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There was not much offense through the Minnesota Twins' farm system, with the usual exception of the Cedar Rapids Kernels. There was some very good pitching. There was the return of Nick Blackburn to an active roster as he made the start for the New Britain Rock Cats. Alex Wimmers returned to a mound for the first time since his Tommy John surgery last August. One constant through the 2013 season has been the pitching of Andrew Albers, and he was on the mound again for the Rochester Red Wings.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] On Sunday, be sure to watch Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano represent the Twins at the Futures Game. Here is a look at what happened in the Twins farm system on Saturday: Rochester 5, Pawtucket 1 Box Score Andrew Albers was back on the mound for the Red Wings and was terrific yet again. The Canadian southpaw went six innings to improve to 9-4. He gave up only an unearned run on five hits and a walk. He also struck out ten. Shairon Martis recorded his sixth save, of the three-inning variety. He gave up no runs on two hits and two walks. He struck out three. Eight Red Wings had one hit in this game. Five of them went for extra bases. Ray Olmedo hit his second home run, as did Chris Herrmann. Chris Colabello hit his 23rd double. Doug Bernier hit his 15th double. Jeff Clement hit his 13th double. New Britain 1, Trenton 5 Box Score After a few rehab starts with the GCL Twins, Nick Blackburn was sent to New Britain where he made the start on Saturday evening. He gave up five runs on seven hits and two walks in 4.2 innings. He struck out two. Bruce Pugh was terrific, not allowing a base runner in 2.1 innings. Edgar Ibarra and BJ Hermsen each threw a scoreless inning in relief. Angel Morales hit his second home run with the Rock Cats. He was 2-3 in the game. Eddie Rosario hit his seventh double. Ft. Myers 1, Lakeland 4 Box Score Matt Summers gets the loss in this game, though he did pitch quite well. He went 7.2 innings and gave up two runs (1 earned). He gave up seven hits, walked none and struck out three. Corey Williams got the final four outs, one on a strikeout. He gave up two runs on one hit and four walks. Mike Kvasnicka went 2-4. Evan Bigley hit a double. Cedar Rapids 6, Bowling Green 3 Box Score Adam Walker remains hot with the bat. He went 2-4 with his 19th double and his 16th home run. Tyler Grimes went 2-4, including an inside-the-park home run. It was his sixth homer of the season. Jeremias Pineda went 3-4 with his second double. Jorge Polanco went 2-4. Tim Atherton improved to 5-2 with a 2.45 ERA. The Australian right-hander gave up one run on two hits over six innings. He walked two and struck out four. Steven Gruver then gave up two runs on four hits in his two innings. Tyler Jones recorded his eighth save, striking out two in one inning. Elizabethton 1, Greeneville 2 Box Score It was a very good pitcher’s duel in the Appy League on Saturday night. South African lefty Hein Robb was charged with two runs on five hits in six innings. He walked one and struck out two. Dallas Gallant and Brian Gilbert each pitched a scoreless inning. The E-Twins had just five hits. Dereck Rodriguez is now hitting .322 after going 2-4. Bryan Haar went 2-4 as well. GCL Twins 3, GCL Red Sox 1 Box Score A couple rehab stints took place in this rain-shortened 5.2 inning game on Saturday. Michael Gonzales returned to the field for the first time since breaking the hamate bone his hand. In his first at bat, he homered. Chad Christensen went 1-2 with his first professional home run. Jonatan Hinojosa went 1-3 with a triple. The big story will be that Alex Wimmers returned to a mound in a game for the first time since he underwent Tommy John surgery last August. The 2010 first-round pick went three shutout innings. He gave up just one hit, walked none and struck out two. Chih-Wei Hu went the final 2.2 innings. He gave up one run on two hits and a walk while striking out two. Thanks for checking out today’s Twins minor league report. Please feel free to discuss, comment or ask questions. View full article

