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One of the best things about following the minor leaguers every day throughout a season and from year to year has to be seeing improvement of young, talented players. Each year there are players who go from relatively unknown to worth watching. One of those guys this year is Australian right-hander Sam Gibbons. He was on the hill again tonight for Cedar Rapids and put up another strong start.He wasn’t the only story of the night, so continue reading for everything that happened on Saturday in the Twins minor league system. TRANSACTIONS There was just one transaction in the Twins system on Saturday: · To make room for AJ Achter in Rochester, Adrian Salcedo was sent back to Chattanooga.RED WINGS REPORTRochester 5, Scranton/Wilkes Barre 11 Box Score Michael Bowden had an opt-out date on Saturday. He was also scheduled to start. Darren Wolfson tweeted earlier in the day that it sounds like he will not opt-out. On this night, he gave up seven runs (five earned) on eight hits and two walks in 5.2 innings. He struck out six. Cole Johnson came on. He was charged with one run on three hits in 1.1 innings, though he allowed two inherited runners to score as well. Tim Shibuya gave up three runs on three hits in his inning of work. Eric Fryer led the offense. He went 3-4 with his first triple. Xavier Avery went 2-3 with a walk and his third triple. Danny Santana went 2-4 with his eighth double. Danny Ortiz was also 2-4. Oswaldo Arcia came into the game without a hit in his previous 24 at-bats. According to a tweet from Brandon Warne, he was 4-64. He went 0-3 in his first three at-bats on this night, but in the ninth, he hit his 11th Red Wings home run off former All-Star Andrew Bailey. Hopefully it can jump-start something, anything. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 6, Pensacola 10 Box Score Jason Wheeler made the start for the Lookouts. The southpaw went the first 5.1 innings. He gave up five runs on six hits. He walked two and struck out five. He was really hurt by the long ball. He was “taken yard” three times. Alex Wimmers came on and got the next five outs and he was charged with two runs on three hits. DJ Johnson pitched an inning and gave up three runs (two earned) on three hits and a walk. The offense put up some runs, but it just wasn’t enough. Stephen Wickens remained hot. He went 2-5 with his 14th double. Travis Harrison went 2-4 with his fourth triple. Stuart Turner went 1-1 and walked three times. Max Kepler was 1-4 with a walk and his 32nd double. Jorge Polanco, who played shortstop for the second straight game, walked twice and stole his 17th base. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 0, Bradenton 5 Box Score Mat Batts wasn’t his normal self in this start. He gave up four runs on seven hits in just five innings. He walked one and struck out three. Todd Van Steensel came on and gave up one run on one hit in two innings. He struck out two. Tyler Jay pitched a scoreless inning, striking out one. The Miracle offense didn’t show much, as you’d expect when the team gets shut out. Mitch Garver was 1-3 with a walk. Jason Kanzler hit his seventh triple. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 2, Clinton 0 Box Score Sam Gibbons has become one of the most reliable starters on Jake Mauer’s Cedar Rapids Kernels team. On Saturday, he worked eight shutout innings. He allowed the only hit in the fifth inning. He did not walk a batter and he struck out a career-high 12 batters. However, through eight innings neither team had scored a run. In the top of the ninth, Brett Doe knocked his 11th double and drove in Edgar Corcino and TJ White to give the Kernels a 2-0 lead. Mike Theofanopoulos came on and pitched a perfect ninth for the first save of his career. Gibbons improved to 7-3 and reduced his ERA to just 2.72. E-TOWN E-NOTES Elizabethton 3, Pulaski 4 Box Score Onesimo Hernandez was the Appy League Pitcher of the Week last week. This start didn’t go as well for the right-hander. He gave up four runs on nine hits over five innings. He walked one and struck out six. Anthony Mciver came on and struck out four over three shutout innings. He gave up two hits. Daniel Kihle led the offense. He went 2-4 with his seventh double. Jermaine Palacios doubled for the ninth time. Rainis Silva added his fifth double. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 3, GCL Red Sox 8 Box Score The Twins held a 2-1 lead after seven innings, but one of their more reliable relievers had his first really rough outing. Jovani Moran started and threw four shutout innings. He gave up one hit, walked two and struck out four. Moises Gomez came in. He gave up an unearned run on one hit and one walk. Max Cordy threw two shutout innings. Miguel Gonzalez gave up two runs on five hits in his inning. Johan Quezada came on. He gave up four runs on two hits and two walks in just one-third of an inning. Callan Pearce came in, but he gave up the inherited runners and one more run on three hits. Luis Arraez went 2-3 with a walk and his 15th double. He also stole his seventh base. Bryant Hayman hit his second triple. Jorge Andrade went 1-3 with a walk and his 10th stolen base. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Sam Gibbons, Cedar Rapids Kernels Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Travis Harrison, Chattanooga Lookouts SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Scranton/Wilkes Barre (12:05 CST) – LHP Taylor Rogers Tennessee @ Chattanooga (4:15 CST) – LHP David Hurlbut Jupiter @ Ft. Myers (3:05 CST) – LHP Stephen Gonsalves Cedar Rapids @ Clinton (2:00 CST) – RHP Randy LeBlanc Elizabethton @ Greeneville (5:00 CST) – TBD GCL Twins – No Games Scheduled Feel free to leave any questions or comments below Click here to view the article

