Twins Minor League Report (5/21): Royce Lewis Homers in St. Paul, JP Smith Homers Twice for Fort Myers

[Seth Stohs]

Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints

TRANSACTIONS   
Henry Kusiak was assigned to the Saints from Fort Myers.
LHP Michael Carpenter’s rehab will continue with the Mussels.
Catcher Enrique Jimenez was activated from the IL and joined the Mighty Mussels.
OF Merphy Hernandez was promoted from the FCL to Fort Myers.  

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 3, Omaha 11 
Box Score
Royce Lewis reported to the Saints, and he was right in the middle of the lineup right away. He also contributed offensively right away. 

Down 1-0 going to the bottom of the first, Kaelen Culpepper led off the first inning with an infield single. With one out, Lewis stepped to the plate and launched a ball 34 degrees and 104 mph. It went 368 feet, well beyond the fencing in left-center field to give the Saints a 2-1 lead. 

As you might guess based on the score, there weren’t many highlights for the Saints. Hendry Mendez led off the bottom of the sixth inning with his second homer since joining the team recently. He hit the ball 103.5 mph at 27 degrees. It landed 398 feet from home plate. 

The Saints had just six hits. No one had more than one. Hendry Mendez was 1-for-3 with a walk and a homer. He’s hitting .360 with an OPS of .965. 

John Klein started for the Saints. He gave up two runs on three hits and a walk over 3 1/3 innings. He struck out five batters. C.J. Culpepper was charged with two runs on three hits (including a homer) over 1 2/3 innings. Trent Baker gave up two runs on two hits and a walk in an inning. Kody Funderburk gave up three runs on four hits in his inning. Raul Brito gave up two runs on four hits over the final two innings. He struck out three batters. 

Ricardo Olivar made his Saints debut. He batted eighth and caught. He went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. 

Check out one of our sister sites, Royals Keep, for more on the Kansas City Royals organization. Here are their Top 20 Royals prospects. 

Recent articles on current or recent Saints:
Ryan Kreidler Might Be (a Lot?) More Than Just Depth for the Twins.
The Twins Simply Don’t Believe in Outfield Prospect Kyler Fedko.
Kyler Fedko Goes Nuclear (Again)
What Must Matt Wallner Prove at Triple-A Before Returning to Minnesota?
Who is Alex Jackson, and What Can He Bring to the Twins?
Patience Now Could Pay Off Big for Twins and Kaelen Culpepper.
How Zebby Matthews Reworked His Arsenal at Triple-A.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 4, Tulsa 6 
Box Score

Down 6-1 going to the seventh inning, the Wind Surge attempted to come back but they fell short. 

Jose Olivares went the first three innings. He gave up two runs on five hits and had four strikeouts. Darren Bowen gave up two runs on three hits over two innings. William Fleming gave up two runs on four hits and a walk in his two innings. He struck out three batters. Luis Quinones gave up a hit and walked two batters but wiggled out of an inning without giving up a run. Kyle Bischoff worked a scoreless ninth frame. 

The Surge offense was helped by some wild Driller pitching. They had six hits and seven walks in the game. Kyle DeBarge went 3-for-5 with his sixth double and sixth home run. 

Caleb Roberts went 1-for-2 with two walks. Billy Amick also walked twice. Maddux Houghton added a two-run triple.   

Recent Twins Daily content on Wichita players: 
(Video) Eyes on (Eli) Jones 

KERNELS CHRONICLE 
Cedar Rapids 6, Peoria 9                                                                                                                                                                                Box Score

Not a good day for the Kernels, but several hitters had strong showings. 

Jason Doktorczyk started and gave up five runs on three hits. In 3 1/3 innings, he hit two batters, walked four and had four strikeouts. Adam Falinski gave up one run on one hit on four hits over 1 2/3 innings. Brian Zeldin made his High-A debut and was charged with two runs on one hit. In 1 1/3 innings, He walked five batters and had three strikeouts. Sam Rochard gave up one run on one hit (a homer) in 1 2/3 innings. He hit one batter, walked two and had three strikeouts. 

