Twins Minor League Report (4/7): Everyone Gets a Win!

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

TRANSACTIONS

• RHP Patrick Murphy activated from the Development List
• RHP Josh Winder has been assigned to Low-A Fort Myers on MLB Rehab. 

Saints Sentinel
St. Paul 6, Iowa 2
Box Score
Louis Varland had a phenomenal first game of his season. He threw five innings and allowed only one run, one walk, and he struck out nine batters. Jordan Balazovic, Trevor Megill and Brock Stewart each recorded four outs. Balazovic made his first appearance of the year. He gave up one run on one hit and two walks. Megill walked two. Stewart recorded his first save which gave Varland his first win of the season. 

Kyle Garlick is the top story today for the St. Paul Saints. The outfielder has been driving in the runs early in the season and Edouard Julien and Matt Wallner setting the table for the middle of the lineup, specifically Tyler White and Mark Contreras to drive them in. 

Hernan Perez gave the Saints a 2-1 lead in the fifth inning with a solo home run. Mark Contreras came up big in the bottom of the sixth inning. With Garlick and Julien on second and third, he drove them home with a two-run home run which gave the Saints a 5-1 lead. 

The Saints had just four hits and six walks. Julien had one of the hits and walked twice. Garlick and Contreras each drove in two runs. 

Wind Surge Wisdom
Wichita 2, Springfield 0
Box Score 
This was a battle of the pitchers for most of the game. In the third inning, Twins top prospect Brooks Lee and Yunior Severino got on base. Catcher Alex Isola drove in Lee with a double and first baseman Aaron Sabato followed with a sacrifice fly to drive in Severino. The Wind Surge had a 2-0 lead, and that was it for run scoring. As you would expect, this game finished in just two hours and five minutes.

In his first Double-A start, David Festa pitched a clean, scoreless five innings. He gave up only one hit and struck out eight batters. Hunter McMahon came on and struck out three batters over two perfect innings. Jordan Brink worked a hitless eighth from, and Michael Boyle he save with a hitless ninth frame. 

The Wind Surge had seven hits. Isola and Yoyner Fajardo were both 2-for-4 in the games. 

Kernel Nuggets
Cedar Rapids 5, Peoria 4 (10 innings) 
Box Score 
The Cedar Rapids Kernels kept the baseball night alive for the Twins affiliates. The Kernels needed 10 innings to beat the Peoria Chiefs. 

In the third inning, the Kernels got on the board first with a three-run home run from Tanner Schobel off of  Cooper Hjerpe. 

Kyle Jones started for Cedar Rapids. The 2022 draft pick went five innings without giving up a run. However, he was charged with three runs in the sixth inning. In 5 1/3 innings, he gave up six hits. He struck out six batters without giving up a walk. 

Matt Mullenbach struck out two batters without giving up a run, though one of two inherited runners scored. Matt Swain got the eighth inning. He walked three batters but gave up a run on a sacrifice fly which put the Kernels down 4-3. In the top of the ninth inning. Keoni Cavaco and Kyler Fedko got things started with singles. Charles Mack laid down a sacrifice bunt and the bases were loaded because of an error. After a strikeout, Emmanuel Rodriguez drove in pinch-runner Willy Joe Garry with the game-tying run. 

Regi Grace pitched a scoreless ninth inning. Misael Urbina began the top of the 10th as the Manfred Man on second base. Kala'i Rosario singled to score Urbina. Unfortunately, that was the only run they scored. Fortunately, Regi Grace remained in and kept Peoria off the scoreboard to give the Kernels the win. 

Rosario led the way. He went 2-for-4 with a walk. Noah Miller went 2-for-5. Fedko went 1-for-2 with two walks. 

Muscle Matters
Dunedin 3, Fort Myers 4
Box Score
Through four innings, the Mussels held a 4-3 lead. Fortunately, that was a lead they kept the remainder of the game. 

The game was tied in the third when Alec Sayre got out on a sacrifice fly to score Rubel Cespedes, advancing Mikey Perez to third. Dylan Nuese drew a walk. With men on the corners, and then stole second while Dunedin catcher Sammy Hernandez threw to third base to try and catch Mikey Perez. Perez saw an opportunity and took off, stole home and gave the Mussels a 3-1 lead. 

Designated Hitter, Andrew Cossetti got his first professional hit during the game, which secured the lead for the Mussels when he hit a line-drive to right center-field to give the Mussels a 4-1 lead. 

Starting pitcher, Andrew Morris threw 4 1/3i innings, striking out seven batters but gave up the only three earned runs of the game before getting pulled in the fourth inning. 

The bullpen really shone through to carry the rest of the game. The Blue Jays attempted to catch up to the Mussels, but the bullpen kept that from happening, shutting out the Jays the rest of the game. Twins bullpen pitcher Josh Winder joined the Mussels on a rehab assignment and threw two innings, giving up two hits, He walked two and struck out three batters.. 

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – David Festa (Wichita) - 5.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 8 K
Hitter of the Day – Edouard Julien (St. Paul) - 1-for-2, 2 R, 1 RBI, HR (1), 2 BB, K 

PROSPECT SUMMARY
The Twins Prospect Tracker  is the best way to see how each of the Twins top prospects performed during their games; but in case you wanted a quick look, Here is how each of the top 20 performed today: 

#1 - Brooks Lee (Wichita) - 1-for-4, 1 R, BB, K
#3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-3, RBI, SF, 2 K
#5 - Edouard Julien (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, 1 R, BB, K
#8 - Jose Salas (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-5, 2 K
#9 - Louie Varland (St. Paul) - 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 9 K
#11 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, 1 R, BB, K
#14 - Noah Miller (Cedar Rapids) -  2-for-5, R, K
#16 - Jordan Balazovic (St. Paul) - 1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 0 K 
#18 - Tanner Schobel (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-5, HR, R 3 RBI, 2 K
#20 - Misael Urbina (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-3, R, 2 BB, K

UPCOMING SATURDAY SCHEDULE AND PITCHING PROBABLES:
Iowa @ St. Paul (DH at 1:00) - RHP Aaron Sanchez (0-0, 2.70); GAME 2 -  RHP Randy Dobnak (0-0, 1.93)
Wichita @ Springfield (6:00PM CST) -  RHP - Travis Adams, (0-0, 0.00)
Cedar Rapids @ Peoria (6:35PM CST) - LHP Connor Prielipp (professional debut)
Dunedin @ Fort Myers (6:00PM CST) - RHP Zebby Matthews (0-0,0.00)

Please feel free to ask questions and discuss today’s game!

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!