Twins Minor League Report (6/18): Jacob McCombs and Eduardo Tait Power Kernels; Mussels Score 16!

TRANSACTIONS   
RHP Jesse Bergin was assigned to the Cedar Rapids Kernels. Outfielder Ricardo Paez was assigned to the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels. Both players were with the FCL Twins. The Mussels also placed RHP Matthew Dalquist on the seven-day injured list. 

Finally, infielder Orlando Arcia was outrighted after clearing waivers and sent to the Saint Paul Saints. 

SAINTS SENTINEL
Game 1: St. Paul 4, Omaha 12  
Box Score
Game 1 today as St Paul was pretty ugly for the hometown team. They gave up two runs in the first inning, four in the fourth inning, and five in the sixth inning on their way to a 12-4 loss to Omaha. 

For the Saints, Gabriel Gonzalez was 2-for-3 with a walk. He also hit his 11th home run of the season.   

The Saints team had just six hits, and they walked four times. The only other extra base hits included a Noah Cardenas home run, his fourth of the season, and Ben Ross doubled for the 14th time in a Saints uniform.

On the mound, Austin Voth started and went four innings. He gave up six runs (5 earned) on six hits and two walks. He had five strikeouts. Grant Hartwig struck out two in a scoreless fifth inning Then rehabbing Kendry Rojas came in. He gave up five runs on five hits and a walk in just 1 1/3 innings. Drew Smith came on and got the final two outs but not before giving up another run on two hits. 

Game 2: St. Paul 4, Omaha 12  
Box Score
Game 2 started out well for the Saints. Ricky Castro threw a zero on the board in the top of the first, and Ben Ross led off the bottom half of the first inning with a home run, his fifth with the Saints. 

However, Castro gave up three runs in the top of the second inning, but the Saints were able to match that in the bottom of the third frame when Henry Kusiak came to the plate with the bases loaded and knocked his third Saints double to clear the bases and give his team a 4-3 lead. 

Ricky Castro gave up three runs on four hits and two walks in two innings. He struck out two batters. John Klein came in and went the next three innings. He gave up three runs on four hits (2 homers). He struck out five batters without issuing a walk. Alejandro Hidalgo walked one and struck out two batters in a scoreless inning. Marco Raya struck out two batters in a perfect seventh inning. 

The Saints had eight hits in the second game. Gabriel Gonzalez went 3-for-3 and was hit by a pitch. Cody Morissette was 1-for-2 with two walks. Tanner Schobel hit his 12th double. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 6, Springfield 8
Box Score
This was an interesting game in Wichita on Thursday night. The Cardinals scored six runs in the top of the third inning. However, the Wind Surge responded in the bottom of the fourth inning with five runs of their own. From there, however, things settled in, and Wichita was never able to tie the game up or take the lead and Springfield won the game 8-6.

Preston Johnson made the start for the wind surge the right hander fell to oh and  three. He gave up six earned runs on four hits and two walks in just two and 1/3 innings. Sam Ryan came on in relief and got five outs. He gave up three hits but no walks and no runs. Jose Olivares came in for the fifth inning and walked four batters to give up a run in his one inning pitched. Paulshawn Pasqualotto settled things down. He struck out two over two perfect innings in relief. Jacob Webb gave up a run on two hits and two walks in his inning. Lefty Zach Vennaro struck out three batters in his half of the ninth inning.

Down 6-0 going to the bottom of the fourth inning, the Wind Surge mounted their one big rally of the game. Kala’i Rosario singled up the middle to lead things off. After a ground out moved Rosario to second base, Jorel Ortega flew out to right field, deep enough for Rosario to advance to third base. Two outs and a runner on third base, Jose Salas hit his fifth double of the season to drive in Rosario and put the Surge on the scoreboard. Maddux Houghton followed with a walk, and Quinn McDaniel was hit by a pitch to load the bases. That's when Andrew Cossetti stepped up to the plate and drilled his eighth home run of the year, a grand slam that cut the wind surge deficit to just one run.   

The next three batters walked (Khadim Diaw, Billy Amick, and Rosario), but they were unable to score that tying run. 

With two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, Ortega hit his third home run of the season but that only made it 7-6 Cardinals. That was the last of the Wind Surge scoring opportunities.   

The Wind Surge scored their six runs on eight hits and six walks. Jose Salas was the lone Wichita batter with a multi-hit game. He was 2-for-4 with a double. Diaw was 1-for-3 and walked twice. Houghton added his third triple. 

