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There was a near complete game shutout, a prospect made his triumphant return after a two-year absence and a hitter slugged his very first home run in 264 professional games. Find out what else happened around the Twins' minor leagues on Friday.RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 2, Scranton/Wilkes Barre 1 Box Score Aaron Slegers spun another gem, pitching into the ninth inning for the first time this season. After giving up one run on five hits over 8.1 innings, Slegers’ ERA is down to 3.83 in his first year with the Red Wings. Over seven starts he’s gone six or more innings while giving up one run or fewer in four of them. Slegers only struck out two batters, but it was a particularly impressive performance considering the opponent. Matt Hague scored Daniel Palka on a sac fly in the seventh. ByungHo Park and J.B. Shuck both had doubles. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Biloxi 4, Chattanooga 0 Box Score Nick Burdi continued his impressive 2017 with a 1-2-3 inning in which he consistently hit 99 mph on the radar gun. In 15.2 innings, he’s only given up one run and with one more strikeout tonight is up to an even 20 Ks. The Lookouts could only muster seven baserunners on the evening, but Ryan Strausborger was on three times. The 29-year-old outfielder was 1-for-2 with a pair of walks. Nick Gordon was credited with a throwing error, but it really probably should have gone to first baseman Jonathan Rodriguez as a missed catch. Ryan Eades made his second start of the season and gave up three runs over five innings while striking out five. Randy Rosario gave up an unearned run over two innings. Over 22.1 innings for Chattanooga, Rosario has a 2.01 ERA and 0.90 WHIP. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 7, Bradenton 1 Box Score Lewis Thorpe, making his first start since Aug. 31, 2014 and his first ever appearance in the Florida State League, had an encouraging debut. The Aussie hit 94 mph and struck out three batters over four innings, giving up a run on two hits and a walk to help lead the Miracle to their sixth straight win. As expected, the Twins appear to be playing it safe with the 21-year-old lefty. He threw just 49 pitches, but just having him back on the mound at all is exciting. Thorpe had a 2.96 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and 11.2 K/9 between 2013 and ‘14. It was also a special day for Rafael Valera. In his 264th career game, the native of Venezuela finally hit his first professional home run. Tanner English, in his fifth game since being sent down from Double A, went 2-for-3 with three RBI, scored a run and was hit by a pitch. Chris Paul also reached in three of his plate appearances, tallying a double, a walk and an HBP. Nelson Molina had a pair of hits and drove in two and Max Murphy drew a couple walks and stole his sixth base. Anthony McIver, Alex Muren and Nick Anderson combined to throw five shutout innings out of the bullpen. KERNELS NUGGETS Wisconsin 9, Cedar Rapids 2 Box Score Jermaine Palacios hit his fifth home run of the season and Clark Beeker pitched seven strong innings, but an ugly night from reliever Max Cordy put this one out of reach. Christian Cavaness was the only Kernels to reach safely twice, recording a single and Cedar Rapids’ only walk of the evening. Beeker gave up a pair of homers, but limited the Timber Rattlers to three runs on four hits and two walks while striking out five. A 33rd-round pick from last year’s draft, Beeker now has a 2.76 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and has pitched at least six innings in six of his seven starts. Cordy walked three batters, hit two more and threw a wild pitch. Wisconsin scored six runs while he was on the mound (four earned) and he recorded just one out. Andrew Vasquez came in and struck out the only two batters he faced. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Aaron Slegers (carried a shutout into the ninth inning) Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Rafael Valera (hit a go-ahead homer, the first of his professional career after over 264 games played) SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester at Scranton/WB, 3:05 CT, Nick Tepesch (2.29 ERA, 1.53 WHIP) Chattanooga at Biloxi, 6:35 CT, Stephen Gonsalves (first start of season) Fort Myers vs. Bradenton, 5:05 CT, Dereck Rodriguez (2.80 ERA, 1.09 WHIP) Cedar Rapids at Wisconsin, 6:35 CT, Eduardo Del Rosario (5.29 ERA, 1.48 WHIP) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Friday's games. Click here to view the article

