) of the Month.Tonight we will write about several Twins minor league relief pitchers, culminating with this month’s choice for Relief Pitcher of the Month. For the first time, we have a repeat winner. Previous Relief Pitchers of the Month for 2018: April 2018: Nick Anderson, Rochester Red Wings May 2018: Todd Van Steensel, Chattanooga Lookouts June 2018: Jovani Moran, Cedar Rapids Kernels July 2018: Well, just keep reading (if you happened to not look at the graphic that you clicked on to read this story.)Before we share our choices for the Twins Minor League Top Five Relievers for July, here are some terrific bullpen performances that just missed the cut. HONORABLE MENTION Erik Cha- GCL Twins, 7 G, 1.64 ERA, 0.82 WHIP, 11.0 IP, 8 H, 1 BB, 8 KRyan Eades - Chattanooga Lookouts, 6 G, 2.19 ERA, 0.73 WHIP, 12.1 IP, 9 H, 0 BB, 12 KRegi Grace - GCL Twins, 3 G, 0.00 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 8.1 IP, 6 H, 2 BB, 7 KRyne Harper - Chattanooga Lookouts/Rochester Red Wings, 8 G, 1.42 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 12.2 IP, 11 H, 2 BB, 15 KZach Neff - Elizabethton Twins, 9 G, 2.70 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 13.1 IP, 11 H, 5 BB, 18 KDerek Molina - Elizabethton Twins/Cedar Rapids Kernels, 7 G, 1.42 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 12.2 IP, 3 H, 12 BB, 22 KAndrew Vasquez - Chattanooga Lookouts, 9 G, 2.16 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 16 H, 1 BB, 29 KTHE TOP FIVE RELIEF PITCHERS #5 - Jose Martinez - Cedar Rapids Kernels - 8 G, 1.20 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, 15.0 IP, 9 H, 4 BB, 16 K You may not have heard of Jose Martinez, but this is his sixth season in the Twins organization. Signed in 2013 out of Venezuela by Jose Leon, Martinez spent the 2014 and 2015 seasons in the Dominican Summer League. He spent the last two seasons in Elizabethton. He has spent this entire season with the Kernels in Cedar Rapids.In 28 total games, he has worked 53 2/3 innings. He’s got a 4.53 ERA. He has 50 strikeouts and 21 walks. He was very good in July and ended the month with six scoreless outings covering 11 1/3 innings. He recorded a save in three of his final four outings during the month. #4 - Jake Reed - Rochester Red Wings - 8 G, 2.03 ERA, 0.68 WHIP, 13.1 IP, 4 H, 5 BB, 11 K Reed was the Twins fifth-round draft pick in 2014 out of the University of Oregon. He flew up the system, pitching in the Arizona Fall League that year and starting the 2015 season in Chattanooga. However, he has fought some injuries and still has yet to receive the call up. However, if his past two months are any indication, just maybe it will come this year. In July, opponents hit just .095/.224/.143 (.367) against him. Reed has a fastball in the mid-90s that runs in on a right-hander, and he compements it with a mid-80s slider that darts away from a right-hander. #3 - Adam Bray - Ft. Myers Miracle - 9 G, 0.98 ERA, 0.71 WHIP, 18.1 IP, 8 H, 5 BB, 19 K Adam Bray had a fantastic baseball career if he had just quit playing after a high school state championship and a national championship with his American Legion team. He went to South Dakota State and then was drafted by the Dodgers. This March, he was acquired by the Twins in a trade. He didn’t join the Miracle until the end of June. As you can see from his numbers, he pitched a lot, and he pitched quite well. Opponents hit just .136/.212/.220 (.432) off of him during the month, and he struck out more than a batter per inning. Get to know a little more about Adam Bray from this story. #2 - Cody Stashak - Chattanooga Lookouts - 9 G, 0.00 ERA, 0.82 WHIP, 13.1 IP, 7 H, 2 BB, 16 K Stashak was drafted as a starting pitcher out of St. Johns in the 13th round of the 2015 draft. He was a pretty solid, underrated starter. In 2016, he posted a 2.80 ERA between Cedar Rapids and Ft. Myers. Last year, he posted a 3.60 ERA between Ft. Myers and Chattanooga. This year, the move was made to the bullpen and it has been successful. In 43 2/3 innings so far this year for the Lookouts, he has a 3.09 ERA and 60 strikeouts to go with just 13 walks. In July, he didn’t give up a run, earned or unearned. Opponents hit just .179/.220/.256 (.476) against him during the month. At 6-2 and thin, Stashak throws in the low 90s with a good pitch mix. He’s got good control and command. And the