Twins Minor League Report (6/26): Morris and Ortega Lead Surge Win; 5 Affiliates Played, 5 Affiliates Won

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 44-36
St. Paul Saints: 40-36
Wichita Wind Surge: 32-39
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 40-29
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 35-35
FCL Twins: 18-18
DSL Twins: 8-9

TRANSACTIONS
RHP Cory Lewis was activated from the Development List.  

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 9, Iowa 7
Box Score
Right-hander David Festa was scheduled to start this game for the Saints, but for some reason, he was removed from that start and the team went with a bullpen game. There are rumors that he took a flight to somewhere in the southwest part of the United States, but I have a feeling we will soon hear why Festa could not make this start.  

Former Cubs first-round pick Ryan Jensen made the start against many of his old teammates. He gave up one run on two hits over two innings. He had two strikes. Hobie Harris got the third inning, but he gave up three runs on five hits and a walk. Scott Blewett was able to eat some innings for the Saints. In 3 2/3 innings, he gave up three runs (1 earned) on five hits and a walk. He had four strikeouts. Josh Winder came in with two on and two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning. He allowed both inherited runners to score. However, his line looks great. In 2 1/3 innings, he gave up no runs on one hit and one walk. He struck out just one but recorded his third save of the season. 

The Saints offense continued to put up good numbers almost daily. In this game, seven of the nine hitters had at least one hit. Patrick Winkel didn’t have a hit, but he walked twice in key situations. Batting leadoff, Edouard Julien went 0-for-3 but had three walks. 

Yunior Severino went 3-for-4 with a walk and two RBI. Will Holland went 2-for-3 with a walk. He also stole his 13th base. Matt Wallner went 2-for-6 with his 11th double. DaShawn Keirsey hit his 12th double. And Brooks Lee hit his sixth home run since joining the Saints.  

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 6, NW Arkansas 1 
Box Score
The Wind Surge combined a four-run fourth and yet another fantastic start from Andrew Morris to get an afternoon win on Wednesday. 

Morris improved his Double-A record to 3-1 while dropping his ERA to just 1.41. Morris worked 5 2/3 scoreless innings. He gave up four hits, walked none and had nine strikeouts. The nine strikeouts were the most he’s had with the Wind Surge and a number he reached twice earlier this season with Cedar Rapids. 

The bottom of the third inning started with a Kyler Fedko walk. Dalton Shuffield followed with a single. Then Jorel Ortego, the 9-Hole Hitter in this game, hit his fourth homer of the season, a three-run blast. Luke Keaschall followed by connecting on his second Wind Surge homer to make it 4-0. 

Regi Grace came on and got the final out of the sixth inning. He worked 2 1/3 scoreless, hitless innings. He issued just one walk and had one strikeout. Taylor Floyd worked the ninth inning. He gave up one run on three hits. He also hit a batter, but he had two strikeouts. 

Jake Rucker went 3-for-4. Jeferson Morales went 2-for-4 with two RBI. Keaschall was 2-for-4 with his ninth total homer of the season.  

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 8, Beloit 6
Box Score
The Kernels scored three runs in the sixth and three more in the eighth to take the lead and hung on for their 40th win of the season. 

Like the Saints, the Kernels had a bit of a bullpen game on Wednesday afternoon. Mike Paredes started and gave up two runs on three hits over 3 1/3 innings. Jarret Whorff gave up one run on three hits and recorded five outs. AJ Labas went 1 2/3 innings and gave up two runs (1 earned) on two hits. Jacob Wosinski gave up two hits, but no runs. He recorded four outs, all on strikeouts. Gabriel Yanez gave up a run on three hits in the ninth but held on for his fifth save of the season. Combined, the Kernels pitchers didn’t hurt themselves. There was one hit batter, but no walks, and they recorded 10 strikeouts. 

Down 4-2 going to the bottom of the sixth, Nate Baez led off with a walk. Jay Harry followed with a single. After two strikeouts, Kyle Hess came to the plate. He ripped a triple to right field that drove in both runners. With a throwing error, Hess scored two and the Kernels had the 5-4 lead. 

The game was tied 5-5 going to the bottom of the eighth inning. It was again Baez that led off and got on base, this time after he was hit by a pitch. Harry followed with a walk. Misael Urbina successfully laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners. Jose Salas followed with his second double of the game that scored only Baez, with Harry remaining at third base. After a second out, Payton Eeles singled to short which scored Harry, but a throwing error also allowed Salas to score. 

Salas went 2-for-4 with his sixth and seventh doubles. Ricardo Olivar walked three times. Hess’s triple was his first with the Kernels. Rayne Doncon hit his seventh double since joining the Kernels. It was his 20th overall this season. 

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 11, Tampa 9
Box Score
The Mussels fell behind 6-0 after just one-half inning. Through three innings, the Mussels were behind 9-5. They kept clawing back and tied the game in the bottom of the seventh. Two more runs in the bottom of the eighth, and the Mussels completed the improbable comeback. 

Tanner Hall struggled early, but he also wasn’t helped by his defense. In 2 1/3 innings, he was charged with all nine runs. He gave up seven hits, walked four batters, and hit a batter. However, the Mussels had six errors and five of the runs allowed were unearned. 

However, the Mussels’ bullpen was absolutely fantastic in this game. Paulshawn Pasqualotto struck out four batters over 2 2/3 scoreless innings. He gave up just two hits. Julio Bonilla faced six batters over two perfect innings. He had four strikeouts. Nolan Santos faced seven batters over the final two innings. He gave up no hits, no walks, and no runs. He had three strikeouts. 