KERNELS CHRONICLE 
Cedar Rapids 13, Beloit 10
Box Score
This was another crazy game in Cedar Rapids on Thursday night. There have been a lot of unique, high scoring, back-and-forth games throughout the minor leagues the last few weeks, but several have happened in Cedar Rapids. 

Down 3-0, the Cedar Rapids Kernels scored seven runs in the bottom of the second inning. With one out, Enrique Jimenez started things with a single. With two outs, Caden Kendle walked. Jacob McCombs came up next and drilled his fourth home run of the season to tie the game at 3-3. One pitch later, Danny De Andrade followed with his seventh home run of the season to give the Kernels a 4-3 lead. 

With the bases cleared, Marek Houston singled to right field and stole second base. Walker Jenkins walked. Brandon Winokur singled to left to drive in Houston and make it a 5-3 game. Eduardo Tait drove in Jenkins and Winokur with a double to give the Kernels the 7-3 lead. 

Beloit scored a run in the top of the third, but the Kernels added on in the bottom of the fifth inning.  Winokur led off the inning with a double off the wall in right field. He scored when Tait lined a single to center and made it 8-4 Cedar Rapids. After one out, there was a pitching change. Jay Thomason welcomed the new pitcher with a walk as did Caden Kendle to load the bases. McCombs followed by singling to center field which drove in two more runs and gave the Kernels a 10-4 lead. 

But the game wasn't over. In the top of the seventh, Beloit scored a run making it a 10-5 game. But the Kernels added another three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. It all started with two outs. Graham Brown walked, and Brandon Winokur reached on catcher's interference. That brought Tait to the plate, and he launched his 14th home run of the season to give the Kernels a 13-5 lead.   

This is the Midwest League. Games aren't over until the last out is recorded. The Sky Carp weren’t quitting. They scored five runs in the top of the ninth, but the Kernels had plenty of cushion and hung on for the 13-10 win. 

Lefty Cesar Lares started for Cedar Rapids. In 3 1/3 innings, he gave up four runs (3 earned) on four hits. He walked two batters and struck out two batters. Xavier Kolhosser came in and tossed 2 1/3 scoreless innings. He gave up just one hit, walked one, and struck out two batters. Nolan Santos gave up one run in the sixth inning on a hit and two walks. Yehizon Sanchez pitched a scoreless eighth inning, but he faced four batters in the ninth inning. All four reached, and all four scored. Mitch Mueller came on to get the final three outs, but not before he allowed all three inherited runners plus a run of his own to score.

Eduardo Tait and Jacob McCombs were the heroes on offense. Tait went 3-for-5 with his 11th double and 14th home run. He scored twice and had six RBI. McCombs went 2-for-4 with his fourth home run. He had five RBI in the game. Brandon Winokur was the other Kernels hitter that had a multi-hit game He went 2-for-4 with his 11th double He scored three runs. Walker Jenkins went 1-for-3 with a walk as his rehab continues. De Andrade's home run was his seventh of the season. Houston's stolen base was his 23rd of the season.

MIGHTY MATTERS
Ft. Myers 16, Tampa 5
Box Score  
Did I mention earlier that there have been a lot of runs scored in Minor League Baseball recently? It is interesting to note that some online are starting to research and investigate if the baseball's used in minor-league games in 2026 are different than they have been in the past. I'll let smarter people than me try to figure all that out, I just enjoy watching all the runs score… when they're being scored by the Twins affiliates

Through two innings, this game was scoreless. After that, the Mussels scored in five of their next six innings and went on to a 16-5 win. They scored three runs in the third inning, three in the fifth inning, four in the seventh inning, and five in the eighth inning. Oh, they had a one run fourth inning too (if you want to count that!). 

Fort Myers scored their 16 runs on 20 hits and six walks. It will come as no surprise that Dameury Pena led the way by going 4-for-6. Byron Chourio went 3-for-4 with a walk and his second home run. He drove in four runs. Ramiro Dominguez went 2-for-4 with a walk and three RBI. Jayson Bass had two hits. Luis Fragoza was 3-for-5 and scored three runs. He hit his eighth double. Ricardo Paez was 2-for-4 with two walks. He scored three runs and hit two doubles. Ryan Sprock came off the bench and went 2-for-2 with his sixth double and his fourth home run, a three-run blast. In addition,   

Fort Myers stole seven bases, including two by Dominguez who now has 15 on the season. Nine out of the 10 Mussels batters had at least one hit in the game. Most had more than one. So we won't mention that Quentin Young went 0-for-6 with five strikeouts. Don't forget that he hit home runs in his last two games.

