Twins Minor League Report (6/7): Camargo Continues to Clobber for Saints

[Ted Schwerzler]

The St. Paul Saints have scored a bunch of runs the past two nights and Jair Camargo has been in the middle of it. Another big game for him tonight earns some added recognition, and Jordan Carr was perfect in relief for Fort Myers. Check out all the action within.

Image courtesy of Courtesy: Rob Thompson

SAINTS SENTINEL 
St. Paul 11, Iowa 6
Box Score

Toby Gardenhire had Aaron Sanchez on the mound and he was cruising until running into trouble during the fourth inning. He wound up working 3 2/3 innings giving up four runs on four hits and three walks. Sanchez also struck out five.

After the Cubs put a run on the board in the first inning, St. Paul answered with two of their own. Edouard Julien clubbed his 12th double of the season and drove in Jose Miranda. Chris Williams then kept up with his hot hitting and singled to bring Julien across the plate.

Homering for the second night in a row, Jair Camargo blasted his seventh of the season for a third inning, three-run shot that scored Matt Wallner and Williams. Iowa clawed back with three in the fourth inning, but St. Paul’s lead remained intact.

After Iowa took a 6-5 lead in the top of the sixth inning, St. Paul got right back to work. Miranda drew a bases loaded walk to bring home Tony Wolters, and Matt Wallner took a hit by pitch to plate Alex De Goti. The Saints had regained the lead without putting a ball in play. On a fly ball double-play from Julien, Stevenson raced home and made it an 8-6 lead.

For the second time on the evening Camargo went deep, another solo shot, this one putting St. Paul up 9-6 in the seventh inning. Then Miranda continued his solid night with a two-run single that scored both Wolters and De Goti.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
San Antonio 10, Wichita 3
Box Score

Aaron Rozek started tonight’s game for the Wind Surge but he was chased early after a tough outing lasting just 2 2/3 innings. Giving up eight hits led to seven runs (six earned). Command was a bit of an issue as well with three walks and just a single strikeout.

San Antonio got on the board first with two runs in the second inning, and then they exploded for a five-spot in the third inning. Adding another in the fourth inning, Wichita was down eight before putting anything up for themselves.

Finally in the eighth inning the Wind Surge broke through. Will Holland singled in Yoyner Fajardo, and although it was just one run, baby steps were taken. Quickly washed away in the bottom half, Wichita saw San Antonio add another pair to create a larger divide. They did answer with a ninth inning rally and it was nice to see them go down fighting.

First Aaron Sabato singled to bring Brooks Lee home, then Fajardo plated Jake Rucker with a single of his own. Down to their final out, Alex Isola reached on a throwing error that gave Sabato a chance to come home and make it a 10-4 game. Holland popped out in the next at bat though, and that was all she wrote for the good guys.

Holland did have a pair of hits on the night, and his two were almost half of the five total for Wichita. It was a tough showing going up against 10 runs on 14 hits for San Antonio.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Dayton 2, Cedar Rapids 1
Box Score

The Kernels went with Mike Paredes on the bump tonight. He worked four innings while allowing two runs on three hits and a walk. The Cedar Rapids pitcher did strike out three on the evening.

Paredes saw Dayton jump out to a first inning lead when Edwin Arroyo clubbed a two-run shot. That’s where he’d strand Dayton during his outing however, and it was up to Cedar Rapids looking for an answer.

Andrew Cossetti got the Kernels on the board with a ground out in the second inning. Misael Urbina came across the plate to halve the lead and bring Cedar Rapids back within one. Unfortunately the offense then stalled out and despite Jordan Carr keeping Dayton scoreless in relief, it wasn’t enough to secure the victory. Carr was amazing however, allowing no baserunners and punching out seven.

Noah Miller was the lone batter to record a pair of hits on the day.

MUSSEL MATTERS
Clearwater 7, Fort Myers 2
Box Score

C.J. Culpepper was the starter tonight for Fort Myers, and he worked four solid innings. Dancing around six hits, Culpepper gave up two runs (only one earned), while striking out six and walking just one.

Clearwater put a run on the board during the second inning before adding another in the third inning on a wild pitch. Then in the fifth inning they answered again, this time with a pair, and it was a 4-0 game.

Before the Mighty Mussels could find a way to push anything across, Clearwater struck again. With two more runs coming home during the sixth inning, clawing back was getting more unlikely. The second wild pitch of the game made it a 7-0 deficit and it wasn’t until the seventh inning that Fort Myers got on the board.

With Jorel Ortega on base, Danny De Andrade hit an inside-the-park homer for his third dinger of the season. Clearwater still led by five but the Mighty Mussels had finally shown signs of life. They couldn’t do anything to keep it rolling though and ultimately fell for the second night in a row.

