Twins Minor League Report (5/9): Get Out the Brooms...

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 6, Gwinnett 3

Box Score

The Red Wings got back to .500 (18-18) with a victory Monday night.

Buck Britton drove in Byron Buxton and Max Kepler in the first inning to start the scoring. Gwinnett tied the score in the fourth inning, but a Britton triple followed by a John Ryan Murphy sacrifice fly gave the Red Wings a 3-2 lead in the bottom half of the inning. Gwinnett scored again in the top half of the fifth to even the score at three apiece.

Rochester pulled away with a three-run seventh. With one-out, Wilfredo Tovar drew a walk and advanced to third on a Stephen Wickens single. Byron Buxton singled Tovar in. After a ground out advanced both runners into scoring position, Max Kepler drove them in with the third single of the inning.

Buxton and Britton both had two hits to lead the offense.

Taylor Rogers is transitioning back into the rotation. Extending to 66 pitches, Rogers went five innings allowing five hits and three runs. He struck out two and walked none. With all the moves so far this season, it will be nice for Rochester to have their most consistent starter from last year back in the rotation long-term.

Dan Runzler and Buddy Boshers both pitched two scoreless innings to get the win and save, respectively. The revolving door that is the Twins bullpen could see either or both of these guys entering at some point this summer.

Rochester announced Monday night that Tommy Milone would be making his Rochester debut on Tuesday against Gwinnett.

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 12, Pensacola 3

Box Score

Pensacola scored the first run of the game, but you’re not going to lose many games if you put up crooked numbers in four different innings and that is exactly what Chattanooga did on Monday night.

After the third inning started with T.J. White reaching base on an error, both Ryan Walker and Shannon Wilkerson singled to load the bases. Zach Granite struck out for the first out of the inning, but Travis Harrison was able to knock White in with a single and keep the bases loaded. D.J. Hicks had a two-run single of his own and the Lookouts had a 3-1 lead. Chattanooga wasn’t done, though. Mitch Garver doubled to score both Harrison and Hicks and the lead was pushed to 5-1.

The Lookouts added two more runs in the fourth inning. Walked tripled to score White, who singled and Wilkerson knocked Walker in and expanded the lead to 7-1. Pensacola got two runs back in the sixth to make it 7-3.

But Chattanooga answered with three runs in the seventh and two runs in the eighth. Ryan Walker plated Hicks and Garver with run-producing single and Wilkerson drove White in. In the eighth, Mitch Garver hit a two-run home run.

The offense came to play, led by Mitch Garver who drove in four and was a triple short of the cycle. Wilkerson had three hits and drove in two. Ryan Walker went 4-for-4 with a triple and three RBI in his AA home debut. Only Granite failed to get a hit.

D.J. Baxendale earned his second win of the season. He allowed three runs on five hits and three walks. He struck out five. Mason Melotakis and Luke Westphal each pitched a scoreless frame.

MIRACLE MATTERS

Fort Myers 10, Bradenton 6

Box Score

The Miracled scored the first ten runs of the game... and did we witness the final start of Stephen Gonsalves’s Miracle career?

Newly-added spark plug Tanner Witt walked and stole second to open the game. Edgar Corcino, mentioned in the lead, doubled him in and later scored on a Trey Vavra double-play ball.

Fort Myers came back with another pair in the fourth. Logan Wade singled and stole second before scoring on a Kevin Garcia RBI groundout. Max Murphy, who also singled, scored on a throwing error.

With a 4-0 lead, the Miracle put their foot on the gas and scored five more in the fifth. Corcino singles. Chris Paul singles. Vavra singles. Logan Wade hits a two-run double. After finally recording an out, both Max Murphy and Garcia are hit by pitches, driving in Vavra. Chad Christensen drove Wade in with a single and Tanner Witt, the 9th batter of 11 in the inning, drove in Murphy with a walk.

Vavra homered in the sixth.

Stephen Gonsalves was masterful (again). In 6 1/3 innings, he gave up no runs on two hits. He did walk four, but also struck out eight and lowered his ERA to 1.21. An ERA that’s inflated by a three-run home run he gave up in his first inning of the year. It's definitely time for Gonsalves to move on, but if you look at the course of his career, it seems every promotion has come weeks (or longer) after he's completely deserving of it. Why would this time be any different?

The bullpen of Todd Van Steensel (four runs) and Brian Gilbert (two unearned runs) gave back six runs in less than three innings.

Vavra and Wade had three-hit nights for an offense that was clicking on all cylinders. Only Witt, who batted leadoff, didn’t get a hit, but he drew two walks.

Fort Myers improves to 18-13.

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids vs Kane County

Postponed. Doubleheader on Tuesday.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Pitcher of the Day – Stephen Gonsalves, Fort Myers

Hitter of the Day – Mitch Garver, Chattanooga

TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Gwinnett @ Rochester (6:05PM CST) – LHP Tommy Milone (2016 AAA Debut)

Pensacola @ Chattanooga (6:15PM CST) - LHP David Hurlbut (2-1, 6.59 ERA)

Bradenton @ Fort Myers (6:05PM CST) – RHP Kohl Stewart (2-0, 1.91 ERA)

Kane County @ Cedar Rapids (5:35PM CST, Game 1) – RHP Cody Stashak (2-1, 1.66 ERA)

Kane County @ Cedar Rapids (Game 2) – RHP Randy LeBlanc (3-2, 1.16)

Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Monday’s games.

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