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Jon Heyman has reported the Minnesota Twins have acquired relief pitcher Michael Fulmer from the Detroit Tigers. Fulmer has served as primarily as the Tigers 8th inning set-up man, recording 39K in 39 IP, and posting a 3.20 ERA and 1.25 WHIP. In return, the Twins drafted Double-A RHP Sawyer Gipson-Long. The last two years, Michael Fulmer has owned a 3.06 ERA, and that coincides with him increasing the usage of his slider to the point where he is throwing it almost 65% of the time this year. That includes almost 72% of the time versus right-handers, who are posting just a 401 OPS(!) against him this year. Twins fans may remember the right-hander as less dominant, as he’s been knocked around by the Twins twice over the last month, including giving up two critical runs in last night’s Twins win. Overall, since July 1st, he’s been less effective, with a 6.55 ERA, though he’s also struck out 11 in 11 innings pitched, and not given up a home run. But he’s also walked seven over that span, and control has been an issue with 20 walks in 39 innings this year. But that’s not terribly uncommon for a slider-first pitcher. Overall, his performance has not matched his relatively encouraging numbers: his Win Probability Added (WPA) is -0.22, though it was in positive territory before last night's Twins comeback. Since the Twins play the Tigers again tonight, it's possible that Fulmer will simply switch dugouts and be available for tonight's game. Fulmer is purely a rental for this season. He is due to become a free agent at the end of this year for the first time in his career. The 29-year-old is far from a dominant reliever but he has proved to be a fairly reliable arm, and the slider-first philosophy meshes well with the organization and pitching staff. He should remain in fairly middle to low leverage situations since the Twins also acquired Orioles closer Jorge Lopez earlier today. As such, his job will be to provide manager Rocco Baldelli at least a little more depth to handle some of the middle-inning issues that have cost the team several games. To acquire Fulmer, the Twins traded right-handed pitching prospect Sawyer Gipson-Long. The 24-year-old was the Twins sixth-round pick in the 2019 draft out of Mercer. This season began in High-A Cedar Rapids where he went 5-2 with a 1.99 ERA. He had 52 strikeouts in 49 2/3 innings. He was recently promoted to Double-A Wichita and is 3-4 with a 7.17 ERA over 37 2/3 innings. He has 35 strikeouts. Overall this season, he has 19 walks and 87 strikeouts over 87 1/3 innings. He ranked #20 Twins Prospect by Twins Daily in July. With just minutes remaining before the trade deadline, will the Twins make any more moves? View full article

Tim Beckham walked it off for the Saints and the Kernels just kept winning in Thursday's Minor League action! TRANSACTIONS Cedar Rapids Kernels place RHP John Stankiewicz on 7-day IL RHP Travis Adams promoted to Cedar Rapids Kernels SAINTS SENTINEL Saints 5, Cubs 4 Box Score Tim Beckham continues to crush Triple-A pitching, walking off the Iowa Cubs Thursday night. Beckham, now hitting .416 with a 1.070 OPS for the Saints, singled home Spencer Steer on a grounder up the middle to ice the game. The Saints trailed all night despite a José Godoy homer and a one-run rally in the sixth. Brandon Bishop's RBI groundout pulled the Saints within one, and Jermaine Palacios tied the game on a solo homer in the eighth. Steer, Jake Cave, Beckham, and Palacios all recorded multi-hit games. Palacios went 3-for-4 with the game-tying swing, Cave went 2-for-4 with a double, Steer went 2-for-5, and Beckham added two hits, including the game winner. It was an impressive night from the top of the lineup. Ronny Henriquez was excellent in relief, pitching four scoreless innings with four strikeouts. Henriquez owns a 3.11 ERA with 29 strikeouts over his last 26 innings. The Saints are 45-49. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wind Surge 10, Naturals 2 Box Score The Wind Surge put on a power clinic in their 10-2 win over the Naturals Thursday. Trailing 2-0 early, Andrew Bechtold put the Surge on the board with a solo shot in the second. One inning later, Christian Encarnacion-Strand hit a majestic three-run homer to center, giving the Surge a 4-2 lead. Kyle Schmidt singled home a run in the sixth before Chris Williams drove in another on a walk. Edouard Julien hit his 10th homer of the season, a three-run blast in the seventh. Julien entered Thursday hitting .310/.440/.563 with five doubles, a triple, and five homers over his last 16 games. The Surge weren't done yet. DaShawn Keirsey Jr. singled in a run in the eighth, completing the eight-run rout. Sawyer Gipson-Long was absolutely terrific on the mound, going seven innings and allowing only two runs. Gipson-Long struck out six and walked none. It was his longest (and arguably best) outing of the year. The Wind Surge improved to 49-43 with the victory. KERNELS NUGGETS Kernels 6, Timber Rattlers 2 Box Score The Kernels improved to 23 games over .500 with another win Thursday. They drew eight walks, including three from the leadoff man Kyler Fedko. Wander Javier drove in two on a single in the first, and Will Holland followed it up with a ground-rule double, scoring Pat Winkel. The Kernels were up 4-0 before Aaron Rozek took the mound. Rozek, a Minnesota native, and Minnesota State-Mankato alum, gave up two runs on three walks and six hits. Rozek struck out six and passed the game off to Bradley Hanner, who picked up the win with 2 1/3 scoreless innings. Bobby Milacki added two scoreless innings, dropping his ERA to 2.08 on the season. Yunior Severino, already hitting .321/.457/.661 in July, kept it rolling with a solo homer in the eighth. Severino has six homers this month and a .937 OPS on the season. The Kernels are a sterling 58-35. MUSSEL MATTERS Mussels 3, Tarpons 5 Box Score The Mighty Mussels suffered a tough loss Thursday to the Tampa Tarpons. Marco Raya started and threw five strong innings, allowing two runs on four hits with two walks and two strikeouts. The Mussels had trouble scoring all night, trailing 2-0 until a two-run eighth tied the game. Misael Urbina got the Mussels on the board with a sacrifice fly, and Noah Miller followed it up with one of his own. With the score tied 2-2 in the top of the ninth, the Tarpons got a big swing from Kyle Battle, who blasted a three-run homer to take a 5-2 lead. The Mussels battled in the bottom of the inning, but could only muster one more run on an RBI single from Daniel Ozoria. The Mussels posted seven hits, including a double from Kala'i Rosario, his 15th of the season. Urbina and Luis Báez each stole a bag in the loss. The Mussels are back in action Friday with Steve Hajjar toeing in the rubber. The Mussels have lost four in a row to the Tarpons but still boast a 51-38 record. COMPLEX CHRONICLES FCL Twins 0, FCL Braves 6 Box Score The FCL Twins were shutout by the FCL Braves Thursday, mustering only three hits. Develson Aria started for the Twins and gave them three solid innings. He gave up one run on a solo homer and struck out one. The Twins' offense went 3-for-30 with 10 strikeouts. The Twins' lone extra-base hit was a double from Ricardo Olivar, his 10th of the season. The Braves scored three unearned runs on two Twins errors. It wasn't a pretty day, but there's always tomorrow. The Twins will host the FCL Red Sox Friday. DOMINICAN DAILIES DID NOT PLAY Here’s a look at how the current Twins Daily Top-20 performed: #6 Spencer Steer (St. Paul) - 2-for-5, R #8 - Noah Miller (Ft. Myers) - 0-for-2, BB, RBI #9 Marco Raya (Ft. Myers) - 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R/ER, 2 BB, 2 K #12 Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 0-for-4, 3 K #14 Ronny Henriquez (St.Paul) - 4 IP, 5 H, 0 R/ER, 0 BB, 4 K #15 Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 1-for-4, HR, 3 RBI, BB #16 Christian Encarnacion-Strand (Wichita) - 1-for-4, HR, 3 RBI, BB #20 Sawyer Gipson-Long (Wichita) - 7 IP, 4 H, 2 R/ER, 0 BB, 6 K FRIDAY'S PROBABLE STARTERS - A Loaded Slate! Iowa @ St. Paul (7:07PM CST) - Jordan Balazovic NW Arkansas @ Wichita (7:05PM CST) - Louie Varland Cedar Rapids @ Wisconsin (6:40PM CST) - Cade Povich Tampa @ Fort Myers (6:00PM CST) - Steve Hajjar Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Thursday’s games! It sure is exciting to have all four Twins full-season affiliates and the two Complex Season affiliates back and playing. View full article

