Twins Minor League Report (9/13): Five-Run Fifth Inning Keeps Wind Surge Playoff Hopes Alive

[Seth Stohs]

Image courtesy of Vanessa Buentello, Wichita Wind Surge

Individually, things can seem minor, but I enjoy following this game and this organization because there is always something to be happy about. 

First, congratulations to Cody Laweryson. He was the Twins 14th round pick in 2019 out of the University of Maine. He has put in his dues in the organization and had a very solid 2025 season. He earned his promotion to the big leagues when Justin Topa went on the Injured List. On Saturday night at Target Field, he made his MLB debut. He gave up a leadoff single, but that was erased by a double play. Another ground out meant that he had a seven-pitch, scoreless first inning in the big leagues. He earned a second inning. In it, he struck out the first two batters before getting a fly out to right field. Two scoreless innings in his big-league debut. Very nice! 

Wichita came into the week two games behind Tulsa for the final spot in the Texas League playoffs. They are helped by the fact that they have the tiebreaker. With their win on Saturday night, Wichita has gone 4-1 this week. But Tulsa won too, and they have gone 3-2 this week. That means that Sunday’s season finale will matter a lot. The Wind Surge need to win, but they also need Arkansas to beat Tulsa to put them in the playoffs. If both of those things don’t happen, the Wind Surge season will be complete. 

TRANSACTIONS
The Kernels activated RHP Xander Hamilton from the 7-Day Injured List. To make room, LHP Dasan Hill was placed on the Development List.  

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 3, Columbus 9
Box Score

One day after ending their 12-game losing streak, the Saints started a new streak with a loss at CHS Field.  

The Saints got on the scoreboard first with two runs in the bottom of the third inning. DaShawn Keirsey led off with a single. With one out, he went to third on a single by Walker Jenkins. Aaron Sabato grounded to third but Keirsey scored on a fielding error. Emmanuel Rodriguez drove in Jenkins with the second run. 

Connor Prielipp made the start for the Saints. He was fantastic through the first three innings. He gave up only a single. However, the fourth inning happened quickly. He gave up a leadoff single. After getting one out, he walked the next two batters to load the bases. Catcher Kody Huff followed with a grand slam, and the Saints were down 4-2. 

Beyond that quick stretch, Prielipp was fantastic. He went five innings and gave up four runs on three hits and three walks. He also had six strikeouts. 

Aaron Rozek came in and gave up five runs on six hits (including 2 homers) over two innings. Brooks Kriske and Noah Davis each threw a scoreless inning. 

The Saints added a run in the sixth inning off of Triston McKenzie. Payton Eeles was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. He went to third on a Jose Miranda single and scored on a Keirsey sacrifice fly. 

Keirsey went 2-for-3 with a walk, a double and the sacrifice fly. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 7, Corpus Christi 5
Box Score 

A five-run fifth inning gave the Wind Surge a 7-3 lead. Were they able to hang on and keep their playoff hopes alive?

Ryan Gallagher made the start. He gave up one run in each of the first three innings. He gave up three runs on five hits over the first four innings. He walked one and had seven strikeouts. 

The Surge got on the scoreboard in the third inning. With one out, Jose Salas hit his fifth homer with the Surge. 

With two outs, Kala’i Rosario and Hendry Mendez hit back-to-back singles. Ricardo Olivar drove in the second run with a single of his own. 

Jump ahead to the fifth inning. With one out, Kaelen Culpepper singled and stole second base. It was his first game back since being hit by a pitch last weekend. With two outs, Mendez walked. Olivar singled to drive in Culpepper and tie the score at 3-3. After a pitching change, Ben Ross and Andrew Cossetti walked. The latter drove in the second run of the inning. With the bases still loaded, Jake Rucker drilled a line drive to right field to clear the bases and give the Surge their 7-3 lead. 

Michael Martinez recorded two outs but gave up one run in the fifth inning. John Stankiewicz got the final out of that inning, but he gave up a single and two walks to load the bases with just one out in the sixth. Kade Bragg came in and got a ground ball, but they just missed a double-play. One batter later the inning was over.

Bragg was huge. He not only got the team out of that sixth inning jam, but he went two more innings without any further damage. 

Kyle Bischoff came on for the ninth inning. He gave up a leadoff single but got two strikeouts and a ground out to end the game. 

