Twins Minor League Report (4/7): Gonsalves Great, Kernels Walk it Off in Extras

Welcome to the Saturday Speed Round! Things are going to look slightly different, but hopefully you’ll still get all the great information you’re accustomed to seeing in the minor league reports here at Twins Daily.

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester vs. Buffalo

POSTPONED

That’s back-to-back postponements for Rochester, as the Red Wings have yet to make their season debut. The teams will play a doubleheader at a later date. There’s still just one game scheduled for tomorrow.

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 2, Birmingham 0

Box Score

W Stephen Gonsalves: 5.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 3 K

SV Ryne Harper: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3K

HR None

Multi-hit games None

What a pitching performance. Gonsalves set the tone with 5.1 no-hit innings. He walked three batters and had “only” three strikeouts, but the Barons only managed to hit four balls out of the infield.

Tyler Jay was responsible for the lone hit the Lookouts gave up tonight, but he also pitched 1.2 shutout innings with a pair of strikeouts. Zack Jones walked two batters over a scoreless eighth inning before Ryne Harper staked his claim to the Chattanooga closer role. He struck out the side in a perfect ninth inning, needing just 13 pitches to do so.

Tanner English led off the third inning with a double and scored on an Edgar Corcino sac fly. In the seventh inning, Sean Miller hit a single that scored catcher Wynston Sawyer.

MIRACLE MATTERS

Charlotte 8, Fort Myers 4

Box Score

SP Charlie Barnes: 4.2 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 8 K

HR None

Multi-hit games:

Travis Blankenhorn 2-for-5, 2 2Bs, 2 RBIs, 2 R

Brandon Lopez 2-for-3, 2B, BB, R

Jimmy Kerrigan 2-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI

Barnes struck out eight of the 20 batters he faced, but a couple of of his pitches the Stone Crabs made contact with really hurt. He gave up a two-run homer in the first, but the bats fought back to give Barnes a 4-3 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth. Unfortunately, Barnes surrendered another two-run homer.

Max Cordy gave up another three runs over 2.1 innings of relief. Carlos Suniaga, who pitched for E-Town last year, had a successful FSL debut, throwing a perfect inning. Aaron Whitefield drew three walks and scored a run. Blankenhorn now has five extra-base hits in three games this season.

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 4, Quad Cities 3 (10 innings)

Box Score

W Ryan Mason: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

SP Edwar Colina: 4.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 1 K

HR None

Multi-hit games:

Royce Lewis 2-for-4, 2B, BB, R

This game went into extra innings, meaning we got our first look at the new format where a runner starts the inning on second base. Instead of intentionally walking the first batter to set up a double play, Cedar Rapids manager Toby Gardenhire let his guys go to work. The decision paid off.

The leadoff batter flew out, Ryan Mason picked off the runner who had been gifted second base to start the inning and then he struck out the next batter. Can’t get much better than that.

The River Bandits also decided against the strategy of intentionally walking the leadoff batter in the hopes of inducing a double play. That decision did not pay off.

Lewis led off the inning with a ground ball to the third baseman. Akil Baddoo, who started the inning on second base, broke to third on the play. The Quad Cities third basemen tried tagging Baddoo, but missed. Alex Kirilloff, the next batter, delivered a sacrifice fly, scoring Baddoo to walk it off.

https://twitter.com/TwinsHighlights/status/982838553083301888

STARS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Stephen Gonsalves, Chattanooga Lookouts

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: Royce Lewis, Cedar Rapids Kernels

TOP PROSPECT SUMMARY

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

#1 Royce Lewis (CR): 2-for-4, 2B, BB, R

#2 Nick Gordon (CHAT): 1-for-2, 2B, 2 BBs, SB, K

#4 Stephen Gonsalves (CHAT): 5.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 3 K

#5 Alex Kirilloff (CR): 0-for-4, 2 K, walk-off sacrifice fly

#7 Brent Rooker (CHAT): 0-for-4, 4 K

#10 Akil Baddoo (CR): 1-for-5, 2 R, SB, 2 K

#13 Lewin Diaz (FM): 1-for-4

#14 LaMonte Wade (CHAT): 0-for-3, BB

#17 Travis Blankenhorn (FM): 2-for-5, 2 2Bs, 2 RBIs, 2 R

#19 Tyler Jay (CHAT): 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Rochester vs. Buffalo (12:05 pm CT) - Aaron Slegers

Chattanooga vs. Birmingham (1:15 pm CT) - Lewis Thorpe

Chattanooga vs. Birmingham (Game 2) - Randy LeBlanc

Fort Myers at Charlotte (11:35 pm CT) - Brady Anderson

Cedar Rapids vs. Quad Cities (2:05 pm CT) - Blayne Enlow

Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the 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!