The Minnesota Twins were off Thursday but there was still plenty of action to cover in the minor leagues. For the Saints, Jermaine Palacios hit a big game-tying homer before Tim Beckham provided a walk-off single. Ronny Henriquez pitched four shutout innings out of the bullpen and topped out at 100 mph. Wichita had a blowout victory led by homers from Andrew Bechtold, Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Edouard Julien. Sawyer Gipson-Long had a quality start for the Turbo Tubs tonight. Yunior Severino hit another home run and has an OPS north of 1.100 so far in July for the Kernels. That and more in tonight's Twins System Recap. View full video

The Minnesota Twins tallied a series-clinching win over the Rockies Sunday thanks in part to a strong effort by the bullpen. Down on the farm, Mario Sanchez and Sawyer-Gipson Long delivered strong performances. There was also some news on Wes Johnson and Matt Canterino. View full video

Sawyer Gipson-Long got the start for Cedar Rapids tonight and was nothing short of dominant in a win for the Kernels. St. Paul faced a former Twins affiliate and got the win thanks, in part, to Spencer Steer’s bat. Transactions: RHP Cole Sands recalled by Minnesota C Roy Morales placed on injured list by St. Paul INF Kevin Merrell placed on temporary inactive list by Wichita INF Ernie Yake placed on injured list by Wichita LHP Jordan Carr transferred to Fort Myers from FCL RHP Anthony Escobar reinstated from 60-day injured list for Fort Myers SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 10, Rochester 6 Box Score Facing the former Twins Triple-A affiliate, Daniel Gossett was on the bump for St. Paul. He worked around traffic for five innings allowing just four runs (three earned) on eight hits. Gossett struck out two and walked one. Trailing 2-0 after the top half of the 1st inning, recently-healthy Tim Beckham got the run scoring going. A double to center drove in Spencer Steer before Jake Cave drove in Beckham with a single of his own. Allowing Rochester to regain the lead in the top of the 2nd inning, the Saints took over for the first time in the bottom of the 3rd inning. Steer launched his 7th dinger at Triple-A (in just 14 games) to knot things up. Then Mark Contreras followed up later with his 8th double to score Cave. Sick of the back and forth, following the Red Wings tying it in the 4th inning, Beckham got separation. His third homer, a grand slam, brought Caleb Hamilton, Steer, and Alex Kirilloff all across the plate. Cole Sturgeon wasn’t satisfied with the breathing room and his 5th inning single made it 9-4 when Contreras scored, before Jose Godoy plated Sturgeon on a single of his own. Still looking to claw back, the former affiliate got a two-run blast in the 7th inning to draw within four. Former Twins utility man Ildemaro Vargas scored on the play. That's where this one ended with the new good guys taking game one. Steer, Beckham, Contreras, and Hamilton all posted two-hit nights. WIND SURGE WISDOM Arkansas 5, Wichita 1 Box Score The Wind Surge turned to Bryan Sammons tonight as their starter. Unfortunately it was a tough outing with Sammons able to work just 2 1/3 innings while allowing four runs on four hits. He walked two and struck out two for Wichita. Arkansas got to Sammons in the 3rd inning and struck for four runs to put up a crooked number. Wichita couldn’t answer, and needed until the 5th inning to get on the board. Recently promoted Anthony Prato drove a single to left field allowing Daniel Ozoria to score. The Travelers got the run back on a 7th inning error by Edouard Julien and Wichita once again found themselves trailing by four. An 8th inning home run by the opposition pushed the deficit to five, and that’s where this one ended. Wichita managed just four hits on the evening. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 7, South Bend 1 Box Score Sawyer Gipson-Long was nails tonight for the Cedar Rapids Kernels, and he lowered the season ERA to a sparkling 1.99 with the strong effort. Working six innings, Gipson-Long allowed just a single run on three hits and a walk. He also picked up six punch outs. The lone run against him was a big fly. Cedar Rapids took an early lead on a Wander Javier single in the 2nd inning. After a throwing error by the catcher, Kyle Fedko was able to cross home plate. In the 3rd inning Seth Gray came up and did damage. A line drive to left scored both Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Aaron Sabato, in part thanks to yet another throwing error. The Kernels continued to take advantage of poor play from