The Kernels scored six runs. They had 11 hits and walked four batters. They were a solid 4-for-14 (.286) with runners in scoring position and left eight on base. 

Khadim Diaw went 3-for-4 with a walk and his ninth double. Quinn McDaniel made his Kernels debut and went 3-for-4. Brandon Winokur went 2-for-5. 

Recent Twins Daily articles on Kernels players:
Who are the Twins’ Next Top 100 Prospects?
Eduardo Tait’s Early Season Performance and What It Means for his Long-Term Projection.
Twins Prospect Hot Sheet: Dasan Hill is En Fuego.
(VIDEO) Yasser Mercedes Hot Start Leads to Promotion 

MIGHTY MATTERS
Game 1: Ft. Myers 10, Dunedin 8 (8 innings)
Box Score  
This was a game in which innings included runs scored in crooked numbers or zeroes.

The Mussels scored two runs in the first inning on a two-run homer by JP Smith II that drove in Ramiro Dominguez who reached on his ninth double. 

In the top of the second, Byron Chourio doubled to drive in Ryan Sprock with the third run. One batter later, Dameury Pena singled in Chourio to make it 4-The Jays scored two in the bottom of the second. Fast-forward to the bottom of the fifth when the Jays scored four runs to take a two-run lead.  

Michael Carpenter started the game for Fort Myers. The southpaw gave up one run on three hits and a walk in 1 1/3 innings. Reed Moring came on and worked the next three innings. He gave up two runs on four hits and struck out for batters. Jonathan Stevens came in and gave up three runs on four hits and a walk in 1 2/3 innings. He entered with a 4-3 lead and left with the team down 6-4 going to the top of the seventh inning. 

Chourio led off the top of the seventh inning with a single. Dameury Pena came to the plate, but he hit into a double play to end that threat. Down to their final out, Enrique Jimenez walked. Ramiro Dominguez came up and knocked his fifth home run, a two-run blast that tied the game at 6-6. 

In the top of the eighth inning, JP Smith was the Manfred Man. Jayson Bass walked. After a wild pitch, Ryan Sprock singled to drive in Smith with the go-ahead run. After a pitching change, a groundout and a strikeout left runners on second and third. Chourio picked up his teammates and came through with a two-run single. Dameury Pena followed with a triple to make it 10-6. 

Brent Francisco, who threw a scoreless seventh, came back out for the eighth inning. He allowed the Manfred Man and one more run to score but held on for the win. 

Chourio went 3-for-4 with his second double and three RBI. Pena went 3-for-5 with his second triple and two runs.Smith went 2-for-3 with a walk and his fourth homer. Ramiro Dominguez went 2-for-4 with his ninth double and fifth home run.  

The Dunedin Blue Jays are the Low-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Check out our sister site at Jays Centre. Here are their rankings of the Top 20 Blue Jays prospects. Dunedin’s starter in this game was Silvano Hechavarria, making a rehab start. He ranks 16th. 

Game 2: Ft. Myers 3, Dunedin 4
Box Score  
Matthew Dalquist has done a nice job as a starter for the Mussels. On Thursday night, he gave up one run on two hits over five innings. He struck out four and walked none. Dylan Questad worked the sixth inning and gave up one run on one hit. He walked two and had two strikeouts. 

With one out in the fifth inning, Quentin Young doubled. Murphy Hernandez followed with a single that moved Young to third. Hernandez stole second. Young scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Bryan Acuna to tie the game at 1-1. Hernandez scored on a single by Dameury Pena. 

In the top of the sixth inning, JP Smith II homered to make it 3-1. It was his second homer of the day and fifth of the season. 

The Mussels held a 3-2 lead going into the bottom of the seventh. Xavier Kolhosser came on and gave up two runs on three hits and recorded just one out to take the loss. 

