Twins Minor League Report (6/11): Gabriel Gonzalez, 5 Pitchers Lead Saints to 1-0 Win

TRANSACTIONS   
RHP Jacob Wosinski was released by the Wind Surge. 

RHP Christian Becerra went on the Kernels seven-day injured list. 

RHP Nick McAuliffe was moved to the Mighty Mussels roster from the FCL Twins roster.  

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 1, Toledo 0 
Box Score
Now this was definitely a pitcher’s duel. Through eight innings, it was a 0-0 game. So to start, let’s jump right to the ninth inning. 

With one out in the top of the ninth, Gabriel Gonzalez launched his 10th home run of the season. He got a hanging sweeper on 2-0 and uncoiled on it. 32 degrees at 102.3 mph, and the ball traveled 401 feet. 

Five Saints pitchers combined on the nine-inning shutout. Austin Voth started. He gave up three hits and four walks over 4 2/3 scoreless innings. He worked out of tough situations thanks to eight strikeouts. Drew Smith got the final out of the fifth inning. C.J. Culpepper gave up a hit and a walk and struck out one over two innings. Taylor Rashi struck out two batters in a perfect eighth inning to earn the Win in his Saints debut. Raul Brito got the ninth inning, and he struck out two batters and got a Max Clark ground out to earn the save.  

The Saints batters had five hits and three walks. Obviously the Gonzalez home run was the big hit in the game. Aaron Sabato added his 17th double. Kaelen Culpepper and Ben Ross each went 1-for-3 with a walk. Ross stole his fourth base. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 6, Tulsa 7
Box Score
I feel like there has to be an old school country song about a long night in Tulsa. Thursday night was a long night in Tulsa at least for those involved in this ball game. The game was delayed an hour and five minutes by the weather. 

The Wind Surge got on the scoreboard in the top of the first inning. Andrew Cossetti scored when Kala’i Rosario reached on an error. 

Newcomer Cody Moissette joined the Surge on Thursday and went 0-for-5 in his Twins organization debut. In the top of the second inning, the leadoff batter came up with Maddux Houghton on second base. He recorded his first hit, his first home run, his first run and his first two RBI in a Wichita uniform. Then in the top of the fourth, he came up with Miguel Briceno on second. He singled to right field to drive him in.   

Kala’i Rosario led off the top of the fifth inning with a walk. He stole second and went to third on a throwing error. After Jaime Ferrer was hit by a pitch, Jorel Ortega drove in Rosario with a deep fly ball to center field. 

Sam Armstrong made the start and went the first four innings. He gave up three runs on three hits and two walks. He had five strikeouts. Paulshawn Pasqualotto went the next two innings. He gave up two runs (1 earned) on two hits and a walk. He had three strikeouts. William Fleming issued a walk in a scoreless seventh inning. Kyle Bischoff threw a scoreless eighth inning.  

The game headed to the ninth inning tied at 5-5. With two outs in the top of the ninth, Rosario drilled his eighth homer of the season to give the Surge a 6-5 lead. 

Bischoff returned to the mound in the bottom of the ninth. He got the leadoff man out on a fly ball. The next batters reached on an error. Josue De Paula singled the lead runner to third. A walk loaded the bases. Then a walk tied the game at 6-6. Bischoff got a strikeout for the second out. Unfortunately, the second unearned run of the inning scored when Bischoff hit Griffin Lockwood-Powell to end the game. 

Rosario went 2-for-3 with two walks, two runs, two RBI and his eighth homer. Morissette went 2-for-5 with three RBI and his first homer. Miguel Briceno went 2-for-4. 

KERNELS CHRONICLE 
Cedar Rapids 4, Lansing 7
Box Score
A four-run bottom of the eighth turned a nice, tidy game into a tough loss to the Lugnuts in Lansing. 

Lansing took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Khadim Diaw led off the top of the second inning with a double. Jay Thomason singled him to third. Thomason stole his 16th base.  Diaw scored on a wild pitch to tie the game at 1-1.   

With one out in the top of the fourth inning, Diaw dropped his second double of the game. Thomason singled to drive him in and make it 2-1. 

Quinn McDaniel led off the top of the fifth inning with his second Kernels home run.   

Riley Quick made the start for Cedar Rapids. He gave up three runs on four hits. He walked two and had a career-high nine strikeouts in a career-high 4 2/3 innings. 

Adam Falinski came on and tossed 2 1/3 scoreless innings. He gave up no hits, walked three and had two strikeouts. 

Marek Houston led off the top of the eighth inning with a single off of the pitcher. He then stole second. With two outs, Diaw came through again. Sometimes it's not about exit velocity! His infield single gave the Kernels the 4-3 lead.   

Xavier Kolhosser came in for the bottom of the eighth. He gave up four runs on three hits and a walk. He had two strikeouts. 

