Twins Minor League Report (7/26): Walks Will Haunt at Any Level

You may notice a theme throughout the Twins organization. First, they all played Wednesday afternoon games which is unusual. But more so, I’m referring to the fact that pitching was not a strength for Twins pitchers on Wednesday. The Twins gave up a ton of runs. And the affiliates gave up a bunch of runs too. 

Here are the records of the Twins and their six affiliates through games on Wednesday. 

Minnesota Twins: 54-50
St. Paul Saints: 57-40 
Wichita Wind Surge: 37-54
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 57-35
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 45-47
FCL Twins: 16-19
DSL Twins: 8-26

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

TRANSACTIONS
The Twins optioned RHP Oliver Ortega and recalled Josh Winder.
The Saints activated catcher Mark Kolozsvary from the Developmental List.
Infielder Dalton Shuffield was activated from the Fort Myers Injured List and assigned to Cedar Rapids. 
Following their Wednesday afternoon game, the Twins made a trade. They sent RHP Jorge Lopez to the Miami Marlins in exchange for RH RP Dylan Floro . 

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 9, Toledo 7
Box Score

Brent Headrick made the start in this game. He gave up three runs in the top of the first inning and another in the third. In total, he gave up four runs on three hits. All three hits were home runs. He also walked four batters and struck out two. 

Patrick Murphy came on and gave up one run on five hits and a walk over 2 1/3 innings. He struck out two batters. Austin Brice got four outs, all on strikeouts. Ronny Henriquez got four outs, but he gave up two runs on two hits and a walk. 

The Saints found themselves down 4-1 heading to the bottom of the sixth inning. In that inning, Andrew Stevenson, Jorge Polanco, and Kyle Garlick singled, the third driving in the inning’s first run. Next, Chris Williams doubled to score two more runs. After two outs, Williams scored on an Anthony Prato single to give the Saints a 5-4 lead. However, the Mudhens tied it in the top of the seventh inning. 

The bottom of the seventh inning started with walks to Alex De Goti and Andrew Stevenson. Jorge Polanco singled to load the bases. Kyle Garlick followed with a grand slam to give the Saints a 9-5 lead. Tyler Nevin hit a two-run homer in the top of the ninth. Henriquez then hit a batter and gave up a double to put runners on second and third base. However, a hard-hit line drive was caught in center field by Mark Contreras to end the game. 

Garlick went 3-for-4 with five RBI. He hit his 11th double and 10th home run. Stevenson went 3-for-4 with a walk and his 17th double. Polanco has two hits in five at-bats. Anthony Prato was 2-for-4. He also stole his eighth base. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 10, Frisco 19
Box Score
With winds blowing out early in the game, runs piled up quickly. And they just kept piling up, higher, and higher, and high… you get the picture. 

In the top of the first inning, David Festa gave up a two-run homer to Thomas Saggese. The bottom of the first started with singles from Brooks Lee and DaShawn Keirsey, the latter driving in the former to put the Wind Surge on the scoreboard. Two batters later, the second run scored on a Patrick Winkel sacrifice fly. Then Jake Rucker connected for his seventh homer of the season to give the Surge a 3-2 lead after one frame.  

Unfortunately, the second inning didn’t go well for Festa at all. He gave up a grand slam to Evan Carter. Wind may have been a factor, but two walks before it didn’t help either. Things went quiet in the bottom of the second and the top of the third. But in the bottom of the third, Keirsey hit his 13th homer of the year and cut the deficit to 6-4. 

Festa went just 2 2/3 innings and was charged with six runs on seven hits and two walks. He had four strikeouts and all six runs came on the two homers he allowed. Hunter McMahon was next up for the Wind Surge. He was charged with five runs (4 earned) on four hits and a walk. Isaac Mattson gave up an unearned run over 1 1/3 innings. Taylor Floyd tossed three scoreless innings. Things had kind of settled down.

In the ninth, catcher David Banuelos came on to pitch. It didn’t go well. He gave up seven runs on six hits and a walk. Four of the hits were home runs. He got just two outs. Will Holland got the third out. 

The top two batters in the Wind Surge lineup provided most of the offense. Brooks Lee went 4-for-6 with three runs scored. He hit his 11th home run of the season, a two-run blast, in the ninth inning. DaShawn Keirsey went 5-for-6 with three runs scored. He hit his fifth triple and the 13th home run of his season in the game. Third-place hitter, Yunior Severino, became the first player in the Twins organization to his 20 home runs this season. Holland went 2-for-4 with a walk and his ninth double. 

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 7, Wisconsin 8
Box Score
Speaking of strong first innings, the Kernels jumped on the Timber Rattlers with a six-run top of the first inning. With one out, Emmanuel Rodriguez and Kala’i Rosario walked before Jorel Ortega hit an infield single to load the bases. Misael Urbina walked in a run. Next, Andrew Cossetti cleared the bases with his 10th double since joining the Kernels. Following a strikeout, there was a pitching change. Jeferson Morales welcomed Miguel Guerrero with a two-run homer to make it 6-0.