A night after the Twins and the Twins' minor league affiliates went 6-0, the organization went 1-4 on the final night in May. The two upper affiliates both played one-run games. On Saturday, the Twins' Dominican Summer League team will open its season. We may have to do a game report or two this weekend. Also coming will be the Twins' minor league hitter, starting pitcher and relief pitcher of the month reports. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] The Twins did make some transactions in the minor leagues. Matt Hauser was promoted to New Britain while Jose Gonzalez was sent back to Ft. Myers. Each pitched for his new team on this night. Check out what happened in the Twins minor league system on Friday: Rochester Red Wings 2, Charlotte Knights 3 Box Score Cole De Vries struggled, but found a way to get through five innings and give up just two runs. He yielded nine hits and intentionally walked a batter. His night ended with a nice 1, 2, 3 fifth frame. Virgil Vasquez came on and threw three shutout innings. However, he gave up a leadoff single to start the bottom of the 9th. After a sacrifice bunt, the next batter was intentionally walked. Michael Tonkin was brought in. He is a ground ball pitcher, so they were hoping for an inning-ending double play. However, as he had done a night earlier in his Red Wings debut, Tonkin gave up a run-scoring single. Tonight, the single he yielded was to Gordon Beckham and it ended the game. The offense was pretty quiet. Doug Bernier went 2-4. Both Red Wings runs came on home runs. Oswaldo Arcia’s fifth home run put them on the scoreboard. With two outs, down by a run in the top of the 9th, Brian Dinkelman pinch hit for Danny Lehmann and hit a game-tying home run. It was his third homer of the season. New Britain Rock Cats 6, Bowie Baysox 7 Box Score Trevor May had one rough inning again. In total, he gave up four runs on eight hits and three walks in five innings, striking out five. The four runs came in the second inning before he settled in. The Rock Cats were able to tie it in the third inning. Chris Pettit had a two-run double. It was followed by a two-run homer by Reynaldo Rodriguez. Edgar Ibarra came on and gave up two runs on three hits in his two innings. After Dan Turpen and Matt Hauser each threw a scoreless inning, the game went to the bottom of the ninth. Nate Hanson crushed a double off of the wall with two outs to tie the game. Cole Johnson came on for the bottom of the ninth. Unfortunately, he gave up the first run he’s allowed in all May, and the Rock Cats dropped the game. Curt Smith went 3-5. Nate Hanson was 2-5 with his second double. Reynaldo Rodriguez went 2-5 with his fifth home run. Ft. Myers Miracle 1, Palm Beach Cardinals 4 Box Score Matt Summers was excellent through five, but the Miracle bats just couldn’t muster enough offense tonight. Summers started the game with five shutout innings. He got two outs in the 6th inning, then gave up a run before being replaced by Jose Gonzalez who got the inning’s final out. Gonzalez then gave up a run in the 7th. Corey Williams pitched the 8th frame and gave up two runs on a hit and two walks. Eddie Rosario was 2-4. He had two of the team’s five hits. Jhon Goncalves hit his sixth double. Following up on yesterday’s story, Miguel Sano was in the starting lineup and was 1-3 with a sacrifice fly. Cedar Rapids Kernels 5, Kane County 2 Box Score The Kernels jumped out to a quick lead with two runs in the first inning. JO Berrios started slow. He gave up a run in the first inning on a hit and an uncharacteristic two walks. However, he settled down nicely. Berrios gave up one run on three hits and two walks in 5.2 innings. He struck out four. He was replaced by Alex Muren who went the next 2.1 innings without allowing a run. He gave up two hits, walked one and struck out one. Tim Atherton got one out in the ninth inning, before giving up one run on two hits and a walk. David Hurlbut came on and got the final two outs for his fifth save. Berrios improved to 4-2. Dalton Hicks wen 3-4 with his 16th double. Michael Quesada went 2-4 with his second double. Adam Walker went 2-4 with his 11th double. Byron Buxton stole his 26th base. Photo by Rinaldi Photos Please feel free to comment or ask questions below. View full article

The trade deadline has come and gone which means just one thing: it’s time to start announcing our Minnesota Twins Minor League Awards. Today, we’ll start with the starting pitchers for July. This month the numbers of the five players ranked are better than they were in June. Consider: Miracle righty Tyler Duffey went 3-0 with a 3.26 ERA and opponents batted just .202 off of him and he isn’t in the top 5. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]Matt Tomshaw made two starts and three long-relief appearances totaling 25 innings. He went 1-0 with a 2.88 ERA and 22 strikeouts. He’s also not quite on this list. Here’s a look at the Top 5 starting pitching performers from July. --- Number 5 – Cedar Rapids – LHP Mason Melotakis – 5 G, 4 GS, 3-1, 2.51 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 28.2 IP, 26 H, 3 BB, 17 K Melotakis was the Twins 2nd round draft pick in 2012 out of Northwestern State University in Louisiana where he was primarily a relief pitcher. He is one of the pitchers who has been given an opportunity to start this year. Overall, he has done well. He is 9-3 with a 3.38 ERA. As important, he has