Twins Minor League Report (5/16): Buxton Blasts Kernels to Win

All four Minnesota Twins minor league affiliates played on Thursday night. Two of them won in dramatic, walk-off fashion. One was a two-run single, and one was a lot more dramatic than that. One of the other Twins affiliates won with shutout, just the way you write it up: Starter goes seven, dominant reliever with a strong eighth and another dominant reliever with a scoreless ninth inning.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] As of today, the Twins have a new organizational home run leader, so you’ll want to check that out. See, that’s the beauty of following an entire organization. The Twins had an off-day, and yet we are able to follow four games that matter to the organization and likely to most Twins fans.

Rochester Red Wings 6, Durham Bulls 5

Box Score

The Red Wings entered the bottom of 9^th inning down a run. Eric Farris led off with a walk. Doug Bernier came on and was asked to bunt. He got the bunt down and beat the throw to first for a single. Antoan Richardson walked to load the bases. Ray Olmedo came up and knocked in two runs with a single to right to end the game.

Olmedo was 2-5 in the game. Jeff Clement went 1-2 with two walks and his fourth homer. Chris Colabello went 2-3 with a walk and the organization-leading 11^th home run of the year.

Samuel Deduno was very good in his third Red Wings start. Through six innings, he gave up two runs on four hits and a walk. He began the 7^th with his eighth strikeout. However, he then gave up an infield single and a walk. Both runners scored- these runs are credited to Deduno- when Tyler Robertson came in and gave up three straight hits. He was replaced by Dan Turpen who got the final outs on a double play. He gave up an unearned run in the 8^th. Rafael Perez came in, walked two and struck out one in the 9^th inning and he earned his first win of the season.

New Britain Rock Cats 2, Bowie Baysox 8

Box Score

Overall, it wasn’t a very good night for the Rock Cats. Trevor May started and never really found it in this one. He gave up five runs on nine hits in four innings. He walked two and struck out three. He gave up runs in three of the four innings he pitched. Jose Gonzalez came on and gave up four runs on three hits and two walks in 1.1 innings. Bobby Lanigan gave up two hits over the next 1.2 scoreless innings. Michael Tonkin walked one and struck out one in his scoreless inning.

Deibinson Romero went 2-4 with his first double of the year. He had two of the four hits for the Rock Cats. Josmil Pinto walked twice. Danny Ortiz had two outfield assists, one at second base and one at third.

Ft. Myers Miracle 2, Dunedin Blue Jays 0

Box Score

Taylor Rogers was the story in this game. The left-hander worked the first seven innings. He gave up five hits and no runs. He walked one and struck out eight. Cole Johnson came in and struck out two in a scoreless eighth inning. Corey Williams struck out one in a perfect ninth to record the save.

Miguel Sano had an interesting day. He was 1-1 with a walk and was also hit by two pitches. He stole his fifth base. He also committed his 10^th error. Drew Leachman and Aderlin Mejia went 2-4. Angel Morales went 2-4 with his 11^th double. Jonathan Murphy went 2-3 with his third double.

The Miracle improved to 28-10. They are 5.5 games ahead of the second place St. Lucie Mets.

Cedar Rapids Kernels 7, Burlington Bees 6

Box Score

Down 6-3 heading into the bottom of the 9^th, the Kernels had their 6, 7 and 8 hitters due up. Travis Harrison led off by being hit by a pitch. Michael Quesada flew out to the wall in left field. Candido Pimentel doubled Harrison to third base. Tyler Grimes came on to pinch hit; he was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Byron Buxton came up and ended the game with a walk-off grand slam.

Buxton went 2-5 in the game, and in addition to the home run, he stole his 16^th base. Michael Quesada went 2-4 with his first double and his first home run. Pimentel and Jeremias Pineda each hit a double.

It was a rough game for the defense. The Kernels committed three errors. Two of them came in the span of two batters in the sixth inning. Mason Melotakis started and worked the first six innings. He gave up four runs, one of which was earned, on three hits. He walked one and struck out three. Tim Atherton came on and gave up two unearned runs on one hit and one walk in two innings. He struck out four. Manuel Soliman gets the win. He walked one in a scoreless ninth frame.

If you’re near the Twin Cities, you’re just about four hours from getting to see Byron Buxton, Adam Walker and the Kernels. On Friday night, Tyler Duffey will start for the team. These Kernels are 27-12, and four games ahead of Quad Cities in their division.

You wanted video... here you go:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=US&hl=en&client=mv-google&v=ESFtlpmPxT4&feature=youtu.be&nomobile=1

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