In the top of the second, Emmanuel Rodriguez lined to right field, but an error allowed him to reach third base. Kala’i Rosario drove him in with a sacrifice fly to make it 7-0. 

With C.J. Culpepper on the mound, one could think that would be enough run support. However, with some really rough defense in the bottom of the second inning, Wisconsin scored five runs, and just one of them was earned. There were two Catcher’s Interference calls, and one what could have been a double play, a throwing error meant three additional runs scored. CJ Culpepper’s day ended after just 1 1/3 innings. He gave up five runs (1 earned) on four hits and two walks. 

Matthew Swain came in and gave up a run on two hits over 1 2/3 innings. Alejandro Hidalgo came in to start the fourth inning. He gave up one run on two hits over 2 1/3 innings. He walked three and struck out four batters. Niklas Rimmel walked three batters but gave up no runs on no hits over the next 1 2/3 innings. John Wilson gave up one run on one hit, one walk and one hit batter in the eighth inning to take the loss. 

Andrew Cossetti led the offense. He went 2-for-4 with his 10th double and three RBI. Jorel Ortega went 2-for-4 and was hit by a pitch. Kala’i Rosario and Emmanuel Rodriguez each walked twice. 

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 7, Palm Beach 5 (10 innings)
Box Score 
Through four innings in this game, the score was just 1-1. However, in the top of the fifth frame, Palm Beach scored three runs. Things stayed quiet until the bottom of the ninth. 

Down 4-1, Kyle Schmidt was hit by a pitch to lead off the ninth. Yohander Martinez ran for him. With one out, Alec Sayre reached on an error. Then Gregory Duran ripped a double down the right field line to score two runs. He went to third on a throwing error. Maddux Houston lifted a ball to center field, deep enough to drive in Duran and tie the game. 

Unfortunately, Palm Beach scored three runs in the top of the 10th inning. 

Jose Olivares started for the Mussels. In 4 2/3 innings, he gave up four runs on six hits and a walk. He had five strikeouts. Ricardo Velez came on and gave up just one hit over 2 1/3 scoreless innings. Wilker Reyes came in and put zeros on the board in the eighth and ninth. He started the 10th inning but gave up two runs (1 earned, the other the Manfred Man) on two hits and a walk. Gabriel Yanez came on and allowed an inherited runner to score and one more run on three hits before getting the three outs in the 10th inning. 

The Mussels scored one run on a passed ball in the bottom of the 10th, but that was it as they fell 7-5 in this game. 

Gregory Duran went 2-for-4 with his ninth double and three RBI. Kyle Schmidt went 2-for-3 with his fourth double and was hit by a pitch. Ricardo Olivar added his 18th double. 

COMPLEX THOUGHTS from BOCA CHICA
DSL Twins, DSL Reds
The DSL Twins were supposed to be making up a game that was supposed to be played two weeks ago. It was again postponed due to weather. 

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Co-Hitter of the Day – DaShawn Keirsey, Jr. (Wichita) - 5-for-6, 3B(5), HR(13) 3 R, 2 RBI, K. 
Pitcher of the Day – Taylor Floyd (Wichita) - 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K. 

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) - 4-for-6, HR(11), 3 R, 2 RBI
#3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-3, 2 BB, 2 R, RBI, K.
#5 - Matt Wallner (Minnesota) - 2-for-4, 2-HR(4), 2 RBI, K
#7 - David Festa (Wichita) - 2 2/3 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 64 pitches, 37 strikes (57.8%)
#15 - Jordan Balazovic (Minnesota) - 1 1/3 IP, 1 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, K, 32 pitches, 19 strikes (59.4%)
#16 - Kala’i Rosario (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-2, 2 BB, R, RBI, SF, K
#17 - Yunior Severino (Wichita) - 1-for-5, BB, HR(20), R, 2 RBI, K, CS(4)
#19 - Brent Headrick (St. Paul) - 4 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 2 K (3 HR), 72 pitches, 43 strikes (59.7%)

THURSDAY’S SCHEDULE AND PITCHING PROBABLES
Toledo @ St. Paul (7:07 PM CST) - RHP Simeon Woods Richardson (3-5, 6.18 ERA)
Frisco @ Wichita (7:05 PM CST) - RHP Pierson Ohl (1-3, 4.89 ERA)
Cedar Rapids @ Wisconsin (6:40 PM CST) - RHP Zebby Matthews (3-1,5.02 ERA) vs rehabbing Brandon Woodruff
Palm Beach @ Fort Myers (6:00 PM CST) - LHP Jarret Whorff (2-1, 2.54 ERA) 
FCL Twins @ FCL Braves (11:00 AM CST) - TBD 
DSL Dodgers @ DSL Twins(10:00 AM CST) - TBD

Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Wednesday’s games or any other Twins minor league topics! 

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!