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There was a ton of action in the system on Tuesday night as all of the affiliates were in play. The big hit of the night was delivered by an outfielder just getting back into AAA form after a month-long stint with the big league club and a 2017 top 10 round draft pick also was fantastic in his first start as a pro. Another team’s lineup pounded out hit after hit in game two of a double-header but there were also a few clunkers that provided little to talk about for the lineups of their teams.To find out who did what in the minors on Tuesday, keep reading! TRANSACTIONS Before the games on Tuesday there were a few transactions in the system. Yohan Pino was assigned to Rochester and Ryan Strausborger was released from AAA. At Double-A the release of pitcher Raul Fernandez was also made official. In the Gulf Coast League pitcher Vadim Balan was placed on the seven-day disabled list retroactive to August 3rd. RED WINGS REPORT Columbus 2, Rochester 6 Box Score With Hector Santiago’s rehab start being pushed back a day, Nik Turley got the ball for the Red Wings and spotted the Clippers a 2-0 lead before his offense took an at- bat. A walk and three singles in the top of the first accounted for that scoring, but that was all Columbus would get for the rest of the game as Turley settled in from there. Rochester tied the game at two in the bottom of the third when Daniel Palka doubled in Zack Granite and Mitch Garver. Tommy Field had doubled earlier in the inning but was thrown out at home on Garver’s single. The big hit for the Wings came in the fourth, as Zack Granite slugged his fifth home run of the season, a grand slam to make it 6-2. Turley finished five innings to pick up his fifth win of the season. He allowed those two runs on six hits and a walk while striking out seven. His ERA is now at 2.89 at AAA. Luke Bard made his first appearance at AAA, and threw two scoreless frames of relief. He allowed two hits and struck out one. Jake Reed finished the final two innings, allowing one hit and picking up a K. Granite scored two runs and drew a walk in addition to the the big home run. Garver was 3-4 with a run scored and a double. Matt Hague was 2-4 with a double and a run scored and Tommy Field also had two hits including a double, in three at-bats. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Jackson 3, Chattanooga 0 Box Score In a theme that will continue throughout this report, there wasn’t much that happened on the offensive side of the game for the Lookouts in this one. Edgar Corcino (3-4, 2B), Jonathan Rodriguez (2-4, 2B), and T.J. White (2-4) accounted for six of the team's eight hits. The offense was just 1-9 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base. Felix Jorge made the start for Chattanooga and was very good for most of the game. He ran into his biggest trouble in the eighth after a couple of singles, a sac bunt, and a sac fly made the score 2-0 Generals. The third run (unearned) came with runners on the corners after a throwing error and walk that caused him to be removed. The runner he was responsible for scored during a run-down on a steal attempt that also ended the inning. In 7.2 innings Jorge scattered ten hits and a walk while striking out three. Nick Anderson finished the final 1.1 innings, allowing one hit and striking out one. In his last 10 games, Anderson has allowed just one run on four hits in 11.1 innings, with 13 K’s. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 0, Palm Beach 6 Box Score The Miracle managed just four hits and didn’t have a single plate appearance with a runner in scoring position for the entire game. Brandon Lopez was 2-4 on the day and that’s all you really need to know on the offensive side. Brady Anderson was on the hill for Fort Myers and went the first 6+ innings. At the end of the sixth he had given up just two runs on five hits in the contest. He walked the first hitter of the seventh and gave up a single to the second before he was removed to account for his four runs allowed. He struck out one. Keaton Steele came on and proceeded to give up four consecutive singles before he got a double-play ball for the first two outs. By that time four runners had scored to make it the final tally of 6-0 Cardinals. Steele added a scoreless eighth to finish the game, having allowed two runs on five hits and two walks, with one K. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 3, Wisconsin 1 Box Score Cedar Rapids took an early 1-0 lead after an RBI single from Hank Morrison in the top of the first. He scored Christian Caveness who had doubled to lead off the game. From there it was all about the pitching on both sides as the game remained 1-0 until the seventh inning. 