After falling behind 6-0, the Mussels responded with three runs in the bottom half of the first frame. Walker Jenkins started it with a walk. Byron Chourio singled. Then Brandon Winokur singled to load the bases. Jenkins scored on a Rixon Wingrove sacrifice fly. With two outs, Winokur stole a base. Carlos Aguiar drove in two runs with a single but was thrown out by the catcher trying to advance to second base. 

The team just kept picking away. In the second, Isaac Pena doubled and scored on a Maddux Houghton single. In the third inning, Wingrove scored from first on an Aguiar double. 

Down 9-5 going to the bottom of the fifth, the Mussels rallied again. It started out a little Little League-like. With one out, Isaac Pena reached on an error, stole second, and advanced to third base on a wild pitch. Yohander Martinez walked and stole second. Maddux Houghton was hit by a pitch. That loaded the bases and caused a pitching change. Walker Jenkins welcomed Jordy Luciano with a 102-mph, bases-clearing double to center that cut the Mussels’ deficit to 9-8. 

Then in the bottom of the seventh inning, Houghton led off with a single and somehow scored from first base on a single by Jenkins. How? Well, Jenkins hits the ball really hard (108.8 mph), and Houghton can absolutely fly! 

That tied the game at 9-9. Later that inning, Brandon Winokur was hit by a pitch. He left the game, hopefully more as a precaution, after missing last week after being hit by a pitch. Hopefully he can be back in the lineup soon. 

With two outs in the bottom of the eighth, Isaac Pena singled and stole second base. He also stole third base as Yohander Martinez walked. Martinez followed by stealing second. Pena scored on a wild pitch, and Martinez scored on a Houghton single to make it an 11-9 lead, a lead that they held onto. 

Isaac Pena went 3-for-5 with his fifth double. He also had three stolen bases, and because the team won, we won’t mention his three errors. Maddux Houghton went 3-for-4 with two RBI.  Aguiar went 2-for-5 with his seventh double. Jenkins went 2-for-5 with a walk, his third double, and four RBI. The team had eight stolen bases and were hit by four pitches. 

COMPLEX CHRONICLES
FCL Twins 
Box Score
No Game on the schedule. 

DOMINICAN DAILIES
DSL Twins 7, DSL Padres Brown 5
Box Score
In a familiar story, the Twins fell behind early. It was 4-0 after the first inning. It was a tough one for Aaron Carranza. He recorded just one out and was charged with four runs (3 earned) on no hits and one walk. He hit the first two batters he faced. After a fly out, he hit another batter to load the bases. A fielding error allowed two runs on score. Then came the walk. And that was the end of his day. 

Nestor Cafe came in and gave up a two-run single, ending the line for Carranza. Cafe tossed 1 2/3 innings and gave up one hit. He walked two and struck out one. Yoel Roque came on and tossed 2 2/3 scoreless innings. He gave up two hits, walked three and hit another batter, but he had six strikeouts. Sebastian Pulido came on and went 1 1/3 innings. He gave up one run on one hit and one walk. Fabian Herrera came in and struck out two batters in a quiet seventh inning to record his second save. 

The Twins scored three in the top of the second inning. With two outs, Luis Fragoza singled. Carlos Silva doubled him to third. After a Nestor Urbina walk loaded the bases, Irvin Nunez singled to center to drive in two runs. Then the Twins pulled off a double-steal. Nunez stole second base, and Urbina stole home to make it a 4-3 deficit.

Then in the third inning, Eduardo Beltre hit his second home run to tie the game. With two outs, Ramiro Dominguez singled and went to second on a balk. Fragoza doubled to put the Twins ahead 5-4. 

The Padres tied it in the bottom of the sixth inning. In the seventh frame, Eduardo Beltre singled. Murphy Hernandez pinch ran for him. He stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Dominguez walked. Fragoza was hit by a pitch. Then Silva came through with a big, two-run single to give the team the 7-5 lead which became a 7-5 win. 

Silva was 2-for-4. The double was his third. Beltre was 2-for-4 with his second home run. Fragoza was 2-for-3, hit by a pitch, and hit his third double. 

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Andrew Morris (Wichita) - 5.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 9 K; 89 pitches, 57 strikes (64.0%)
Hitter of the Day – Walker Jenkins (Fort Myers) - 2-for-5, BB, 2B(3), R, 4 RBI , K. 

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on the Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Thursday.
#1– Walker Jenkins (Fort Myers) – 2-for-5, BB, 2B(3), R, 4 RBI, K 
#2 – Brooks Lee (St. Paul) – 1-for-4, 2 BB, HR(6), 2 R, 2 RBI
#9 – Luke Keaschall (Wichita) – 2-for-4, HR(2), 2 R, RBI, K.
#10 – Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) – 1-for-3, BB, R, SB(13) 
#11 – Simeon Woods Richardson (Minnesota) – 5.1 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 90 pitches, 57 strikes (63.3%)
#13 – Tanner Schobel (Wichita) – 0-for-4, 2 K  . 
#18 – Yunior Severino (St. Paul) – 3-for-4, BB, 2 RBI, K  
#20 – Ricardo Olivar (Cedar Rapids) – 0-for-2, 3 BB, 2 K 

THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Iowa (6:38 PM CST) – RHP Randy Dobnak (6-5, 4.35 ERA)
NW Arkansas @ Wichita (7:05 PM CST) – RHP Zebby Matthews (2-1, 1.55 ERA)
Beloit @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CST) – RHP Jeremy Lee (0-3, 6.48 ERA)
Tampa @ Ft. Myers (6:05 PM CST) – RHP Spencer Bengard (4-1, 1.23 ERA)
FCL Twins @ FCL Braves (DH @ 9:00 AM CT) - TBD, TBD
DSL Phillies Red @ DSL Twins (10:00 AM CST) - TBD 

Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Wednesday’s games!

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!