Twins Minor League Report (8/5): Ryan Gallagher Sits 'Em Down

[Matt Braun]

Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints (photo of Ryan Gallagher)

TRANSACTIONS
No moves were made on Wednesday.

Saints Sentinel
St. Paul 4, Louisville 1
Box Score
Ryan Gallagher: 6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 9 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Kaelen Culpepper (2-for-4, 2 2B, R, 2 RBI), Gabriel Gonzalez (2-for-4)

The Saints breezed to a win on Wednesday.

Don’t look back in anger? Sure. But many Louisville hitters must have stared backwards in angst or frustration. Ryan Gallagher was a menace: the righty whiffed a season-high nine across an also season-high six innings of work, allowing a lone earned run in the process. He earned 12 swing-and-misses over 80 pitches. It was a superlative performance from a hurler who entered the day with an ERA over 6 with St. Paul, and ends it at… 5.99. a  A step in a journey that hopefully has many more like this.

The Saints did need many runs on the day, so the mild four-score (no Lincoln) total they received turned out to be plenty. Kaelen Culpepper started out the day with a double whacked off rehabbing big leaguer Nick Lodolo, and a Gabriel Gonzalez single and Walker Jenkins double play ushered in the first run of the game.

Three empty frames begat a fruitful middle-innings excursion, in which Culpepper once more dropped his barrel on a low Lodolo changeup for a double—this time to plate two. Cody Morissette then smacked a two-bagger the next inning to score the fourth and final run of the day.

Ruddy Gomez, Marco Raya, and Julian Merryweather combined for three scoreless innings out of the bullpen. Merryweather struck out three to earn the save.

The Bats are an affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, who recently called up outfielder Héctor

Rodríguez, a long-time antagonist in these writeups. In his stead, infielder Leo Balcazar, ranked 16th on the team, served as the best prospect on Wednesday. He went 0-4. 

Wind Surge Wisdom
Wichita 7, NW Arkansas 6
Box Score
Sam Armstrong: 5 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
HR: Graham Brown (1)
Multi-hit games: Khadim Diaw (2-for-3, R, 2 BB)

A late surge delivered a win to Wichita on Wednesday.

Down two in the fifth, the Wind Surge decided to run wild. Marek Houston stole, and then stole some more, concluding his odyssey with a safe swipe of third. Then Khadim Diaw walked. Of course he stole second. A wild pitch advanced Houston to the dugout, high-fiving his teammates, while Diaw took third. A Brandon Winokur sacrifice fly plated the trailing Diaw. 

Wichita returned the following inning to plate one more, with Kyle DeBarge doubling and Jay Thomason singling to send the Wind Surge into the lead.

Naturally, NW Arkansas responded with immediate vigor. A lead for all of a deep breath. Three scored on a homer and—like Wichita before them—they tagged on one more run in a follow-up inning.

That could have been the game. Better teams have folded in such a scenario. But Wichita’s batters felt themselves in a vengeful mood—and they struck with a violent, deadly, deciding blow. Three walks fattened the bases. One pitcher gave way to another. Fortune remained displeased. The incoming Zachary Cawyer surrendered one of the free passes before settling in against Graham Brown. He fired a fastball to the outfielder and Brown crushed the offering to center, sending the ball over the fence for a grand slam, his first AA hit.

Drew Beam, the starter for the Naturals on Wednesday, ranks as the 12th-best prospect in the Royals system. He allowed three earned runs in six innings. 

Kernels Nuggets
The Kernels attempted to play but were thwarted by mother nature, who ended matters in the bottom of the 3rd in a 1-1 game. The match will be continued on August 6th. 

Mussel Matters
Fort Myers 4, Bradenton 2
Box Score
Callan Fang: 3 1/3 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Aidan Teel (2-for-4, 2B, R, RBI), Quentin Young (2-for-4, R)

The Mighty Mussels were victorious on Wednesday.

This was not the offensive explosion of Sunday’s match; rather, this time, the Mighty Mussels proved they had finesse, too, and turned six hits and six walks into four runs.

How? Let’s see together. A Quentin Young single, a Charlie Scholvin hit by pitch, and a wild pitch placed two on with one out. Yovanny Duran grounded out to coax Young home. The third continued the shenanigans. With the walks and passed balls and the like. Two free passes set up Aidan Teel with an opportunity to crack the game in half, and he did exactly that, driving in a run with a double mere inches away from a homer. No problem: Bryce Fowler cleaned up the scraps with a two-run single. 

The aforementioned Fowler was an undrafted signee out of the University of Alabama. He literally signed over the past weekend. Perhaps he and Connor Prielipp and Riley Quick can wax mirthfully on the days of Nick Saban in years of yonder. 

Callan Fang tossed a season-high 63 pitches across 3 1/3 innings of work, allowing one earned run. He struck out four and walked three. Michael Hilker netted an old-school save with 2 1/3 frames to end the game, striking out five without allowing a run. Somewhere, Goose Gossage smiles (probably not). 

Bradenton shortstop Wyatt Sanford ranks as the fourth-best prospect in the Pirates’ system. He homered once in four at-bats.

Dominican Daily
The DSL Twins did not play as rain poured down and washed away any possibility of a game.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Ryan Gallagher
Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Graham Brown

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed. Click here to rank your post-trade deadline Top 20 prospects now. 

#1 – Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) - 0-4
#2 – Vahn Lackey (Fort Myers) - 0-2, BB, K
#3 – Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul) - 2-4, 2 2B, R, 2 RBI, 2 K
#5 – Marek Houston (Wichita) - 1-5, R, 2 K
#7 – Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 2-4, BB
#11 – Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 2-4, K
#13 – Carson Tinney (Fort Myers) - 0-3, R, BB, 2 K
#14 – Khadim Diaw (Wichita) - 2-3, R, 2 BB
#15 – Brandon Winokur (Wichita) - 1-4, RBI, K
#17 – Quentin Young (Fort Myers) - 2-4, R, K
#18 – Ryan Gallagher (St. Paul) - 6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 9 K

THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
Louisville @ St. Paul (7:07 PM) - RHP Zebby Matthews
Wichita @ NW Arkansas (7:05 PM) - RHP Ty Langenberg
Cedar Rapids @ South Bend (6:05 PM) - RHP Adrian Bohorquez
Fort Myers @ Bradenton (5:30 PM) - RHP Matt Barr
DSL Nationals @ DSL Twins (10:00 AM) - TBD

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