De Andrade put up a three-hit effort, but was the lone player with multiple in that category.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Jordan Carr (Cedar Rapids) - 4.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K
Hitter of the Day – Jair Camargo (St. Paul) - 2-5, 2 R, 4 RBI, 2 HR(8), K

PROSPECT SUMMARY
We will again keep tabs on the Twins top prospects. You’ll probably read about them in the team sections, but if they aren’t there, you’ll see how they did here. Here’s a look at how the current Twins Daily Top 20 performed:

#1 - Brooks Lee (Wichita) - 0-3, R, BB, 2 K
#2 - Royce Lewis (Minnesota) - 1-4, RBI, K
#4 - Edouard Julien (St. Paul) - 2-4, R, 2 RBI, 2B(12), K
#9 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 2-4, R, RBI, 2 K
#12 - Jose Salas (Cedar Rapids) - 0-2, 2 BB, K
#13 - Noah Miller (Cedar Rapids) - 2-4
#19 - Yunior Severino (Wichita) - 0-4, K

THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
Iowa @ St. Paul (5:37PM CST) - RHP Randy Dobnak
Wichita @ San Antonio (7:05PM CST) - RHP Travis Adams  
Cedar Rapids @ Dayton (6:05PM CST) - RHP Cory Lewis
Clearwater @ Fort Myers (6:00PM CST) - TBD

Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Wednesday’s games!

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[FlyingFinn]

The Saints are a fun team, as most people thought they would be this year. Seems like all the hitters are hot right now, especially Wallner, Miranda, Julien and Camargo.

[D.C Twins]

Domo Arigato.... the end is near for Mr. Sabato

[mikelink45]

Aaron Sanchez is in line for a DFA if they promote any younger pitchers.  Julien and Wallner should be in Minneapolis for the powerhouse lineup that continues to shine with 0-1-2 runs a game.  Can't the FO see the difference between Kepler and Wallner?  So frustrating.  Even Larnach could be replaced by Wallner.  

[Seth Stohs]

46 minutes ago, mikelink45 said:

Aaron Sanchez is in line for a DFA if they promote any younger pitchers.  Julien and Wallner should be in Minneapolis for the powerhouse lineup that continues to shine with 0-1-2 runs a game.  Can't the FO see the difference between Kepler and Wallner?  So frustrating.  Even Larnach could be replaced by Wallner.  

Sanchez isn't on the 40-man roster. 

[mikelink45]

6 minutes ago, Seth Stohs said:

Sanchez isn't on the 40-man roster. 

I did not mean that - I see a minor league DFA - he is still blocking if there are pitchers ready to rise. 

[Dman]

That Saints lineup is a mini MLB club when it comes to hitters.  MIrnada, Wallner, Jullian and Contreras have all seen some time in the majors already and Williams, Camargo and Stevenson bring good bats as well.  Not to mention Wolters can be a tough out when isn't dinged up.  Has to be tough for any team to keep all those bats down all the way through a game.   Once they get Martin, Helman and Celestino back there will be even more talent there.

With Varland and Ober gone outside of Headrick and Balazovich in small doses the pitching at AAA has been sub optimal or else that team would be even harder to beat.

No shortage of talent at the AAA level right now and there are a few guys at AA knocking on the door as well in Severino, Keirsey, Fajardo and maybe later in the year Lee.  Enlow looks ready for AAA and if Festa can turn things around later in the year he might ready as well.  So things are going to get scrunched for roster space at AAA at some point.  

I will say it is a lot more fun watching the Saints than Twins these days.  I hope that changes but it seems unlikely.

[MangLitch]

#FreeMattWallner.... Guy is raking and our offensive juggernaut of a Twins team is just letting him sit there because Kepler is so valuable. I think we can take the defensive risk here. 

[Ted Schwerzler]

11 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

The Saints are a fun team, as most people thought they would be this year. Seems like all the hitters are hot right now, especially Wallner, Miranda, Julien and Camargo.

Miranda maybe only the past couple of days though...he needs some sustained success.

[ashbury]

31 minutes ago, Ted Schwerzler said:

Miranda maybe only the past couple of days though...he needs some sustained success.

If I cherry-pick exactly the right way, I can come up with his 8 most recent games at .936 OPS.  Not quite sustained, as yet.  But more than a couple.

But, expand to 11 games or shrink to 6 and it's hard to keep calling the numbers a success, with OPS down in the .700s and at AAA so the major league equivalent would be worse.  Like I said, I cherry picked.

[FlyingFinn]

38 minutes ago, Ted Schwerzler said:

Miranda maybe only the past couple of days though...he needs some sustained success.

5 multi-hit games out of the last 8 for Miranda so this is more than a 2 day streak.

[jkcarew]

I like me some Danny De Andrade. 730 OPS in that league is not bad at all. He’s 19, and he’s a short stop.

Any reports on his defense at short?