What a win for the Twins in comeback, walk-off fashion. The story in the minor leagues was the complete game shutout of Sam Gibbons. Very impressive. Also of note, Tyler Duffey leaving the game after just two innings. There may be more to come.All that and more can be found as you work your way through today’s minor league report. First, a little injury update. I ran into Trey Vavra at Target Field tonight. He was in a walking boot. He said that he met with Twins doctors a while ago and then had surgery. He'll be in the boot for another three weeks before heading off to Florida to begin rehab. He was clearly disappointed but remains very positive. Looking forward to just being able to play. However, his 2015 season, at least the minor league season, is done. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 4, Syracuse 10 Box Score The Red Wings scored some runs, but unfortunately, this one got out of hand early. Not too early though. Tyler Duffey started. He gave up one run on three hits and a walk in two innings. He struck out five. However, it is intriguing that he left the game after just two innings and 36 pitches. I’m sure we’ll learn more soon. The Twins did not announce anything following their win. In Rochester, manager Mike Quade was "cryptic" to Rochester Democrat and Chronicle beat writer Kevin Oklobzija following the game. Speculation remains that he could be joining the Twins, but there has been nothing to confirm that at this time. Logan Darnell came on to replace Duffey. He gave up six runs on eight hits over three innings. Alex Meyer threw two scoreless innings with four strikeouts, but he left after loading the bases to start his third inning, the eighth. He thought he had a strikeout then and argued with the ump. Manager Mike Quade stood up for his pitcher and was ejected. Cole Johnson came on. He gave up two hits in that inning, allowing Meyer's three runners to score, but gave up no runs of his own over the final two innings. He struck out two. James Beresford went 3-4. Reynado Rodriguez went 2-4 with his 26th double. Xavier Avery was 1-17 in his first four games with the Red Wings. He was moved from the leadoff spot to sixth in the order. .He went 3-4. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 1, Pensacola 8 Box Score The Lookouts had just one hit through seven innings and by then, they were already down big. David Hurlbut started. The lefty gave up five runs (four earned) on 11 hits in 4.2 innings. He walked one and struck out three. Alex Wimmers came on and went the next 1.1 innings. He gave up three runs on three hits. He walked two and struck out two. Adrian Salcedo returned from his 80-game suspension. He walked one in a scoreless inning. Jorge Polanco played his first game with the Lookouts since June 9. He drove in the team’s run on a single. He drove in Stephen Wickens who had walked. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers, Daytona Box Score This game was postponed by rain. The teams will try to play a doubleheader on Sunday. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 7, Kane County 0 Box Score The story in this game was the pitching performance of 21-year-old Australian right-hander Sam Gibbons. He went all nine innings and did not allow a run. You may call that a complete game shutout, if you like! In fact, he gave up just four hits, walked one and struck out a season-high nine batters. The outing increased his consecutive scoreless innings streak to 21.2 innings. Alex Real led the way. He went 2-4 with two doubles. He has seven on the year. Rafael Valera went 2-4. Tanner English hit his 16th double. Nick Gordon had a single and walked once. E-TOWN E-NOTES Elizabethton 12, Burlington 5 Box Score Terry Ryan is on his way to Elizabethton to check out the E-Twins. Hopefully he can see several games like this one. Dereck Rodriguez improved to 4-1 on the season. He gave up four runs, albeit just one was earned, though the error was his own, on four hits and two walks in six innings. He struck out seven. CK Irby pitched the final three innings to pick up his second save. He gave up one run on three hits. He struck out four. The Twins had 12 runs on 12 hits and five walks. Burlington also committed four errors to help. Jermaine Palacios continues to impress. After going 3-5 in his Appy League debut on Friday night, he went 3-5 again on Saturday. He added his first double. Chris Paul also went 3-5. Daniel Kihle went 2-3 with a walk and his second triple. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins, GCL Red Sox Box Score Game postponed due to wet grounds. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Sam Gibbons, Cedar Rapids Kernels Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Jermaine Palacios, Elizabethton Twins SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Syracuse @ Rochester (12:35 CST) – LHP Pat Dean Chattanooga @ Jackson (6:05 CST) – TBD Ft. Myers @ Daytona (DH @ 3:05 CST) – RHP Aaron Slegers, TBD Cedar Rapids @ Kane County (1:00 CST) – LHP Luke Westphal Burlington @ Elizabethton (5:00 CST) – TBD GCL Twins – No Game Scheduled Feel free to leave any questions or comments below Click here to view the article