Tuesday's Trip through the Minors

Don't look now but it looks like Francisco Liriano might have remembered how to pitch. His last two starts have looked much better than the horrendous pitcher that was on the mound at the beginning of the year. This might be jumping the gun a little since his last two outings came against two poor offenses, the Oakland A's and the Kansas City Royals.

The Twins offense couldn't back the strong outing by Liriano because Bruce Chen shut them down at the plate. Jonathan Broxton made the ninth inning a little interesting with two men getting on base but he was still able to preserve the 1-0 win for the Royals.

After a couple more games with the Royals, the Twins will head home to start a couple weeks of interleague play. The Cubs, Phillies, and Brewers will all visit Target Field and there is a chance for the Twins to do well with the way some of these teams have looked on the field.

For now, let's look at the abbreviate minor league schedule from Tuesday night.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]

ROCHESTER 4, NORFOLK 6

The Red Wings were facing a Tides roster full of players with major league experience in this game. Miguel Tejada, Brian Roberts, and even former Twins player Lew Ford were all in action on Tuesday evening. Roberts had the biggest game out of this grouping with a 3-for-5 night including two doubles. Red Wings manager Gene Glynn must not have liked all of the MLB talent on the Tides because he got ejected for arguing a close play at the plate.

As far as the Red Wings go, there were some decent nights at the plate even though it was in a losing effort. Rene Rivera went 3-for-3 with a couple of RBI and his third home run of the year. Pedro Florimon added a couple doubles in four at-bats to help raise his batting average to .270 for the year. After quite the hot streak in recent weeks, Chris Parmelee was held hitless in three trips to the plate.

Matt Maloney started the contest for the Red Wings and there was some rough defense behind him with three errors charged to Rochester. He pitched five innings and allowed four runs on nine hits but only two of those runs were earned. Carlos Gutierrez was saddled with his second loss of the year for giving up two earned runs in the sixth inning. Casey Fien and Tyler Robertson combined to pitch three scoreless innings to end the game but it wasn't enough on this night.

NEW BRITAIN 2, AKRON 6

Akron got to the Rock Cats starter BJ Hermsen with one run in the first and two runs in the third. It was Hermsen's first loss since the first week of May and he only gave up one earned run. An error by Estarlin De Los Santos cost the Rock Cats two runs in the fifth and it was hard for the team to recover from that point. It was a night for managers getting ejected as the Rock Cats manager Jeff Smith didn't stick around for much of this game as he was tossed in the top of the third.

Andrew Albers followed Hermsen on the mound and he managed a very dubious distinction; he gave up two runs on no hits. The three walks he allowed came back to haunt him. The only pitcher to record an out for New Britain and not give up a run was Luis Perdomo and he only pitched one-third of an inning.

Delbinson Romero went 2-for-4 with his seventh home run of the year in support of the Rock Cats. Evan Bigley also hit a home run but that would be all of the scoring for New Britian. Rene Tosoni had a double but he also had a couple of strike-outs in the contest. Aaron Hicks left the game after trying to break-up a double play at second base so hopefully this is nothing serious.

FORT MYERS -, TAMPA -

The field conditions in Tampa were unplayable on Tuesday night after hours of rain during the day. This means the Miracle and Yankees will have to play a double-header on Wednesday to make-up for the lost game. Both games are scheduled to be seven inning affairs tomorrow evening. On Monday, Oswaldo Arcia was named Player of the Week by the Florida State League so make sure you check out the press release on his award.

BELOIT (Off Day)

After back-to-back losses at the hands of Wisconsin, the Snappers got a day of rest on Tuesday before they start a series versus Burlington. Two weeks from tonight the MWL All-Star Classic will be held and seven Snappers were named to the team. Miguel Sano will start the game at third base and he will be joined by fellow position players John Goncalves, Tyler Grimes, and Eddie Rosario. The pitchers from the Snapper to make the team were A.J. Achter, Michael Tonkin, Jason Wheeler.

---

Players of the Day for Tuesday, May 29, 2012

A Look Ahead- Wednesday, June 5th Schedule

Rochester at Norfolk-RHP Steve Hirschfeld

New Britain at Akron- RHP Brett Jacobson

Fort Myers at Tampa (1)- RHP Marty Popham

Fort Myers at Tampa (2)- LHP Cole Nelson

Beloit at Burlington- LHP Jason Wheeler

---

If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, leave them in the comments section and Seth or I will try to answer them.

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!