Rochester played its home opener on Friday. Could they send their over-11,000 fans home happy? Fernando Romero made his second start of the season for the Lookouts. Was it better than his first outing? The Miracle were able to break a five-game losing streak. Find out how. The Kernels game was delayed by almost two hours… And then they needed an extra inning to decide the winner. Let’s just say the ninth place hitters factored into the game.All that and more. Find out everything that happened in the Twins minor league system on Friday. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 2, Buffalo 3 Box Score The Red Wings hosted their home opener on Friday afternoon. For the second straight game, the Red Wings got eight innings from their starting pitcher. Jose Berrios gave up an unearned run in eight innings on Thursday afternoon. On Friday, it was Nick Tepesch’s turn. The veteran right-hander gave up two runs on seven hits. He walked one and struck out eight batters. Kennys Vargas got the game’s scoring started when he drove in Tommy Field with a single in the bottom of the first inning. Tepesch gave up two runs on five hits in the third inning. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Tommy Field’s sacrifice fly scored John Ryan Murphy to tie the game. The game remained tied until the top of the ninth inning. Drew Rucinski came in to replace Tepesch. He gave up a single and a walk before an RBI double. One more walk, and he was replaced by DJ Baxendale who got the final two outs without any further damage. In the bottom of the ninth, Syracuse called in their closer, Joe Nathan. The 42-year-old former Twins closer recorded a 1-2-3 inning to record his first save of the season. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 0, Jacksonville 4 Box Score Fernando Romero was back on the mound for his second start. His first start was shortened due to lack of control and pitch count. His second start was even shorter, though the reasons were the same. The right-hander gave up one run in each of the first three innings, and left with two outs in the third inning. In 2.2 innings, he gave up three runs on three hits. He struck out five, but he also walked five batters. Lefty Nik Turley came on and was impressive again. In 4.1 scoreless innings, he gave up two hits, walked one and struck out eight. That gives him one walk and 18 strikeouts in his 8.1 innings so far this season. Mason Melotakis pitched the eighth inning and gave up an unearned run on two hits. The Lookouts managed just seven hits in being shut out. Engelb Vielma went 2-4 with a walk. Ryan Walker had the lone extra base hit, his second double of the season. Old friend Omar Bencomo, who spent the last two seasons between the Lookouts and the Red Wings, shut out in the Lookouts for the first six innings. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 6, Daytona 0 Box Score After getting single runs in the first and second innings, the Miracle had a much needed big inning in the fifth inning of this game. RBI singles by Zander Wiel and Rafael Valera were followed by a two-run double by Sean Miller. And that was more than right-hander David Fischer needed to record his first win in the Twins organization. He went the first five innings and gave up just two hits. He walked three and struck out eight batters. Williams Ramirez walked two and struck out one over the next two innings. Anthony McIver gave up three hits, but he maintained the shutout with two shutout frames. Rafael Valera went 3-4 with his first triple. Alex Perez went 2-4 with a walk and his first triple. It boosts his season average to .429. Sean Miller went 2-3 with a walk, his third double and three RBI. The win broke a five-game losing streak for the Miracle. They are now 2-7. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 2, Wisconsin 3 (10 innings) Box Score The game was delayed by rain for nearly two hours, and unfortunately for both teams, the bats never really arrived. Besides the late start, the game was scoreless through the first nine innings! Things started happening in the 10th though! Wisconsin starting pitcher Thomas Jankins was tremendous. He kept the Kernels hitters off balance and threw six shutout innings. The only hit he gave up came in the sixth inning when Lewin Diaz doubled, but he was stranded. Fortunately Kernels starter Sean Poppen was also very impressive and matched zeroes with Jankins. In fact, he was even better. The right-hander went 7.2 shutout innings, giving up just two hits and a walk to go with eight strikeouts in the no- decision. Alex Robinson came on and got the final out of the eighth inning and worked a scoreless ninth inning too. Unfortunately in the tenth inning, he gave up an infield single and a second single. He worked to two outs, but a three-run homer by ninth-place hitting Demi Orimoloye gave the TimberRattlers a 3-0 lead. Hector Lujan came on and got the final out of the tenth. In the bottom of the 10th inning, Caleb Hamilton reached base. With one out, Aaron Whitefield, the Kernels ninth-place hitter, drilled a two-run homer. But that was it for the scoring and the Kernels dropped the 3-2 decision. Whitefield went 2-4 with his first homer of the season. Lewin Diaz was 2-4 with his third double. Caleb Hamilton went 1-2 with two walks and a double. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Sean Poppen, Cedar Rapids Kernels Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Sean Miller, Ft. Myers Miracle SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Syracuse @ Rochester (12:35 CST) - LHP Jason Wheeler Chattanooga @ Jacksonville - (5:05 CST) - RHP Felix Jorge Ft. Myers @ Daytona (6:05 CST) - RHP Keaton Steele Wisconsin @ Cedar Rapids (5:05 CST) - RHP Alex Schick Click here to view the article

In our final minor league award for the month of April, we will hand out the award for the top minor league hitter. As you saw the last two days there were a lot of strong pitching candidates in April, but there were many fewer candidates for the hitting award. However, there were a few guys that definitely are worthy of the award and deserve to be recognized. Keep reading to find out who we named the Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Month. Before we get to the hitters, if you missed the first two articles, they are here: Starting Pitcher of the Month - Stephen GonsalvesRelief Pitcher of the Month - John CurtissOffense is down across baseball again in 2016. That has been a trend for the last several years. Also, the Twins have clearly used the draft in recent years to accumulate arms, which is never a bad strategy.Before we jump to the top hitters of the month, here are some other hitters deserving of recognition. These guys had a strong April, however, they just had fewer plate appearances by a significant margin.C Stuart Turner (Chattanooga) – .256/.407/.419 (.824). 11-43 with four doubles, one homer and eight RBI.2B Luis Arraez (Cedar Rapids) – .313/.393/.479 (.872). 15-48 with two doubles, two homers and five RBIC AJ Murray (Cedar Rapids) - .231/.370/.400 (.770). 15-65 with five doubles, two homers and 10 RBI.THE TOP FOUR HITTERS Number 4 - Cedar Rapids – 2B/C Rafael Valera - .239/.365/.437 (.801). 17-71 with six doubles, four triples and eight RBI. Valera came up to Cedar Rapids midway through the 2015 season and ended up being their primary second baseman the remainder of the season. At Instructional league, however, he spent his time working behind the plate. To start this season, Valera has already played second base, third base, left field and catcher. The 21-year-old didn’t hit for average, but he got on base and showed a lot of extra base power. He walked 12 times in the month. He was a triples machine early in the month. He had two in one game. Number 3 – Ft. Myers – SS Nick Gordon - .333/.363/.483 (.845). 29-87 with six doubles, two triples, one homer and nine RBI. The Twins top pick from 2014, Gordon has moved up another step in 2016. A year ago, he hit .277/.336/.360 (.696) in 120 games in Cedar Rapids. He came to Ft. Myers for spring training having added 15 pounds this offseason and it helped him get off to a strong start. Gordon played most days, hitting second or third in the order for the Miracle. While he didn’t walk a lot, he drove the ball a little more than he did a year ago in Iowa. He went on the 7-day concussion list yesterday after a collision on Tuesday night. Number 2 – Chattanooga – OF/1B Daniel Palka - .338/.424/.538 (.961). 