Twins Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month is: Ft. Myers Miracle – LHP Jovani Moran - 8 G, 1.13 ERA, 0.56 WHIP, 16.0 IP, 8 H, 1 BB, 22 K Moran is the choice for Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month for the second straight month. The difference, of course, is that he was a member of the Cedar Rapids Kernels throughout the month of June. At the end of the month, Moran was promoted to Ft. Myers and hasn’t missed a beat. The 2015 seventh-round pick from Puerto Rico has pitched in different roles in his short time with the Miracle, averaging two innings per outing. In July, opponents hit just .148/.164/.204 (.367) against him. In large part, the 22:1 strikeout to walk ratio helps with that. The 21-year-old missed the 2016 season after having surgery to remove bone spurs from his elbow. He returned strong in 2017, and he was the Twins Daily short-season Minor League Pitcher of the Year. For Elizabethton, he gave up just one run in 24 2/3 innings (0.36 ERA), and had just six walks to go with 45 strikeouts. Moran is not a big guy .He stands 6-foot-1 and weighs in at about 170 pounds. He’s got a good whip action and some deception in his delivery. His fastball reaches into the low-90s, and he’s got a good slider and changeup. He really just needs to keep working and developing, and gaining strength could help him add a little more velocity. He’s a really good athlete who fields the position well. There were several strong relief pitcher performances in July throughout the Twins minor league system. It was a good month for each of these pitchers mentioned today, but for the second straight month, Congratulations to Jovani Moran. He is the Twins Daily Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month for July 2018. Click here to view the article

Of the seven games in tonight’s report, four of them went into extra innings. Kohl Stewart had a great start, Brent Rooker hit another home run, Aaron Whitefield had a walk-off double, Akil Baddoo collected three more hits, a Cedar Rapids reliever went strikeout crazy and Chris Williams slugged another homer. Check out what else happened across the minors Thursday night.TRANSACTIONS Jeremy Hazelbaker was acquired from Tampa Bay for cash considerations and was assigned to Rochester. Another left-handed hitting outfielder, Hazelbaker has hit .258/.327/.500 (.827 OPS) over 285 plate appearances with the Cardinals and Diamondbacks. The 30-year-old was having a rough go of things for Durham, Tampa Bay’s Triple-A affiliate, hitting .210/.293/.397 (.690 OPS). Cody Stashak was placed on Chattanooga’s temporary Inactive List. Fort Myers placed Tom Hackimer on the 7-Day DL with an ankle sprain. RED WINGS REPORT Game 1: Norfolk 1, Rochester 0 (7 innings) Box Score SP: Kohl Stewart (6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K) HR: None Multi-hit games: Nick Gordon Rochester was held to just three hits, two from Nick Gordon, but Kohl Stewart was awesome. Making his fourth Triple-A start this season, Stewart gave up just one run on three hits, all singles, and two walks. He also struck out eight of the 22 batters he faced on the day. Stewart also went six innings and only gave up one run in his last start. Jeremy Hazelbaker was 0-for-2 with a strikeout in his debut in the organization. Game 2: Norfolk 1 Rochester, 0 (8 innings) Box Score SP: D.J. Baxendale (3.1 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K) HR: None Multi-hit games: None Yes, Rochester played two games, they lost both and the score was 1-0 in both contests. Also, both runs scored over the 15 innings of baseball were on sacrifice flies. This game was played in Rochester, but it was technically a road game for the Wings, er, they were the Plates tonight, I guess. They were making up a game that was rained out in Norflolk earlier in the season. That meant Rochester was walked off in their own ballpark, which had to feel a little weird. The only hits by the Plates in this one were a Juan Graterol double and a Jon Kremmer single. D.J Baxendale opened things with 3 1/3 shutout innings before Trevor May tuned in 2 1/3 frames of no-hit ball. Gabriel Moya pitched two innings and gave up the game-winner, though it’ll go down as an unearned run since that was the “bonus” runner that started the inning on second base. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 5, Mobile 3 Box Score W: Omar Bencomo (5.1 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K) SV: Tyler Jay (1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K) HR: Brent Rooker (16) Multi-hit games: Brent Rooker, Mitchell Kranson This one started with a Zander Wiel double followed by Brent Rooker’s 16th home run. The Lookouts built a 4-0 lead thanks to RBI singles from Mitchell Kranson and Rooker, but the BayBears battled back to pull within a run of Chattanooga. Brian Navarretto plated an insurance run in the top of the ninth on a sac fly and the bullpen locked it down. Omar Bencomo (29) gave up two runs and struck out seven batters over 5 1/3 innings. Williams Ramirez (who turns 26 in a few weeks) gave up a run in his inning of work before Sam Clay (25) delivered 1 1/3 innings of scoreless work. Tyler Jay (24) earned his second save by recording the final four outs. He gave up one hit and had three strikeouts. Why yes, the Lookouts do have the oldest pitching staff in the Southern League (second oldest in all of Double A), why do you ask? MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 4, Lakeland 3 (10 innings) Box Score W: Jovani Moran (3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K) SP: Griffin Jax (7.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K) HR: None Multi-hit games: None Hits were hard to come by for the Miracle, but they made the most of them. They managed to score four runs despite only being able to muster three well-timed hits. Alex Kirilloff hit a single to load the bases in the first inning, Joe Cronin drew a walk to score the first run and then Ben Rortvedt delivered a two-run single to put Fort Myers up 3-0 in the first inning. They didn’t get another baserunner until the seventh. In the meantime, the Flying Tigers stormed back to tie the game at 3-3. Griffin Jax gave up just one earned run over seven innings before handing the game off to Jovani Moran, who was making just his third appearance for the Miracle. Moran managed to fend off Lakeland for three innings, keeping the game knotted up. Things didn’t get off to a very good start in the bottom of the 10th for Fort Myers. Rortvedt was walked to try to set up the double play. To combat that, the Miracle bunted … into a double play. Since offense was impossible to come by, Fort Myers hadn’t recorded a hit since the first inning, they seemed doomed. Instead, Aaron Whitefield delivered a walk-off double that scored Rortvedt from second base. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 6, Great Lakes 3 Box Score W: Tyler Watson (6.0 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K) SV: Jose Martinez (2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB 6 K) HR: Ben Rodriguez (8), Jacob Pearson (4) Multi-hit games: Akil Baddoo Tyler Watson set the tone with six innings of shutout ball and Ben Rodriguez mashed a three-run homer that put the Kernels up 4-0 in the third inning, making for a low-stress night, especially when compared to how the other affiliates fared. Akil Baddoo had an excellent game, going 3-for-5 and was a homer shy of the cycle and Jacob Pearson hit his fourth home run of the season. Jose Martinez made sure things remained under control as he absolutely blew through the Loons’ lineup. Martinez faced seven men and he struck out six of them. He threw 21 of his 26 pitches for strikes. Wow. E-TWINS E-NOTES Greeneville 3, Elizabethton 2 (10 innings) Box Score SP: Andrew Cabezas (5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 4 K) HR: Chris Williams (8) Multi-hit games: Yunior Severino, Andrew Cosgrove My goodness, is Chris Williams flexing his muscles or what!? The guy now has eight home runs through 26 pro games. Combined that with his numbers at Clemson this year Williams has 25 homers in 88 games this year. Again, my goodness! E-Towns’ other run came on a game-tying single from Trevor Larnach. Andrew Cabazas pitched five shutout innings of two-hit ball. Johan Quezada followed with two no-hit innings to go with four strikeouts. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 6, GCL Orioles 3 (11 innings) Box Score W: Petru Balan (3.