thrown just about 100 innings. After striking out nearly 13 per nine innings between Elizabethton and Beloit’s bullpens a year ago, he has struck out just 6.2 per nine this year as a starter. He throws a fastball between 89 and 91, although earlier in the year, he was frequently touching 94. He had a very good month in June. The one game that he came out of the bullpen was the start that was given to a rehabbing Mike Pelfrey. Melotakis went the final three innings and was credited with the save. He ended the month with a very good 8.1 inning performance. Where will he wind up at the end of the day? We ho in the big leagues, but will it be as a starter or as a reliever? Number 4 – Cedar Rapids – RHP Tim Atherton - 4 GS, 1-1, 1.88 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 24.0 IP, 18 H, 6 BB, 26 K Atherton was inserted into the Kernels starting rotation at the end of June. He made four starts in July and went at least five in all of them. Atherton has a busy delivery which can be deceptive for hitters. He also throws in the low 90s and gets good movement on his pitches. Overall with the Kernels this year, he is 5-3 with a 2.37 ERA in 25 games (20 out of the bullpen). He has 70 strikeouts in 60.2 innings. Long-term, he may be a bullpen guy, but the Australian has the arm strength to eat some innings. Number 3 – Cedar Rapids – LHP Brett Lee - 4 GS, 2-0, 1.57 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 28.2 IP, 22 H, 4 BB, 22 K Lee was the Twins 10th round pick in 2011, out of St. Petersburg College. He pitched for Elizabethton last year and has been with the Kernels all season. Overall, he is 7-4 with a 3.23 ERA in 18 games (16 starts). In 100.1 innings, he has walked just 23 and struck out 78. On July 12th and 19th, he threw back-to-back complete games, giving up one run in each start. Lee has a good three-pitch mix that could keep him as a starter as he moves up the system. He throws a fastball in the low-90s and has the changeup and slider/curveball to go with it. Number 2 – Rochester – LHP Andrew Albers - 6 GS, 4-2, 2.23 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 40.1 IP, 32 H, 8 BB, 36 K Albers was the June winner in this category and he was about as good in July. There is no question that the 27-year-old has been the most consistent starting pitcher in the upper levels of the Twins organization (including the big leagues). Like Lee, Albers has now finished July with back-to-back complete games. He also ends July as the International League leader in strikeouts. Overall, Albers is 11-5 with a 2.86 ERA in 22 starts. Although he doesn’t throw terribly hard, he has 116 strikeouts in 132 innings. One hopes that at some point this year Albers will get an opportunity to make his big league debut with the Twins. And the Twins Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month is: Photo by Linwood Ferguson/Ft. Myers Miracle Ft. Myers – RHP Matt Summers - 5 GS, 2-1, 0.25 ERA, 0.79 WHIP, 35.2 IP, 20 H, 8 BB, 26 K Summers was the Twins 4th round pick in 2011 out of UC-Irvine. In 2012, he started at Beloit but quickly moved up to Ft. Myers. This year, he began with the Miracle, but made three appearances with New Britain late in June before returning to the Miracle. Since that time, he has been amazing. Just to highlight, he gave up just ONE earned run in 35.2 innings this month. He gave up a total of three runs. He began the month with a complete game. His most recent start lasted four shutout innings, though he needed 97 pitches to go that far due to some walks. He is actually a very good control pitcher. Summers throws 92 and has good secondary pitches. Overall with the Miracle this season, he is 4-5 with a 2.49 ERA in 19 starts. In 108.1 innings, he has walked just 30 and struck out 78. He could (or should) move back up to New Britain when there is a need. What do you think? Please feel free to discuss and ask questions. View full article

The weather conditions have wreaked havoc on the baseball schedule for much of this week. Games from the Midwest to the Northeast have been postponed, and the story was the same for Friday night. The Cedar Rapids Kernels were weathered-out for the fourth straight day. New Britain was supposed to play a late-morning game on Friday but it was postponed. Finally, the Rochester Red Wings game in Pawtucket was postponed by rain. Doubleheaders are scheduled, hopefully for days that the weather will allow the games to be played. