Twins Minor League Report (4/14): Wichita Power Surge Leads to Win

TRANSACTIONS

• 1B/OF Joey Gallo was added to the Saints roster on major-league rehab assignment (right intercostal strain).
• RHP Cole Sands was optioned from Minnesota Twins to St. Paul Saints.
• RHP Louie Varland was recalled by the Minnesota Twins.

Saints Sentinel
St. Paul 4, Indianapolis 2
Box Score
Twins fans who watched the Saints got the opportunity to watch major leaguer Joey Gallo play during a rehab assignment. He batted second and played first base for the first seven innings. He went 1-for-3 with a double off the wall in his first at-bat. 

However, there was not much on-base action due to the impressive mound work by both teams. Aaron Sanchez started and almost inexplicably tossed five scoreless innings despite allowing six hits and three walks. He received a lot of help from his infield which turned three double plays behind him. Indianapolis shuffled quickly through their pitching staff, reaching into the bullpen early, but managed to keep the Saints bats quiet through seven innings. 

The Saints kept a steady rotation of players on base in the top of the eighth inning which started with two walks, and ended with three runs on the board. The first came when Chris Williams was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Andrew Stevenson added a two-run single. Just for good measure, the Saints added an insurance run in the top of the ninth inning on a Mark Contreras double. 

The Saints pitching was outstanding. The bullpen was nearly flawless. Cody Laweryson tossed two scoreless innings, and Patrick Murphy pitched a scoreless eighth frame. Brock Stewart gave up two runs but recorded the final three outs to lock down a Saints win.  

Wind Surge Wisdom
Wichita 7, NW Arkansas 4
Box Score 
With an ominous forecast which caused the Wind Surge to postpone their post-game fireworks show, the game started on time. In the bottom of the first, Yoyner Fajardo provided some fireworks with a lead off homer to give Wichita a 1-0 lead. It was a sign of things to come. 

Travis Adams made his second Double-A start on Friday night. He was unable to complete the first inning in his first start, but he was much better in start number two. He completed five innings and gave up two runs on two hits (both solo homers). He struck out seven batters without issuing a walk. 
 
The Surge put distance between themselves and the Naturals in the third inning. Two home runs from Jake Rucker and Yunior Severino with players on base, pushed the Surge ahead 5-1. Alex Isola added his second homer of the season in the fifth inning to give them a 7-2 lead. 

Right-hander Jose Bravo replaced Adams and gave up one run on two hits over 2 2/3 innings. Lefty Kody Funderburk came on and got a strikeout to end the eighth inning. He gave up a run in the ninth, but added two more strikeouts to finish the game. 

Fajardo went 2-for-5 with a double and a homer. DaShawn Keirsey went 2-for-3 with a walk and two stolen bases. Yunior Severino went 2-for-4 with a double and homer.

Kernel Nuggets
Cedar Rapids 4, Quad Cities 6
Box Score 
The Quad City River Bandits scored a run in the first inning, but the Kernels answered in the second inning, tying up the game 1-1 where it stayed until both teams got busy in the fifth inning scoring three runs a piece, tying up the game again. 

Jordan Carr started the game on the mound and provided a solid four innings. He was charged with one run on four hits and a walk. He struck out four batters. Malik Barrington came in and allowed three earned runs to give the River Bandits the lead in the fifth inning. The lead did not last long. In the bottom of the inning, the Kernels answered in like with three runs of their own, to tie up the score. Emmanuel Rodriguez drove in one with a double. Ben Ross and Kala’i Rosario drove in the other runs. 

Unfortunately, in the top of the seventh, Matt Mullenbach gave up a two run homer to put the Kernels behind 7-5. John Stankiewicz got the final seven outs for Cedar Rapids. 

Ben Ross, Noah Cardenas and Willie Joe Garry each had two hits. Garry had a double. 

Mussels Matters
Fort Myers 5, Clearwater 1
Box Score
The Mussels started the game off with a bang. Jorel Ortega led off the first with his first professional home run on the second pitch of the game off Clearwater’s Alex McFarlane. 

The Mussels were aggressive on the base paths throughout the game. In the fourth inning, Mikey Perez, who led the organization with 48 stolen bases a year ago, was hit by a pitch, then stole second and third and scored when Dalton Shuffield hit a line-drive single to right field.

Cory Lewis, the Twins ninth-round pick a year ago out of UC-Santa Barbara, made his second start of the season on Friday night. In his first start, he gave up four runs on six hits, two walks and a hit batter over 4 1/3 innings. He was much better in this game. He didn’t give up a hit until the fourth. Overall, he gave up one run on two hits and a walk over five innings. He struck out eight batters. 

The Mussels bats broke out with a three-run seventh inning. The scoring started with an Ortega line-drive single with the bases loaded which scored Maddux Houghton. That was followed by a walk by minor-league Rule 5 draft pick Yohander Martinez that scored Dalton Shuffield. Finally, Carlos Aguiar drove in Alec Sayre with a sacrifice fly. The Mussels now had a 5-1 lead going into the 7th inning stretch and maintained the lead to end the game.

Hard-throwing Juan Mendez came on and gave up just one hit over two scoreless innings. Gabriel Yanez struck out the side in the eighth inning. He then struck out one more in a perfect ninth inning.  

Ortega, Martinez and Shuffield each had two hits in the game. 

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Aaron Sanchez (St. Paul) - 5 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 2 K
Hitter of the Day – DaShawn Kiersey, Jr.  (Wichita) - 2-for-3, 2 R, 1K, 2 SB. 

PROSPECT SUMMARY
The Twins Prospect Tracker  is the best way to see how each of the Twins top prospects performed during their games; but in case you wanted a quick look, Here is how each of the top 20 performed today: 

#1 - Brooks Lee (Wichita) - Did Not Play 
#2 - Royce Lewis (Minnesota) - Injured List 
#3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 1-5, 2B(1), R, RBI, 3 K
#4 - Marco Raya (Cedar Rapids) - Injured List 
#5 - Edouard Julien (Minnesota) - 0-3, K
#6 - Simeon Woods Richardson (St. Paul) - Did Not Pitch 
#7 - Connor Prielipp (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Pitch 
#8 - Jose Salas (Cedar Rapids) - 1-4, RBI, SB (3)
#9 - Louie Varland (Minnesota) - 6 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 8 K (3 HR)
#10 - Austin Martin (St. Paul) - Injured List 
#11 - Matt Wallner (Minnesota) - 0-0 (defensive replacement in 9th)
#12 - Yasser Mercedes (Extended Spring Training) - 
#13 - David Festa (Wichita) - Did Not Pitch 
#14 - Noah Miller (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not play. 
#15 - Matt Canterino (Wichita) - Injured List 
#16 - Jordan Balazovic (St. Paul) - Did Not Pitch. 
#17 - Ronny Henriquez (Minnesota) - Injured List 
#18 - Tanner Schobel (Cedar Rapids) - 2-5, R, K
#19 - Jose Rodriguez (Extended Spring Training) - 
#20 - Misael Urbina (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Play. 

SATURDAY SCHEDULE AND PITCHING PROBABLES 
St. Paul @ Indianapolis (5:35PM CST) - RHP Simeon Woods Richardson (0-1, 4.91)
Wichita @ NW Arkansas (2:05PM CST) -  LHP Aaron Rozek (first start)
Quad Cities @ Cedar Rapids (1:05PM CST) - RHP Alejandro Hidalgo (first start) 
Fort Myers @ Clearwater (5:30PM CST) - RHP Jose Oliveros (first start) 

Please feel free to ask questions and discuss today’s game!