2017 eighth-round draft pick Bryan Sammons was making his first start since joining the Kernels early in August. The lefty was fantastic for the game's first five innings, picking up his first Midwest League win in the process. He allowed just three hits and walked one, while racking up eight K’s on just 65 pitches (46 for strikes). Evan Sanders came in for the sixth inning and kept the Timber Rattlers scoreless for the next 2.1 frames. He allowed two hits and struck out three. The Kernels added two insurance runs in the top of the seventh on a Trey Cabbage home run, his second of the year with in the Midwest League. Cabbage was also the only hitter in the lineup with two hits, as he finished 2-3. With the score 3-0 in the bottom of the eighth and after Sanders had struck out the leadoff man, in came Max Cordy from the bullpen. He got a ground out but then three consecutive leadoff singles scored one and put the tying run on base. Hector Lujan came on and snuffed out the threat with ground out to keep the Kernels in front 3-1. Lujan added a scoreless ninth to pick up his twelfth save. He gave up one hit and struck out one. E-TWINS E-NOTES Game 1: Elizabethton 5, Bluefield 7 (7 innings) Box Score In game one of their doubleheader, the Twins weren’t able to recover from an early Bluefield outburst and fell 7-5. Starter Melvi Acosta was charged with all seven runs in the first two innings. Two were unearned due to a throwing error in the first from Andrew Bechtold, but Acosta also threw three wild pitches to aid the Blue Jays. He gave up seven hits and three walks total, and did not strike out any in 2.0 innings. Juan Gamez came in for the third inning and stabilized it from there. He threw 3.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit and three walks. He struck out one. Jared Finkel finished the game for the Twins with two strikeouts. Elizabethton scored two runs in the fourth inning on a wild pitch and a sac fly, then one in the fifth thanks to an RBI single from Jose Miranda. They added two more in the sixth with a RBI single from Mark Contreras and an RBI double from Akil Baddoo to account for all their scoring. Miranda (2-4, R, RBI), Kolton Kendrick (2-4, R), and Rainis Silva (2-2, R, RBI) each had two hits. Game 2: Elizabethton 12, Bluefield 3 Box Score In the makeup game from their postponement yesterday, the Elizabethton offense came alive to pound Bluefield into submission. Starter Nick Brown went the first six innings, and after two it was 2-0 Blue Jays. On the night he surrendered only three runs on five hits and three walks. He struck out seven. The Twins offense scored multiple runs in each of the third, fourth and fifth innings that put them well out front after five. Rainis Silva drove in two with a single which was followed by a Matt Albanese double for two more in a five-run third. Silva added an RBI double and scored again on a single from J.J. Robinson in a two-run fourth. They added four more in the fifth and another run in the sixth for their final tally of 12 runs. The offense as a whole made up for the lack of offense elsewhere in the system, as they outhit the Blue Jays 19-5 and were 9-21 with runners in scoring position. Seven hitters in the lineup had at least two hits led by Albanese who was 4-4 with two runs scored, two doubles, and two RBI. Silva drove in three, and Akil Baddoo scored three runs out of the leadoff spot with a 1-4 night including a walk. Reliever Jovani Moran finished off Bluefield with a one-two-three seventh, punctuating the blowout with a strikeout. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Orioles 8, GCL Twins 1 Box Score The Twins weren’t able to get much going on Tuesday afternoon as they managed just seven singles as a team and struck out twelve times. Overall they were 1-12 with runners in scoring position and left twelve men on base. The lone RBI came off the bat of Jean Carlos Arias in the bottom of the ninth inning to score Dane Hutcheon who had singled earlier. Ricky De La Torre went 2-5 on the game and Royce Lewis was 1-3 with a walk. Former major leaguer reliever Michael Kohn continued to work his way into game action after signing a minor league contract with the Twins on July 19th. He pitched a scoreless first inning and struck out two. Tyler Wells came on from there and went the next 3.2 innings. He allowed two runs on three hits and three walks while striking out five. He was replaced with two outs in the fifth after his second walk of the inning. David Gerics went two innings and allowed four runs on three hits and a walk. He struck out two. Petru Balan was the final pitcher of the day for the Twins, and gave up two runs on six hits and two walks in 2.1 innings to finish the game. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Bryan Sammons, Cedar Rapids Kernels (W, 5.0 IP, 3 H’s, BB, 8 K’s) Hitter(s) of the Day – Matt Albanese, Elizabethton Twins (4-4, 2 R’s, 2 2B’s, 2 RBI) WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Columbus @ Rochester (12:35PM CST) – LHP Hector Santiago (1-1, 3.55 ERA) Fort Myers @ Palm Beach (5:30PM CST) – LHP Lewis Thorpe (3-4, 2.79 ERA) Greenville @ Elizabethton (6:00PM CST) – TBD GCL Twins @ GCL Orioles (11:00AM CST) – TBD Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Tuesday’s games! Click here to view the article

