Twins Minor League Report (4/28): Winder, Smeltzer, Dobnak Pitch Well

Find out everything that happened in the Twins system on Sunday, starting with the transactions of the day

TRANSACTIONS

• With Willians Astudillo going on the Injured List, Jake Cave was recalled from Rochester.
  
• Infielder Drew Maggi was promoted back up to Rochester.
  
• Infielder Joe Cronin was promoted from Cedar Rapids to Pensacola.
  
• Infielder Trey Cabbage was promoted from Cedar Rapids to Ft. Myers, with RHP Tanner Howell being sent back to extended spring training.
  
• Outfielder DaShawn Keirsey Jr was activated from the Kernels injured list. Infielder Estamy Urena was promoted to Cedar Rapids from extended spring training.
  

AWARDS

The Twins announced their Minor League Players of the Week on Sunday morning.

• Hitter of the Week - Pensacola OF Jaylin Davis
  
• Pitcher of the Week - Rochester LHP Lewis Thorpe
  

In six games, Davis hit .407 (1.148 OPS) with three doubles, two homers and six RBIs. In one start, Thorpe gave up one run on three hits over eight innings. He struck out 12 batters for the second straight start.

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 2, Pawtucket 5

Box Score

An #OldFriend came back to haunt the Red Wings on Sunday afternoon.

Justin Nicolino started for the Red Wings and gave up two runs in the first inning, but that was it. In 6 1/3 innings, he gave up the two runs on five hits. He walked four and struck out two. Mike Morin came on and finished out the seventh. He finished the eighth inning as well, but not before giving up an two-out, three-run homer to Juan Centeno. Morin pitched a scoreless ninth inning as well.

Down 2-0, the Red Wings clawed back to tie the game. In the sixth inning, Luke Raley hit a solo homer to put the Wings on the board. Zander Wiel followed with his second triple of the year and later scored on a sacrifice fly from Adam Rosales.

Raley went 2-for-3 with a walk and the home run was his third. Jordany Valdespin went 2-for-4

BLUE WAHOO BITES

Pensacola 8, Jackson 3

Box Score

Devin Smeltzer has been fantastic in April for the Blue Wahoos. That continued on Sunday. The left-hander threw five more shutout innings. He gave up four hits, walked none and struck out three. In doing so, he is now 3-1 with a 0.60 ERA (2 ER in 30 IP). He was replaced by Minnesotan Adam Bray in his return from the injured list. He gave up two runs on two hits and a walk over three innings. He struck out three. Cody Stashak gave up a solo home run in the ninth inning.

The Wahoos scored two runs in the fifth inning to take the lead. Then in the sixth inning, Caleb Hamilton drove in two runs with his fifth double of the season. He scored on a single off the bat of Jordan Gore. Daulton Varsho hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth to cut the Wahoos lead to 3-2. But Taylor Grzelakowski added a two-run homer in the eighth inning. They also scored a run on a passed ball and on a wild pitch.

Grzelakowski went 2-for-5 with his first homer of the season. Travis Blankenhorn went 2-for-4 with a walk. Luis Arraez walked three times.

MIRACLE MATTERS

Ft. Myers 2, Palm Beach 1

Box Score

The Miracle defended the Cardinals, and won three out of four games in this series against the division leaders.

Randy Dobnak came into this game having thrown 17 innings without giving up an earned run. He kept that streak going until allowing a run with two outs in the fifth inning, ending the streak at 21 2/3 innings. He gave up the one run on five hits over 5 1/3 innings. He walked two and struck out six batters. He exited with a season ERA of 0.40.

Hector Lujan came in and got eight outs without allowing the tying run. He gave up just two hits and struck one batter out. Alex Phillips came on for the ninth inning and struck out two. It was his fourth save of the year.

Jose Miranda led the offense. He went 3-for-4 and drove in the team’s first run. His single drove in Trevor Larnach who had reached on his seventh double of the season. The other run came on a sacrifice fly by Aaron Whitefield.