Kolten Smith started. He gave up two runs on three hits and two walks over 3 1/3 innings. He had five strikeouts. Brent Francisco came on and gave up only a walk over 1 2/3 scoreless innings. Eric Hammond gave up two runs on three hits over two innings. He walked one and had two strikeouts. Michael Hilker gave up one run on two hits over his two innings. He walked on and had two strikeouts.  

COMPLEX CHRONICLES
FCL Twins 9, FCL Rays 3
Box Score  
In an unusual turn, the score of this FCL game was 1-1 going into the fifth inning. However, the Twins scored three in the top of the fifth and three more in the sixth inning and then added one more run in each the seventh and eighth innings to take a commanding lead and an eventual win over the Rays. 

On the mound to start for the FCL Twins was Frederick Hiciano. The 18-year-old gave up one run on one hit in 2 1/3 innings. He walked three and had four strikeouts. Carter Holjes came on and gave up two runs on two hits and a walk over the next 3 1/3 innings. He had one strikeout. Brad Rudis came in and was a hit batter from three perfect innings. He recorded three strikeouts. Jake Covey got the final out of the game after issuing a walk.

The Twins scored their first run in the top of the fourth inning. Back-to-back-to-back singles by Miguel Caraballo, Carlos Taveras, and Teilon Serrano scored the first run.

In the top of the fifth inning, Daiber De Los Santos walked. Following a pitching change, Yovanny Duran singled him to third base. Jhomnardo Reyes followed by reaching on a fielding error by the left fielder. De Los Santos scored. However, Duran was thrown out at third. That brought Miguel Caraballo to the plate, and he drilled his fourth home run of the short season to give the Twins the 4-1 lead. You might recall Caraballo came to the Twins in the infamous Daniel Susac trade in December. 

The top of the sixth inning started with a Darwin Almanzar walk. Jose Barrios doubled to advance him to third base. Following another De Los Santos walk, the bases were loaded, and the Rays made a pitching change. Duran walked to score Almanzar with the first run of the inning. Then Reyes was hit by a pitch to score the second run. The third run scored on a wild pitch. Welcome to FCL baseball! 

In the top of the seventh inning, Jose Barrios’s first Stateside home run gave the Twins an 8-3 lead. The 18-year-old had two homers last season in the DSL. 

In the top of the eighth inning, Caraballo walked and stole second. With one out, he stole third base. And after a Serrano walk, they executed a successful double steal with Caraballo stealing home to record his third steal of the inning, and his 10th stolen base of the season. 

The Twins scored their nine runs on 12 hits and nine walks. Duran went 3-for-5 with a walk. Caraballo was 2-for-5 with a walk and his fourth home run. Tavares was 2-for-5 with his fourth double. Serrano was 2-for-4 with his third triple. Barrios was 2-for-5 including his fifth double and first home run. De Los Santos walked three times.

DSL Twins 1, DSL Diamondbacks 2
Box Score  
I may have to whisper-type about this game. I'm not sure if scoring just three total runs in a game is actually legal to write about or talk about much less play.  So this could be quick. Both teams scored a single run in the third inning. The Diamondbacks affiliate scored a single run in the top of the seventh to take a 2-1 lead, and that's what the final score was.

In the bottom of the first inning, the Twins got a leadoff double from Jendy Martinez. With one out, he went to third on a balk. He was left stranded. In the second inning, Abel Sosa, Jeferson Abreu, and Fabian Ulloa all walked to load the bases but the team was unable to score again. 

Like Diamondbacks in the top of the third, the Twins got on the board in the bottom of the third. Daiyer Barboza was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. He went to second on a wild pitch. Jhon Gonzalez grounded out to first base for the first out, but Barboza advanced to third. And in dramatic fashion, he scored on a wild pitch. 

Anibal Beltre followed with a single as if to show that he could have driven in the run himself. However, opportunities just stopped arriving after that. They had two consecutive 1-2-3 innings. Beltre singled to lead off the sixth inning, but he was unable to advance even to second base. 

