Twins Minor League Report (8/2): Twins Top Yankees in Wild Game in Boca Chica

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 60-48
St. Paul Saints: 53-52
Wichita Wind Surge: 42-58
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 55-43
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 51-46
DSL Twins: 22-19

TRANSACTIONS

• C Patrick Winkel placed on temporary inactive list by St. Paul. 
• Fort Myers RHP Kyle Bloor was released by the Twins organization. 

SAINTS SENTINEL
Iowa 5, St. Paul 1
Box Score
Zebby Matthews was on the bump for the Saints, and it was a tough outing for the recently-promoted prospect. He got tagged for five runs on nine hits. Matthews didn’t walk anyone and did strike out eight, however.

Iowa scored all five of their runs in the first inning to grab a big lead early. A grand slam by Royce Lewis's high school teammate (Chase Stumpf) in the opening frame was certainly not ideal. Edouard Julien plated Dalton Shuffield with a sixth-inning ground out, but that was the only run St. Paul mustered.

The Saints had just four hits on the night. They struck out 10 times and drew just a pair of walks. Justin Topa worked another scoreless inning during his rehab assignment.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 8, NW Arkansas 4
Box Score
It was Marco Raya’s turn for the Wind Surge, and he had another abbreviated start. Working 4 1/3 innings, Raya surrendered four runs on seven hits with a pair of walks and four strikeouts. After Jarret Whorff struck out both batters he faced to end the fifth inning, Cory Lewis worked the rest of the game. The traditional starter earned his first save working four scoreless innings. He had five strikeouts and a pair of walks.

Wichita was down by three runs after the top of the first inning, but they had a quick answer. Carson McCusker’s fielder’s choice scored both Luke Keaschall and Jake Rucker. Jeferson Morales then blasted his seventh dinger of the season to make it 5-3 as Tyler Dearden and McCusker scored ahead of him.

McCusker’s second-inning single scored Keaschall to make it 6-3. The Naturals responded with a run in the fourth inning, but Noah Cardenas homered to bring home Ben Ross in the bottom of the sixth and make it an 8-4 game.

Ross was the only Wichita hitter to record a pair of hits. The Wind Surge worked around a 13/3 K/BB on the evening.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Great Lakes 5, Cedar Rapids 2
Box Score
Ricky Castro was on the bump for the Kernels and worked five innings. The Loons got him for three runs (two earned), on five hits and a walk. He struck out four batters.

Great Lakes took a 2-0 lead in the second inning, but the Kernels had a quick answer. Walker Jenkins drove home Jose Salas with a single for his first RBI at High-A, and Rubel Cespedes plated him on a single of his own. Tied at 2-2, the teams went to the fourth inning.

Former Twins prospect Noah Miller reached on a fifth-inning error that allowed Great Lakes to take a 3-2 lead. They added two more runs in the seventh inning for some insurance.

The Kernels had 10 hits in the game. Kevin Maitan joined Cespedes, Salas, and Jenkins with a pair of hits. Cedar Rapids carried a 9/2 K/BB while leaving seven runners on base. No hits went for extra bases.

MUSSEL MATTERS
St. Lucie 3, Fort Myers 2
Box Score
Jose Olivares started and worked a pair of innings allowing one run. Adrian Bohorquez made his Fort Myers debut and worked three scoreless innings while allowing just a single hit. He struck out four and didn’t give up a walk.

St. Lucie took the lead with a first-inning run before Yohander Martinez tied things with a fifth inning sacrifice bunt. Maddux Houghton scored on the play.  The Mets jumped back in front with a pair of runs in the seventh inning. Yasser Mercedes brought home Poncho Ruiz in the eighth inning to make it 3-2, but that’s as close as Fort Myers could get.

The Mighty Mussels scattered nine hits on Friday night. Brandon Winokur and Daniel Pena both had two hits.

DOMINICAN DAILIES
DSL Twins 21, DSL Yankees Bombers 19 (13 innings)
Box Score
Daiber De Los Santos has put up some nice stat lines throughout the DSL season, and Friday was another in the list of strong games. He went 3-for-8 with a pair of doubles. He scored two runs and drove in a run as well. Merphy Hernandez hit his first professional home run, a three-run blast in the sixth inning. He finished 3-for-5 with three walks and five RBI. Ramiro Dominguez also went yard, his second homer of the year. Eduardo Beltre homered in a 2-for-8 game with a pair of runs and four RBI.

The Twins scored 21 runs on 17 hits. After single tallies in the fourth and fifth innings, the Twins put up seven in the sixth inning to take a commanding 9-0 lead. They gave back four in the bottom half, but scored in the seventh and eighth innings to keep the breathing room. The game was pushed to the 13th inning and both teams scored four in the 12th inning. A three-run 13th won it for the Twins. 

Leonardo Rondon drew the start and his three innings of work were nearly flawless. Allowing just three hits, he struck out three to lower his ERA to 3.60 on the year.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Cory Lewis (Wichita) - 4.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
Hitter of the Day – Merphy Hernandez (DSL) - 3-5, 3 R, 5 RBI, 3 BB, HR

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 (Cedar Rapids) – 2-4, R, RBI, K
#2 – Brooks Lee (Minnesota) – 0-2, R, 2 BB, K
#5 – Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) – 0-4, K
#6 – Marco Raya (Wichita) – 4.1 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
#8 – Austin Martin (Minnesota) – R
#9 – Luke Keaschall (Wichita) – 0-3, 2 R, BB, K
#10 – Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) – 2-4
#13 – Tanner Schobel (Wichita) – 1-4, 2B, 2 K
#14 – Zebby Matthews (St. Paul) – 5.0 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 0 BB, 8 K
#15 – Cory Lewis (Wichita) – 4.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K

SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Iowa (6:08 PM CST) – RHP Louie Varland (3-7, 5.34 ERA)
Wichita vs NW Arkansas (6:05 PM) - TBD
Cedar Rapids vs Great Lakes (6:35 PM CST) – LHP Connor Prielipp (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Fort Myers vs St. Lucie (5:05 PM CST) – RHP Charlee Soto (0-4, 5.64 ERA)

Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Friday’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!