The Twins are playing the Yankees. Not just Aaron Judge, but the whole Yankees team. However, this is the minor league report, and there were seven games that started in the Twins system on Monday. They had a couple of big-time starting pitcher performances. Matt Hague and Matt Albanese were very productive, each driving in five runs for their squads. Could the Kernels use their offensive output from Sunday as a catalyst for Monday? Did Michael Tonkin keep his scoreless streak going? There were three morning/early afternoon games, and a doubleheader. It was busy, so let’s get to the report.Find out everything and more that happened happened in the Twins system on Monday. Let's start with Sean Poppen being named the Florida State League Pitcher of the Week. RED WINGS REPORT Game 1 - Rochester 5, Charlotte 4 Box Score The Red Wings used a big inning and held on for a one-run win in the first of two games on Monday. The Red Wings got RBI singles from JB Shuck and Tommy Field in the third inning. Then with the bases loaded, Matt Hague emptied them with his 16th double of the season. David Hurlbut improved to 7-5 on the season. He went five innings and gave up three runs on four hits. He walked one and struck out three. In the sixth inning, he gave up a double and a single before being replaced by Jake Reed. Reed walked the next two batters, the second pushing in a run. However, Reed got a ground ball double play that cut the Red Wings lead to one, but he got two big outs. He got the third out before the tying run scored. Michael Tonkin came in for the seventh inning. He picked up his fourth save thanks to two strikeouts in a perfect inning. The score remained 1-0 Red Wings until Matt Hague singled in two runs in the sixth inning. But that was more than enough for Aaron Slegers. The right-hander went all seven innings to complete the shutout. He gave up four hits, walked one and struck out five. He improved to 10-4 while dropping his ERA to 3.50. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 6, Jacksonville 9 Box Score The Lookouts jumped out to a 6-0 lead after just two innings in this morning game. Felix Jorge was on the mound. Through the first four innings, he’d given up just one run. However, the fifth inning was his and the Lookouts’ downfall in this loss. Jorge got one out in the fifth, but he was charged with six runs on nine hits in 4.1 innings. He walked two and struck out four. Randy LeBlanc came on and allowed one inherited runner to score. He went 1.2 innings and gave up three runs on four hits. He walked one and struck one out. Randy Rosario tossed a scoreless inning, and Luke Bard threw two scoreless innings. Andy Wilkens provided much of the punch for the Lookouts offense. The veteran went 2-3 with a walk and his fourth home run. It was a grand slam and gave the team their 6-0 lead. LaMonte Wade went 2-4 with a walk and his 16th double. Jonathan Rodriguez went 1-3 with a walk. Travis Harrison walked twice. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 3, St. Lucie 7 Box Score It was a get-away morning game for the Miracle. It was also a bullpen game for the pitching staff. Keaton Steele started and threw three shutout innings. He gave up one hit, walked one and struck out three. Williams Ramirez got the next two innings. He gave up just one hit. Michael Theofanopoulos came in for the sixth. He got two outs and was charged with four runs on three hits. He walked two and struck out one. He gave up back-to-back homers in the inning. Andrew Vasquez came on and got the next four outs, striking out one. David Fischer came in and gave up three runs on four hits and three walks over the final two innings. The Miracle pushed across three runs in the game. They had seven hits, but they came from just three players. Jermaine Palacios stayed hot. He went 4-5 and is now hitting .341 through 21 games with the Miracle. Nelson Molina went 2-5 and stole his third base. Zander Wiel went 1-2 with two walks and his 21st double. He also stole his seventh base. In case you were wondering, Tim Tebow started in centerfield. He went 3-5 with a double. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 1, South Bend 2 Box Score After scoring just two total runs over their previous five games, the Kernels busted out for eight runs in South Bend on Monday. On Tuesday afternoon, the Kernels offense was unable to put together sustained rallies and fell by a score of 2-1. Eduardo Del Rosario was on the mound. The right-hander went the first six innings. He gave up two runs on five hits and two walks. He struck out five. Ryan Mason and Hector Lujan each threw a scoreless inning. Aaron Whitefield led the offense. He went 2-3 with a walk and his 13th double. He also stole his 21st base. He scored the lone Kernels’ run on a sacrifice fly from Lewin Diaz. Hank Morrison went 2-4. The Kernels had runners on second and third with one out in the ninth inning, but they were unable to cash in a run to tie it. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 13, Greeneville 0 Box Score If you just looked at the final score, you would assume that this was a blowout. You’d be right. However, through seven innings, there was no score. However, they started pounding the ball late. They scored five runs in the eighth inning, powered by the first professional home run for Matt Albanese, a three-run shot. Jose Miranda added his fifth homer during that inning. That was just the start. In the ninth inning, the E-Twins scored eight times. Andrew Bechtold added his second homer. Albanese went 2-5 and drove in five runs. Bechtold was 3-5. So was outfielder Shane Carrier. Wander Javier went 2-4 with a walk. Jose Miranda also had two hits. Colton Waltner added two doubles in the game. Huascar Ynoa started for Elizabethton. He went the first innings and gave up just one hit. He walked two and struck out six. He left a 0-0 game. Jose Martinez came on and worked three scoreless innings. He gave up two hits, walked none and struck out two to gain the win. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 0, GCL Rays 0 (Suspended in 1st inning) Box Score Game was suspended after just two batters. Brusdar Graterol got one out and gave up one hit before the game was delayed and subsequently suspended by lightning. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Aaron Slegers, Rochester Red Wings Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Matt Hague, Rochester Red Wings TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Charlotte @ Rochester (10:05 CST) - RHP Tim Melville Chattanooga - No Game Scheduled Ft. Myers @ Bradenton (5:30 CST) - LHP Lewis Thorpe Cedar Rapids - No Game Scheduled Bristole @ Elizabethton (6:00 CST) - RHP Moises Gomez GCL Twins @ GCL Rays (DH @ 11:00am CST) - Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Monday’s games. Click here to view the article

How many hits for Zack Granite on Friday? Lefties Stephen Gonsalves and Lewis Thorpe made starts. How did they do? Elizabethton finally started their 2017 season with a doubleheader, which included a walkoff winner! And lots of players made their debuts with new teams. Please continue reading for much, much more from a busy night in the Twins system. It’s been a busy couple of weeks for the Twins. There was the draft, and trying to get as many of them signed as quickly as possible. There was getting players to Ft. Myers. There was figuring out the short-season rosters. There was figuring out which players were getting promotions to or from full-season squads, and there were a few releases. And the big league club needed more arms too. So, things have been pretty hectic. But Friday was the first day with five affiliates playing, and next Monday, the GCL Twins will make it six. Of course, the Dominican Summer League Twins have been playing for a couple of weeks already too.Find out everything and more that happened happened in the Twins system on Friday, starting with the transactions of the day. TRANSACTIONS Fair to say that it’s been a busy 24 hours for the Twins minor league department. Along with the transactions at the big leagues, which trickled down, there were also the second-half promotions from the lower levels. Some of these were mentioned yesterday, but we’ll repeat several of them here just in case you missed any of them. Nik Turley was optioned to Rochester. Ehire Adrianza was placed on the disabled list.Alex Wimmers and Mason Melotakis were DFAd.Trevor Hildenberger and Dillon Gee were promoted to the Twins.John Curtiss and Matt Tracy moved up to Rochester from Chattanooga.Jose Gonzalez was placed on Chattanooga’s disabled list.Rafael Valera, Trey Vavra and Daniel Kihle were released by the Twins from the Miracle roster.Dereck Rodriguez, Alex Perez and Brian Navarreto were promoted to Chattanooga from Ft. Myers.Keaton Steele was promoted to Ft. Myers from extended spring training.Jermaine Palacios, Jaylin Davis, Mitchell Kranson and Brandon Lopez were promoted to Ft. Myers from Cedar Rapids.Amaurys Minier, Jorge Munoz, Joe Cronin and Lean Marrero were promoted to Cedar Rapids from extended spring training.On Wednesday, the Elizabethton Twins Opening Day roster was announced. On Thursday, four more players were added, and on Friday, 11 more players were added. Click here to see the full Elizabethton Twins roster.A few more injury-related notes on players who have been in extended spring training..Callan Pearce tells me that he’s remaining in Ft. Myers rehabbing a shoulder injury.Johan Quezada had a surgery to clean up his shoulder and will likely miss much of the short-season rehabbing.Catcher Brian Olson has a broken bone in his foot.Right-hander Miguel DeJesus has a UCL sprain.RED WINGS REPORTRochester 3, Lehigh Valley 4 Box Score We have to start with Zack Granite, right? The outfielder went 3-5 in this game and is now hitting .359. Tommy Field was 2-4 with his 18th double. He also stole his fourth base. Matt Tracy got the start for the Red Wings. He gave up four runs on seven hits in 4.2 innings. He walked two and struck out seven. John Curtiss came in for his AAA debut. He got the final out in the fifth inning, and then he worked two perfect innings. Seven batters faced. Seven outs, three on strikeouts. Jake Reed came on and got all six batters he faced out as well. By the way, here is a glimpse of why so many are intrigued by the defense of Engelb Vielma. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 6, Pensacola 1 Box Score The Lookouts were supposed to begin the second half of their season on Thursday, but rain pushed the game to Friday. Stephen Gonsalves was on the mound for the Lookouts and was terrific. The left-hander gave up just one run on three hits over seven innings. He walked just one and struck out nine in his 101 pitches thrown. He improved to 3-3 and dropped his ERA to 2.85. Following the game, Gonsalves got specific when asked what worked for him in the game. “Tonight was little bit of everything. We had fastballs a majority of time getting ahead, had two 0-0 sliders, two 0-0 curveballs that worked nicely to keep them guessing because this was an ambush team, so kept them from swinging at first pitch. Anytime I fell behind tonight (1-0, 2-1), I threw my change up which was either swing and miss or soft ground ball. Struck out seven of nine with the curveball tonight, so it's been very good in 0-2, 1-2. Other than that, my slider has been turning into a backdoor pitch to righties to get back into counts. But tonight was all about getting ahead and staying aggressive in with fastball and soft away.” Nick Anderson gave up two hits, but he struck out two batters in a scoreless eighth frame. Alex Muren gave up a hit, but no runs to close it out in the ninth. Levi Michael may have struck out three times in this game, but the one time he didn’t, he launched a three-run homer. It was the big hit for the Lookouts on this night. Jonathan Rodriguez went 2-4 with his 11th double. Edgar Corcino was 2-4 with his 13th double. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 2, Florida 1 Box Score The Miracle trotted out a much-altered lineup on Friday night, but it was able to do enough to secure a win. It was a Miracle veteran who led the offense. Max Murphy went 3-4. Jaylin Davis went 1-4 with three strikeouts, but his one hit was a big, RBI double. He batted cleanup and played left field. Jermaine Palacios batted second and went 0-3. Mitchell Kranson was 0-4 batting in the three-spot. Brandon Lopez played third base - a position he had played for just the first time a night earlier for Cedar Rapids. Lewis Thorpe has pitched well since his return, but on Friday night, he earned his first win of the season. He finished five innings and gave up just one run on three hits. He walked two and struck out two. He needed just 60 pitches. Tom Hackimer and Sam Clay each threw two scoreless innings and struck out two. For Clay, it marked his fourth save of the season. After the game, Thorpe said, "I think the best thing for me tonight was command of all four pitches. The Fire Frogs were a very aggressive team which kept my pitch count down. Innings limit is what's stopping me from going deeper into games." KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 6, Quad Cities 7 Box Score The Kernels put together a big rally in the ninth inning but fell just short and lost for the first time in the second half (1-1). Sean Poppen started. The All-Star gave up six runs (five earned) on eight hits over six innings. He struck out five and walked none. Logan Lombana struck out one in a perfect innings. Evan Sanders came on for the eighth and gave up one run on one hit, one walk, and one hit batter. He struck out two. The Kernels also had most of their new hitters in the lineup, but it was the guys who have been there who provided most of the offense. Aaron Whitefield went 3-5 with his 10th double. Hank Morrison went 2-4. Travis Blankenhorn walked three times. Caleb Hamilton hit his sixth homer, a three-run shot in the ninth inning. Amaurys Minier DHd and batted sixth. He went 0-3 with a walk. Lean Marrero batted eighth and played right field. He went 0-3 with a walk. Joe Cronin batted ninth and played second base. He went 1-4. E-TWINS E-NOTES The Elizabethton Twins were scheduled to begin their season on Thursday. But tropical storms caused that game to be postponed. Instead, the teams started their season with two games on Friday night. It was a big night for many of the players, but particularly for Matt Albanese. Drafted in the eighth round of the 2016 draft, he missed the season after having a couple of wrist surgeries. He was hurt again in spring training, so a year after being drafted, he finally made his debut. Albanese said, “It was awesome to get in a real competitive atmosphere and play with a good group of guys and get a win. After missing a little over a year I was anxious and ready to go.” Game 1 - Elizabethton 7, Danville 6 Box Score It’s not how you start. It’s how you finish. Or at least that’s likely what E-Twins long-time manager (and former Twins catcher) Ray Smith told his team in between games. Down 5-0 after just two innings, things looked bleak, but the Twins kept coming back and scored two runs in the bottom of the 7th for a walk-off win. Edwar Colina made his States-side debut. He gave up six runs (four earned) on six hits and three walks in 4.1 innings. He struck out four. He was replaced by lefty Taylor Clemensia who was fantastic. He faced eight batters, and got each one of them out to earn the win out of the bullpen. Jose Miranda and Matt Albanese provided some base runners. Miranda was 1-1 but walked twice and was hit twice. Albanese singled three times in his professional debut. But it was Kolton Kendrick who provided the power. In the fourth inning, he hit a two-run double to get the team on the scoreboard. Two innings later, he again came up to the plate with two runners on base, and this time he launched a three-run homer. Kendrick told Twins Daily, "Felt