Twins Minor League Report (6/30): Grand Night for Cedar Rapids

TRANSACTIONS

The roster move of Adalberto Mejia being called up to the Twins and Alan Busenitz being sent back down to Rochester was made official this morning.

Ervin Santana was transferred to Fort Myers to continue his rehab assignment. He started for the Miracle today.

RED WINGS REPORT

Lehigh Valley 6, Rochester 2

Box Score

SP: Aaron Slegers (6.0 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 8 K)

HR: Chris Carter (7)

Multi-hit games: LaMonte Wade, Zack Granite

Interesting start from Aaron Slegers tonight. Coming into this start he hadn’t struck out more than five batters in a game all season. While he picked up eight Ks, that came with three walks and four earned runs over his six innings of work.

Gabriel Moya pitched two scoreless innings to lower his ERA to 1.64 on the season, but John Curtiss gave up a pair of runs in the ninth. It’s been difficult for younger guys to get looks on the big club, so Curtiss posting a 4.76 ERA over nine appearances in June isn’t going to help his cause.

Chris Carter hit his seventh homer with the Wings and 20th overall on the season and Zack Granite added an RBI double. LaMonte Wade was 2-for-4 and scored a run.

Byron Buxton was 0-for-3 with a walk and Jorge Polanco was 1-for-3 with a walk of his own.

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Tennessee 2, Chattanooga 0

Box Score

SP: Dietrich Enns (7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K)

HR: None

Multi-hit games: None

Second baseman Alex Perez had the only Lookouts hit, a single in the sixth inning. Dietrich Enns, 27, made his first Double A appearance since 2016. He was relieved by 29-year-old Ryne Harper, who pitched a scoreless eighth inning.

MIRACLE MATTERS

Lake land 3, Fort Myers 1

Box Score

SP: Ervin Santana (3.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K)

HR: None

Multi-hit games: Luis Arraez, Alex Kirilloff

Ervin Santana returned to action, pitching the third game of his rehab assignment and first in a month. The results were solid (see above), but he’s still got a little ways to go before he’s back up to full speed. Literally.

https://twitter.com/AndrewBern12/status/1013195639629451265

Luis Arraez was 2-for-4, picking up his 27th-straight multi-hit game. OK, that’s not true at all, but it sure seems like it could be. He’s been on fire. Alex Kirilloff was also 2-for-4 and had the Miracle’s only extra-base hit (a double). He’s now 13-for-40 (.325) in his first nine games with Fort Myers.

Griffin Jax pitched the final six innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on eight hits. Miguel Sano was 0-for-1 as a pinch hitter.

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 11, Burlington 3

Box Score

W: Jordan Balazovic (6.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 10 K)

SV: Tanner Kiest (3.0 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K)

HR: Trey Cabbage (6), Royce Lewis (8)

Multi-hit games: Lewis, Jacob Pearson, Akil Baddoo, Cabbage

Here’s how this game started:

Akil Baddoo single.

Jacob Pearson single.

Royce Lewis single, Baddoo scores.

Robby Rinn hit by a pitch.

Trey Cabbage grand slam.

Andrew Bechtold walk.

That was it for the Burlington starting pitcher, whose identity shall not be revealed out of respect for the victim and his family.

When it was all said and done, Jordan Balazovic had a 7-0 lead by the time he took to the mound. He responded exactly as you’d hope. The Canadian right-hander attacked batters, racking up 10 strikeouts while allowing just one hit in six innings. A fifth-round pick back in 2016, Balazovic now has 41 strikeouts in 26 2/3 innings pitched this season (13.8 K/9).

Pearson and Lewis both had three-hit nights and each also drew a walk. Cabbage had another hit and a walk in addition to his granny and Baddoo had a pair of hits, including a double.

Cabbage was a monster for the Kernels in June. He had a .279/.342/.559 (.901 OPS) line in 19 games this month.

