Twins Minor League Report (7/4): Fireworks and Fun on the Diamond

[Ted Schwerzler]

David Festa was in a final prep start before heading to Seattle for the Futures Game, Austin Martin was again in the lineup for St. Paul. With teams playing on The Sandlot's greatest night, there was plenty of excitement to be had throughout the system.

Image courtesy of William Parmeter (photo of Pierson Ohl)

TRANSACTIONS

• OF Carlos Aguiar reinstated from IL by Fort Myers
• OF Francis Florentino played on 7 day IL (left thumb UCL tear) by Fort Myers

SAINTS SENTINEL 
Iowa 3, St. Paul 2
Box Score

It was Dobber Day for the Saints with Randy Dobnak toeing the rubber. He threw four innings allowing three runs on four hits and a pair of walks. He did strike out three batters in the contest, however.

After Cubs prospect Matt Mervis kicked off the scoring with a double in the first inning, Gilberto Celestino launched his second dinger of the season to tie things in the second inning. Edwin Rios then tagged Dobnak for a two-run shot in the fourth inning to give Iowa the lead and end the St. Paul starters day.

Patrick Murphy saw the bases loaded against him during the bottom of the eighth inning but got a strikeout to end the frame. Needing a rally, the Saints came up in the ninth. Caleb Kilian was out for his fifth inning of work, and he had yet to allow a run for Iowa. He got Martin on an excuse-me swing, and St. Paul had just two outs left. Matt Wallner was out on strikes for the third time, and it was down to Trevor Larnach. He blasted a dinger to right field on a big fly, going 446 feet, that made it a 3-2 game, and Celestino needed to play hero. After taking a walk, Chris Williams stepped in. He punched out against Jeremiah Estrada and their would be no spoiler fireworks.

Celestino walked twice while Wallner whiffed three times, but no St. Paul hitter recorded a multi-hit game.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 4, Tulsa 4 (F/11)
Box Score

David Festa was somewhat of an opener this evening as he was limited to just two innings with sights set on working during the Futures Game on Saturday in Seattle. He allowed a run on two hits and two walks, but did strike out three.

Pierson Ohl came on in relief of Festa, and the starter stole the show out of the bullpen. Working four scoreless innings, he gave up just two hits while punching out seven. 

Aaron Sabato kicked off the scoring in the first inning when his single drove home Yoyner Fajardo. Though the Wind Surge gave the run back on a wild pitch in the bottom half, they added again just innings later. In the top of the third inning Fajardo lifted a sacrifice fly to score Will Holland, then an Alex Isola singled brought home Brooks Lee to make it a 3-1 game.

The game appeared in hand as Regi Grace came on for the eighth inning, and he has been sharp all season. Unfortunately a two-run homer by Jose Ramos tied things up. Needing extras to sort this one out, Fajardo singled in Holland during the tenth inning to take a 4-3 lead. Curtis Taylor came on in the bottom half and allowed a run to tie things up. Still on for the 11th, Eddys Leonard singled bringing in Imanol Vargas and Wichita found themselves walked off in the 11th.

Fajardo posted a three-hit night with Lee grabbing two of his own to lead the charge.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 4, Quad Cities 1
Box Score

The Kernels gave Zebby Matthews the Independence Day baseball and he provided them with 5 2/3 innings of one-run baseball. Allowing three hits, he walked one while also striking out five.

Ben Ross opened the scoring during the bottom half of the first inning with his 15th double of the season. Emmanuel Rodriguez scored with the ball being hit to River Town, a person not a place.

Noah Cardenas added another pair of runs on his second home run with the Kernels, also scoring Misael Urbina on the play. After the River Bandits, a team not a person, added in the sixth inning, Ross ripped his 13th home run of the year in the eighth inning to make it a 4-1 game.

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 5, Jupiter 4
Box Score

Fort Myers looked for fireworks behind Andrew Morris today and while he allowed three runs, none of them were earned. The Texas Tech product gave up four hits, allowed no walks, and struck out five.

Kyle Schmidt’s first inning single brought home Ricardo Olivar to kick off the scoring. After Jupiter raced out to a 3-1 lead in the bottom half, the Might Mussels had work to do.

The third inning is where the answer came for Fort Myers as they put up a four-spot. Carson McCusker hit his second home run of the season, bringing home Rubel Cespedes in the process. Maddux Houghton then crushed his third double of the year to score both Schmidt and Gregory Duran. Looking to stretch things to third base, Houghton was thrown out and the inning ended with things knotted up.

