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The Minnesota Twins were able to avoid the brutal 4-game sweep at home courtesy of their fellow AL Central bottom dwellers, the Chicago White Sox, after a Sam Fuld single in the seventh inning gave them just enough of a cushion for the eventual 4-3 victory. Glen Perkins made it interesting in the ninth, but struck out two to pick up his 25th save of the year. In the minors, a grand slam brought one affiliate a victory, another went into extra innings, and a top pitching prospect made his Midwest League debut.RED WINGS REPORT Indianapolis 3, Rochester 6 Box score Indianapolis scored first and last against the Red Wings in this one, but in between it was all Rochester. Kris Johnson took the mound for the home team, and gave up a couple singles in the first inning to give Indianapolis a 1-0 lead, but after that Johnson was in control until the eighth inning. In five of the six innings in between he faced the minimum, assisted by two double plays. He did not allow a hit from the second inning until the eighth, and for the game went 7.2 innings with three walks and five strikeouts. In the eighth, the Indians managed to string together three singles and two runs before Johnson was replaced by A.J. Achter, who recorded a four out save, his fifth of the year. The Rochester offense was paced by Josmil Pinto, who blasted a fifth inning grand slam to give the Red Wings all the cushion they would need in support of Johnson. It was his fourth home run of the year. Doug Bernier was 3-4 with a run scored, and Danny Ortiz added a solo home run in the sixth inning. ROCK CATS REVIEW Portland 8, New Britain 5 (11 innings) Box Score The Rock Cats scored first in this one, but were unable to score last as the game went into extra innings. In the first inning, a Tony Thomas triple and Eddie Rosario groundout gave them an early 1-0 lead. They then took a 5-1 lead in the fourth after an Aaron Hicks walk, Brandon Waring double, Mike Kvasnicka single, Brad Boyer double, and Jorge Polanco single plated four runs. Unfortunately for New Britain, it was not a lead they were able to hold as Cole Johnson blew the save in the ninth by surrendering a game-tying home run to Keury De La Cruz. Johnson finished the inning and was replaced by Matthew Summers who worked a perfect tenth, before Ryan O’Rourke was knocked around for three runs in the eleventh, and saddled with the loss. Starter Virgil Vazquez pitched seven innings, allowing seven hits and four runs while striking out seven. The offense was led by Jorge Polanco, who went 3-6 with a double and his first AA RBI. Waring was 2-4 with two doubles, Kennys Vargas added a double, and Boyer led the team with two RBI. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 4, Tampa 6 Box Score In his fourth start since being promoted to Fort Myers, Ethan Mildren was again knocked around by Florida State League hitters. In this one it was eleven hits, two walks, and six earned runs allowed in four innings. Mildren did strike out four. After this game his ERA sits at 7.91 in the FSL. B.J. Hermsen pitched three innings of scoreless relief, and Madison Boer finished the game with a scoreless ninth. The Miracle lineup did get home runs from Dalton Hicks (9) and Mike Gonzalez (8), but it wasn’t enough to keep pace with the Yankees. Adam Brett Walker II and Rafael Valera added doubles to the effort, while Byron Buxton was 1-4 with a walk, RBI, and his third stolen base of the year. The home run for Gonzalez extended his hitting streak to eighteen games, a season high for the Miracle. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 4, Dayton 1 Box score The story in this one was the Midwest League debut of Stephen Gonsalves, who was promoted to Cedar Rapids to take over the spot of his 2013 draft-mate, Kohl Stewart, and it also turned into his first MWL win as he was fantastic. The first batter he faced was sent walking back to the dugout via strikeout, as was the last batter he saw to finish the sixth inning. In between, Gonsalves scattered just three singles and one walk, with four additional K’s to hold the Dragons scoreless in his six frames. He also picked off a runner at first base. The Kernels offense didn’t break through until the sixth inning, but did so in loud fashion as J.D. Williams and Logan Wade slugged solo home runs to put them in front 2-0. They added insurance runs in the seventh after a Bryan Haar triple, error, and Williams double scored their final two runs. Brandon Bixler worked two innings in relief of Gonsalves, and allowed the only Dayton run on two hits and a walk. He struck out two. Dallas Gallant struck out two in a perfect ninth inning to pick up his third save of the year. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 7, Johnson City 6 (Suspended) Box Score Elizabethton’s game against rival Johnson City was suspended by rain with one out in the fifth inning, after the Twins had taken the lead with four runs in the frame. Thus far Elizabethton had already pounded out thirteen hits, including multiple hit efforts from Tanner English, Max Murphy, Brian Navarreto, and Austin Diemer. Murphy hit his tenth home run on the season, a solo shot in the third inning, while Navaretto added a triple and Tyler Kuresa doubled. Nick Gordon is 1-3 and was caught stealing for the fourth time. In just 4.1 innings, all batters in the Twins lineup have a hit. Sam Gibbons made the start and lasted just three innings, yielding five earned runs on five hits and three walks. Samuel Clay gave up one run on three hits and a walk in fourth before the postponement. The game is likely to be made up in August when Johnson City comes to Elizabethton, as the Twins travel to Greenville for their game on Monday. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher – Stephen Gonsalves (6.0 IP, 3 H’s, 1 BB, 0 R’s, 6 K’s) Hitter – J.D Williams, Cedar Rapids Kernels (2-3, R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI) MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Indianapolis @ Rochester – Mark Hamburger (2-1, 2.57 ERA), 6:05PM CST New Britain @ Trenton – Pat Dean (7-6, 4.62 ERA), 6:05 CST Clearwater @ Fort Myers – Brett Lee (7-2, 1.92 ERA), 6:05PM CST Cedar Rapids @ Dayton – Aaron Slegers (7-6, 4.49 ERA), 6:00PM CST Greenville @ Elizabethton – TBD, 6:00PM CST GCL Rays @ GCL Twins – TBD, 11:00AM CST DSL D-backs @ DSL Twins – TBD, 9:30AM CST --- Twins took the final game from the White Sox, so you can get a large or extra-large pizza from PapaJohns.com by using the promo code TWINSWIN on Monday. Click here to view the article