Twins Minor League Report (6/16): Kernels Clinch Playoff Spot

It was a full day in the Twins minor league system on Friday, but there were some really exciting games as well. It seems so early, but Cedar Rapids clinched another playoff spot and the Midwest League's first-half West Division title. The Saints needed extra innings but still crushed in Louisville, Likewise, the Wins Surge got some big hits late in the game. Fort Myers did not have a good game, but the FCL Twins had a strong showing and a top 20 prospect hit a pretty massive home run. And there was a five-hit game in the Dominican. Read all about it and more. 

Win-Loss Records 
St. Paul Saints: 39-27
Wichita Wind Surge: 26-34
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 36-25
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 32-29
FCL Twins: 5-4
DSL Twins: 2-7

Let’s get to the report. As always, please feel free to discuss and ask questions. 

TRANSACTIONS
Following their game, the Twins announced that left Brent Headrick was being called up to the Twins. Josh Winder has been optioned to St. Paul. 
Cedar Rapids placed LHP Jordan Carr on the IL with left elbow inflammation.
OF Willie Joe Garry was activated from the Cedar Rapids Injured List.
RHP Ricky Mineo and C.J. Culpepper was activated from the Development List (which he was on for one day)
. 

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 8, Louisville 3 (10 innings)
Box Score
Hard to imagine that this game was tied at 1-1 at the end of nine innings. However, the Saints scored seven runs in the top of the 10th to grab an “easy” extra-innings win. They are now 5-1 in extra-inning games. 

The Saints got on the scoreboard first with a Matt Wallner opposite field solo home run. And the Bats got their run in the fifth inning when Joey Votto was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. 

Alright, let’s get to the good stuff, the top of the 10th inning. Elliot Soto began the inning as the Manfred Man. He advanced to third base on a ground out. Mark Contreras pinch-hit for the rehabbing Gilberto Celestino and drilled a triple which allowed Soto to walk in from third. Next, Trevor Larnach singled in Contreras. That was followed by a double by Jose Miranda. With runners on second and third, Matt Wallner was intentionally walked to load the bases. But that brought red-hot Chris Williams to the plate. He lined a single to left that drove in two more runs to make it 5-1 Saints. But that wasn’t it. With a new pitcher, Jair Camargo walked to reload the bases. Then Anthony Prato drove in two runs with a single to center. Then Soto singled to score Camargo and end the Saints scoring. They gave up two runs in the bottom of the 10th, but no worries.

Kenta Maeda made another rehab start. He was charged with one run on two hits. In his 4 1/3 innings, he walked four and struck four batters out. Kody Funderburk got the next five outs, two on strikeouts. Austin Brice worked a scoreless inning. Patrick Murphy struck out two batters over the eighth and ninth innings. He recorded the Win and improved to 5-0 and has given up just one run over his past 21 2/3 innings. Alex Scherff gave up two runs (1 earned) in the 10th inning, but he also struck out three batters in his Triple-A debut. 

The Saints had 10 hits and eight walks in the game, but until the 10th inning, they struggled to score. Larnach and Prato went 2-for-5. Wallner was 1-2 with three walks and his eighth homer.  

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 8,Midland 5
Box Score
This was really a back-and-forth game, but the Wind Surge scored three runs in the top of the ninth inning to give them their margin of victory. 

The top of the Wichita lineup continued to produce. DaShawn Keirsey is now hitting .323 after going 2-for-5. Brooks Lee went 2-for-5 with his system-leading 23rd double. Yoyner Fajardo went 2-for-5 and drove in three runs, two in the ninth inning.

David Festa made the start on the mound. He gave up four runs on six hits and two walks over 4 1/3 innings. He struck out seven batters. Hunter McMahon was fantastic. He got all eight batters he faced out, three on strikeouts. Francis Peguero gave up the game-tying run in the bottom of the eighth inning. With the lead, Regi Grace got the ninth inning and recorded his first Double-A save. 

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 3, South Bend 1
Box Score
The Kernels got strong pitching from Marco Raya and Zebby Matthews, and just enough offense to win the game. Cedar Rapids has been a Twins affiliate since 2012, and every year they have made the playoffs. That streak will continue as the win clinched the first-half title for the Kernels. Congratulations to Brian Dinkelman, his staff and players. 

Raya made the start and again worked three innings. He gave up one run on two hits. He also struck out six batters without a walk. Coming off of his first bad appearance of the season, Matthews came in and tossed six shutout innings. He gave up five hits, struck out four and also did not walk a batter. He was credited with his first High-A Win.

Down 1-0 going to the bottom of the fourth, Misael Urbina doubled to score Noah Miller and tie the game. Urbina then scored on a single by Jose Salas to give them a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Noah Cardenas gave them a little insurance in the eighth inning when he singled to score Emmanuel Rodriguez for the team’s third run. 

Urbina led the way. He went 2-for-3 with his seventh and eighth doubles. Salas was also 2-for-3. Rodriguez walked and doubled in the game. Twins 2022 11th round pick Brandon Birdsell, who didn’t sign with the Twins, opting to spend another year at Texas Tech, took the loss in the game for the Cubs.  

