The Minnesota Twins exploded for six runs in the top of the tenth inning after they squandered three early game runs and beat the Kansas City Royals. Jordan Schafer continues to hit the ball well for the Twins, and had three more hits on Thursday against Kansas City.

Down in the Minor Leagues the season is entering the final weekend, let's take a look at the Affiliates.

Red Wings Report

Rochester 6, Syracuse 3

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The Red Wings took the lead late (in the seventh) to defeat the Syracuse Chiefs and are now just two games out of the Wild Card spot with four games to control. The Wings control their own postseason fate and could squeeze in a spot with wins in their final four games (two against Buffalo, and finishing up the season with a pair against Wild Card leading Pawtucket).

Virgil Vasquez, one of Rochester's most reliable starters, lasted only four innings. Vasquez gave up five hits, four walks, two earned runs and he struck out five. Vasquez turned things over to Logan Darnell, making a rare appearance out of the bullpen, and gave the Wings 3.2 innings of 1-hit baseball. The one hit went over the fence for a solo home run, but with Rochester scoring five runs between the sixth and eighth innings, Darnell picked up the W. Stephen Pryor pitched a scoreless inning, and Michael Tonkin earned a one out save to close out the victory.

Pedro Florimon led the way for the Red Wings, he was 3-4 with a run scored, a triple, and three RBI. Chris Herrmann hit a home run for the second night in the row and finished 2-4. Chris Rahl, making his first start since an early August DL trip, was 2-4 as well.

Rock Cats Review

New Britain 5, Binghamton 3

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Jason Wheeler pitched seven innings of one run baseball and had nothing to show for it after Edgar Ibarra gave up two runs in the bottom of the eighth and left Wheeler with a no decision. Wheeler struck out four, walked one, and gave up his only run on a solo home run in the first inning. Ibarra, despite blowing the save, earned the win when he Rock Cats scored three runs in the top of the ninth. Ibarra pitched two innings, gave up two runs, struck out two and walked one.

The Rock Cats used a slew of singles to score those runs in the ninth, with RBIs coming from Mike Gonzales, Reynaldo Rodriguez and Tony Thomas as part of four consecutive singles for New Britain. Other than those four ninth inning hits, the Rock Cats had just six hits in the first eight innings. Eddie Rosario, headed to the Arizona Fall League in a couple of weeks, was 0-4 with a strike out and is hitting just .234/.277/.378 in 75 games in New Britain. In addition to his ninth inning RBI, Tony Thomas had two more RBIs, including a solo home run in the second inning.

Miracle Matters

The Fort Myers and Jupiter were rained out and the game will be made up on Friday as part of a double header.

Kernels Nuggets

Cane County 3, Cedar Rapids 2

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Having already clinched a postseason birth, the Kernels fell in regulation to the best team in the Midwest League, The Kane County Cougars (89-47). Chih-Wei Hu gave up three first inning runs, all earned, but hung on to pitch four innings. He struck out five, walked three, and scattered four hits. Hudson Boyd pitched three scoreless innings of relief and Chris Mazza pitched the final two innings and struck out five.

The Kernels went into the ninth inning down by two runs, and despite a late rally, could only plate one run and lost 3-2. The Kernels were paced by Jonatan Hinojosa who was 3-4 with a walk and a strike out. Tanner Vavra had two hits, including a double.

E-Twins E-Notes

Kingsport 6, Elizabethton 13

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Kingsport chased starter Derrick Penilla after three innings. Penilla gave up five runs, all earned, on eight hits. He struck out four and walked none. Zach Tillery pitched three innings in relief, giving up one run, no walks, and he struck out two. Kuo Hua Low pitched two scoreless innings and was the beneficiary of a nine-run inning from the Twins and he picked up his third win of the year. Keaton Steele pitched the ninth to finish the game.

The Twins scored 13 runs on 15 hits, including five for extra bases. Nick Gordon led the way with a 3-5 night. He had a triple, four RBI and no strike outs. Will Hurt (GREAT baseball name) was 3-5 with a run scored. Trey Vavra, Tyler Mautner, and Austin Diemer also all had multi-hit nights. Mautner had a big night with both of his hits going for extra bases with a double and a solo home run.

GCL Twins Takes

GCL Twins 1, GCL Rays 3

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The GCL Twins were in a hole from the beginning and could not string together enough timely hitting (1-8 with runners in scoring position) to steal a win from the Rays. The Twins used only two pitchers, Alexis Tapia, who pitched five innings and gave up three runs, and Miles Nordgren who pitched three innings of scoreless relief.

Joel Polanco was the only Twins player with multiple hits, he was 2-4 with a run scored and two strike outs. Jake Barrie had the Twins' only extra base hit, a double, and Dubal Baez had their only walk.

TwinsDaily Minor League Hitter and Pitcher of the Day

TwinsDaily Hitter of the Day - Pedro Florimon, Rochester

TwinsDaily Pitcher of the Day - Jason Wheeler, New Britain

Friday's Probables

Buffalo @ Rochester (6:15pm) - Sean Gilmartin

New Hampshire @ New Britain (6:05) - Pat Dean

Jupiter @ Fort Myers (4:00, Game 2 to follow) - TBD, TBD

Kane County @ Cedar Rapids (6:35) - Mat Batts

Kingsport @ Elizabethton - TBD