Article: Twins Minor League Report (5/18): Mauer Ejected, Streaks End

[Seth Stohs]

Though the Minnesota Twins fell back to .500 with a 6-2 loss on Sunday to Felix Hernandez and the Seattle Mariners, it wasn’t all bad news in the Twins organization. In fact, all four Twins full-season affiliates won their games. Three lefties led the highest level teams to victory while the Cedar Rapid Kernels had to come back to end their big losing streak.

 

TRANSACTIONS

 

Following the Twins game, OF/C Chris Herrmann was promoted back up to the Twins while reliever Michael Tonkin was sent back to Rochester. The move gives manager Ron Gardenhire an extra bat on the bench this coming week while playing in National League ballparks. In the ten days that Herrmann was in Rochester, he hit .400 (14-35) with three doubles, a triple and a home run. Tonkin, meanwhile, had a 5.84 ERA in 12.1 innings with the Twins.

 

Download attachment: KrisJohnson2.JPG

 

Let’s look at the goings on in the Twins system:

 

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 2, Toledo 1

Box Score

 

Last week, when the Twins decided to option Oswaldo Arcia, it was likely because he had not yet been able to play more than two games in a row without a set back with his wrist injury. Since then, he has now played in seven straight games. In the last four, he has six hits. On Sunday, he went 2-4 with a double and his third home run. In other words, he finally appears to be healed and ready to return to the big league club.

 

James Beresford went 2-4. Josh Willingham was in the lineup, batting fifth and serving as the Red Wings DH. He went 0-2 with two strikeouts. He was also hit by a pitch.

 

Kris Johnson continues to pitch well in the International League. Last year’s IL ERA leader went six innings and gave up only an unearned run. He gave up four hits, walked two and struck out seven. Ryan Pressly recorded his first professional save. He gave up three hits over three scoreless innings. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out four.

 

It was the sixth straight win for the Red Wings. It was also their ninth straight win at home at Frontier Field.

 

ROCK CATS REVIEW

New Britain 5, Harrisburg 3

Box Score

 

Taylor Rogers has been pitching very well the last month. On Sunday, he posted his fifth straight quality start. For the first time, he completed seven innings. He gave up three runs on eight hits. He walked one and struck out four. He recorded a win for the fourth straight start. You may recall, in April, he went 0-3 with a 9.33 ERA. In May, he is now 4-0 with a 2.49 ERA.

 

Cole Johnson gave up one hit and two walks, but also struck out three in two scoreless innings. It was his third save and he reduced his ERA to 1.23.

 

Kennys Vargas went 2-4 with his tenth double, eighth home run and three RBI. Tony Thomas was 2-4 with his second triple. Mike Kvasnicka was 2-4 with his fifth double. Reynaldo Rodriguez went hitless, snapping his 13 game hitting streak.

 

MIRACLE MATTERS

Ft. Myers 10, Daytona 1

Box Score

 

Brett Lee made his first start for the Miracle since April 30, and the Miracle got a big blast in a blowout win.

 

Lee worked the first five innings and gave up only an unearned run. He allowed four hits, walked none and struck out six. Tyler Jones came on and threw 2.1 scoreless frames. He gave up one hit, walked two and struck out four. Steve Gruver recorded the final five outs, two on strikouts.

 

Jorge Polanco had a first-inning error that allowed the unearned run to score. It was hit 14^th error of the year. However, he also went 3-5 with his ninth double of the season to extend his hitting streak to 15 games.

 

Travis Harrison went 1-3 with a walk. Niko Goodrum was 2-4 with a walk. Adam Walker was also 2-4 with five RBI. He came to the plate in the 7^th inning with the bases loaded and uncoiled for a grand slam. It was his seventh homer of the season and his second grand slam in the past four games.

 

 

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 7, Burlington 6

Box Score

 

The Kernels fell behind early. Down 4-0 after three innings, and 5-2 after five innings, the Kernels scored three in the top of the 6^th inning to tie the score at five. In the 7^th inning, Jake Mauer was ejected from the game, so he didn’t get to see the ninth inning when his team scored two runs and held on for the one-run win. The win snapped their eight game losing streak.

 

Ethan Mildren started and gave up five runs in the first five innings. The Bees scored in four of the five innings. He gave up nine hits, walked one and struck out five. Derrick Penilla came on and gave up just one hit over three scoreless innings. He struck out four. Todd Van Steensel came in for the ninth. He gave up a solo home run, but he struck out two to record the first save of his professional career.

 

The Kernels got six hits from their top two hitters. JD Williams was 3-5 with his fourth and fifth doubles. Tanner Vavra was also 3-5 and doubled for the eighth time this season. Bo Altobelli went 2-5. All nine Kernels’ hitters had at least one hit. Bryan Haar (6), Mitch Garver (11), Michael Quesada (5) and Joel Licon (3) each added a double.

 

 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Kris Johnson, Rochester Red Wings

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Kennys Vargas, New Britain Rock Cats

 

MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Toledo @ Rochester (6:05 CT) – Trevor May (Listen)

Richmond @ New Britain (5:35 CT) – Tyler Duffey (Listen)

Daytona @ Ft. Myers (9:35 am CT) – JO Berrios (Listen)

Beloit @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 CT) – Josue Montanez (Listen)

 

 

Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Sunday games.

 

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