27-80 with seven doubles, three homers and 15 RBI. Palka was the third-round pick of the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2013 out of Georgia Tech. As a 23-year-old last year, he hit .280/.352/.532 (.885) with 36 doubles, 29 home runs, 90 RBI and 24 stolen bases in High-A ball. Following the season, Terry Ryan was able to acquire Palka straight up for Chris Herrmann. First impressions are always nice. When Palka got an opportunity to play with the big league club in a spring training game, he launched two home runs in a game and then added a third the next time he joined the team. Now 24, Palka missed the first few Lookout games, but he has been hitting at the top of their order since. He had one stretch during the month when he reached base in 14 straight plate appearances. Palka has a chance to really fill up a stat sheet, including the strikeout column. He walked 11 times and struck out 25 times also. And the Twins Minor League Hitter of the Month is: Cedar Rapids – OF LaMonte Wade - .361/.430/.542 (.972). 26-72 with six doubles, two triples, one home run and ten RBI. LaMonte Wade was the Twins ninth-round draft pick last June out of the University of Maryland. Many experts, including Twins Daily’s draft guru Jeremy Nygaard, believe he could have been drafted much higher if not for a broken hamate bone that cost him significant playing time in his junior season. In 64 games at Elizabethton last year he hit .312/.428/.506 (.934) with eight doubles, five triples and nine home runs. As impressive, he walked 46 times while striking out just 34 times. That ability has continued into his 2015 season. In April, he walked ten times and struck out just eight times. However, Wade doesn’t go to the plate looking to walk, and he isn’t just a contact-hitting slap hitter. Wade explained, “I’m always looking for a fastball elevated up over the plate to drive until I get two strikes. Then I just try to get the ball in play and do a job for the team.” Following his E-Town season last year, Wade was promoted to Cedar Rapids where he played for the Kernels through their run to the Midwest League championship series. The half-dozen games helped prepare him for the league. “Every game is hard-fought and filled with talented players. It comes down to which team can do the little things more consistently and play clean defense.” What playing in Cedar Rapids in September couldn’t prepare him for was playing in Cedar Rapids in April. As you can tell, based on him being our choice for Twins Minor League Hitter of the Month, he handled the conditions just fine. “The weather has been fine for the most part. Some days are better than others as far as the cold, but we don’t use that as an excuse because we know the other team has to compete in it as well.” Wade may not have any one tool that is elite, but he also doesn’t really have a glaring weakness in his game. He can hit for average. He has a good approach at the plate. He isn’t a big home run hitter, but he does have gap-to-gap power. He has a little above average speed. He is a good defensive outfielder, capable of playing center field, though he profiles more in the corners. He also has an average-to-slightly above average arm. Wade’s goals for the season include “to be more consistent at the plate and get back to the playoffs and win it all this time. I believe we have the team to do it.” Wade is off to a fast start, which is great to see. What will be very interesting is to see how long he stays in Cedar Rapids, particularly if he continues at a similar offensive pace. It may not be real long before he joins the Miracle in Ft. Myers. While there were not a lot of great performances offensively in the Twins system, there were a couple of guys that got started with a very strong April. IF you were to make an argument that Daniel Palka should have been out choice for April Hitter of the Month, I wouldn’t put up a big argument. I asked the other Minor League Report authors for their thoughts, and each agreed that the numbers are so similar that they went with the guy that controls the strike zone so well, and that was LaMonte Wade. Congratulations to the April Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Month for 2016, LaMonte Wade. Click here to view the article