Khadim Diaw went 3-for-4 with his 14th and 15th doubles. Jay Thomason went 2-for-3 and was hit by a pitch. Marek Houston went 2-for-4 with his 18th and 19th stolen bases. 

In the first three games of this series in Lansing, Diaw is 7-for-13 with two doubles, two home runs, four runs scored, and four RBI. 

MIGHTY MATTERS
Game 1: Ft. Myers 5, Dunedin 10
Box Score  
The Mussels opponent this week is the Dunedin Blue Jays, Low-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Check out Jays Centre for much more on the Blue Jays organization. Four players who were key in this game are among the Jays Centre Top 20 Prospects. If you’re interested in checking out our other DiamondCentric team sites, click here. And if you’re interested in writing at one or more of them, let us know. 

This game was actually a good baseball game, until it wasn’t, which happened very quickly. Merit Jones was scheduled to start, but Charlee Soto made his second rehab start for the Mussels. The flamethrower gave up two runs on three hits (including a homer by the also-rehabbing Hedbert Perez) in 1 2/3 innings.  

Jones entered the game with two outs in the second inning. He tossed 4 1/3 scoreless innings. He gave up three hits, walked none and had three strikeouts. 

Back to the offense, the Mussels got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the second inning when Jayson Bass muscled a ball beyond the wall in center field.   

Then in the bottom of the third, it was Dameury Pena who powered up and drilled a two-out solo home run to tie the game at 2-2. 

The Mussels grabbed the lead and put themselves in a strong position to win game one in the bottom of the sixth frame. Dameury Pena led off with a walk and went to second on a wild pitch. Alan Roden walked. Ryan Sprock singled sharply to left field, too hard maybe as Pena was only able to advance to third base. Ramiro Dominguez illustrated the soft bloops single next and drove in two runs to give the Mussels a 4-2 lead.   

The runners advanced to second and third on a wild pitch, and Graham Brown walked to reload the bases. Bass drove in Sprock with a sacrifice fly to left field to make it 5-2 Mussels heading to the final inning (7-inning games for doubleheaders). Just three more outs to get! 

Eric Hammond came on to replace Merit Jones to start the seventh inning. He gave up a leadoff single, but erased the lead runner on some PFP .He fielded a grounder and threw to second for the out. But then he walked a batter to put runners on first and second. On a 3-2 pitch, Hammond thought he had a called third strike. Unfortunately, the batter challenged and ABS showed that the pitch was 1/2-inch above the strike zone. Instead of two on with two outs, the bases were now loaded with just one out. 

Mussels manager Jordan Smith went to the bullpen and summoned Brent Francisco. Remember the first sentence of this game recap? I wrote “This game was actually a good baseball game, until it wasn’t, which happened very quickly.” 

This was pretty much that moment. Francisco walked the first batter he faced, Jake Cook, to make it a 5-3 game. Next, a bloop single by Blaine Bullard that didn’t top 80 mph dropped in for a run-scoring single and made it 5-4. Herbert Perez lined an 0-2 pitch for a single up the middle and a one-run lead became a one-run deficit. Blue Jays top prospect JoJo Parker lined out to second for the second out of the inning. Damage control? 

Nope. After a double steal, Juan Sanchez singled to right to drive in both runners and make it 8-5. After a Cade Doughty double put runners on second and third, Aldo Gaxiola singled to left to drive in both runners and make it 10-5. After another single, Francisco got the final out on a strikeout. But the damage was (Dun-edin, or just) done. The eight-run outburst meant the Mussels needed to score five to tie the game and send it to extra innings. 

They went down 1-2-3 to end the game. The Mussels scored their five runs on five hits and four walks. Bass’s home was his sixth of the season. Pena was 1-for-3 with a walk and his first homer of the season. Roden, continuing his rehab, went 0-for-1 with two walks. 

Game 2: Ft. Myers 1, Dunedin 0 (Game suspended with one out in the top of the fifth)
Box Score  
Justin Mitrovich has been fantastic and was again on Thursday night. Unfortunately, it was cut short by the weather. In 4 1/3 scoreless innings, he gave up four hits, walked one and had four strikeouts. He also hit a batter. His ERA has dropped to 0.72. 

The Mussels offense had some chances, but were only leading 1-0. The runs scored on a Graham Brown sacrifice fly. 

The teams will attempt to complete this game on Friday before their regularly-scheduled game. .   

COMPLEX CHRONICLES
FCL Twins  7, FCL Pirates 1
Box Score  
The Twins scored their first two runs in the top of the first inning. They added another in the third frame and then broke it open with four runs in the fifth inning.

Rehabbing Caden Kendle led off the game with a double. Yovanny Duran walked. With one out, Jhomnardo Reyes doubled to drive in both runs to make it 2-0.

With two outs in the top of the third, Miguel Caraballo and Reyes walked. Teilon Serrano singled to drive in the game’s third run. 

