Article: Twins Minor League Report (6/20): Bats Power Rock Cats Win

[Seth Stohs]

The Twins blew a ninth inning lead, but Brian Dozier made a huge play with his glove and followed it with a game-winning, walk off single (after replay, of course).

 

A night after the Elizabethton Twins opened their 2014 season, the GCL Twins season began. Ft. Myers' game in St. Lucie was postponed by rain, so Saturday will be a full day for Twins minor league baseball. There are eight games now scheduled for Saturday. We'll be sure to update you later tonight on what happened. So, for right now, enjoy what happened in the Twins farm system Friday:

 

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RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 3, Buffalo 5

Box Score

 

Kris Johnson was terrific through the game’s first innings. He held Buffalo scoreless. However, he was charged with three runs in the seventh inning before being removed with two outs. Johnson went 6.2 innings and gave up three runs on seven hits and three walks. Ryan Pressly came on and got the next three outs. Then he allowed two runs on one hit and three walks. AJ Achter came in and walked in a run before getting the final out.

 

Chris Colabello got the game going in the right direction for the Red Wings. He hit a two-run homer in the first inning, his second with the team. Doug Bernier went 2-4. Josmil Pinto was 0-1, but he walked three times.

 

ROCK CATS REVIEW

New Britain 10, Reading 8

Box Score

 

The Rock Cats used the long ball to help power them to a win. All nine Rock Cats starters had at least one hit in the game. Eddie Rosario went 3-5 with his fourth double. Nate Hanson remained hot, going 2-4 with a walk. Kyle Knudson went 2-4. Brandon Waring gave the team an early lead with his sixth home run. Reynaldo Rodriguez hit his 11^th homer and Mike Kvasnicka hit his fourth homer in the seventh inning. The Fightin Phils had just tied the game at six in the top of the inning before those home runs.

 

Taylor Rogers pitched well. He went 6.2 innings. He was charged with five runs, but four were unearned due to an error by Eddie Rosario (at second base). Rogers gave up nine hits, walked three and struck out three. Dan Turpen gave up a run on two hits and got just two outs. Ryan O’Rourke came on and struck out the two batters he faced. Matt Summers got the ninth inning. He gave up two runs on two hits and a walk.

 

MIRACLE MATTERS

Ft. Myers @ St. Lucie

Box Score

 

The game was postponed by rain and will be made up as part of a doubleheader on Saturday.

 

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 4, Kane County 6

Box Score

 

The Kernels grabbed a two run lead in the top of the first on a Mitch Garver two-run homer. Single runs by Kane County in the first, second, fourth and fifth innings had the team down by two. However, the Kernels tied the game with two runs in the sixth inning. Unfortunately, the Cougars scored two in the bottom of the 8^th and held on for the win.

 

Lewis Thorpe made his first start of the second half. He gave up three runs on seven hits and a walk in four innings while striking out two. Chris Mazza came on and gave up a run on two hits in two innings. He struck out three. Brandon Bixler gave up two runs on three hits and a walk in two innings to take the loss.

 

Engelb Vielma led the offense. He was 2-3 with a walk and his ninth double. Bryan Haar went 2-4. Garver had a walk to go with his eighth home run.

 

 

E-TWINS E-NOTES

Elizabethton 6, Greeneville 4

Box Score

 

Greeneville took a 2-0 lead in the first, but the E-Twins clawed their way back. A three run eighth inning gave them a lead they were able to hold on to.

 

Sam Gibbons made the start. He went four innings and gave up two runs on six hits. He walked two and struck out three. Dereck Rodriguez came on and worked three scoreless innings. He gave up just two hits, walked none and struck out one. Sam Clay came on for the eighth. He got two outs, but he gave up two runs on two hits and two walks. CK Irby came on and got the final out of the eighth inning and three outs in the ninth for the save. He walked two and struck out three.

 

Jeremias Pineda, rehabbing from a hamate injury, went 2-3 with two walks and two stolen bases. He could return to Cedar Rapids soon. Max Murphy and Brett Doe each went 2-4 with a walk. After going 4-5 in his professional debut on Thursday night, Nick Gordon went 0-5 in his second game.

 

GCL TWINS TAKES

GCL Twins 4, GCL Red Sox 6

Box Score

 

Dubal Baez went 3-4 with a double and a stolen base. Frank Encarnacion was 2-4 with a stolen base. Amaurys Minier, playing left field, added a double. Joel Polanco also had a double. Logan Wade went 0-3 on a rehab appearance.

 

Onesimo Hernandez started and gave up three runs on four hits and three walks in just two innings. He was replaced by Mat Batts. The lefty was charged with the loss, though he pitched well. He gave up only an unearned run on one hit in three innings. He struck out two. Zach Hayden came in and walked the two batters he faced. Both came around to score. Seth Wagner replaced him and went two innings. He gave up just two hits and no runs. Callan Pearce have up one hit, and struck out two, in a scoreless inning.

 

 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Dereck Rodriguez, Elizabethton Twins

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Eddie Rosario, New Britain Rock Cats

 

SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Rochester @ Buffalo (DH @ 4:35 CST) – Trevor May, Scott Diamond (Listen)

Reading @ New Britain (5:35 CST) – Jason Wheeler (Listen)

Ft. Myers @ St. Lucie (DH @ 3:00 CST) – Tim Shibuya, Matt Tomshaw (Listen)

Cedar Rapids @ Kane County (6:30 CST) – Ryan Eades (Listen)

Elizabethton @ Greeneville (5:00 CST) – Chih-Wei Hu (Listen)

GCL Red Sox @ GCL Twins (9:00am CST) – TBD

 

 

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

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A quick reminder:

 

Thanks to the Twins win over the White Sox on Friday, it means that on Saturday you can get 50% off a Large of Extra Large pizza when you use the “TWINSWIN” promotion code atPapaJohns.com.

 

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