Article: Twins Minor League Report (5/1): Kernels No-Hit, But Buck Is Back

[Seth Stohs]

It was an interesting Friday night in the Twins organization. The big league club got a great start from Kyle Gibson to beat the White Sox. The Lookouts’ bats got rolling. The Miracle and Kernels’ bats did not get going. In fact, one of those teams was involved in a no-hitter. As important to the Twins as anything, Byron Buxton remained on fire, collecting three more hits in the game.

 

Continue reading below to find out everything that happened in the organization on Friday.(NOTE - The Weekly Leaderboard will return next week. In the next days, we'll be posting our Twins Daily Minor League Hitter, Starting Pitcher and Relief Pitcher of the Month of April.)

 

TRANSACTIONS

 

There were several transactions in the Minnesota Twins minor leagues on Friday, but the biggest came following the Twins 1-0 win over the Chicago White Sox. Ricky Nolasco is scheduled to start on Saturday, so he and Brian Duensing were reinstated from the disabled list. To make room, the Twins optioned lefties Tommy Milone and Caleb Thielbar.

 

Earlier in the day, the Twins had played RHP Tim Stauffer on the disabled list with a strained right intercostal muscle. He was replaced by Ryan Pressly.

 

Tim Shibuya was promoted from Ft. Myers to Chattanooga to take the roster spot vacated by the suspended Adrian Salcedo.

 

Outfielder Zach Granite was promoted to the Miracle. J.J. Fernandez was activated from the disabled list and back in the Kernels lineup.

 

Keep up with the Twins minor league transactions here.

 

 

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 3, Norfolk 4

Box Score

 

Lefty Pat Dean, who posted a 0.90 ERA in three April starts, was back on the mound for the Red Wings on this night. He gave up a run in the first inning, but then he put up zeroes until the sixth inning. In all, he gave up four earned runs on 11 hits in 7.1 innings. He walked one and struck out one. A.J. Achter came in with a runner on and one out in the eighth inning, but he got a double play to get out of that inning and then worked a quiet ninth inning. He struck out two in 1.2 scoreless innings.

 

Unfortunately, the Red Wings were not able to muster enough offense to win this one and fell 4-3. Josmil Pinto hit his second home run of the season, a two-run shot. The other run scored on a wild pitch. The Red Wings had just five hits in the game. The only other extra base hit was Danny Ortiz’s third double.

 

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 7, Jacksonville 3

Box Score

 

Let’s start out with this… Byron Buxton is Back!! The talented outfielder struggled mightily to start the season .Through April 22, 50 at-bats, he was hitting just .180. He had nine hits and four of them came in just one game. He had four walks to go with 14 strikeouts. Manager Doug Mientkiewicz gave him the next two games off to clear his head. On Friday night, Buxton went 3-4 with a double. In the seven games since he sat, Buxton has gone 11-26 (.408) with a double, triple and a home run. As important, in those seven games, he has six walks and just one strikeout. Sure, it’s just a week, but it’s certainly encouraging. His batting average is up to .263 for the season.

 

The Lookouts had several bats that came to play on this night. Jorge Polanco went 2-4 with his fourth double. Travis Harrison went 2-4 with his seventh double. Adam Brett Walker was also 2-4. Dalton Hicks and Stuart Turner each doubled. Levi Michael added a triple.

 

Tyler Duffey made the start for the team. The right-hander went the first seven innings. He gave up three runs on just four hits. He walked two and struck out four. Tim Shibuya made his first Double-A appearance after a strong April in Ft. Myers. He walked one and struck out three over two, one-hit innings.

 

MIRACLE MATTERS

Ft. Myers 1, Charlotte 2

Box Score

 

The positive… Zach Granite made his Florida State debut. He left Cedar Rapids with a ten-game hitting streak. He had a single in the game to extend the now two-league, two-team streak. Niko Goodrum went 2-2 with two walks. Alex Swim went 2-3 with a walk. He scored the team’s lone run. After he doubled, a Jason Kanzler singled plated him. That was it for the offense.

 

Ethan Mildren falls to 0-3 despite giving up just two runs over five innings. He gave up seven hits, walked two and struck out two. Brandon Peterson continued his dominance of the Florida State League. He struck out four in two scoreless innings. He walked one. Brian Gilbert struck out two and walked one in a scoreless frame.

 

 

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 0, Clinton 2

Box Score

 

Daniel Missaki came into this game with an 0-1 record, a 4.84 ERA and 27 hits allowed in 22.1 innings pitched. The 19-year-old found a way to keep the Kernels’ bats quiet, even hitless through seven innings. The only blemish was a two-out walk to Trey Vavra in the seventh inning. He was replaced in the eighth inning by Kody Kerski who threw a 1-2-3 inning. Troy Scott came on for the ninth inning. He walked Tanner English with two outs, but he struck out Nick Gordon to end the game and complete the no-hitter. The Kernels struck out 10 times.

 

Clinton, an affiliate of the Seattle Mariners, found a way to keep Stephen Gonsalves from beating them. All it took was throwing a no-hitter against his team. I wonder if other teams will try that strategy. The Kernels have scored a total of just seven runs over their last seven games.

 

Gonsalves was good. The lefty gave up two runs on five hits, a walk and a hit batter. He struck out eight. One of the hits was a solo homer off the bat of left fielder Estarlyn Morales. Mike Theofanopoulos struck out one over the final two innings without allowing a base runner.

 

 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

 

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Stephen Gonsalves, Cedar Rapids Kernels

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Byron Buxton, Chattanooga Lookouts

 

 

SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

 

Norfolk @ Rochester (12:35 CST) – LHP Taylor Rogers

Jacksonville @ Chattanooga (6:15 CST) – RHP J.O. Berrios

Ft. Myers @ Charlotte (5:30 CST) – RHP Ryan Eades

Clinton @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 CST) – RHP Michael Cederoth

 

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

 

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[Sweetwater]

But I thought Buxton was overrated based on less than one month of at bats and missing all of last year!

[clutterheart]

Gonsalves has 56 inning pitched at low A with 74 SO and 13 walks.

 

I expect the org moves him up soon.

[Seth Stohs]

I don't think he'll be in Cedar Rapids more than another start or two, obviously depending on how it goes.

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

Gonsalves has 56 inning pitched at low A with 74 SO and 13 walks.

I expect the org moves him up soon.

wow.. that puts it in perspective. They cannot hit him.

[TNTwinsFan]

Just bought tickets to see Berrios and the Bunch take on Jackson tonight! If I can take my focus off the game long enough, I will try to post an in-game thread tonight to keep folks updated.

[nytwinsfan]

Buxton seems absolutely locked in the last 7-8 games. Not sure what the "adjustments" were that Doug Mientkiewicz made around then, but boy are they working.

 

[HitInAPinch]

At this stage of his development, I really like the fact that Buxton is drawing walks.  Give him another 20-30 games at AA and he's ready for the jump to AAA.  Maybe MLB??

[HitInAPinch]

How's Aaron Hicks looking?  Is he getting it figured out or is he still having problems with the switch hitting thing?

[Seth Stohs]

 

How's Aaron Hicks looking?  Is he getting it figured out or is he still having problems with the switch hitting thing?

 

Based on numbers, he's looking really good. Switch-hitting will likely always be a thing. He'll likely have somewhat noticeable splits, but he can be good.