KERNELS NUGGETS

Doubleheader after a snow-out on Saturday. The Kane County field was snow-covered on Sunday morning. The double-header was postponed a bit as they waited for more snow to melt, which it did.

Game 1 - Cedar Rapids 2, Kane County 3

Box Score

The Kernels scored two runs in the top of the sixth inning to tie the game, but the Cougars scored a run with two outs in the bottom of the seventh to get the walk-off win.

Cole Sands started the game for the Kernels. The 2018 pick gave up two runs on five hits, two walks and a hit batter over the first five innings. He struck out four.

Down 2-0, the Kernels rallied in the top of the sixth inning. Ben Rodriguez hit his first double of the season to drive in Chris Williams. Rodriguez later scored on a sacrifice fly from Jacob Pearson.

Jose Martinez pitched a scoreless sixth inning but he gave up the walk-off hit to end the game in the seventh. He gave up two walks and the single.

Chris Williams led the Kernels offense. He went 2-for-3 with a walk.

Game 2 - Cedar Rapids 3, Kane County 2

Box Score

This section is brought to you by the letter W. Winder and Williams lead Kernels to a Win.

Josh Winder started for the Kernels and was fantastic. He gave up just four hits and walked one over the first 6 1/3 innings. He left with one out in the seventh with 84 pitches thrown and a runner on first base. Derek Molina came on and walked a batter. Then a single scored the inherited runner from Winder. Molina gave up another run as well, but was able to keep the tying run from scoring

The Kernels didn't get a lot of offense, but Chris Williams provided a big, timely hit. In the fifth inning, Williams, who walked twice in Game 2, came up with two runners on and two outs. He responded with his fourth homer of the year and gave the Kernels a 3-0 lead.

Gabriel Maciel went 1-for-3 with a walk. Estamy Urena walked twice.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day - Josh Winder, Cedar Rapids Kernels

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Chris Williams, Cedar Rapids Kernels

PROSPECT SUMMARY

Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed:

#1 - Royce Lewis (Ft. Myers) - 0-4, K

#2 - Alex Kirilloff (Pensacola) - Injured List, early May return

#3 - Brusdar Graterol (Pensacola) - Did Not Pitch

#4 - Trevor Larnach (Ft. Myers) - 1-3, BB, 2B(7), R

#5 - Wander Javier (EST) - Injured, early May return

#6 - Brent Rooker (Rochester) - Did Not Play, hamstring

#7 - Jhoan Duran (Ft. Myers) - Did Not Pitch

#8 - Lewis Thorpe (Rochester) - Did Not Pitch

#9 - Blayne Enlow (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Pitch

#10 - Akil Baddoo (Ft. Myers) - 0-3, BB

#11 - Nick Gordon (Rochester) - Injured List, early May return

#12 - Stephen Gonsalves (Rochester) - Injured List, late-May return possible

#13 - Ryan Jeffers (Ft. Myers) - 1-3, K

#14 - Ben Rortvedt (Ft. Myers) - 1-3, R

#15 - Yunior Severino (Cedar Rapids) - Injured List

#16 - Gilberto Celestino (Cedar Rapids) - Game 1 (1-4, K), Game 2 (1-4, K)

#17 - Zack Littell (Rochester) - Did Not Pitch

#18 - LaMonte Wade (Rochester) - 0-5

#19 - Jorge Alcala (Pensacola) - Did Not Pitch

#20 - Jose Miranda (Ft. Myers) - 3-4, RBI

MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Rochester @ Scranton/Wilkes Barre (5:35 CST) - LHP Lewis Thorpe (1-2, 7.25 ERA)

Pensacola @ Jackson (11:05 a.m. CST) - RHP Griffin Jax (1-0, 0.41 ERA)

Ft. Myers - No Game Scheduled

Cedar Rapids - No Game Scheduled

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