South Bend as a wild pitch gave Fedko the opportunity to spring home before a balk sent Gray strolling across the plate. When the inning closed, they led by a 5-0 tally. Giving one run back in the 4th inning, Fedko added back to the lead in the 5th inning. His fourth double at High-A drove in Sabato before Pat Winkel crushed his first homer of the year; a solo blast in the 6th inning. Gray was the lone batter to record two-hits on the night for Cedar Rapids, but both Fedko and Sabato drew two walks. Derek Molina and Ryan Shreve were great in relief allowing just one hit and striking out a pair, each, in three innings. MUSSEL MATTERS Daytona 5, Fort Myers 2 Box Score Steven Hajjar went tonight for the Mighty Mussels and put in two innings of perfection before giving way to the bullpen. He punched out two of the six batters he faced and the ERA now sits at 2.04 this season. Daytona got up 2-0 with a home run in the 4th inning, but Fort Myers was able to halve the deficit on Kala’i Rosario’s fifth home, a solo shot in the 5th inning. That’s where the bats went quiet for the Mighty Mussels though. Rosario contribute two hits, but only Noah Miller joined him in reaching base twice. COMPLEX CHRONICLES FCL Pirates 12, FCL Twins 6 Box Score Daniel Robertson got in another rehab game for Triple-A St. Paul today. He was 0-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout. Danny De Andrade recorded a three-hit game with a double, and Alexander Pena had a four-hit day with a triple. DOMINICAN DAILIES DSL Twins 6, DSL Houston Blue 1 Box Score Bryan Acuna was 0-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts. He’s still looking for his first professional hit. Pitchers Miguel Olivares and Roger Duran combined to give up just three hits while striking out 10 and walking one. Rafael Cruz and Jesus Peraza both had two hits. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Sawyer Gipson-Long (Cedar Rapids) - 6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K Hitter of the Day – Spencer Steer (St. Paul) - 2-4, 3 R, RBI, HR(7) PROSPECT SUMMARY We will again keep tabs on the Twins top prospects. You’ll probably read about them in the team sections, but if they aren’t there, you’ll see how they did here. Here’s a look at how the current Twins Daily Top 20 performed: #2 - Austin Martin (Wichita) - 0-4 #3 - Jose Miranda (Minnesota) - Did Not Play #7 - Spencer Steer (St. Paul) - 2-4, 3 R, RBI, HR(7) #8 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Ft. Myers) - #9 - Noah Miller (Ft. Myers) - 1-3, BB, 2 K #15 - Matt Wallner (Wichita) - 1-3, BB, 2 K #16 - Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 1-3, BB, K #17 - Cole Sands (St. Paul) - Did Not Pitch #18 - Christian Encarnacion-Strand (Cedar Rapids) - 1-4, R, BB, K #19 - Steve Hajjar (Ft. Myers) - 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ St. Paul (7:07PM CST) - RHP Aaron Sanchez Wichita @ Arkansas (6:35PM CST) - RHP Matt Canterino Cedar Rapids @ South Bend (6:05PM CST) - RHP John Stankiewicz Fort Myers @ Daytona (6:05 PM CST) - TBD Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Tuesday’s games! It sure is exciting to have all four Twins full-season affiliates and the two Complex Season affiliates back and playing. View full article

The Minnesota Twins continued their woes against the Yankees, losing 10-4 Tuesday at Target Field. Jorge Polanco had a strong effort, registering four hits including a home run. Down in the minors, Sawyer Gipson-Long delivered another quality start for Cedar Rapids, lowering his ERA to 1.99 in the process. Spencer Steer and Tim Beckham lifted the Saints lineup once again, as St. Paul scored 10 runs. Steer hit his seventh homer in just 14 games since being promoted and Beckham launched a go-ahead grand slam. All that and more in tonight's Twins System Recap. View full video

The Minnesota Twins lost to the Tigers 5-0 but one silver lining was that Trevor Megill continued to impress out of the bullpen. Down in the minors, Jair Camargo hit two home runs for Wichita. He was just recently called up to Double A. Also featured in tonight's video are Tim Beckham, Alex Isola, Sawyer Gipson-Long, Yunior Severino, Alerick Soularie, Kyler Fedko and more. View full video

Seth chats with Cedar Rapids Kernels starting pitcher Sawyer Gipson-Long about his 2022 season, pitching for a winning team with several strong starters, goals for the season and so much more... 23 Questions, maybe? View full video

