Twins Minor League Report (6/7): Felix Jorge Carries Chattanooga, Strikes Out Nine

Transactions: The Twins claimed Chris Heston off waivers from the Dodgers and placed him on the active roster and to make room, the Twins released Nick Tepesch. Additionally, the Twins placed Jorge Polanco on the bereavement list, and Kennys Vargas recalled from Rochester. In Cedar Rapids, the Kernels released Zack Tillery; no corresponding roster move announced at this time.

RED WINGS REPORT

Scranton/WB @ Rochester

Box Score

With the game tied 1-1 in the top of the seventh inning, Red Wings starter David Hurlbut made quick work of the first two batters on a called third strike and lazy fly ball. Then things went south. The next two batters singled to put runners on the corners and Hurlbut left the game, replaced by Trevor Hildengerger to face Gleyber Torres. Hildenberger, who hasn’t given up an earned run of his own since May 16^th, gave up a double, plating both runs, and hanging two additional earned runs on Hurlbut. Hildenberger struck out the next batter to close the inning with the Wings now down 3-1. Hurlbut’s day should have given Rochester a chance, 6.2 innings, eight hits, three earned runs, one walk and 11 strikeouts.

Unfortunately the bullpen didn’t have their best stuff on Wednesday afternoon.

In the top of the ninth the Wings got into more trouble and Kevin Chapman and Kam Mickolio each gave up a run. Down 5-1 in the bottom of the ninth, with their 3-4-5 hitters due up, Rochester managed only a single from clean-up man Matt Hague, while Niko Goodrum and ByungHo Park went down on strikes, and designated hitter John Ryan Murphy ended the game, forcing Matt Hague out at second on a grounder to the shortstop.

The Red Wings had just four hits of their own on Monday, led by Zack Granite, leading off, with a 2-4 night that included a triple and a run scored. In addition to Hague’s single, the only other player with a hit was Leonardo Reginatto with a single of his own. The Wings struck out 12 times as a team and walked just twice. ByungHo Park was 0-4 with four strikeouts, winning himself a Golden Sombrero.

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Jackson 2 @ Chattanooga 7

Box Score

The Lookouts used 12 hits to defeat the Generals on Wednesday afternoon in Chattanooga. The Lookouts took the lead in the third with a three-spot and never looked back. The game was as close as 4-2 after six innings, but another three-spot in the seventh inning put the game out of reach for Jackson.

The Lookouts were led by Dan Gamache 2-3 with a triple, a walk and three RBI, and every Lookouts player recorded a hit with the exception of Ryan Strausborger, but Strausborger contributed on the defensive side of the ball with an outfield assist on a force play at second base. Levi Michael, Edgar Corcino and T.J. White all had multiple hits.

Lookouts starter Felix Jorge had another strong start, his fourth quality start in a row, giving up just two runs over 6.2 innings. He gave up seven hits, including a solo home run, struck out nine and walked just one. Jorge appeared to have things under control in the seventh inning after striking out Colin Walsh for the second out of the inning and a man on first, but with the game in hand, and Jorge at 104 pitches, Jake Mauer made the call for Raul Fernandez to come in and face the General’s designated hitter. Frenandez did his job inducing a ground out to end the inning. Fernandez pitched two more innings to earn the seven-out save. He struck out four, walked one and gave up one hit.

MIRACLE MATTERS

Tampa @ Fort Myers

Postponed due to rain. Game will be made up on Thursday as part of a doubleheader with two 7-inning games, starting at 4:30pm Central.

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids @ Clinton

Box Score

The Kernels raced out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first thanks to run scoring doubles from Mitchell Kranson (two RBI) and Caleb Hamilton (one RBI). The Lumberkings got two runs back in the second inning, and then took the lead with a three-run fourth. The Kernels then tied the game at 5 in the top of the fifth on a Jaylin Davis double that scored a pair of runs. Unfortunately, the Kernels then gave up four runs in the sixth, putting them down 9-5, a deficit they could not overcome, despite a ninth inning rally.

Kernels’ starter Sean Poppen was tagged with the first five runs of the game over 4.2 innings. He gave up six hits, two walks and struck out three. He was replaced by Alex Robinson who gave up three runs in just a third of an inning despite not giving up a single hit, just a pair of walks and a hit batsman as he left with the bases loaded and no outs in the sixth. Hector Lujan allowed those three runs to score, after replacing Robinson, and then gave up a run of his own as well. Ryan Mason came in and got the Kernels back on track, 2.0 innings, two hits and five strikeouts.

The Kernels scored their six runs on just four hits, which is a pretty impressive feat considering they had just four walks as well, but all four of their hits were doubles and all came with runners in scoring position. No Kernels player had more than one hit, just doubles from Davis, Kranson Hamilton and Whitefield (ninth inning).

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Felix Jorge, Chattanooga Lookouts

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Dan Gamache, Chattanooga Lookouts

FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Rochester - Aaron Slegers (4-3, 6.23)

Chattanooga – Ryan Eades

Fort Myers – Dereck Rodriguez (4-2, 2.66) & Brady Anderson (2-1, 4.01)

Cedar Rapids – Domenick Carlini (3-3, 4.85)

Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Wednesday's games.

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