Fort Myers had just six hits and two walks. Beyond Smith’s homer, Irvin Nunez hit his first double, and Acuna added his third double. 

Blaine Bullard was the Jays 12th round pick last year. The 19-year-old went 5-for-8 with two doubles in the doubleheader. 

Recent Twins Daily articles on Fort Myers players: 
(VIDEO) Quentin Young Turning Corner 

COMPLEX CHRONICLE
FCL Twins 0, FCL Pirates 6
Box Score  
Yordi Jose started and went the first four innings. The 19-year-old gave up two runs on four hits. He hit a batter, walked three and had six strikeouts. He had three wild pitches and balked twice.  Matthew DesMarets came in and gave up four runs on five hits over the final two innings. He walked none and struck out four batters. He threw two wild pitches. 

The Twins managed just three hits in the game and added six walks. Jhomnardo Reyes walked twice. Ricardo Paez hit his first triple of the season. 

PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitter of the Day  
JP Smith (Fort Myers): 3-for-6, BB, 2 HR(5), 3 R, 3 RBI, 2 K (doubleheader)

Pitcher of the Day 
Matt Dalquist (Fort Myers): 5 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 4 K, 61 pitches, 44 strikes (72.1%)

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

#1 - OF Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) - 7 Day Injured List (left shoulder)
#2 - IF Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, R, K (batted first, played SS)
#3 - OF Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 7 Day Injured List (thumb) - Had surgery.
#4 - LHP Connor Prielipp (Minnesota) - Did Not Pitch.
#5 - C Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, BB, K (batted third, catcher). 
#6 - LHP Dasan Hill (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Pitch.  
#7 - SS Marek Houston (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-5, RBI, 2 K, SB(9) (batted first, played SS)
#8 - RHP Riley Quick (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Pitch.
#9 - LHP Kendry Rojas (Minnesota) - Did Not Pitch.
#10 - OF Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - Did Not Play. 
#11 - RHP Charlee Soto (Cedar Rapids) - Injured List
#12 - RHP Andrew Morris (Minnesota) - Did Not Pitch.                                       
#13 - OF Hendry Mendez (St. Paul) - 1-for-3, BB, HR(2), R, RBI (batted second, played LF)
#14 - 3B/SS Quentin Young (Ft. Myers) - 1-for-2, BB, 2B(5), R, K (batted seventh, played SS) 
#15 - 3B/CF Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-5, CS(3) (batted first, played 3B)
#16 - RHP Ryan Gallagher (St. Paul) - Did Not Pitch.
#17 - RHP C.J. Culpepper (St. Paul) - 1.2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 35 pitches, 22 strikes (62.9%)
#18 - RHP James Ellwanger (Ft. Myers) - 60 Day Injured List (right elbow sprain)
#19 - C/OF Khadim Diaw (Cedar Rapids) - 3-for-4, BB, 2B(9), 2 R (batted fifth, DH)
#20 - 2B/SS/CF Kyle DeBarge (Wichita) - 3-for-5, 2B(6), HR(6), R, RBI (batted first, played SS)

UPCOMING PROBABLES
Friday, May 22:
Omaha @ St. Paul (6:37 pm CT) - RHP Ryan Gallagher (0-1, 7.80 ERA)
Tulsa @ Wichita (6:35 pm CT) - RHP Sam Armstrong (1-3, 4.40 ERA)
Cedar Rapids @ Peoria (6:35 pm CT) - LHP Dasan Hill (1-3, 5.47 ERA)
Ft. Myers @ Dunedin (5:30 pm CT) - TBD
FCL Red Sox @ FCL Twins (11:00 am CT) - TBD  

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 23-27
St. Paul Saints: 24-23
Wichita Wind Surge: 19-22
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 23-19
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 24-18
FCL Twins: 7-7
DSL Twins: 0-0 (season begins Monday, June 1) 

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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