Twins Minor League Report (8/11): Remember Michael Pineda?

TRANSACTIONS

There was a trio of pitchers who all moved up a level. Ryan Eades jumped up to Rochester, Anthony Marzi to Chattanooga and Kevin Marnon was promoted to Fort Myers.

RED WINGS REPORT

Charlotte 8, Rochester 0

Box Score

SP: Fernando Romero (4.0 IP, 10 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 2 K)

Multi-hit games: None.

It’s been a tough year for Rochester, who fell to 52-63 after today’s shutout loss. Fernando Romero was hammered and the Red Wings’ lineup was dominated by White Sox No. 2 prospect Michael Kopech.

Gregorio Petit’s double was the only extra-base hit for Rochester. The bright spot was Ryne Harper, who pitched four shutout innings out of the bullpen.

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Jackson 4, Chattanooga 3

Box Score

SP: Sean Poppen (5.2 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 1 K)

HR: Luis Arraez (1)

Multi-hit games: Zander Wiel (2-for-4), Luke Raley (2-for-4, 2B), Luis Arraez (2-for-4, HR)

Luis Arraez hit his first home run for Chattanooga, his second overall of the season, but Tyler Jay gave up the decisive run in the seventh inning as the Generals prevailed Saturday.

The Lookouts, who did not qualify for a playoff spot in the first half, sit in last place in the Southern League North division in the second half.

MIRACLE MATTERS

Florida 3, Fort Myers 2

Box Score

SP: Michael Pineda (3.0 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K)

Multi-hit games: Ryan Costello (2-for-3), Travis Blankenhorn (2-for-3, 3B)

Michael Pineda made his first official appearance in the Twins organization. Had to have been a good feeling for the big right-hander. He had Tommy John surgery in July of 2017. This was an encouraging first time out on the mound.

https://twitter.com/LaVelleNeal/status/1028439394925989889

Pineda gave up five hits in his three shutout innings, but that was more than likely due to the fact that he was living in the zone. Of his 33 pitches, 29 were strikes.

It was still a night that ended in a tough loss for Fort Myers. They trailed 2-0 heading into the eighth, but tied it up thanks to an RBI triple by Travis Blankenhorn, who later scored on a sac fly from Mark Contreras. This game remained tied until the Fire Frogs walked it off on a run-scoring single.

Thanks to the reinforcements who’ve come up from Cedar Rapids, the Miracle are in striking distance of securing a playoff spot here in the second half. They trail Charlotte by 2.5 games in the Florida State League South division.

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 9, Quad Cities 6

Box Score

W: Jordan Balazovic (5.0 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K)

SV: Calvin Faucher (3.0 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K)

HR: Gabriel Maciel 2 (3), Trevor Larnach (1)

Multi-hit games: Gabriel Maciel (4-for-5, 2 HR), Michael Helman (3-for-5), Trey Cabbage 3-for-5, 2B), Andrew Bechtold (3-for-3, 2 BB), Ryan Jeffers (2-for-5), Trevor Larnach (2-for-5, HR),

Cedar Rapids tallied 18 hits on Saturday. Wow! Six of their batters had multi-hit games, but none was more impressive than Gabriel Maciel. He hit a home run form both sides of the plate. That’s particularly noteworthy because the speedy center fielder had only hit one homer in 79 games this season heading into tonight.

Trevor Larnach hit his first homer since being called up to the Kernels and Andrew Bechtold reached base all five times he came up to bat, going 3-for-3 with a double and two walks.

Jordan Balazovic improved to 6-3 after throwing five innings of two-run ball. He struck out six and walked one while throwing 71.9 percent of his pitches for strikes. Cedar Rapids currently holds a 1.5 game lead in the Midwest League Western division second half standings.

E-TWINS E-NOTES

Game 1: Bluefield 7, Elizabethton 5 (8 innings)

Box Score

SP: Austin Schulfer (5.0 IP, 5 H, 0 ER 0 BB, 4 K)

HR: Lean Marrero (1)

Multi-hit games: Lean Marrero (3-for-3, 2B, HR, BB), Ricky De La Torre (2-for-4, 2B)

The E-Twins jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but a rough night from the bullpen ended up being costly. The bats rallied back from being down 4-2 in the bottom of the seventh (and scheduled to be final) inning. Bluefield added three more runs in the eighth and that was that.

Starter Austin Schulfer had a solid game, lowering his ERA on the year to 2.17. A Wisconsin native, Schulfer was the Twins’ 19th-round pick in this year’s draft. Lean Marrero continued his hot streak. The centerfielder is now 9-for-22 (.409) so far this month.

Game 2: Bluefield 7, Elizabethton 1 (7 innings)

Box Score

SP: Carlos Suniaga (4.0 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K)

Multi-hit games: None.

Much like in the first game, the E-Twins got a strong performance out of their starting pitcher, but that was squandered by the bullpen. Also, the lineup had a rough go. Carlos Suniaga pitched four shutout innings, but the only hits for E-Town came from Jared Atkins and Gilberto Celestino, both singles. Still, the Twins led 1-0 after five innings.

Despite the struggles Saturday, Elizabethton still leads the Appalachian League West by three games.

GCL TWINS TAKES

GCL Twins 0, GCL Red Sox 0 (Suspended in the third inning due to rain)

Box Score

STARS OF THE DAY

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

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: Gabriel Maciel, Cedar Rapids

TOP PROSPECT SUMMARY

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

1. Royce Lewis (FM): 1-for-4, 2 K

2. Alex Kirilloff (FM): 1-for-4, K

3. Brusdar Graterol (FM): Did not pitch.

4. Nick Gordon (ROC): 1-for-4, 2 K

5. Stephen Gonsalves (ROC): Did not pitch.

6. Trevor Larnach (CR): 2-for-5, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R

7. Brent Rooker (CHAT): 0-for-4, K

8. Akil Baddoo (CR): 0-for-5, BB, 3 K

9. Wander Javier: Out of for the season

10. Zack Littell (ROC): Did not pitch.

11. Blayne Enlow (CR): Did not pitch.

12. LaMonte Wade (ROC): 0-for-4, 2 K

13. Travis Blankenhorn (FM): 2-for-3, 3B, RBI, R

14. Lewis Thorpe (CHAT): Did not pitch.

15. Ben Rortvedt (FM): Did not play.

16. Yunior Severino (ET): Did not play.

17. Lewin Diaz (FM): Injured.

18. Ryan Jeffers (CR): 2-for-5, RBI, R

19. Jacob Pearson (CR): Did not pitch.

20. Luis Arraez (CHAT): 2-for-4, HR, RBI, R

SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Rochester vs. Charlotte, 12:05 pm CT: Zack Littell

Chattanooga vs. Jackson, 1:15 pm CT: Jorge Alcala

Fort Myers at Florida, 10:00 am CT: TBD

Cedar Rapids at Quad Cities, 5:15 pm CT: Jhoan Duran

Elizabethton at Greenville, 4:00 pm CT: TBD

GCL Twins: OFF

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

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