Twins Minor League Report (4/25): Berrios, Romero, and... Turley? Oh My!

Keep reading to find out just how well all the starters threw on Tuesday night, and why it’s the relative unknown who still gets the most glory!

RED WINGS REPORT

Gwinnett 4, Rochester 5

Box Score

Jose Berrios was pretty good in his fourth start of the year, going six innings and allowing just one earned run on four hits and three walks while striking out ten. I apologize for the modest adjective while you read his state line again: 6IP, 2 R’s (1 ER), 4 H’s, 3 BBs, 10 K’s; but you’ll understand why it was just “pretty good” as you go further along in this report. He struck out multiple Braves hitters in the first, third, and sixth innings and at least one in each inning.

His day was finished after 102 pitches and he left the game with the Red Wings down 2-0. A passed ball in the third resulted in one of those runs, while a solo home run in the fourth accounted for the other.

D.J. Baxendale pitched a one-two-three seventh inning, striking out one before Rochester’s lineup came alive against Gwinnett’s bullpen in the bottom half of the frame. A Niko Goodrum double scored their first run, then an Ehire Adrianza single and Matt Hague sacrifice gave them the lead 3-2. It was Adrianza’s first game with the Red Wings after being assigned to the roster earlier in the day.

Trevor Hildenberger came on for the eighth and gave the lead right back on a single, double, and single to consecutive batters before working his way out of the jam. He did strike out two.

Now down 4-3 with two outs in the eighth, Tommy Field got a two-out rally started for Rochester with a double, and Goodrum finished it with his second home run of the season to put the Red Wings back out front.

https://twitter.com/MorrieSilver8/status/857229498479239170

J.T. Chargois came on for the ninth and picked up his first save of the 2017 season with a one-two-three inning.

Adrianza, Daniel Palka, Goodrum and J.B. Shuck had two hits on the night. Field and Goodrum each scored two runs in the victory.

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Game 1: Tennessee 2, Chattanooga 0 (7 innings)

Box Score

In the regularly scheduled game of the double-header, Twins Daily’s #1 Prospect Fernando Romero was on the mound for the Lookouts and got himself into a pitcher’s duel. Unfortunately, his offense didn’t come to bat for him in this one.

Nick Gordon led off the bottom of the first inning with a single and was followed by an Engelb Vielma walk to put him in scoring position, but that was one of the few opportunities Chattanooga would get all game. Smokies starter Zach Wedger retired the next ten before Travis Harrison drew a walk in the fourth and Tanner English got to second base after an error and stolen base in the sixth for the rest of the opportunities.

Romero matched Wedger until the seventh inning. Through six innings he had allowed just three hits and walked two with four strikeouts. He started the final inning with two more K’s, but a Vielma error at shortstop got the losing wheels spinning. The next batter singled and Romero was removed after 81 pitches and was now responsible for the game without being the one throwing the pitches. I’m guessing he would have rather done the rest himself whichever way it went from there.

John Curtiss came on, walked the bases loaded, and gave up a single to score both of Tennessee’s runs on the scoreboard before getting a K to end the inning. The Lookouts proceeded to go down one-two-three as Wedger slammed the door on them like he had all game.

In his last two starts, Romero has tossed 12.1 innings and allowed just one earned run on ten hits and three walks, while striking out ten. He’s improved his ERA from 9.00 to 3.44.

Game 2: Tennessee 1, Chattanooga 0 (makeup of 4/23 PPD, 7 innings)

Box Score

Nik Turley made his second start of the season for the Lookouts, and he couldn’t have done more. He was ridiculous. Fourteen K’s in a 7-inning complete game ridiculous. Tennessee got their one run in the top of the first as a walk, stolen base, sac bunt and RBI groundout version of offense was all they would end up needing.

From there the 2017 signing out of the independent leagues was literally untouchable. He struck out the side one-two-three in the sixth and seventh innings, and eight in a row going back to the fifth to end the game. He allowed just two hits and two walks to go along with the plethora of strikeouts. Seventy-one of his ninety-seven pitches went for strikes as he was as efficient as you could possibly be sending that many opposing hitters on trots of shame back to the dugout.

Unfortunately, it was much of the same in Game 2 for the Chattanooga offense, though they did manage to outhit Tennessee 4-2. Nick Gordon was 2-4, and Edgar Corcino and Dan Gamache added singles to account for the four hits. They did draw six walks as a team, but weren’t able to take advantage.

For the day, the Lookouts were just 0-9 with runners in scoring position, and left only ten men on base. I hope the lineup took Romero and Turley out for dinner when their day was finally done.

MIRACLE MATTERS

Bradenton 3, Fort Myers 7

Box score

Fort Myers struck first in this one, as Zander Wiel launched his second home run of the season to lead off the second inning, and starter Dereck Rodriguez took it from there.

Through four innings he kept the Marauders off the board with some help from a couple of double-plays. In the fifth a leadoff home run tied the game at one before a triple and an error brought in another for a 2-1 Bradenton lead.

Fort Myers got those runs back in the sixth thanks to a Casey Scoggins RBI double and a Max Murphy RBI hit-by-pitch. Rodriguez gave up another home run to the leadoff man in the seventh and got two outs before he reached his pitch limit, exiting the game responsible for a runner on third and having recorded only three strikeouts. Nick Anderson came on and got the next batter to fly out, leaving the game tied 3-3.

The Miracle put the game away with four runs in the seventh thanks to singles from Nelson Molina, Alex Perez, and Casey Scoggins along with two errors on the Marauder defense.

Anderson finished the game to pick up the victory, allowing two hits in 2.1 innings, striking out two along the way. Fort Myers improves to 9-10 on the season and look to get to .500 against Bradenton Wednesday night.

KERNELS NUGGETS

Burlington 1, Cedar Rapids 2

Box Score

If you’ve sensed a theme yet in this report, you should have expected nothing less from starter Eduardo Del Rosario in Cedar Rapids in this one. He blanked the Bees for seven innings, allowing just five hits and one walk while also reaching double-digits in K’s like his upper-level cohorts with ten.

The Kernels finally got on the board to support him against Burlington’s bullpen in the sixth inning when scorching hot shortstop and reigning Midwest League Player of the Week Jermaine Palacios led it off with a triple. He later scored on a wild pitch and Jaylin Davis added an RBI single to put the home team up 2-0.

Alex Robinson walked one and struck out two in a scoreless eighth inning to pick up his first hold of the season, and Tom Hackimer notched his second save with a hitless ninth. An unearned run did score to make it interesting in the final frame as an error from Travis Blankenhorn and wild pitch put a runner on third with one out before a ground ball got the Bees on the scoreboard.

Palacios was 2-4 on the night to put his average above .400 so far on the season, and Mitchell Kranson added his seventh double of the year for the Kernels offense.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Pitcher of the Day – Nik Turley, Chattanooga Lookouts (L, CG 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 H’s, 2 BB’s, 14 K’s)

Hitter of the Day – Niko Goodrum, Rochester Red Wings (2-4, 2 R’s, 2B, HR, 2 RBI)

WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Gwinnett @ Rochester (12:35PM CST) – LHP David Hurlbut

Tennessee @ Chattanooga (10:15AM CST) – RHP Felix Jorge

Bradenton @ Fort Myers (5:35PM CST) – RHP David Fischer (2-0, 0.60 ERA)

Burlington @ Cedar Rapids (6:35PM CST) – RHP Tyler Wells (1-0, 2.12 ERA)

Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Tuesday’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!