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K) SP: Kai-Wei Teng (5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K) HR: None Multi-hit games: Agustin Marte, Charles Mack, Victor Tedemo, Erick Rivera The Twins trailed 1-0 heading into the top of the ninth, but they tied it up on a pretty wild play. Here’s the description from the MiLB play log: “Victor Tademo out on a sacrifice bunt, left fielder Jacob Brown to third baseman Jared Gates. Alberoni Nunez scores. Charles Mack to 3rd. Victor Tademo out at 3rd. Victor Tademo out at 3rd, left fielder Jacob Brown to third baseman Jared Gates.” Uh ... say what now? Things continued to get interesting, as the Twins added another run in the top of the 10th thanks to a passed ball. But the O’s also scored in the bottom of that inning. The Twins really broke loose in the 11th, tallying four runs, the big blow being a Tademo double. Second baseman Agustin Marte was 3-for-5 with a double and Mack was 2-for-4 with a walk. Kai-Wei Tend delivered five frames of one-run ball before J.T. Perez pitched two scoreless innings. Petru Balan gave up an unearned run over his three innings of work and Osiris German also surrendered an unearned run in the 11th STARS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Jose Martinez, Cedar Rapids Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: Brent Rooker, Chattanooga TOP PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed. Please note that this Prospect Summary has been updated. 1. Royce Lewis (FM): 0-for-3, BB, R, E 2. Alex Kirilloff (FM): 1-for-4, R, K 3. Brusdar Graterol (FM): Did not pitch. 4. Nick Gordon (ROC): 2-for-6, SB 5. Stephen Gonsalves (ROC): Did not pitch. 6. Trevor Larnach (ET): 1-for-3, BB, RBI, K 7. Brent Rooker (CHAT): 2-for-4, HR, 3 RBIs, R 8. Akil Baddoo (CR): 3-for-5, 2B, 3B, 2 R, RBI 9. Wander Javier: Out of for the season 10. Zack Littell (ROC): Did not pitch. 11. Blayne Enlow (CR): Did not pitch. 12. LaMonte Wade (ROC): 0-for-6, 4 K 13. Travis Blankenhorn (FM): 0-for-3, K, E 14. Lewis Thorpe (CHAT): Did not pitch. 15. Ben Rortvedt (FM): 1-for-2, 2 BB, 2 RBI, R 16. Yunior Severino (ET): 2-for-5, R 17. Lewin Diaz (FM): 0-for-3, RBI, K 18. Ryan Jeffers (ET): 1-for-4, BB 19. Jacob Pearson (CR): 1-for-4, HR, RBI, R, K 20. Luis Arraez (CHAT): 1-for-4, 2B, R, K FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester vs. Norfolk, 5:05 pm CT: Ervin Santana Chattanooga at Mobile, 7:05 pm CT: Sean Poppen Fort Myers vs. Lakeland, 6:00 pm CT: Brusdar Graterol Cedar Rapids at Great Lakes, 6:05 pm CT: Bailey Ober Elizabethton vs. Greeneville, 6:00 pm CT: TBD GCL Twins vs. GCL Red Sox, 11:00 am CT: TBD Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the games. Click here to view the article

Monday marked the final day of the regular season for the Twins minor league affiliates with three of the organization's minor league team's taking the field. Two of the Twins affiliates, Cedar Rapids and Chattanooga, qualified for the playoffs so there will be continued coverage of the MiLB Postseason in the coming days. For now, each team tried to end their regular season on a high note.RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 8, Lehigh Valley 1 Box Score Jose Martinez ended the season on an extremely high note as he put together a strong performance at the plate. He finished 4-for-5 with two home runs and two doubles while driving in four and scoring four runs. Argenis Diaz reached base four times as part of a three hit effort and collected his 12th double. Danny Ortiz ended the season with his 31st double. After losing two of his last three appearances, Taylor Rogers won his 11th game after pitching six frames. He scattered seven hits and allowed one earned run with four strikeouts and no walks. Alex Meyer allowed one base runner in two innings of work for his fourth hold and Aaron Thompson finished the game off in the ninth. Rochester finished the season 10 games over .500 and four and a half games out of first place in the International League North Division. Despite the winning record, the club will be home for the postseason after finishing six games behind Indianapolis for a Wild Card spot. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 4, Jackson 6 Box Score It wouldn't be a fitting end to the regular season without another home run from Adam Brett Walker. With two outs in the second inning, Walker clubbed a solo-shot, his 31st home run of the season. Unfortunately, a late-inning rally wasn't enough to push the Lookouts to victory. Aaron Slegers started for Chattanooga but was charged with the loss after allowing five runs, four earned, on eight hits with three strikeouts and a walk. Nick Burdi allowed an unearned run in his inning of work while JT Chargois struck out the side in the eighth frame and Alex Wimmers reached the 100 strikeout mark for the season. Chattanooga ended the regular season with a 76-61 record and will start their Southern League Playoff Series on Thursday. The Lookouts will play host to the Montgomery Biscuits, an affiliate of the Tampa Bays Rays. Montgomery ended the season with a 77-61 record and a 43-27 record in the second half. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 2, Clinton 6 Box Score Even in Monday's loss, Sean Miller and Rafael Valera both looked prime for the playoffs. Both players collected three hits and Valera posted a pair of doubles. Chris Paul went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI but it wasn't enough as the team went 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position and left 10 runners on base. Randy Rosario took the loss in his first relief appearance for the Kernels. He allowed four runs, three earned, on five hits in less than two innings. Sam Clay started and picked up one out in the fifth before being removed. He walked five and struck out five while surrendering two earned runs. The Kernels start their Midwest League Playoff Series on Wednesday at 6:35 pm as they host the Quad Cities River Bandits, an affiliate of the Houston Astros. The best of three series could be toufgh for Cedar Rapids as the Kernels went 4-9 against the River Bandits during the regular season. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Taylor Rogers, Rochester Red Wings Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Jose Martinez, Rochester Red Wings UPCOMING PLAYOFF SCHEDULE Wednesday, 9/9/15: Cedar Rapids vs. Quad Cities (6:35 CST) – Felix Jorge Thursday, 9/10/15: Chattanooga vs. Montgomery (6:15 CST) – TBA Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (7:00 CST) – TBA Click here to view the article

The Red Wings won, and the GCL Twins split a doubleheader. Other than that, it was a night of tough losses in the Twins minor league system. The Twins made a trade that affected a couple of players in the Twins farm system as well, but there was another well-earned promotion.All that and more can be found as you work your way through today’s minor league report. TRANSACTIONS The trade deadline came and passed on Friday afternoon, and the Twins minor league system was affected. The Twins acquired RH RP Kevin Jepsen from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for RHP Chih-Wei Hu and RHP Alexis Tapia. With Jepsen joining the Twins on Saturday, along with the return of Trevor Plouffe from the paternity list, the Twins needed to take two players off of the 25-man roster. Danny Santana has been optioned to Rochester and Jorge Polanco has been optioned to Chattanooga. Also, hot-hitting GCL shortstop Jermaine Palacios was promoted to Elizabethton. So was catcher Brian Olson. Infielder Ariel Montesino was sent down to the GCL Twins. Also, a week ago, the Twins signed outfielder Christian Cavaness. He was an NAIA All-American and Lindenwood University-Belleville player but went undrafted. He was playing for the Bend Elk in the college West Coast League and after a tryout, signed with the Twins. Two years ago, the Twins signed LHP Cameron Booser from the same team as a non-drafted free agent. Cavaness came on as a pinch runner on Saturday, his first pro appearance. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 8, Syracuse 3 Box Score Taylor Rogers evened his season record at 8-8 on Friday night. The southpaw gave up three runs on four hits over six innings. He walked two and struck out eight. Mark Hamburger struck out two over two perfect innings. Aaron Thompson walked one in a scoreless ninth. The Red Wings got a lot of contributions in this win. James Beresford went 2-5 with his 18th double. Reynaldo Rodriguez was 2-5 with his 25th double and 12th home run. Danny Ortiz had two hits, including his 26th double. Chris Herrmann went 2-3 with his first home run. He also stole his second base. Argenis Diaz was 2-3 with a walk. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 1, Pensacola 4 Box Score Greg Peavey made his first start since returning from Rochester. He gave up two runs (1 earned) on five hits in 6.1 innings. He walked two and struck out four. Jake Reed pitched an inning. He gave up two runs on one hit and three walks. DJ Johnson got the final five outs. The Lookouts managed just five hits in the game. Max Kepler’s tenth triple drove in the team’s lone run. Shannon Wilkerson hit his fourth double. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 1, Daytona 8 Box Score Kohl Stewart spent the last several days reading rumors that he might have been traded. His start was pushed back a day to occur after the trade deadline. Finally able to focus on pitching, Stewart had a rough one. He gave up seven runs on seven hits, a walk and two hit batters in 5.1 innings. He struck out one. Zack Jones struck out three of the five batters that he faced. Tyler Jay gave up one run on one hit and a walk in his inning. The Miracle mustered just three hits. Engelb Vielma hit his ninth double. Ryan Walker hit his third double. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 1, Kane County 6 Box Score The Kernels had nine hits, but 13 strikeouts ended several threats. Edgar Corcino and Brett Doe each went 2-4. Tanner English hit his 15th double. Randy Rosario started and was charged with four runs on six hits. He gave up nine hits, walked one and struck out four. Mike Theofanopoulos gave up one run on two hits in two innings. He struck out two. E-TOWN E-NOTES Elizabethton 6, Burlington 12 Box Score After hitting .421/.472/.589 (1.061) in 26 GCL games, Jermaine Palacios was promoted to Elizabethton. He started out with a bang. He went 3-5 with a three-run homer and added another RBI. Of course, it wasn’t all great. He had two errors at shortstop in the game. Amaurys Minier went 2-4 with his seventh and eight doubles. Travis Blankenhorn went 2-3 with a walk and his third double. Brad Hartong hit his second double. Cody Stashak started and gave up three runs on five hits in just three innings. He struck out three. Anthony Mciver came on and gave up four runs on six hits and a walk in just 1.2 innings. He struck out one. Tyler Stirewalt gave up two runs (1 earned) on three hits in three innings. He struck out two. Josh Guyer went the final 1.1 innings. He gave up three runs (two earned) on three hits and a walk in 1.1 innings. GCL TWINS TAKES Game 1 – GCL Twins 0, GCL Red Sox 1 Box Score Williams Ramirez takes the loss in this one, though he continues to pitch great. He gave up one run on two hits in five innings. He walked three and struck out eight. His falls to 3-1 with a 0.57 ERA in 31.1 innings. Again, he will turn 23 in one week, so I asked about him. Turns out that he is a converted third baseman who had done almost no pitching growing up. He has a strong arm and good feel for his secondary pitches, but he’s still quite raw. He’s certainly making a strong impression. Johan Quezada, another strong-armed right hander, came on and struck out two (and walked one) in two innings. Unfortunately in the first game, the GCL Twins – like the big league club – managed just one hit, a Ruar Verkerk single. In some good news, infielder Blake Schmidt returned to the field. He went 0-1 with a walk in his first game since he was hit in the face with a pitch in Cedar Rapids. He required surgery and has been working to come back for a month. Game 2 – GCL Twins 10, GCL Red Sox 2 Box Score After getting just one hit in the first game, the Twins put up ten runs. They had eight hits but were also helped by 10 walks. Luis Arraez went 2-4 with two RBI. Kolton Kendrick went 1-2 with three walks. Robert Molina and Ariel Montesino each walked twice as well. Jose Martinez started and gave up only an unearned run on two hits in five innings. He walked two and struck out two. John Curtiss continues to rehab. He threw two perfect innings. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Jose Martinez, GCL Twins Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Jermaine Palacios, Elizabethton Twins SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Syracuse @ Rochester (6:05 CST) – RHP Tyler Duffey Pensacola @ Chattanooga (6:15 CST) – RHP Alex Wimmers Ft. Myers @ Daytona (6:05 CST) – RHP Aaron Slegers Cedar Rapids @ Kane County (6:30 CST) – RHP Sam Gibbons Burlington @ Elizabethton (5:00 CST) – RHP Dereck Rodriguez GCL Twins @ GCL Red Sox (9:00am CST) – TBD Feel free to leave any questions or comments below Click here to view the article