Twins Minor League Report (9/18): Down to Final Strike, Saints Top Guardians Triple-A Squad

[Seth Stohs]

Image courtesy of Rob Thompson (photo of Kala'i Rosario)

TRANSACTIONS  
The Twins placed OF Trevor Larnach on the Injured List. The corresponding move is OF Alan Roden returning to the Twins. 

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 4, Columbus 3
Box Score
Occasionally you will hear a Baseball Guy say that the hardest out to get is the 27th. And something that’s true even if you have 26 outs and two strikes. More on that later. 

The Saints got the scoring started in the top of the second inning when Cody Morissette hit his 17th home run of the season to make it 1-0.   

Kendry Rojas started for the Saints, and by design, he went two innings. He gave up one hit and walked one, but he gave up no runs. He also struck out three batters. 

Alejandro Hidalgo gave up one hit but struck out three batters in a scoreless inning. Ryan Gallagher came on and gave up just one run on three hits and two walks over four innings. 

Tied at 1-1 through five innings, the Saints reclaimed the lead in the top of the sixth inning. Aaron Sabato hit a one-out single. Then with two outs Kala’i Rosario doubled him in to make it 2-1. 

In the bottom of the eighth, Garrett Acton took over for Gallagher. However, things didn’t go great for him. The first batter he faced, Kody Huff, led off with his 23rd homer of the season to make it 2-2. Blake Perkins followed with a triple, and he scored on a Dom Nunez sacrifice fly that gave the Guardians Triple-A affiliate the 3-2 lead. 

But things started well for the Saints in the top of the ninth. Matt Wallner and Kala’i Rosario started the innings with singles. Morissette came up and grounded into a force out which left runners on first and third. Tristan Gray came up and lined out to shortstop for the second out.

That brought Jake Rucker to the plate. The first pitch was a called strike at 99.3 mph. The second pitch was 98.8 mph and Rucker was able to just tip it. Down to the final strike, Carlos Hernandez tried to sneak one more fastball by Rucker. On 0-2, Rucker lined a 98.7 mph drive to left field. Wallner scored, and Morissette scored from first to give the Saints a 4-3 lead.   

Marco Raya came in for the bottom of the ninth. He got a groundout before issuing a walk. With Kyle Manzardo batting, Raya got ahead 1-2 before a changeup was grounded up the middle. Tristan Gray fielded it, stepped on second base and threw to first base to end the game. 

The Saints scored their four runs on eight hits and two walks. Rosario went 3-for-4 with his fifth double and an RBI. Hendry Mendez was 1-for-2 with two walks and his 13th double. Morissette’s homer was his 17th signing joining the Saints. Rucker’s double was his second with the Saints this year.  

The Saints named Aaron Sabato their team MVP for 2026.   

PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitter(s) of the Day 
Kala’i Rosario (St. Paul): 3-for-4, 2B(5), 1 RBI.  

Pitcher(s) of the Day
Kendry Rojas (St. Paul): 2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 39 pitches, 26 strikes (66.7%) 

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our Twins Top 20 prospects. See how they performed.

#1 - OF Walker Jenkins (Minnesota) - 3-for-4, HR(3), R, RBI (batting eighth, playing CF)   

#6 - OF Emmanuel Rodriguez (Minnesota) - 0-for-4, 3 K (batting sixth, played LF, robbed a homer)   

#7 - OF Hendry Mendez (St. Paul) - 1-for-2, 2 BB, 2B(13) (batted second, played DH)
#9 - 1B/OF Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 0-for-4 (batted first, played LF)
#15 - RHP Ryan Gallagher (St. Paul) - 4 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, WP, 75 pitches, 50 strikes (66.7%).

UPCOMING PROBABLES
Saturday, September 19
St. Paul @Columbus (6:05 pm CT) - Jack Anderson (5-6, 4.84 ERA) 

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 72-82 (Final Game 9/27)
St. Paul Saints: 82-65 (Final Game (9/20)
Wichita Wind Surge: 55-81 (Season Complete)
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 48-82 (Season Complete)
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 68-60 (Season Complete)
FCL Twins: 33-26 (Season Complete)
DSL Twins: 19-35 (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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[Danchat]

I wonder if we'll see Gallagher next season... not sure he sticks as a starter. Speaking of which, it wasn't a great season for Rojas with his health inferring at multiple points. He's clearly a MLB-level talent, but he can he pitch in bulk? Or do we pull the lever and unleash him as a reliever with top tier stuff?

I've not been impressed with Acton, I imagine he gets DFA'd at the end of the year. Not sure why he got another shot in the majors over Raya.

[old nurse]

1 hour ago, Danchat said:

 

I've not been impressed with Acton, I imagine he gets DFA'd at the end of the year. Not sure why he got another shot in the majors over Raya.

Tuning for a better draft pick?