Rucker went 2-for-3 and his second triple of the season drove in three huge runs. Olivar went 2-for-5 with two RBI. Hendry Mendez was 2-for-4 with a walk. 

The Wind Surge did their part, but so did Tulas. They won 10-8 at home against Arkansas. 

Both teams play on Sunday. If Tulsa wins or Wichita loses, they make the playoffs, and the Wind Surge go home. If Tulsa loses and Wichita wins, the Surge will head to the playoffs as they have the tiebreaker. 

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids - West Michigan
Box Score

The Midwest League championship series starts on Sunday. The Kernels will play Game 1 in West Michigan.                

PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitter of the Day  
Jake Rucker (Wichita): 2-for-4, 3B(2), 3 RBI. 

Pitcher of the Day 
Kade Bragg (Wichita): 2 2/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, 38 pitches, 24 strikes (63.2%)

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did today.

#1– Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, R, K (played CF)
#2 - Luke Keaschall (Minnesota) - 1-for-4, R, BB (played 2B)
#3 - Kaelen Culpepper (Wichita) - 1-for-4, BB, R, K, SB(10) (played SS)
#5 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 1-for-3, BB, RBI, K (DHd)
#7 - Connor Prielipp (St.Paul) - 5 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, 77 pitches, 49 strikes (63.6%)
#19 - Kyler Fedko (St. Paul) - 0-for-5, K (played LF)

SUNDAY PROBABLES
Columbus @ St. Paul (2:07 PM CT) - LHP Kendry Rojas (1-3, 7.56 ERA)
Wichita @ Corpus Christi (2:05 PM CT) - RHP Sam Armstrong (2-1, 4.55 ERA)
Midwest League Championship Series
Game 1: Cedar Rapids @ West Michigan (2:05 PM CT) - LHP Garrett Horn   

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 65-83
St. Paul Saints: 59-82 (26-42 second half)
Wichita Wind Surge: 76-61 (39-29 second half)
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 72-60 (30-33 second half, reg season complete, beat Beloit in MWLW Division series, playing in Midwest League Championship series))
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 52-73 (25-36 second half, season complete)
FCL Twins: 39-20 (finished 2nd in FCL playoffs)
DSL Twins: 24-32 (season complete)

Please feel free to ask questions about the teams, the rosters, and discuss today’s games, or anything else Twins minor-league related!

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[FlyingFinn]

Blasted! Tulsa was losing but minor league bullpens are... worse than the Twins bullpens. So they made a comeback.

[mrguy]

it's amazing that the wind surge have fought hard enough to make the literal final game be what determines their playoff chances. i hope they make it, but even still, their guys fought hard no matter what happens. all of them deserve some credit for the strides they made this year.

[jmlease1]

Nice to see Prielipp go 5 and throw 77 pitches. I've been on the train that he should be in the MLB bullpen next season, but his performances this year have me wondering again if he can actually start. He's certainly got the stuff, and it would be nice to have a vicious LHP in the rotation...it's going to be interesting to see which way they go. (knowing the Cheap Pohlads, I'm still betting on a payroll under $90M with Lopez & Ryan getting dealt and the fans being told that we should be happy about the $20M the front office gets to spend in the off-season...which opens up a spot for Prielipp in the rotation.)

Glad to see Emma finishing the season in decent form. I'm a little concerned about the power dip this season, but that may just be a result of a bunch of nagging injuries. How to keep him healthy?

Be nice if Wichita made the playoffs. They've done a nice job down there this season, in a variety of ways.

[rdehring]

Will second the above comment about Prielipp.  After only 30 some innings total in professional ball, he is pitching in September.  The box score wasn't great, Seth, but I appreciate your explanation that showed he was fantastic other than a short stretch in the fourth inning.  Don't know what the future holds for this young man, but am excited he will be pitching at Target Field come 2026.  He along with a few others currently in AA and AAA just might be that extra something the Twins need to be competitive in 2026.

Also liked what Jenkins has been doing the past few games as he settles into an every day role at AAA.  Looked a bit deeper at what Mendez has done prior to joining the Twins last month.  See that he is having his best year since rookie ball as a 21 year-old at AA.  Gotta believe he has a nice future with the big club.

 Lets hope for the best for both the Wind Surge and Kernels today.  Found it interesting that both starting pitchers joined the Twins at the trading deadline. 

[Twinsrtheworst]

Will really be pulling for The Surge to make the playoffs.  I know it means so much to those in player development as well as the players. But n AA.