The Twins have been bitten by the injury bug early in the season and that has resulted in a Rochester roster that has been depleted of their two top hitting prospects. Max Kepler was recalled when Danny Santana injured a hamstring running last week and word started to trickle out on social media this afternoon that Jorge Polanco would be replacing Trevor Plouffe, who is likely to hit the disabled list before Tuesday's game with Milwaukee. Here's Monday's action around the farm.RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 1, Pawtucket 3 (10 innings) Box Score The 3,320 people in attendance were treated to a duel between two highly-regarded pitchers (who are no longer considered “prospects”). Tyler Duffey completed seven innings (104 pitches, 69 strikes) in picking up a no-decision tonight. He gave up one run on seven hits. He struck out six and, most importantly, walked only one. He lowered his ERA to 1.72. Rochester scored their only run on a 389-foot third-inning home run by Reynaldo Rodriguez. Rodriguez also had a first-inning single and was the only Red Wing to have a multi-hit game. He did strike out twice, though, and the team combined for 12 strikeouts. Adam Brett Walker returned to the lineup for the first time since April 10, but went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts as the designated hitter. David Murphy, who has a May 1st opt-out, also went 0-for-4. Stephen Wickens delivered his first AAA hit and stole his first AAA base. Brandon Kintzler pitched two shutout innings before giving way to J.R. Graham in the 10th inning. After connecting for a leadoff single, the PawSox sacrificed the runner to second and Graham coaxed a fly out for the second out of the innings. Then the wheels fell off. Graham threw a wild pitch and then walked Rusney Castillo to put runners on first and third. A Blake Swihart single put the PawSox ahead with runners on first and second. Castillo and Swihart successfully pulled off a double-steal and Graham walked the next two runners to push another run across the plate. Buddy Boshers had to record the last out. The trio of Wilfredo Tovar, Wickens and Darin Mastroianni - all of who had a hit - went down 1-2-3 to end the game. The Red Wings fall to 4-7 early in the season. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 3, Mississippi 5 Box Score An eighth-inning rally ended in a double-play and the Lookouts dropped Monday’s game to the Braves. D.J. Baxendale took the loss, allowing two runs in six innings on five hits. He struck out six. Brandon Peterson struggled in his inning, giving up three hits and walking two. He surrendered three runs. Brett Lee struck out two in a perfect frame. Stuart Turner hit an eighth-inning two-run home run, his first of the season, and now sports a .360 average. Mitch Garver got the Lookouts on the board with a two-out RBI single in the fourth-inning. Levi Michael contributed two hits in the team’s six-hit effort. Travis Harrison added a single and a stolen base. The Lookouts drop to 4-8. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 1, Daytona 4 Box Score The Miracle struck first, getting Chris Paul on base when he was hit. Paul advanced to third on Ryan Walker’s single and scored on an Alex Real groundout. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much offense after that. Nick Gordon led off the fourth inning with a triple, which extended his hitting streak to six games. He’s also hit safely in ten on his eleven games. You could say that Nick Gordon is swinging a hot bat and you wouldn’t be wrong. The third and final hit was a single in the 6th inning by Chad Christensen. Tanner English stole his fourth base of the season. Randy Rosario threw 48 strikes in 78 pitches. He was relieved in the sixth inning after allowing five hits and two runs. He walked three and failed to strike out any. It was a far cry from his season debut last week when he struck out eight - and walked none - in six shutout innings. Todd Van Steensel allowed one hit and collected five outs. Luke Bard struggled in his frame, giving up three hits and two runs. With the loss, the Miracle fall to 7-5. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 7, Burlington 3 Box Score Cody Stashak made the first full-season start of his career and didn’t disappoint. He struck out five in six one-run, three-hit innings (on only 77 pitches). That’s two runs in ten innings combined so far this season. The offense was equally impressive. Seven runs on 10 hits and five walks, and all but the eight- and nine-hitters contributed in the hits column. Rafael Valera, getting his at-bats as the DH, doubled twice and added a single. He scored once. LaMonte Wade continued to tear up low-A pitchers. He’s hit safely in all 12 games he’s played. On Monday, it was two hits, two runs and an RBI. While Wade is hitting .409, the 2-for-4 night actually dropped his OBP from .469 to .463 and saw his OPS drop by 20 points and now sits at 1.099. Max Murphy and Jermaine Palacios each stole a base. Michael Theofanopoulos struck out three in two innings. Nick Anderson allowed two runs (one earned) in his inning of work. The Kernels improve to 8-4. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Cody Stashak Hitter of the Day – Rafael Valera TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Pawtucket @ Rochester (5:35PM CST) – LHP Pat Dean (0-2, 2.06 ERA) Chattanooga @ Mississippi (7:00PM CST) – LHP David Hurlbut (1-0, 4.00 ERA) Jupiter @ Fort Myers (6:05PM CST) – LHP Stephen Gonsalves (1-1, 2.25 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Burlington (11:30AM CST) – RHP Randy LeBlanc (1-1, 2.45 ERA) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Monday’s 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

Two more days until the Twins get back in action on Friday. Most affiliates were back on the field on Wednesday, with the exception being the Red Wings. The Triple-A All-Star Game was held on Wednesday night. Lots of moves on Wednesday: The Lookouts released both 1B Mike Gonzales and RP Scott Atchison. While Atchison didn’t have an opt-out in his contract, he didn’t expect to still be in the minors, so he asked for and was granted his release. The Miracle received C Brett Doe from the Kernels. The Kernels activated P Chris Mazza and P Yorman Landa, put C Jorge Fernandez on the DL and received 1B Tyler Kuresa from E-Town. P Carlos Aponte and 16-year-old P Brusdar Graterol were both promoted from the DSL to the GCL. Fernandez will miss the rest of the season after breaking his hand punching a wall according to Kernels beat writer Jeff Johnson.RED WINGS REPORT Rochester off day AAA All-Star Game Box Score Rochester had three representatives play for the International League All-Stars. James Beresford started at second base and batted second. He nearly homered in his first at-bat, but instead settled for a triple and scored the game’s first run. He got another hit and finished 2-3. Taylor Rogers pitched the fourth inning and allowed a walk in a scoreless frame. A.J. Achter retired the one batter he faced and, because of the IL All-Stars comeback, earned the win. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 6, Biloxi 5 (11 innings) Box Score The Lookouts gave up a bunch of runs early, but came back in a back-and-forth game that ended after 11 innings. Alex Wimmers allowed three first-inning runs (on two home runs), but that was it over his five innings. He allowed eight hits and a walk. He struck out two. After D.J. Johnson pitched a scoreless sixth, Brandon Peterson allowed two runs in two innings of work. Jake Reed followed with two innings of scoreless ball to earn the win. J.T. Chargois closed it out for the save in the 11th inning. The Lookouts scored three runs in the third inning. It started with a throwing error that allowed Levi Michael to reach base. He advanced on a Shannon Wilkerson single and scored on a Stephen Wickens double. After Travis Harrison walked, Kennys Vargas came to the plate with the bases loaded. An error by the third baseman allowed Wilkerson to score. Marcus Knecht had a two-out single that scored Wickens, but Harrison was thrown out at home to the end the inning. Vargas was replaced by Niko Goodrum in the fifth inning after grounding into a double play. Smart money is not on a promotion, but instead on Big Spoon not running it out and feeling Dougie Baseball’s wrath. Chattanooga added another run in the seventh on a solo home run by Levi Michael. Their fifth run came in the eighth inning when Niko Goodrum singled, stole second then stole third and then scored on a ABW2 sac fly. That’s how you #manufactureruns. There was a weird moment in the 10th inning when a power surge knocked out a bank of lights, caused the radio broadcast to go out for a few innings and the entire stadium to flicker. The umpires and managers decided to play on. In the 11th, Goodrum again reached base on a walk and advanced on a Walker fly ball. This time, though, he was be thrown out at 3rd base when Knecht hit it to the shortstop. Knecht advanced to third on a Stuart Turner single and scored the eventual winning run on a passed ball. Chattanooga, which has already qualified for the playoffs, is currently in last place in the Southern League North and is 5-13 after Wednesday night’s win. