Twins Minor League Report (5/2): Errors and Extras

TRANSACTIONS
  The Twins sent IF Kyle Farmer on a rehab assignment with the St. Paul Saints.
  OF/1B Alex Kirilloff was officially optioned to Triple-A, and the Saints transferred 3B Hernan Perez to the Development List.

SAINTS SENTINEL
Nashville 11, St. Paul 5
Box Score
Starter Aaron Sanchez retired the first seven men he faced, striking out five of them in the process to begin this one, but six of the next seven reached base putting an end to his outing in the third inning. In total, he went the first 2 2/3 innings, allowing four runs on five hits and a walk. Derek Rodriguez went the next 2 1/3 frames, allowing three runs (one earned) of his own on two hits and two walks, while striking out two.

The St. Paul offense did its best to keep it close early, getting a solo home run from Mark Contreras in the second inning, and RBI doubles from Michael Helman and Contreras in the fourth that made the score 6-3. 

Cole Sands delivered two perfect innings, striking out one before it got out of hand against Connor Sadzek in the eighth. The Sounds added four unearned runs thanks to a pair of errors while the right-hander recorded just two outs. Patrick Murphy finished off the final 1 1/3 innings, walking two and striking out three.

Tony Wolters drove in a run with a single in the seventh, and Edouard Julien did the same in the ninth to account for all the Saints scoring. Contreras was the only hitter with multiple knocks in the game (2-for-3, R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, BB), while Matt Wallner (1-for-3, R, BB, K) and Helman (1-for-2, 2 R, 2B, RBI, BB) each reached base twice. 

The lapses on defense were too much to overcome in this one as the Saints committed five errors in total, a franchise record. Alex Kirilloff contributed three of them at first base.

The rehabbing Kyle Farmer went 0-for-3 with a strikeout, batting second and playing second base for the first seven innings.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 4, NW Arkansas 6
Box Score
The Wind Surge took the lead first in this one thanks to a David Banuelos two-run home run in the top of the second. Unfortunately, starting pitcher Travis Adams was unable to hold the Naturals back.

They scored one in the bottom of the second, then four in the third to take a 5-2 lead. Adams completed four innings, allowing those five runs on seven hits and three walks, while striking out four. Hunter McMahon was the first reliever summoned and went two scoreless, allowing one hit and striking out two. Andrew Cabezas (1 2/3 IP, 3 H, ER, BB, K) and Osiris German (1/3 IP, K) finished out the game for the Wind Surge bullpen.

Wichita made it 5-4 in the fourth on a two-run home run from Armani Smith but were unable to mount any scoring threats after that. As a team, they had 14 at-bats with runners in scoring position, but managed just one hit and left nine men on base for the game.

Besides the two home runs, Brooks Lee (2-for-4, 2B, BB, K) and Yoyner Fajardo (2-for-4, BB, 2 SB) had multiple hits, while Alex Isola (0-for-2, 2 R, 2 BB, K, SB) scored two runs. The Wind Surge have yet to win a day game this season (0-8), and this was their first loss in a series opener (4-1).

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 3, South Bend 4 (11 innings)
Box Score
The Kernels struck late to send this one to extra innings, but it wasn’t meant to be as they ran themselves into outs on the base paths in the eleventh.

Jordan Carr made the start and went the first 4 2/3 innings, allowing just one run on five hits and a pair of walks, while striking out six. The game was tied at one when he left the game, as the Kernels got an RBI single from Noah Cardenas in the third.

Mike Paredes pitched the next 2 1/3 innings, allowing the Cubs to take the lead in the seventh when he surrendered a two-run home run.

Still down by two in the top of the ninth, Cedar Rapids got a rally started when Jose Salas led off with a walk, advanced to second on an errant pickoff throw, and Misael Urbina drove him in with a double. Two outs later, Noah Miller delivered an RBI single to tie the game at three. After a single from Ben Ross to put Miller in scoring position, Cardenas singled into left field, but Miller was thrown out at home to send it into extras.

Malik Barrington pitched the eighth and ninth innings, allowing no hits and striking out three to get them there. He was replaced by Regi Grace in the 10th, who delivered a one-two-three inning with a man on second, showing a nasty slider to pick up a pair of K’s. 

With Jose Salas on second base to start the eleventh, the Kernels got aggressive. Before an out was recorded Salas was thrown out trying to steal third, and after Urbina drew a walk got himself thrown out at second to end any scoring threats. Kernels runners stole just one base in five attempts in the game.

Grace got a little too nasty with that slider in the 11th, as a hit batter and wild pitch put the winning run on third, and the Cubs walked it off with a single into left.

The teams each went 4-for-14 with runners in scoring position and combined to leave 10 runners on base for the game. The Kernels got 10 hits to the Cubs 9, but those lost base runners loomed large.

The top of the lineup did most of the damage for Cedar Rapids, with their first five hitters combining for nine of their 10 hits. Those hitters were Noah Miller (2-for-4, RBI, K), Ben Ross (2-for-5, K), Noah Cardenas (2-for-5, RBI, 2 K), Kala’i Rosario (1-for-3, 2 BB, K), and Tanner Schobel (2-for-5, 2B). 

MUSSEL MATTERS
Dunedin 2, Fort Myers 7
Box Score
The Mighty Mussels got a solid start from right-hander Cory Lewis, who went the first five innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits and two walks, while striking out five.

He left the game with a 3-2 lead as his offense scored single runs in the third, fourth, and fifth innings. Jorel Ortega got the scoring started for Fort Myers with an RBI single in the third before Ricardo Olivar and Mikey Perez added solo home runs in the fourth and fifth respectively.

The first reliever summoned for Fort Myers was Ben Ethridge, who went two scoreless innings. He allowed no hits, walked one, and struck out three.

In the bottom of the seventh the home team took a 5-2 lead when a RBI sac fly from Perez was followed by an RBI double from Danny De Andrade. Dylan Neuse tacked on another two in the eighth with a two-run double for a commanding five-run lead.

Reliever Zach Veen finished off the game for the Mighty Mussels, allowing three hits and a walk, but giving up zero runs. He struck out one to pick up his first save.

Fort Myers had nine hits as a team, with Dalton Shuffield (2-for-3, 3 R, 3B, BB) scoring each time he reached base to lead the way. Neuse and Perez each had two RBI. Ortega finished 1-for-2 with a run scored, RBI, and pair of walks from the leadoff spot.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day - Malik Barrington, Cedar Rapids Kernels (2 IP, 3 K)
Hitter of the Day - Mark Contreras, St. Paul Saints (2-for-3, R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, BB)

PROSPECT SUMMARY
#1 - Brooks Lee (Wichita) - 2-for-4, 2B, BB, K
#5 - Edouard Julien (St. Paul) - 1-for-5, RBI, K
#8 - Jose Salas (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-3, R, BB, 2 K
#11 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 1-for-3, R, BB, K
#14 - Noah Miller (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-4, RBI, K
#18 - Tanner Schobel (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-5, 2B
#20 - Misael Urbina (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4, R, 2B, RBI, BB, K

WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
Nashville @ St. Paul (6:37 PM CDT) - RHP Jordan Balazovic (0-0, 2.35 ERA)
Wichita @ NW Arkansas  (7:05 PM CDT) - LHP Aaron Rozek (0-1, 13.50 ERA)
Cedar Rapids @ South Bend (10:05 AM CDT) - RHP Alejandro Hidalgo (0-1, 2.08 ERA)
Dunedin @ Fort Myers (6:00 PM CDT) - RHP Jose Olivares (1-0, 2.31 ERA)

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

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