Diamondbacks prospect Ismael Mejia led off the top of the seventh inning with his first home run which gave them a 2-1 lead. 

That takes us to the bottom of the seventh inning. The first two batters flew out. But Jendy Martinez followed with a line drive double to center field. Unfortunately, he attempted to make it a triple, and a perfect center field-to-shortstop-to-third baseman relay ended the threat before it even really started. 

19-year-old Fernando Hernandez started for the Twins. He gave up one run on three hits over the first 2 2/3 innings. He struck out two batters. Yolcar Garcia was next for the Twins. The 18-year-old tossed 3 1/3 scoreless innings in relief. He gave up one hit, walked one and had four strikeouts. Alam Soriano came in for the seventh inning and gave up the solo homer and a double, but just one run, in the inning. 

The Twins scored their one run on four hits and three walks. Martinez hit his fifth and sixth doubles. Beltre went 2-for-3. And the walks came back-to-back-to-back in the second inning.  .

PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitter(s) of the Day  
Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul): 5-for-6, HBP, HR(11), 2 R, 1 RBI, K.
Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids): 3-for-5, 2B(1!), HR(14), 2 R, 6 RBI.
Jacob McCombs (Cedar Rapids): 2-for-4, HR(4), R, 5 RBI, K.
Dameury Pena (Fort Myers): 4-for-6, R, SB(19).
Byron Chourio (Fort Myers): 3-for-4, BB, HR(2), 3 R, 4 RBI, SB(14). 

Pitcher(s) of the Day 
Brad Rudis (FCL Twins): 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 HBP, 3 K, 51 pitches, 32 strikes (62.7%)
Yolcar Garcia (DSL Twins): 3 1/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K. 

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

#1 - OF Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) - Rehab in CR: 1-for-3, BB, R, K (batted second, played CF) 
#5 - C Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 3-for-5, 2B(11), HR(14), 2 R, 6 RBI, K (batted fourth, played DH).
#7 - SS Marek Houston (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-5, R, K, SB(23) (batted first, played SS)
#9 - LHP Kendry Rojas (Minnesota) - Rehab in SP, Game 1: 1 1/3 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 33 pitches, 22 strikes (66.7%)
#10 - OF Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - Game 1: 2-for-3, BB, HR(11), R, RBI, K (batted second, played 1B, Game 2: 3-for-3, HBP, R, (batted second, played DH) 
#12 - RHP Andrew Morris (Minnesota) - 2/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, 8 pitches, 5 strikes (62.5%).
#14 - 3B/SS Quentin Young (Ft. Myers) - 0-for-6, 5 K (batted third, played DH)
#15 - 3B/CF Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-4, 3 R, RBI, E(10) (batted third, played 3B)
#19 - C/OF Khadim Diaw (Wichita) - 1-for-3, 2 BB (batted second, played C)
#20 - 2B/SS/CF Kyle DeBarge (Wichita) - Temporary Inactive List

UPCOMING PROBABLES
Friday, June 19
Omaha @ St. Paul (7:07 pm CT) - LHP Aaron Rozek (1-0, 2.53 ERA) vs Randy Dobnak making his first start since being traded from the Mariners to the Royals.
Springfield @ Wichita (6:35 pm CT) - The Return of RHP Chris Vallimont (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Beloit @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 pm CT) - LHP Garrett Horn (0-0, 2.08 ERA)
Ft. Myers @ Tampa (5:30 pm CT) - RHP Ramiro Villanueva (0-2, 4.55 ERA)
FCL Red Sox @ FCL Twins (11:00 am CT) - 
DSL Twins @ DSL Blue Jays (10:00 am CT) -  

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 36-40 (3rd place (of 5) in AL Central, 4.5 GB))
(The first half of the minor league seasons ended on Thursday. None of the Twins affiliates are first-half champions, so they'll have to win the second half title to make the playoffs.)
St. Paul Saints: 40-29 (3rd place (of 10) in IL West Division, 4.5 GB))
Wichita Wind Surge: 25-39 (5th place (of 5) in TL North Division, 17.0 GB))
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 31-33 (4th place (of 6) in MWL West Division, 9.0 GB))
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 37-28 (2nd place (of 6) in FSL West Division, 2.5 GB))
FCL Twins: 19-15 (2nd place (of 6) in FCL South Division, 1.0 GB))
DSL Twins: 4-9 (6th place (of 7) in DSL East Division, 5.0 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!