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 1, Bradenton 6
Box Score
The Mussels were unable to muster a run until they scored a single run in the top of the ninth inning, but that certainly wasn’t enough on this night. 

Fort Myers had just five hits in this game, and 2022 sixth-round pick Jorel Ortega had three of them, including his 22nd double. Rubel Cespedes added his ninth double of the seasons nd drove in the lone run. 

Jose Olivares gave up four runs on just two hits over 4 1/3 innings in the start. He was hurt by the four walks, but he also notched seven strikeouts. Danny Moreno came in to finish the fifth inning, but before he got two outs, he allowed an inherited runner and two more runs to score. Ricky Mineo returned to action and struck out two in a scoreless inning. Jackson Hicks finished with two scoreless innings. 

COMPLEX THOUGHTS from FLORIDA
FCL Twins 12, FCL Red Sox 11 (7 innings)
Box Score
Man, I heard this was a wild one!  And to think, it only went seven innings. The Red Sox scored two in the second inning. They busted out for six in the fourth and three more in the fifth. 

After four innings, the Twins were down 8-3, but they scored four runs in the fifth, two in the sixth and three in the top of the seventh to take the lead. The hero? Jose Rodriguez hit a three-run homer to give the Twins the lead, and eventually the win. 

Let’s start with the good news, the offense. Anderson Nova went 2-for-2 with two walks and his first two doubles of the season. Jose Rodriguez went 2-for-3 with a walk and his first home run of the year. Bryan Acuna went 2-for-4 with two RBI. Isaac Pena added a double.  

On the mound, Brayan Medina started. In 3 1/3 innings, he gave up seven runs (6 earned) on seven hits and two walks. He struck out one. Yon Landaeta got the final two outs of the fourth inning, but not before both of Medina’s runners scored and he gave up a run of his own. Cleiber Maldonado gave up three runs on three hits and a walk over 1 2/3 innings. Finally, Matt Gabbert came on and got the final for outs, three of them on strikeouts. 

COMPLEX THOUGHTS from BOCA CHICA
DSL Twins 12, DSL Brewers (1) 1
Box Score
The Twins Dominican Complex team scored five in the first inning and then scored in six of the first seven innings to earn a lopsided win from the now 6-3 Brewers squad. 

The hitting star was infielder (DH in this game) Dameury Pena. He went 5-for-6 with two doubles and three RBI in the game. He is now hitting .467 (1.051) on the young season. Catcher Jesus Peraza went 3-for-5 with his first double of the season. Juan Hernandez went 2-for-5 with his first double as well. Ariel Castro led off and went 1-for-3 with a walk, a triple, three runs scored and two driven in.  

Miguel Cordero started and gave up just one hit over four scoreless innings. He walked four and struck out six batters. Joel Garcia gave up one run on three hits and two walks over three innings. He recorded the Win and struck out five batters. Juan Cota and Eider Machuca each struck out two batters in a scoreless inning. 

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Zebby Matthews (Cedar Rapids) - 6 IP, 5H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, 71 pitches, 52 strikes.
Hitter of the Day – Dameury Pena (DSL Twins) - 5-for-6, 2-2B(3), 2 R, 3 RBI, SB (3)

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on the new Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Wednesday.

#1 - Brooks Lee (Wichita) - 2-for-5, 2B(23), R, RBI, K
#2 - Royce Lewis (Minnesota) - 0-for-3, BB, K
#3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-3, BB, 2B(4), R.  
#4 - Edouard Julien (Minnesota) - 2-for-4, 2 K
#6 - Marco Raya (Cedar Rapids) - 3 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 47 pitches, 31 strikes..
#8 - David Festa (Wichita) - 4.1 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, 78 pitches, 51 strikes..
#9 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 1-for-2, 3 BB, K, 2 R, RBI
#10 - Yasser Mercedes (FCL Twins) - 1-for-2, 2 R, SB(2). 
#12 - Jose Salas (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-3, RBI, CS
#13 - Noah Miller (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4, R, K
#15 - Brent Headrick (Minnesota) - Called up to Twins after the game.
#18 - Jose Rodriguez (FCL Twins) - 2-for-3, BB, HR(1), 2 R, 3 RBI. .

SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE AND PITCHING PROBABLES
St. Paul @ Louisville (6:15 PM CST) - RHP Blayne Enlow (first AAA start)
Wichita @ Midland (7:00 PM CST) - RHP Carlos Luna (1-3, 5.40 ERA) 
South Bend @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CST) - LHP Jaylen Nowlin (2-3, 4.11 ERA)
Fort Myers @ Bradenton (5:30 PM CST) - RHP Ben Ethridge (0-3, 2.96 ERA)
FCL Red Sox @ FCL Twins (9:00AM CST) - TBD
DSL Twins @ DSL Giants Orange (10:00AM CST) - TBD

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

Interested in learning more about the Minnesota Twins' top prospects? Check out our comprehensive top prospects list that includes up-to-date stats, articles and videos about every prospect, scouting reports, and more!