Minnesota Twins pitching prospect Blayne Enlow struck out six batters and did not issue a walk in 3 2/3 innings for Wichita in his Double-A debut. He recently returned from rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. Tonight's video also includes highlights of Devin Smeltzer, Gio Urshela, Spencer Steer, Austin Martin, Sawyer Gipson-Long, Anthony Prato and more. View full video

The Twins completed a sweep of the Oakland A’s at home on Sunday to bring their record to 18-11 on the season. The Minor League affiliates had a busy schedule on Sunday as the Saints and Mighty Mussles saw lopsided scores, the Wind Surge played a double header, the Kernels had a low scoring victory that saw their stater’s best performance of the season. TRANSACTIONS Twins placed OF Trevor Larnach on the IL (right adductor strain) Twins recalled C Jose Godoy. OF Jake Cave was activated from the temporarily inactive list. C Roy Morales activated from the Development List and promoted to the Saints. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 3, Iowa 10 Box Score SP: Cole Sands - 3 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 6 K HR: David Banuelos (2) Multi-hit games: Mark Contreras (2-5, 2 2B, RBI (17), 2 K) The Saints played the final game of their 12-game homestead on Sunday with the conclusion of their series against the Iowa Cubs. On Saturday, the Saints crushed the Cubs in a 9-2 victory. On Sunday, they received the other end of the stick. The Cubs got to the Saints early in the top of the second scoring four runs on five hits and a walk off of starter Cole Sands. Sands had a better go in both the first and third innings giving up only one hit in each of those innings. The high number of strikeouts and a tiring second inning had Sands at 71 pitches through three innings, and six Saints relievers came in to finish out the game. At the plate, many of the Saints bats went cold aside from Mark Contreras who had two doubles and an RBI for the Saints on Sunday. The Saints lineup also featured the return of Jake Cave from the temporarily inactive list leading off for St. Paul and going 1-for-4 with a double and RBI. One of the newest additions to the Saints roster, second baseman Kevin Merrell, spoke on adjusting to the new clubhouse after his promotion from Wichita and which players he has gravitated to as mentors with the Saints. “There are so many guys in there with a ton of experience, and I just need to watch closely and see what I can pick up. It’s been an easy transition, there’s a lot of phenomenal dudes on this team,” said Merrell. Merrell is a former first-round draft pick by the Oakland Athletics in 2017 and went 33rd overall in the draft. Merrell has already found a teammate on the Saints he wants to learn as much as possible from, that teammate being Saints infielder Elliot Soto. Merrell explained, “He can talk to anybody. He’s super encouraging, and he’s very confident in what he does. I think that’s contagious for a lot of us. He’s played for a long time. He’s 32 or so, has a lot of experience, and I would say he stands out the most for me.” The Saints will start a two-week road trip on Tuesday with two different stops, the first being in Columbus, Ohio for a week-long match-up with the Clippers. WIND SURGE WISDOM Game 1 Wichita 4, Tulsa 7 Box Score Game 1 SP: Chris Vallimont - 3 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 2 K HR: None Multi-hit games: None Game 2 Wichita 5, Tulsa 6 Box Score Game 2 SP: Casey Legumina - 2.1 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 6 BB, 5 K HR: Austin Martin (1), Michael Helman (4) Multi-hit games: Martin (2-4, R, HR, RBI (8)), Edouard Julien (2-3, R, 2 2B, RBI (10), K) The Wind Surge entered Sunday afternoon riding an eight-game win streak and had a doubleheader scheduled with the Tulsa Drillers to finish out their five-game series. Unfortunately for the WInd Surge, they were swept in the doubleheader. Chris Vallimont was on the mound for his sixth start of the season. Vallimont had a strong first inning recovering from a leadoff triple to Drillers shortstop Jacob Amaya. Amaya scored in the next at-bat on a sacrifice groundout. Vallimont continued to cool off in the second with a 1-2-3 inning, but the Drillers picked up three more runs in the third off