Caraballo led off the top of the fifth inning with a walk and stole second base. Reyes drove him in with a single. Serrano walked. Ricardo Pena reached on an error. Reyes scored on the play to make it 5-0. Darwin Almanzar drove in two runs with a single to center.  

Reyes led the offense. He had three of the team’s seven hits. He went 3-for-3 with a walk, his seventh double and three RBI. The Twins also walked nine times in the game. Duran and Caraballo each walked twice. 

Frederick Hiciano, 18, started for the Twins and tossed three scoreless innings. He gave up two hits, walked two and had four strikeouts. Jake Covey, 24, came in and was charged with an unearned run over 2 1/3 innings. He gave up no hits, but he walked four batters. He had two strikeouts. Brad Rudis, 23, got the final five outs, three of them on strikeouts.  

DSL Twins 2, DSL Yankees 13
Box Score  
The Twins grabbed the first lead of the game in the top of the third when they took a 1-0 lead when Daiyer Barboza scored on an error. However, the Yankees scored five runs in the bottom of the third and by the end of seven innings, they held a 13-1 lead. 

The Twins scored their other run in the top of the eighth inning when Anibal Beltre hit his first professional home run. 

The Twins scored their two runs on 10 hits and four walks. Daiyer Barboza was 2-for-4 with a walk. Fabian Ulloa went 2-for-5. Beltre was 2-for-4 including his home run. Luis Suarez went 1-for-2 with two walks. 

Fernando Hernandez, 19, made the start and struck out five batters over two scoreless innings. He gave up two hits. Alam Soriano, 19, came in and gave up nine runs (7 earned) on seven hits and three walks in 2 2/3 innings. Yolcar Garcia, 18, worked the next 2 1/3 innings. He gave up four runs (1 earned) on five hits. Aldwin Morillo, 18, came on and worked a perfect inning. 

PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitter(s) of the Day  
Khadim Diaw (Cedar Rapids): 3-for-4, 2-2B(15), 2 R, RBI, K
Jhomnardo Reyes (FCL Twins): 3-for-3, BB, 2B(7), R, 3 RBI. 

Pitcher(s) of the Day 
Merit Jones (Fort Myers): 4.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, 52 pitches, 35 strikes (67.3%) 

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did today.

#2 - IF Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul) - 1-for-3, BB. (batted first, played SS)
#5 - C Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, K (batted second, played DH).
#7 - SS Marek Houston (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-4, R, K, 2 SB(19) (batted first, played SS)
#8 - RHP Riley Quick (Cedar Rapids) - 4 2/3 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 9 K, 2 Balk, HBP, 72 pitches, 45 strikes (62.5%)
#10 - OF Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, HR(10), R, RBI, K (batted fourth, played RF) 
#11 - RHP Charlee Soto (Cedar Rapids) - Rehab in Fort Myers: 1 2/3 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, K, 32 pitches, 18 strikes (56.3%)   

#14 - 3B/SS Quentin Young (Ft. Myers) - 1-for-3 (batted seventh, played DH)
#15 - 3B/CF Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, 2 K (batted third, played 3B)
#17 - RHP C.J. Culpepper (St. Paul) - 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 33 pitches, 17 strikes (51.5%)
#19 - C/OF Khadim Diaw (Cedar Rapids) - 3-for-4, 2-2B(15), 2 R, RBI, K (batted fourth, played C)  
#20 - 2B/SS/CF Kyle DeBarge (Wichita) - 0-for-4, BB, 3 K, E(6) (batted fifth, played SS)

UPCOMING PROBABLES
Friday, June 12
St. Paul @ Toledo (6:05 pm CT) - RHP Ty Langenberg (2-2, 6.43 ERA)
Wichita @ Tulsa (7:00 pm CT) - RHP Cory Lewis (0-2, 5.60 ERA),
Cedar Rapids @ Lansing (6:05 pm CT) - LHP Cesar Lares (0-0, 4.50 ERA)
Dunedin @ Ft. Myers (6:05 pm CT) - RHP Kolten Smith (2-4, 5.40 ERA)
FCL Twins @ FCL Red Sox (11:00 am CT) -
DSL Twins @ DSL Tigers (10:00 am CT) -  

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 31-39 (3rd place (of 5) in AL Central, 6.5 GB))
St. Paul Saints: 36-29 (3rd place (of 10) in IL West Division, 4.5 GB))
Wichita Wind Surge: 22-36 (5th place (of 5) in TL North Division, 17.0 GB))
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 28-31 (4th place (of 6) in MWL West Division, 9.5 GB))
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 33-26 (2nd place (of 6) in FSL West Division, 3.5 GB))
FCL Twins: 15-13 (3rd place (of 6) in FCL South Division, 3.5 GB))
DSL Twins: 3-5 (3rd place (of 7) in DSL East Division, 3.5 GB)) 

Please feel free to ask questions about the teams, the rosters, and discuss today’s games, or anything else Twins minor-league related!                                                                                                         

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!