Twins Minor League Report (6/1): Miracle Return For Jax

Keep reading to find out more on the night in the Twins minor league system on Friday. As always, please feel free to discuss and ask questions.

ALL STARS

The Florida State League announced its All-Star roster. Four members of the Ft. Myers Miracle made the team. LHP Andrew Vasquez, 3B Travis Blankenhorn, and OFs Jaylin Davis and Jimmy Kerrigan made the roster.

TRANSACTIONS

• Ft. Myers announced that Griffin Jax was added to their roster and started for them on Friday night. As you recall, he learned in late April that he would be able to resume his baseball career on a full-time basis due to the Air Force’s World Class Athlete program.
  
• Aaron Slegers also reported to Rochester a day after being sent down from the Twins.
  

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 3, Norfolk 1

Box Score

Down 1-0 going into the sixth inning, the Red Wings tied the game on Jake Cave’s fifth home run. The next batter, Chris Carter, gave the team a 2-1 lead with his third Red Wings homer. Nick Gordon provided a little insurance late in the game. After a Zack Granite double, Gordon singled him in. Gordon went 3-for-5 with his third double.

Adalberto Mejia has been a bit of a forgotten man in the Twins pitching depth, but he had a very nice start on Friday. In six innings, he gave up just one run on five hits. He walked one and struck out four. Trevor May came on to replace him and worked the final three innings to record the save. He gave up just one hit, walked one and struck out one. He needed just 37 pitches to get through the three innings.

The Red Wings improved to 28-23.

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 4, Birmingham 6

Box Score

The game started late due to rain. The Lookouts fell behind early and were unable to come all the way back despite a big game from Brent Rooker.

Anthony Marzi made the start. The lefty gave up six runs on ten hits over the first four innings. He walked one and struck out four. Ryan Eades struck out three over three scoreless innings, and Zack Jones walked two and struck out one in his scoreless inning.

Rooker led the offense. He had a single, his 11th double and his second triple in five at-bats. Brian Navarreto went 2-for-4 with his eighth and ninth doubles. Sean Miller added a single and a walk.

The Lookouts are now 31-23 on the season.

MIRACLE MATTERS

Game 1 - Ft. Myers 2, St. Lucie 3 (completion of game suspended on May 19)

Box Score

Way back on May 19th, these two teams started this game. However, it was suspended in the sixth inning, so they had to resume the game starting tonight. Previously, Brady Anderson had thrown 2 2/3 scoreless innings, and Paco Rodriguez (who has since been promoted to Chattanooga) gave up two unearned runs over 2 1/3 innings. When play resumed, Tom Hackimer took the mound. He was charged with one run on four hits and three walks over three innings of work. He struck out four. Logan Lombana struck out two (and walked one) in a scoreless inning.

Game 2 - Ft. Myers 2, St. Lucie 3 (regularly scheduled game)

Box Score

The big story in the Twins system on Friday night was the return of Griffin Jax to the mound in a game. Along with not having pitched since last July, he moved up a level to the Miracle. He had a solid first outing. While his final line may look pedestrian (4.2 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 3 K), he actually started with four shutout innings. He was replaced in the fifth by Hector Lujan who gave up just two hits over 2 1/3 scoreless innings.

Taylor Grzelakowski hit his fifth home run of the season in the eighth inning to tie the game at three.

However, in the bottom of the eighth inning, Alex Robinson came in and gave up three runs (one earned) on four hits and a walk.

Grzelakowski went 3-for-4 in the game with the home run. Lewin Diaz added his fifth double. Travis Blankenhorn had a short outing. He had a sacrifice fly in the first inning. He was the pivot man on a double play that ended the second inning, and then he came out of the game, replaced by Luis Arraez. No official word on why he left the game. Arraez walked twice in his place.

The Miracle fell to 20-31 on the season.

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 3, Burlington 4

Box Score

Alex Kirilloff just continues to mash. The outfielder had three hits in five at-bats including his 17th double and his ninth home run off of former Kernels pitcher Eduardo Del Rosario. Akil Baddoo went 2-for-5 including his fourth home run. Jose Miranda drove in a run with his ninth double. He went 2-for-3 with a walk as well.

Randy Dobnak was on the mound on Friday night for the Kernels. His night began with four no-hit innings. However, he gave up three runs (two earned) on three hits in the fifth inning. In total, he walked one and struck out four. Melvi Acosta threw three scoreless innings. He gave up two hits, walked one and struck out one. Calvin Faucher threw a scoreless ninth inning, but he allowed the game-winning run with two outs in the tenth to take the loss. The run allowed was, of course unearned, since that runner started the inning second base.

The loss dropped the Kernels to 25-27 on the season.

STARS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Hitter of the Day: Tyler Grzelakowski, Ft. Myers Miracle (3-5, (5))

Twins Daily Pitcher of the Day: Adalberto Mejia, Rochester Red Wings (6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K)

PROSPECT SUMMARY

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

#1 - Royce Lewis (Cedar Rapids) - 0-5

#2 - Fernando Romero (Minnesota) - Did Not Pitch

#3 - Nick Gordon (Rochester) - 3-5, 2B(3), RBI

#4 - Stephen Gonsalves (Rochester) - Did Not Pitch

#5 - Alex Kirilloff (Cedar Rapids) - 3-5, 2B(17), HR(9), 2 R, RBI

#6 - Wander Javier - out of for the season

#7 - Brent Rooker (Chattanooga) - 3-5, 2B(11), 3B(2), 2 RBI, K

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

#9 - Brusdar Graterol (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Pitch

#10 - Akil Baddoo (Cedar Rapids) - 2-5, HR(4), R, RBI, K

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

#12 - Lewis Thorpe (Chattanooga) - Did Not Pitch

#13 - Lewin Diaz (Ft. Myers) - No Game

#14 - LaMonte Wade (Chattanooga) - Did Not Play

#16 - Ben Rortvedt (Cedar Rapids) - 0-5

#17 - Travis Blankenhorn (Ft. Myers) - 2-4, 2B(8), 2 RBI

#18 - Yunior Severino (Extended Spring Training)

#19 - Tyler Jay (Chattanooga) - No Game

#20 - Felix Jorge (Chattanooga) - Disabled List, still no official timetable for return.

SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Rochester @ Norfolk (6:05 CST) - RHP Zack Littell (1-1, 2.57 ERA)

Chattanooga @ Birmingham (6:30 CST) - RHP Cody Stashak

Ft. Myers @ St. Lucie (DH @ 3:00 CST) - LHP Charlie Barnes (1-4, 4.42 ERA), RHP Andro Cutura (2-1, 4.13 ERA)

Cedar Rapids @ Burlington (6:30 CST) - LHP Bryan Sammons (1-3, 2.70 ERA)

Please feel free to ask any questions about Friday’s games, or ask any questions you may have.

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!