unreal. Feels so great to finally play under the lights again and love the adrenaline. And to be up here with this team is even better. Definitely missed this feeling. Great having a crowd again and hearing them and the atmosphere is awesome with the background of the field." Still, the Twins were down 6-5 heading into the bottom of the 7th inning. With one out, Trey Cabbage singled and Brent Rooker followed with his first professional hit. Shane Carrier hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game, and Matt Albanese ended it with a single. Albanese told Twins Daily, “I just wanted to have a good at bat and get a pitch I could hit hard. It felt great to get the job done for my team and win the home opener.” Albanese went 3-4 with the game-winner. Kendrick was 2-2 with a walk, a double, a homer and five RBI. Game 2 - Elizabethton 0. Danville 2 Box Score Huascar Ynoa started the second game for the Twins. He gave up two runs in the first inning before settling in. He gave up just those two runs on five hits and a walk over five innings. He struck out seven. Bryan Sammons came on for the sixth inning, but after recording two outs, one on a strikeout, the game was called due to rain. It was far enough along to call a complete game. Not much offense for the Twins in game 2. They went with the same lineup, except Rainis Silva caught game 2 with Robert Molina getting game 1. Matt Albanese added his first double. The only other hit was from Silva. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Stephen Gonsalves, Chattanooga Lookouts Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Kolton Kendrick, Elizabethton Twins THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Lehigh Valley @ Rochester (6:05 CST) - RHP Chris Heston Pensacola @ Chattanooga (6:15 CST) - RHP Felix Jorge Ft. Myers @ Florida (6:05) - RHP Brady Anderson Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (6:35 CST) - LHP Domenick Carlini Danville @ Elizabethton (6:00 CST) - RHP Moises Gomez Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Friday’s games. Click here to view the article

Saturday night we had a walk-off single, a walk-off double and a walk-off hit batsman. Wait, what? Brent Rooker also hit his first professional home run in what was a big day for the bats in Elizabethton. Find out what else happened around the Twins' minor leagues on Saturday.RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 5, Lehigh Valley 4 Box Score Leonardo Reginatto delivered a walk-off single that scored Tommy Field to put a positive end on a long night. This game started about an hour late due to rain and lasted nearly three and a half hours. Maybe Pat Venditte was up past his bedtime. The IronPigs’ ambidextrous pitcher gave up a single to Matt Hague, walked Field, walked Niko Goodrum and walked in the tying run with a free pass to John Ryan Murphy. Lehigh Valley brought in a fifth infielder, but Reginatto sent a line drive to center to end it. Zack Granite did not have a multi-hit game. You know you're rolling when that’s newsworthy. He did, however, go 1-for-4 and drew a walk. Reginatto had three hits and drove in two runs. Matt Hague was 2-for-3 and drew a pair of walks. Mitch Garver was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk. Field and Goodrum also had two hits. Rochester could’ve made this easier on themselves, but they left 15 men on base. All’s well that ends well, I suppose. Chris Heston got the start and struggled, giving up four runs on nine hits and three walks over 4.1 innings. The bullpen trio of D.J. Baxendale (1.2 IP), Phil Hughes (1 IP) and Ryan Pressly (2 IP) combined for 4.2 shutout innings. Pressly had three strikeouts. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 3, Pensacola 2 Box Score There are a lot of ways you can win a baseball game, but a walk-off hit-by-pitch with the bases loaded has to be one of the weirder ones. Chattanooga was held in check all game, entering the ninth trailing 2-0, but a big rally capped off by a Levi Michael HBP gave them the W. Edgar Corcino led off the ninth with a walk, followed by singles from LaMonte Wade, Jonathan Rodriguez and Andy Wilkins. T.J. White was intentionally walked and Michael took one for the team to win it. Felix Jorge went 7.2 innings and struck out seven batters while walking zero. He gave up a season-high 11 hits, but just the two runs. Randy Rosario threw 1.1 scoreless innings. MIRACLE MATTERS Florida 4, Fort Myers 3 Box Score The Miracle pulled within a run of the Fire Frogs on three separate occasions, but their comeback attempt was stymied by a bullpen that combined to throw four shutout innings of two-hit ball, striking out six batters with no walks. Brady Anderson gave up four runs over 5.2 innings. He walked four and gave up six hits, three of them home runs. Michael Theofanopoulos pitched the final 2.1 innings, holding the Fire Frogs scoreless white tallying four strikeouts. The Miracle had only four hits, with Jermaine Palacios going 2-for-4 with a stolen base and a run scored. Max Murphy and Kevin Garcia had the only other hits, and all four were singles. KERNELS NUGGETS Quad Cities 3, Cedar Rapids 2 Box Score The Kernels got out to a 2-0 lead thanks to Amaurys Minier. Playing in just his second game with Cedar Rapids, the Dominican hit a solo homer in the second inning and an RBI double in the fourth. Domenick Carlini got off to a good start, but gave up a two-run homer in the fourth inning and a solo shot in the fifth. That was all the offense the River Bandits needed. Carlini gave up three runs on five hits over five innings and he had five strikeouts. Ryan Mason struck out three batters over two scoreless innings and Alex Robinson had two K's in his inning of work. Lewin Diaz, who was DHing with Minier playing first, hit his 22nd double of the season. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 8, Danville 7 Box Score What a day Matt Albanese had. Hitting a two-run double to give his team the walk-off win is impressive enough, but the Twins’ seventh-round pick from 2016 was 3-for-3 with two walks and swiped home on a double steal in the eighth inning. Perhaps you heard during the draft coverage that Brent Rooker can hit a little. Well, the Twins’ 35th overall pick, Rooker was 4-for-5 with his first professional home run, a double, a couple RBI and a walk. He played left field. Trey Cabbage hit a homer and scored three runs. All the offense was needed, as Moises Gomez was shelled. He gave up six runs (five earned) over 1.2 innings. Out of the bullpen, Carlos Suniaga (3.1 shutout innings, four K's) Blair Lasko (one run over three innings) and Calvin Faucher (struck out the side in the ninth) were able to keep the Twins in position to come back. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Felix Jorge, ‘Nooga (7.2 IP, 2 ER, 7 K) Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: Matt Albanese, E-Town (walk-off hit, 3-for-3, 2 doubles, 2 BB, 2 RBI, 2 R, SB) SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester vs. Lehigh Valley, 12:35 pm CT (Tim Melville, 2.79 ERA) Chattanooga vs. Pensacola, 3:15 pm CT (Dereck Rodriguez, 18.00 ERA) Chattanooga vs. Pesnacola, Game 2 (Fernando Romero, 3.27 ERA) Fort Myers at Florida, 4:05 pm CT (Anthony McIver, 2.27 ERA) Cedar Rapids at Quad Cities, 5:15 pm CT (Clark Beeker, 2.99 ERA) Elizabethton vs. Pulaski, 5:00 pm CT (Melvi Acosta) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Saturday's games. Click here to view the article

Matt Albanese’s college career came to a premature end when he fractured his wrist. But the Twins scouts saw enough in him to make him their seventh-round pick in 2016. After signing at Target Field, he went to Ft. Myers to begin the rehab process. Soon after, it was found that he had a ligament tear. Albanese is a terrific athlete with speed and potential to hit with a lot of power. He is already in Ft. Myers continuing to rehab but adding in more and more baseball activities as he looks forward to his professional debut in 2017. In the meantime, he has enjoyed working with kids in the community. The photo was taken last weekend at one such event. They are frequent, free events that the Twins minor leaguers run. Albanese said “Every Saturday, the guys that are around load up in vans and go to two neighborhoods and host a 2 hour workout, sign balls and take pictures. It's a lot of fun to give back and teach younger kids about the game.”Let’s get to know a little more about Matt Albanese. Seth Stohs (SS): Growing up in Connecticut, which was your favorite team and who were some of your favorite players? Matt Albanese (MA): In Connecticut, you are either a Yankees fan or a Red Sox Fan. I grew up a huge Yankees fan and went to a lot of games with my dad and cousins. My greatest memory was Josh Hamilton’s crazy first round performance in the 2008 home run derby at the old stadium. SS: What were some of your best memories from high school baseball? Did you play other sports? Participate in other activities? MA: I went to Xavier High School, an all-boys Catholic school in Middletown, CT. When I tell people about my high school, they are usually expecting me to respond in negative way and tell them how strict it was and how brutal it was without any girls around. I feel the exact opposite about my high school experience. It was awesome on the field and also in the classroom. My senior year we had an incredible team and only lost one game in the regular season. We were looking to make some noise in the state tournament, but we were upset (in) game one. Although that season didn’t end the way we wanted it, I’ll remember those guys and that year forever. I played basketball up until my junior year, also participated in MYARC, a program where you spend time with and have a little dance party with individuals with special needs once a week. I had a cousin in the program, and it was great to spend time with her. SS: What were your options coming out of high school? What was it about Bryant University that made it the right place for you? MA: I was getting looks from all the major northeast schools (Bryant, UCONN, Northeastern), but I wasn't getting the looks I dreamed about as a kid (Vandy, Virginia, etc.) I knew deep down that I had a lot of potential that hadn't been tapped yet. It finally came down to UCONN or Bryant and although, at the time, UCONN’s facilities and baseball program were a little bit ahead of Bryant’s, I