In the eighth inning Chase Luttrell doubled for the 15th time this year, and it was enough to bring Houghton home for the game-winning run.

Cespedes was the lone Fort Myers player to record a pair of hits with the team grabbing just seven on the day. Olivar drew a pair of walks.

COMPLEX CHRONICLES
FCL Braves 4, FCL Twins 3
Box Score

The Twins used an opener today in the form of Josh Mitchell , the lefty making his second rehab appearance since his second Tommy John surgery, but Jacob Wosinski worked five innings of bulk relief allowing only one run on two hits. He struck out four and the lone run was a solo shot.

Down 1-0 heading to the seventh, the Twins got their first run when Fredy Michel scored on a wild pitch. Needing to come back from a 4-1 deficit in the ninth inning, the Twins scored two on singles from Harold Grant and Yasser Mercedes.

The rally fell just short however, and Jankel Ortiz was the lone hitter to record a pair of hits today.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Pierson Ohl (Wichita) - 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K
Hitter of the Day – Ben Ross (Cedar Rapids) - 2-4, R, 2 RBI, 2B(15), HR(13), 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) - 2-5, R
#3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 0-3, R, K
#8 - David Festa (Wichita) - 2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
#9 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 0-4, 3 K
#10 - Yasser Mercedes (FCL) - 1-5, RBI
#11 - Austin Martin (St. Paul) - 1-4, 2B
#12 - Jose Salas (Cedar Rapids) - 1-3
#13 - Noah Miller (Cedar Rapids) - 0-2, BB, K
#18 - Jose Rodriguez (FCL) - 0-4, BB, K
#19 - Yunior Severino (Wichita) - 0-1

WEDNEDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Iowa (6:38PM CST) - RHP Aaron Sanchez
Wichita @ Tulsa (6:35PM CST) - RHP Carlos Luna  
Quad Cities @ Cedar Rapids (6:35PM CST) - RHP Jaylen Nowlin
Fort Myers @ Jupiter (5:30PM CST) - RHP Ben Ethridge

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

 

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[AlwaysinModeration]

There is a good book called River Town: https://a.co/d/ghYMi74

[nclahammer]

Awesome report Ted.  Trevor Larnach taking out a video panel with a homerun, is that a modern day equivalent to Bama Howell shattering the Bulova clock high above the rightfield scoreboard at Ebbet's Field in 1946? On a side note, the Bulova company had apparently promised a free watch to any player who could hit their clock, but Howell did not receive his after his blast...an error that was corrected some years later.   Howell finally gets his watch.  This scene is believed to have provided author Bernard Malamud the inspiration to include a similar instance with his character Roy Hobbs in his 1952 novel The Natural, and later in the movie by the same name...Roy Hobbs smashes clock at Wrigley.   Here's another River Town reference for you (great name by the way)...Rivertown Days is coming up later this month in Hastings, MN.   https://rivertowndaysmn.com/

[Dman]

Of the three Kernal's with 12 home runs it looks like Ross is the first to hit 13 tied for 1st in the league with Jace Jung.  Have to say I didn't see this kind of power coming from Ross out of the draft as I figured he would be more of a doubles power guy but if he keeps this up he could have 5 tool potential. There is work to do as he needs to bring his batting average and walk rate up and K rate down but he has time to get there. I would think he has to be exceeding expectations for a first year pro from a smaller school.  I love the power but am finding you need to be well rounded at the plate to succeed all the way up. I hope he reaches his full potential.

E-Rod is also in the top 10 for HR's in that league so you can see the Kernals have a pretty lineup.  Pitching has been very good there as well so they are a tough team to beat.  Hoping to see some of those players move up and see if their skills translate to the higher levels.

[jmlease1]

River Town playing for the River Bandits is simply delightful.

Yay, for Austin Martin being in the lineup. (It's a bit of a bummer to be so happy for someone to just be healthy enough to play, but I still believe in Martin's talent and really hope he's healthy the rest of the year and finishes strong)

Zebby Matthews is one of those pitching prospects I'm still not sure how to rate: he destroyed low A hitters, but has wobbled a bit at high A. Is it better competition showing him up or did he just need time to adjust? It'll be interesting to see if this game is more of a blip or an indicator of him settling in. Only giving up 3 hits is a major improvement on where he's been since promotion, so hopefully he's made some adjustments and can start rolling again.