E-TWINS E-NOTES

Elizabethton 3, Danville 2

Box Score

W: Austin Schulfer (3.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K)

SV: Ricky Ramirez (2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K)

SP: Josh Winder (3.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K)

HR: Chris Williams (2)

Multi-hit games: Williams

E-Town only collected five hits in this game, but they made ‘em count. They picked up two runs in the fourth thanks to a Ryan Jeffers single, a Chris Williams double, an RBI single from Alex Robles and then a sacrifice fly from Ricky De La Torre. Then in the sixth, Williams hit a home run to put the Twins up for good.

Josh Winder, the Twins’ seventh-round pick earlier this month, had an impressive professional debut. He gave up an unearned run on one hit and had three strikeouts while not issuing any walks over three innings. He threw 30 of his 43 pitches for strikes (69.8 percent).

GCL TWINS TAKES

GCL Twins 6, GCL Red Sox 5 (Game 1)

Box Score

W: Amilcar Cruz (2.0 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K)

SP: Donny Breek (4.0 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K

HR: None

Multi-hit games: Tyler Webb, Janigson Villalobos, Samuel Vasquez

The Twins trailed 5-4 heading into the bottom of the seventh and final inning (they played a doubleheader today). Yelsin Encarnacion reached base on an error to lead things off, and as everybody knows, errors will come back to terror. Tyler Webb was hit by a pitch and Gabe Snyder hit a single, but Encarnacion was thrown out at home trying to score the game-tying run.

Webb eventually scored the tying run on a fielder’s choice and Yanigson Villalobos ended it with a walk-off single that brought home Snyder.

GCL Red Sox 4, GCL Twins 2

Box Score

SP: Landon Leach (1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K)

HR: None

Multi-hit games: Estamy Urena, Tyler Webb

Landon Leach made his 2018 debut in this one, though he wasn’t on the mound for long. He only faced five batters, but it was in an eventful inning. Leach gave up a leadoff single, which was followed by a sacrifice bunt. He gave up another single, but the Red Sox ran into an out on the play. The next batter reached on an error, bringing home a run, before Leach coaxed an inning-ending flyout.

The Twins got a run in the fourth inning thanks to consecutive singles from Austin Hale, Willie Joe Garry Jr. and Estamy Urena. The added another run in the sixth when Garry Jr. walked, Urena hit another single and Yelstin Encarnasion hit an RBI ground out.

STARS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Jordan Balazovic, Cedar Rapids

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: Trey Cabbage, Cedar Rapids

TOP PROSPECT SUMMARY

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

1. Royce Lewis, CR: 3-for-4, HR, 3 RBIs, 2 Rs, BB

2. Fernando Romero, ROC: Did not pitch.

3. Nick Gordon, ROC: 0-for-3, BB

4. Stephen Gonsalves, ROC: Did not pitch.

5. Alex Kirilloff, FM: 2-for-4, 2B, R, K

6. Wander Javier: Out for the season with a shoulder injury.

7. Brent Rooker, CHAT: 0-for-3, 2 Ks

8. Blayne Enlow, CR: Did not pitch.

9. Brusdar Graterol, FM: Did not pitch.

10. Akil Baddoo, CR: 2-for-6, 2B, R

11. Zack Littell, ROC: Did not pitch.

12. Lewis Thorpe, CHAT: Did not pitch.

13. Lewin Diaz, FM: 1-for-4, RBI

14. LaMonte Wade, ROC: 2-for-4, R

15. Mitch Garver, MIN

16. Ben Rortvedt, FM: 0-for-3, BB, K

17. Travis Blankenhorn, FM: 0-for-4, 3 Ks

18. Yunior Severino, ET: 0-for-4, K

19. Tyler Jay, CHAT: Did not pitch.

20. Felix Jorge, GCL: Did not pitch.

SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Rochester vs. Lehigh Valley, 12:05 pm CT: TBD

Chattanooga at Tennessee, 5:40 pm CT: Lewis Thorpe

Fort Myers vs. Lakeland, 3:00 pm CT: Brusdar Graterol

Cedar Rapids at Burlington, 2 pm CT: Bryan Sammons

Elizabethton at Princeton, 4:00 pm CT: TBD

GCL Twins: Off

Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the games.

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