had a lot of promise in Bryant’s baseball program’s future. I’d say the greatest deciding factor was the impression Coach Owens (head coach) left on me. I knew that if I went to Bryant, I’d have a leader with incomparable passion, knowledge and he's just a flat-out winner. At Bryant, I was given the opportunity to play right away, and I made some mistakes, but I rarely made them again. I came in my freshman year weighing 185 pounds and started my freshman season at 205, a weight I still maintain. At Bryant, there is a huge commitment to strength and conditioning that helped a lot. SS: Did you talk to a lot of scouts before the draft? Specifically, did you talk to any of the Twins scouts? MA: I was speaking with scouts from every team before the draft. The Twins scout (John) was was not one of the guys that, in my opinion, was forwardly expressing a lot of interest. He'd send me a text here or there, but I had some teams calling me every other day. It was a little bit of a surprise, but definitely a great one. SS: How frustrating was it to get hurt during the season, especially knowing the draft was coming? MA: Throughout college, I had a number of injuries, all of which were out of my control. For example, my sophomore year I missed half the season recovering from an appendectomy. Obviously, getting hurt is frustrating, but if you get hurt on a hustle play, like diving and breaking your wrist, you have to realize it’s part of the game. If I were to have half-heartedly stretched and pulled a hammy or something, then yes, I would have been frustrated and disappointed, but getting hurt making a play for your team doesn't sting as bad. SS: Drafted by the Twins in the seventh round... is that about where you thought you might be selected before the draft? MA: I had a good idea where I deserved to go and the seventh was near my prediction. SS: Did you watch or listen to the draft? Where were you and who were you with when you found out? How busy was your phone at that time? MA: My family and I were at my house in Connecticut. We had the TV outside streaming the second day of the draft. A few of my close friends were there, as well as my uncle, girlfriend, parents and grandparents. Everyone tells you it’s going to be a nerve-wracking day, but you have to realize that there is nothing you can do on that day to change its outcome. I did my best to remember that but still was pretty anxious. After I was selected my phone flooded with calls and texts of congratulations. It was beyond exciting. SS: What was your schedule after signing? When were you able to resume baseball activities? MA: I flew to Minnesota to sign my contract and to have a physical done by the team doctor, then flew down to Ft Myers to continue my wrist rehab. I began resuming baseball later that fall. SS: In these early stages of your career, what would you say are your biggest strengths as a player? MA: I pride myself on being quick to make adjustments and being a good listener. There are a lot of differences between high school and college ball, and I expect there to be some more differences between college and pro ball. If I'm able to listen to guys that have been successful before me and make some adjustments as needed, I know I’ll be able to continue my success, and help whatever team I’m on win. SS: What are you most looking forward to in getting back on the field as a professional player? MA: I look forward to being part of a team again. The rehab can be a drag and get kind of boring and lonely. I want to go out and compete again with a group of guys with a common goal. SS: What do you enjoy doing away from the game of baseball? MA: I enjoy fishing with my dad and my friends. We’ll go deep-sea fishing whenever we can all get together. I also enjoy traveling and experiencing new places I’ve never been before. SS:Do you have any specific personal goals for 2017? MA: In 2017, I am going to grow as a person as well as a ball player. I will have quality at-bats, learn from any mistakes I make and be as good a teammate as possible. SS: Who are some of the coaches and others who have helped you get to this point in your career? MA: My dad, he introduced me to the game, was my first coach and, along with my mom, has supported me in everything that I do. I played for a travel team growing up and had a lot of great experiences with different coaches. Coach Shane would throw me extra BP for hours, and Coach Martin made me wear my helmet in I/O because I forgot my hat. I never forgot my hat again. In college, Coach Gedman, taught me to step out of your comfort zone and try some new things if you want to improve. Coach Owens helped me realize the importance of doing the little things right because they all add up. Coach Kyle, who is as much my friend as he is my coach, helped me learn how to fine-tune my swing when I wasn't getting the results. And Coach Ryan, always kept the dugout loose, taught me how to play relaxed and confident. SS: Favorite baseball movie? MA: Sandlot Thank you very much to Matt Albanese for taking time out of his schedule to answer our questions. If you have any comments or questions, feel free to leave them in the comments below. Click here to view the article