Twins minor League Report (5/24): Milone and Slegers Dominate

Fort Myers got a complete game shutout effort on the hill, and the Cedar Rapids lineup knocked the Twins’ former affiliate around their old ball park.

Read on to find out who did what and where in Sunday’s MiLB action!

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 3, Norfolk 1

Box Score

Rochester scored single runs in the third, fourth, and seventh innings to provide plenty of run support for the continued AAA dominance of Tommy Milone.

He pounded the strike zone all day and scattered six hits over 8.1 innings. Eighty-five of his one-hundred-and-eight pitches went for strikes and he had retired eleven men in a row when he was finally struck for his first earned run since being optioned to AAA in the bottom of the ninth. Norfolk’s Christian Walker homered to make the score 3-1.

With the shutout no longer in place, Milone was lifted for A.J. Achter, who quickly got the final two outs for his sixth save of the year. Milone finished the game with eight strikeouts and no walks.

Jose Martinez got the scoring started for the Red Wings when he led off the top of third inning with his second home run of the year. He added a sacrifice fly to score Josmil Pinto in the fourth.

Danny Ortiz added the final insurance run when he led off the seventh inning with his seventh home run of the season and the 3-0 lead for Rochester.

Martinez and Ortiz both finished the game with two hits and a home run. Kennys Vargas was 1-4, and Argenis Diaz and Eric Fryer collected the other two hits for the Red Wings.

The win improved Rochester to 25-19 on the season, leading the International League North Division.

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 7, Mobile 6

Box Score

The Lookouts jumped out to an early lead in the top of the first inning, and the scoring was started by the bat of Miguel Sano. With Jorge Polanco on first base after a single, Sano launched his ninth home run of the season to center field and a 2-0 lead. Max Kepler and Adam Brett Walker followed with back-to-back doubles to score a third run, and Mike Gonzalez brought home Walker with a single to make it 4-0.

Mobile got one run back in the bottom of the inning after a leadoff home run against starter Greg Peavey, but Chattanooga scored two more in the second to make it 6-1.

Stephen Wickens reached base on an error, moved to second on a Byron Buxton groundout, and scored on a Polanco single. Travis Harrison then brought Polanco around to score with his first triple of the season to right field.

Peavey then kept the BayBears lineup silent until the sixth inning when they plated two runs to close the score to 6-3 and chase him from the game. D.J. Johnson escaped the jam in the sixth, and worked a scoreless seventh before running into trouble in the eighth. A walk, hit batter, and a double scored one before Zack Jones was summoned. He walked two batters to plate the first inherited runner, and then a sacrifice fly scored a second to tie the game at six.

In the top of the ninth however, the bat and legs of Buxton put Chattanooga back on top for good, as he beat out a ground ball to third base for a single, and the rushed throw to first turned into a throwing error that allowed Carlos Paulino to race home and make the score 7-6.

Jones got a one-two-three bottom of the ninth to pick up his third win on the season.

Polanco, Harrison, and Paulino each collected two hits, and Polanco stole his ninth base. Buxton finished 1-4 with a walk.

MIRACLE MATTERS

Brevard County 0, Fort Myers 4

Box Score

The Brevard County Manatees had no answer for the efficiency of starter Aaron Slegers on this day.

His quick work and complete game shutout performance allowed this game to finish in just under two hours. He didn’t go to a single three-ball count with any hitter, and threw twenty-one first-pitch strikes. The Manatees managed just three hits, all singles, and Slegers struck out a season-high nine batters. It was the first complete game shutout for the Miracle this season, and was one of two shutouts in the series.

The Miracle lineup got all the offense they would need in the second and third innings to jump out to 3-0 lead. Niko Goodrum drew his Florida State League leading twenty-seventh walk, stole his tenth base, and scored on a Marcus Knecht single in the second, and Tanner Vavra and Zach Granite scored on an Alex Swim single in the third.

Fort Myers added a run in the eighth inning on a throwing error from the catcher that allowed Swim to scamper home.

Knecht was 2-3 on the night with an RBI and stolen base, and Swim 2-4 with two RBI and a stolen base.

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 11, Beloit 1

Box Score

Cedar Rapids pounded out thirteen hits on the day to dismantle the Beloit Snappers in the organization's old stomping grounds.

They went ahead 2-0 in the second inning, when Blake Schmit drove in Max Murphy with a single, and Zack Larson scored on a wild-pitch strike three to Rainis Silva that would have ended the inning.

Their big inning was the top of the third, as they batted around and added six runs to their total. Nick Gordon was the victim of the first and last outs of the inning, but in between Trey Vavra singled, Murphy brought him home with a triple, Larson and Pat Kelly hit back-to-back doubles to score two more, Tyler Kuresa singled in Kelly, and Tanner English added a triple that scored Kuresa and Silva who had reached base on an error.

In the fourth inning they scored three more to go ahead 11-0 when two consecutive errors began the frame. A single from Larson, sac fly from Kelly, and double from Kuresa brought in the Kernels' final runs of the day.

It was more than enough for the Cedar Rapids pitching staff, who went with a bullpen game started by Zach Tillery. He pitched the first two innings, allowing just two hits. Luke Bard then made his second appearance of the season, pitching two hitless innings of his own. Cameron Booser pitched the fifth and sixth innings, allowing Beloit’s only run of the game, an unearned one, while walking three and striking out one. Trevor Hildenberger finished the final three innings for his fifth save. He allowed two hits and struck out one. Hildenberger’s ERA now sits at 0.35 on the season, his last ten appearances and 21.2 innings pitched being of the scoreless variety. Over that time frame, he’s allowed just six hits and two walks, while striking out twenty-five.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Pitcher of the Day – Aaron Slegers, Fort Myers Miracle (CG SO, 9 IP, 3 H’s, 0 BB’s, 9 K’s)

Hitter of the Day – Max Murphy, Cedar Rapids Kernels (3-5, 3 R’s, 3B, RBI)

MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Rochester @ Durhan (4:05 PM CST) – LHP Jason Wheeler (1-2, 5.70 ERA)

Chattanooga @ Mobile (4:05 PM CST) – RHP D.J. Baxendale (3-0, 2.47 ERA)

Fort Myers – Scheduled Day Off.

Cedar Rapids @ Beloit (2:00 PM CST) – RHP John Curtiss (2-3, 5.79 ERA)

Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Sunday games.

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