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] However, the team off to the fastest start in the 2013 season, the Ft. Myers Miracle, was back on the field, looking to improve on their 7-0 record. So how did they do? Well, come on, you’ll have to read a little further to find out. The game started as a bit of a pitcher's duel. Through the first four innings, just one run scored. In the top of the third, catcher Matt Koch singled to score Eddie Rosario with the game’s first run. Charlotte did tie the game in the bottom of the fifth with a two-out double off starter Matt Summers. However, in the top of the sixth, the Miracle loaded the bases. Angel Morales came up and cleared them with a double. He then scored on a Rosario double to make the score 5-1. Matt Summers left the game after five innings. He had given up just the one run on three hits. He had walked three and struck out one. He was relieved by Cole Johnson who was gave up a triple and the runner scored on a sacrifice fly to make it 5-2. However, the Miracle responded right away again with a single run when Andy Lee scored on a Michael Gonzales sacrifice fly. Johnson gave up the one run over his two innings. He gave up three hits, walked none and struck out none. Adrian Salcedo came in for the eighth inning, and like Johnson, he gave up a run in his first frame. He gave up a quick double. The runner advanced on a groundout and then scored on a sacrifice fly to make the score 6-3. Salcedo gave up another run in the ninth to yield the final 6-4 score. Matt Koch went 4-5 on the game. Eddie Rosario was 2-5 with his fifth double. The Miracle improved to 8-0 to start the season, the winningest team in minor league baseball. If they win in Charlotte on Saturday, a 9-0 record would match the 1994 team's record and be tied for the best start in Miracle history. Madison Boer is scheduled to make the start for the Ft. Myers club. Rochester is scheduled to start a doubleheader in Pawtucket on Saturday at 11:00AM, central time. Alex Meyer will take the mound for New Britain to start a game against Portland at 5:35PM, central time. Cedar Rapids is scheduled to play two games in Clinton, starting at 4:00PM, central time. Oh yeah, in case you missed it, the Twins got destroyed by the Mets in the first game of their three-game, inter-league set. View full article

I have returned from Cedar Rapids, havin had a great weekend which will likely be documented here at Twins Daily in a couple stories. I hope also to provide more encouragement for Twins fans to make that trek to east central Iowa. On Sunday afternoon, a Twins affiliate received one of their best starting pitching performances of the season. A new member of the organization also made a very good impression in his third game with his new AAA team. Here’s a look at what happened in the Twins' farm system on Sunday: [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Rochester Red Wings 12, Pawtucket Red Sox 7 Box Score Jermaine Mitchell came to the Red Wings this past week after being let go by the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. On Sunday, he made a pretty strong impression. The outfielder went 3-4 with his sixth home run. He scored three runs and had four RBI. Brian Dinkelman was 2-3 with his ninth double. Doug Bernier was 2-5 with his fourth triple. Antoan Richardson and Chris Herrmann each had two hits. Vance Worley improved to 6-3 with Rochester. He gave up three runs on six hits. He walked three and struck out four in six innings. AJ Achter came on for his AAA debut and gave up four runs on four hits and three walks in 1.1 innings. He struck out one. Cody Eppley replaced him and got the final five outs, three on strikeouts. (Photo by milb.com) New Britain Rock Cats 3, Portland Sea Dogs 4 Box Score Tom Stuifbergen made the start and threw well. He gave up two runs on four hits in six innings. He walked two and struck out four. Bruce Pugh came on and gave up two runs on two hits and two walks in 1.2 innings. Dakota Watts came on and gave up a hit before getting the final out. Josmil Pinto went 2-3. Reynaldo Rodriguez was 2-4. Eddie Rosario hit his sixth Rock Cats double. Ft. Myers Miracle 3, St. Lucie 0 Box Score What a terrific start for righty Matt Summers. In Port St. Lucie, he pitched his best game of the year. He gave up two hits in a complete game shutout. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out seven to drop his ERA with the Miracle to 3.20. Mike Kvasnicka remains hot. He went 2-3 with his fifth double. Levi Michael has been playing well of late; he went 2-5 in this game. Byron Buxton was put in the 3-hole of the lineup for the first time this year and went 1-4. Cedar Rapids Kernels 3, Clinton LumberKings 5 Box Score The Kernels made the trek back to Clinton on Sunday afternoon. Mason Melotakis started and gave up five runs (4 earned) on eight hits and two walks. He didn’t record a single strikeout. Hudson Boyd’s third relief appearance was good. He struck out two over two, one-hit innings. David Hurlbut returned from the disabled list to work a scoreless inning, striking out one. He had been out for about a month with a lat injury. Adam Walker went 2-4 with his 18th double. Tyler Grimes was 2-3 and he was hit by a pitch. Joel Licon (2nd) and Jorge Polanco (22nd) also doubled. Elizabethton Twins, Burlington Royals Game Postponed by Rain. GCL Twins No Games on Sundays. Please feel free to comment or ask questions below. View full article