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 1, Brevard County 3 Box Score Chih-Wei Hu pitched six one-run innings, allowing seven hits while striking out three. He gave way to the bullpen in a tie game. Zach Jones, making his first high-A appearance after being activated and sent down by Chattanooga, struck out one in a scoreless seventh inning. Tyler Jay got his first professional decision. But it wasn’t what he wanted. And it wasn’t pretty. He gave up three hits and walked a batter. Two runs crossed the plate and Jay’s ERA has risen to 8.10. It was 77 degrees at today’s game, so let’s blame it on the heat. He’s a cold-weather guy… Alex Swim, professional hitter, went 3-4 with a double. He accounted for half of the team’s hits. Zach Granite drove in the team’s only run. Fort Myers is 12-8 in the second half, one game behind Palm Beach, but in a three-way tie for second place. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 5, Burlington 2 Box Score The Kernels got strong efforts from their pitching staff and the offense was able to muster enough juice late in the game to improve to 12-8 in the second half of the season. Felix Jorge wasn’t his best, but was still plenty good enough. His four walks were a season high. In fact, he had only walked three batters once in his previous 14 starts. He three strikeouts matched his second lowest output of the season. His three hits allowed in six innings, though, were enough to keep Cedar Rapids in a good position to win Wednesday’s ball game. Jorge gave way to Yorman Landa. Landa was making his first appearance back with the Kernels after rehabbing a lat strain with the GCL affiliate. He struck out the side in the seventh, touching 98 mph on the gun. Michael Theofanopoulos and Trevor Hildenberger held Burlington scoreless over the final two frames. Hildenberger now sports a fancy 0.82 ERA, 0.64 WHIP and a 12.06 K/9. Know of any teams that could use bullpen help? Offensively, Rafael Valera was the star. He drove in Edgar Corcino in the first inning and then drove in two more runs in the seventh inning. He finished 4-4 with three RBI. Nick Gordon had two hits, a stolen base and an RBI. He extended his hitting streak to 14 games. Corcino added two hits, two runs and a stolen base. E-TOWN E-NOTES Elizabethton 4, Danville 3 Box Score The E-Twins were able to come back from an early deficit to reach .500 again, 20 games into the season. Despite giving up eight hits, starter Alexis Tapia was able to get through five innings surrendering only three runs (two earned). He walked one and only struck out two. It was enough to get the E-Twins to the strong bullpen trio of Tyler Stirewalt (one hit, two walks and a strikeout in 1.1 innings), C.K. Irby (strikeout in 1.2 perfect innings) and Kuo Hua Lo (hit and strikeout in the final inning) and give the team a chance to win. E-Town was able to come back in the third and fourth innings before taking their first lead in the fifth inning. Danville tied it up in the bottom of the fifth and Elizabethton scored the winning run in the top of the ninth. In the third, a LaMonte Wade single drove in Kamran Young who had tripled. In the fourth, A.J Murray led the inning off with a walk. He advanced on a Rainis Silva single before scoring on a wild pitch. Manuel Guzman scored the go-ahead run in the fifth after reaching base on a single. He advanced to third on a Young single and came home on Wade’s sacrifice fly. LaMonte Wade drove in Guzman again in the ninth with a double after Guzman walked to lead off the inning. The same two teams play again tomorrow night. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins vs GCL Rays Postponed The 12-8 Gulf Coast League affiliate had their game postponed until tomorrow due to rain. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Felix Jorge, Cedar Rapids Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Rafael Valera, Cedar Rapids THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester vs Lehigh Valley (6:05 CST) – TBA Chattanooga at Biloxi (7:10 CST) – LHP Brett Lee Ft. Myers at Brevard County (5:35 CST) – RHP Ryan Eades Cedar Rapids vs Burlington (6:35 CST) – RHP Ethan Mildren Elizabethton at Danville (6:00 CST) - RHP Miles Nordgren GCL Twins vs GCL Rays (9:00 CST, Game 1) - TBA GCL Twins vs GCL Rays (Game 2) - TBA Feel free to leave any questions or comments below! Click here to view the article