of Vallimont which later knocked him out of the game. The Wind Surge bats were cold throughout Game 1 and although they tallied seven hits, no Wind Surge player was able to tally more than one hit. Wind Surge third baseman Spencer Steer managed to drive in two of their four runs in the game. ----------------------------------------------------------- Game 2 brought a better hitting game for the Wind Surge, but they still fell short in another loss against the Drillers. Game 2 was started by Casey Legumina who made his first start for the Wind Surge after three starts with Cedar Rapids to start 2022. Legumina gave up two walks in the top of the first inning but left the runners on base to get out of a jam. He continued that success in the second and retired the minimum in order. The third inning was where Legumina struggled the most, walking four batters and giving up two hits including a home run to Drillers left fielder James Outman. Austin Martin fans were able to rejoice at least in Game 2 as he hit his first home run of the season. Third baseman Michael Helman also had a home run in the sixth inning that brought Wichita within one run. The Wind Surge were unable to score more runs in the bottom of the seventh in order to tie the game and force it into extras. The Wind Surge begin their next series on the road against Northwest Arkansas Tuesday morning for another six-game series with the Naturals. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 2, Quad Cities 1 Box Score SP: Sawyer Gipson-Long 5.1 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K HR: None Multi hit games: Jair Camargo (2-5, K) The Kernels completed their final game against the River Bandits on Sunday taking a win to complete a 4-2 series victory of Quad Cities. The 2-1 victory for the Kernels was the smallest scoring game of the series as Anthony Prato and Wander Javier drove in the only two runs. Javier hit into a force out in the bottom of the 8th inning to score Aaron Sabato with the game-tying run. They went to extra innings. In the bottom of the 11th inning, Javier was on third base when Anthony Prato his a fly ball to right field, deep enough to end the game. Sawyer Gipson-Long had his best start of the season on Sunday. He had season highs in the start with innings pitched (5 1/3) and strikeouts (6). He also did not give up any runs or walks in the game. The Kernels will be on the road in Peoria to play another six-game series against the Chiefs. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 9, Lakeland 1 Box Score SP: Steve Hajjar 3 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 8 K HR: None Multi-hit games: Jake Rucker (3-4, 2 R, SB (6), RBI (6)), Mikey Perez (2-3, 2B, 3 RBI (7), 2 BB), Kyle Schmidt (2-5, 2B, 2 RBI (13), 2 BB, 2 K), Daniel Ozoria (2-4, R) The Mighty Mussels completed their series against the Lakeland Flying Tigers with a lopsided 9-1 victory which brought about a series split. The Mighty Mussels pitching was dominated by Steve Hajjar and Marco Raya. Hajjar started the game and threw three no-hit innings, walking four and striking out eight out of the nine outs. Raya came into the game in the top of the fifth. Although Raya gave up a home run in the top of the sixth, he only allowed one other base runner on a hit and struck out four to earn the win. The Mussels offense lit up all afternoon scoring nine runs on 11 hits without the help of a home run. Mussels third baseman Jake Rucker led the offense with a three-hit game. The Mussels will begin their next series at home on Tuesday night against Palm Beach for another six-game series against the Cardinals Low-A affiliate. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Sawyer Gipson-Long (Cedar Rapids) - 5.1 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K Hitter of the Day – Jake Rucker (Ft. Myers) - 3-4, 2 R, SB (6), RBI (6) PROSPECT SUMMARY We will again keep tabs on the Twins top prospects. You’ll probably read about them in the team sections, but if they aren’t there, you’ll see how they did here. Here’s a look at how the current Twins Daily Top 20 performed: #1 - Royce Lewis (Minnesota) - 1-3 #2 - Austin Martin (Wichita) - Game 1, 0-2, R, 2 BB Game 2, 2-4, R, HR, SB, RBI #4 - Jose Miranda (Minnesota) - 1-4, R, 2B, RBI (3) #10 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Ft. Myers) - 0-3, R, 2 BB #11 - Noah Miller (Ft. Myers) - 1-4, R, RBI (6), BB, K #13 - Cole Sands (St. Paul) - 3 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 6 K #15 - Marco Raya (Ft. Myers) - 3 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K #16 - Spencer Steer (Wichita) - Game 1, 1-4, SB, 2 RBI (20) #18 - Christian Encarnacion-Strand (Cedar Rapids) - 1-4, SB, BB, K #19 - Edouard Julien (Wichita) - Game 1, 0-3, BB, K Game 2, 2-3, R, 2 2B, RBI (10) TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS All Twins Minor League Affiliates are off on Monday and will resume their games on Tuesday, May 10. The only Monday in which there will be minor-league games is July 4th (and some for the Saints in September). St. Paul @ Columbus (6:05 PM CST) - Ronny Henriquez Wichita @ Northwest Arkansas (11:05 AM CST) - Ben Gross Cedar Rapids @ Peoria (6:05 PM CST) - TBD Palm Beach @ Fort Myers (5:30 PM CST) - David Festa Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Sunday’s games. View full article

The Minnesota Twins beat the A's 4-3 to earn the sweep, as Jorge Polanco delivered what ended up as the go-ahead two-run hit in the third inning. Starter Chris Paddack had to exit early due to injury but the bullpen stepped up and provided 6 2/3 innings of shutout ball. Other players featured in tonight's recap include Jose Miranda, Royce Lewis, Gilberto Celestino, Yennier Cano, Austin Martin, Sawyer Gipson-Long, Anthony Prato and more. View full video

Fort Myers' gamers were washed out and St. Paul's game was cut short due to rain. Cedar Rapids' loss was delayed for over and hour due to rain. It also rained in Arkansas, but Wichita was able to pick up the win. TRANSACTIONS RHP Cole Sands promoted to Minnesota Twins RHP John Stankiewicz promoted to High-A Cedar Rapids C Chance Sisco placed on IL (left knee strain) SAINTS SENTINEL Game 1: Nashville 7, St. Paul 3 Game 2: Nashville 12, St. Paul 3 (Final, 5 innings) Game 1 Box Score Game 2 Box Score The Saints wrapped up the game from the previous evening and got demolished through five innings of the one scheduled for Saturday before the rain mercifully ended their misery. The Sounds launched four home runs off the St. Paul pitching staff, who surrendered 19 total runs—all of them earned. The only member of the Saints with a notable performance at the plate was top prospect Royce Lewis. Across the two games, Lewis walked five times, stole his fifth base of the season, and drilled his third home run to raise his slash line to .320/.441/.587 with a 6:5 K:BB ratio in 21 games. With Lewis’s sustained elite performance out of the gate, the conversation now turns from “Is he still good?” to “When will he be called up?” While his play has certainly warranted said conversation, the fact of the matter is that he likely won’t appear in a Twins uniform any time soon. There are a few reasons for this, the most important being that the Twins likely want him to get as many reps as possible. Prior to the season, Lewis had not appeared in a game since he dominated the Arizona Fall League in 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as a torn ACL. He’s accumulated only 93 plate appearances thus far since his return, which is a miniscule amount in the grand scheme. Additionally, the Twins—who have won eight of their last nine contests—would have no place to play him regularly. Lewis has only appeared at shortstop and designated hitter for St. Paul and the Twins currently have those positions locked up by Carlos Correa and a bevy of hitters. Lewis could theoretically play in any of the three outfield positions—though he has only ever played six games in the outfield, all in center, during his minor league and fall league career—but as of this writing Trevor Larnach and Max Kepler are crushing baseballs, Alex Kirilloff is on the verge of returning from the IL, and Byron Buxton is the best baseball player on the planet. There just isn’t room for Lewis on the soon-to-be 26-man roster at the moment. Lewis will get his time in the sun, just don’t expect it to be anytime soon, barring catastrophe. Let him rip, let him get comfortable, he’ll be a Major Leaguer soon enough. TJ White hit his fifth homer of the young season. Corey Ray and Mark Mathias each hit their first home runs for Nashville. Brice Turang added a double. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 9, Arkansas 4 Box Score The Wind Surge scored five runs in the first inning to propel them to victory over the Travelers. Matt Wallner smashed two home runs and drove in three runs to lead Wichita offensively. The Forrest Lake native began the season on a freezing cold 3-for-42 streak, but has 10 hits in his last 19 at-bats with three home runs and nine RBI. Wallner possesses the most raw power in the Twins system having hit 27 home runs in 150 minor league games. He’s likely destined to be a designated hitter at the MLB level should he reach that point as his defense in right field remains suspect at best; in many respects, he profiles similar to that of former Twin Brent Rooker. Alex Isola (1-for-3, HR, 3 RBI) and DaShawn Keirsey (1-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI) were the only other Wichita athletes to convert extra base hits. Ben Gross started on the bump for the Wind Surge but was knocked out after three innings. He surrendered four runs—three earned—and issued four walks. Luckily for Wichita, Kody Funderburk, Bryan Sammons, Steven Cruz, and Austin Schulfer shut down the Arkansas offense, striking out 10 and allowing only six runners to reach base. KERNELS NUGGETS Beloit 7, Cedar Rapids 1 Box Score The Kernel’s hot offense was quieted and their pitching was hit relatively hard Saturday night as Cedar Rapids fell convincingly to the Sky Carp. Sawyer Gipson-Long got the start for the Kernels and while he wasn’t at his sharpest, he did perform better than his rather pedestrian stat line (4 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K). The Beloit batters had a difficult time making hard contact against Gipson-Long’s fastball-slider mix with only a handful of balls reaching the outfield. Gipson-Long—one of the most underrated pitching prospects in the Twins system—has posted a 20:3 K:BB ratio to go along with a 2.65 ERA in 17 innings this spring. Aaron Rozek came on in relief for Gipson-Long and pitched uncharacteristically poorly, serving up two home runs in 2 2/3 innings and issuing only his second walk of the season. Tyler Palm pitched the final 1 1/3 innings and allowed only one hit and run. Christian Encarnacion-Strand (2-for-4) and Seth Gray (2-for-4) were the lone Kernels to register multiple hits. Wander Javier (1-for-4, 2B, R) provided the team’s sole extra-base knock. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers vs. Clearwater, Rained Out x2 While the Mighty Mussels games were canceled on Saturday, that didn’t stop the team from announcing some good news. Jordan Balazovic will be making a rehab start for the team on Sunday. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – RHP Sawyer Gipson-Long (Cedar Rapids): 4 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K Hitter of the Day – RF Matt Wallner (Wichita): 3-for-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the current Twins Daily Top 20 performed: #1 - Austin Martin (Wichita) - 1-for-5, R #2 - Royce Lewis (St. Paul) - 2-for-3, HR, RBI, 5 BB, SB #3 - Jose Miranda (St. Paul) - 2-for-6, 2B, RBI #4 - Jordan Balazovic (St. Paul) - IL (Will pitch Sunday for Fort Myers) #5 - Joe Ryan (Minnesota) - Did Not Pitch #6 - Matt Canterino (Wichita) - Did Not Pitch #7 - Jhoan Duran (Minnesota) - 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K #8 - Simeon Woods Richardson - Did Not Pitch #9 - Josh Winder (Minnesota) - Did Not Pitch #10 - Noah Miller (Ft. Myers) - Did Not Play #11 - Gilberto Celestino (Minnesota) - 1-for-4, BB, R #12 - Matt Wallner (Wichita) - 3-for-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI #13 - Cole Sands (Minnesota) - Did Not Pitch #14 - Louie Varland (Wichita) - Did Not Pitch #15 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Ft. Myers) - Did Not Play #16 - Ronny Hendriquez (St. Paul) - Did Not Pitch #17 - Blayne Enlow (Wichita) - IL #18 - Spencer Steer (Wichita) - 1-for-5 #19 - Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 0-for-3, 2 BB #20 - Steve Hajjar (Ft. Myers) - Did Not Pitch SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul vs. Nashville ( PM CST) - RHP Dereck Rodriguez (1-0, 0.77 ERA) Wichita @ Arkansas (1:35 PM CST) - RHP Chris Vallimont (0-2, 12.19 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Beloit (1:05 PM CST) - LHP Cade Povich (1-0, 0.93 ERA) Fort Myers vs. Clearwater (1:00 PM CST) - RHPs Sonny Gray and Jordan Balazovic will be making rehab starts. View full article