The Twins played a late game out in Seattle and did not get a very good start. The Twins minor league affiliates all got pretty good starts. Five of the six starters began the game with four scoreless frames. The Twins starters at the top three affiliates each went at least six scoreless innings. Liam Hendriks had a perfect game going through six while Trevor May had given up just one hit through the Rock Cats first six innings. Each gave up runs in the third. Matt Summers has been incredible in July, and he was at his best on Thursday. Check out his July numbers below, and then see how the rest of the minor league affiliates did: [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Rochester 6, Lehigh Valley 3 Box Score Liam Hendriks certainly had people talking for a while with his performance in this game. The Australian right-hander had a perfect game through six innings. However, in the 7th, he gave up three quick runs. In total, he went 7.2 innings and gave up three runs on five hits. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out five. Aaron Thompson came in and got the final four outs to record his sixth Red Wings save. All four outs came on strikeouts. Deibinson Romero led the offense. He was 2-2 with two walks, his eighth double and his seventh home run. Brian Dinkelman went 2-4 with his tenth double. New Britain 1, Reading 3 Box Score Trevor May was terrific on this day. He gave up three runs on four hits and two walks in seven innings. He struck out eight. However, through six innings, he had given up just one hit, one walk and no runs. Dan Turpen came in and worked a perfect inning. Danny Ortiz provided three of the team’s hits, including his 24th double. Reynaldo Rodriguez hit his 23rd double. Nate Hanson, taking over third base duties for the benched Miguel Sano, went 1-2 with two walks and his sixth home run. Ft. Myers 8, Clearwater 3 Box Score Matt Summers has been the story for the Miracle in the month of June. On this night, he was again terrific. He worked seven shutout inning and gave up just five hits and a walk. He struck out seven. After listening to last night’s Twins Minor League Weekly and hearing his July numbers, I had to go look for myself. In four starts this month, he is 2-1 with a 0.28 ERA. In 31.2 innings, he has given up one earned run. He has allowed 17 hits, walked four and struck out 23. Summers was replaced by Manuel Soliman who gave up one hit in his innings. Corey Williams came on for a perfect ninth. Each had one strikeout. The offense was spread out among four players. Utilty man Andy Leer went 3-4 with his ninth double. Byron Buxton was 2-5 with his third home run with the Miracle. Mike Kvasnicka was 2-4 with his sixth double. And Aderlin Mejia’s improbable run at Ft. Myers continues. He went 2-4 with his tenth double and is now hitting .341! Cedar Rapids 3, Peoria 8 Box Score Josue Montanez started and through four innings, he did not allow a run. However, he went seven innings and was charged with five runs on ten hits and a walk. Dallas Gallant came on and gave up two runs on two hits and three walks and recorded just two outs. Alex Muren came on and gave up an unearned run in 1.1 innings. Travis Harrison and Jorge Polanco each went 3-5 in the game. Jeremias Pineda went 2-3 and stole his 11th base. Joel Licon’s sixth double drove in two of the Kernels' runs. Elizabethton 1, Kingsport 3 Box Score Yorman Landa had another decent start, though his control eluded him at times, again. He gave up two runs (1 earned) on four hits. He walked four and struck out five. Austin Malinowski came on and threw two scoreless innings. He gave up two hits and walked a batter. Andrew Ferreira gave up one run on one hit and one walk in one inning. He struck out… one! Zach Granite went 2-4, and Dereck Rodriguez hit his third home run of the season. GCL Twins 4, GCL Orioles 1 Box Score Chih-Wei Hu started and threw four shutout innings. He gave up three hits, walked one and struck out six. Jared Wilson came on and threw two scoreless innings. He walked one and struck out one. Reyson Zoquiel gave up an unearned run on two hits in his inning. Josh Guyer struck out two in a scoreless inning. Derrick Penilla struck out two in his perfect inning to record the save. Alex Swim went 2-3 with a walk as the GCL Twins managed just six hits in the game. Thanks for checking out today’s Twins minor league report. Please feel free to discuss, comment or ask questions. View full article