Twins Minor League Report (5/14): No-No for the Moms!

SAINTS SENTINEL 
Indianapolis 15, St. Paul 3
Box Score

Having worked as a reliever earlier in the year, Jordan Balazovic took the ball to start for St. Paul on Sunday. He went 3 2/3 innings while allowing five runs on four hits. Only three of the runs were earned, however, and he gave up just a single walk while striking out four. He was nearly perfect through the game's first three innings. 

Looking for an early lead, the Saints got on the board in the first when Matt Wallner lifted a sacrifice fly to score Edouard Julien. Mark Contreras continued his hot hitting later in the frame and singled in Kyle Garlick to make it 2-0. A five-run 4th inning for Indianapolis had the Saints looking up at a deficit, but Wallner brought them closer when he hit his fourth homer of the season in the 5th inning.

After Austin Schulfer worked a scoreless 1 1/3 innings, Ronny Henriquez came on for St. Paul. He gave up a run on three hits. The Saints had four innings to crawl out of a three-run hole. Unfortunately, Indianapolis added again in the 7th inning and the deficit was 8-3. Despite loading the bases in the bottom of the 8th inning, St. Paul couldn't push a run across. Whatever slim chance they may have had in the 9th inning was dashed as Indianapolis followed the Twins lead and put up a seven-run frame. All of the runs came against Josh Winder.

Elliot Soto and Edouard Julien struck out before Kyle Garlick grounded out in the bottom half to end the game. Of the seven hits, Contreras was the only one to generate a pair.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Cancelled - Rain

The Wind Surge won all five games of the series against Frisco. Infielder Yunior Severino was named the Minnesota Twins minor league hitter of the week after he batted .444 with four homers.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 2, Quad Cities 0
Box Score

Jordan Carr worked the Sunday matinee for the Kernels, and he was sharp across six innings. Allowing no runs on four hits and two walks, Carr also punched out six batters to lower his season ERA to 2.25.

Both sides were scoreless through four innings, and then Cedar Rapids jumped to a lead. Tanner Schobel recorded his second triple of the year and drove in Emmanuel Rodriguez to make it 1-0. Kala’i Rosario followed with his ninth double of the season, and the Kernels found themselves leaving the frame with a 2-0 lead.

The Kernels wound up with six hits on the day, but the two runs they scored in the 5th inning were all they needed for the win. Rosario was joined by Jeferson Morales with a pair of hits.

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 3, Tampa 0
Box Score

Getting in a morning game for Mother’s Day, Fort Myers turned to Cory Lewis, and he did not disappoint. Working 5 2/3 innings, he didn’t allow a batter to reach while punching out seven. That was just the beginning of an amazing day as A.J. Labas, Gabriel Yanez, and Ben Ethridge took over to complete a combined no-hitter.

The Mighty Mussels scored in the 3rd inning when Jorel Ortega singled in Yohander Martinez. They added in the 5th inning when Andrew Cossetti’s single turned into a throwing error that allowed Martinez a chance to scamper home again. Wrapping up the scoring, Dalton Shuffield and Cossetti swiped bags on a double steal with the former running home on a throwing error.

Fort Myers only got four hits, but when your pitching is as dominant as it was, there was never a doubt. Lewis has been impressive while being an arm that displays a knuckleball but being able to do much more than act as a soft tossing type. The relievers backing him up today held down the Tarpons lineup, and while the combined no-hitter would have been cool, displaying command to lock in a perfect game could have been the icing on the cake. Only a wild pitch on a strikeout allowed a Tampa batter to reach.

Headed to Lakeland this week, Fort Myers will certainly bask in this one a little bit. They finished the series with a sweep. It was their fourth no-hitter across the past three seasons.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Cory Lewis (Fort Myers) - 5.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K
Hitter of the Day – Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 1-3, 2 RBI, HR(4)

PROSPECT SUMMARY
We will again keep tabs on the Twins top prospects. You’ll probably read about them in the team sections, but if they aren’t there, you’ll see how they did here. Here’s a look at how the current Twins Daily Top 20 performed:

#3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 0-3, R, 2 BB, 2 K
#5 - Edouard Julien (St. Paul) - 0-4, R, BB, 3 K
#8 - Jose Salas (Cedar Rapids) - 1-3, K
#9 - Louie Varland (Minnesota) - 6.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 7 K
#11 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 1-3, 2 RBI, HR(4)
#14 - Noah Miller (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4, K
#16 - Jordan Balazovic (St. Paul) - 3.2 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
#17 - Ronny Henriquez (St. Paul) - 1.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, BB
#18 - Tanner Schobel (Cedar Rapids) - 1-4, R, RBI, 3B(2), BB

TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Columbus (6:05PM CST) - TBD
Arkansas @ Wichita (7:05PM CST) - TBD
Peoria @ Cedar Rapids (6:35PM CST) - TBD
Fort Myers @ Lakeland (5:30PM CST) - TBD

Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Sunday’s games!