Twins Minor League Report (8/27): Hinojosa Plays Hero

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 3, Syracuse 4

Box Score

Chris Herrmann got things going in the right direction for the Red Wings. He came to bat in the first inning with a runner on base. His fourth home run gave the team a 2-0 lead. They scored a third run in the first inning, but that would be it for the rest of the game. The team had just six hits. Pedro Florimon hit his 17^th double.

Kris Johnson was terrific. He threw six shutout innings. He returned for the seventh inning but both batters he faced reached base. Lester Oliveros came on and allowed those inherited runners to score. Oliveros also gave up two runs of his own in the eighth inning and recorded just one out. Michael Tonkin came on and was able to record the final outs.

The loss to division-leading Syracuse officially eliminated the Red Wings from winning the division. Fortunately, Pawtucket also lost on Wednesday so the Red Wings remain two games back in the wild card race with five games to play.

ROCK CATS REVIEW

New Britain 11, Altoona 7 (11 innings)

Box Score

They needed a couple extra innings, but the Rock Cats exploded for five runs in the top of the 11^th inning to take the win in this game. Eddie Rosario drove in the first of those five runs. Mike Gonzales hit a two-run double and later Jorge Polanco had a two-run single.

On the mound, it was a bullpen game, so extra innings were likely not wanted. Cole Johnson started and gave up five runs (four earned) on six hits and a walk in the first three innings. Jim Fuller threw two shutout innings. Alex Wimmers gave up a run on two hits and a walk in his two innings. He struck out three. Mason Melotakis got the next four outs and didn’t give up a run. Dan Turpen went the final 2.2 innings for the win. He gave up one run (in the bottom of the 11^th) on five hits and a walk.

Kyle Knudson led the offense. He was 3-4 with his 14^th and 15^th doubles. Corey WImberly went 3-6 with his 12^th double. Jorge Polanco went 3-6 with his first Eastern League home run and three RBI. Tony Thomas hit his 10^th home run to cut the deficit to just one in the ninth inning. They scored another run in the ninth to tie the game.

MIRACLE MATTERS

Ft. Myers 1, Bradenton 8

Box Score

The Miracle managed just six hits in this game and struck out 14 times. Adam Walker went 2-4 with his 19^th double. Aderlin Mejia walked twice and stole his 22^nd base.

Matt Tomshaw started the game. He was charged with five runs (three earned) on eight hits and a walk over five innings. He struck out five. Tyler Jones gave up three runs on five hits over the next two innings. He struck out three. BJ Hermsen pitched a scoreless inning.

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 3, Kane County 2 (11 innings)

Box Score

Jonatan Hinojosa led things off and finished things off for the Kernels. The win officially clinched a number one seed in the playoffs for Cedar Rapids. Hinojosa led off for the Kernels with his first home run. The homer extended his hitting streak to 14 games, at least one in every game since his return to the Kernels. The score remained tied going to the bottom of the 11^th.

Tanner Vavra led off with a single. He advanced a base on a successful Zack Larson sacrifice bunt. Logan Wade struck out which brought Hinojosa to the plate with two out. He drove a single to right field. Vavra had to do some creative sliding, but he was able to avoid the tag and score the winning run for the Kernels, initiating a celebration.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hN-16mFF51k

Video by SDBuhr

Ryan Eades started. He gave up two runs, but he went six innings and gave up just four hits and a walk, while striking out six. Brandon Bixler walked one and struck out two in two innings. Jake Reed dropped his ERA to 0.38 with two more scoreless innings in relief. It extended his scoreless streak to 21.2 innings. Josue Montanez pitched a scoreless top of the 11^th and got the win.

Cedar Rapids now knows that it will host Burlington in the first round of the playoffs, starting on Wednesday, September 3.

E-TWINS E-NOTES

Elizabethton 9, Kingsport 8

Box Score

The E-Twins will return to the playoffs again in 2014. On this night, the Twins got offense from pretty much everyone. Eight of nine starters had at least one hit (6 had two hits), and seven of the nine had a walk. Nick Gordon went 2-5 with a walk and stole his 11^th base. Trey Vavra went 2-5 with a walk and his 19^th double. Tyler Kuresa went 2-4 with a walk and his 13^th double. He also stole his first base. Jorge Fernandez went 2-4 with a walk and his second triple. Pat Kelly was 2-4 with a walk.

Felix Jorge started and gave up four runs (three earned) on seven hits and a walk in just three innings. He struck out five. CK Irby came on and threw three shutout innings. He gave up one hit, walked one and struck out four. Cameron Booser came on was charged with three unearned runs on four hits and a walk in two innings. Dereck Rodriguez gave up one run on two hits and a walk over the final two innings.

2014 draft picks Zach Tillery and Trevor Hildenberger were promoted to the E-Twins for their playoff run.

GCL TWINS TAKES

GCL Twins 2, GCL Rays 5

Box Score

Mike Theofanopoulus started for the GCL squad. He gave up three runs on six hits and a walk in five innings. He struck out five. Jhon Silva then worked three scoreless innings. Leonel Zazueta gave up two runs on three hits and two walks in the ninth inning.

The Twins had just three hits in the game. Rafael Valera stole three bases and has 13 on the season. The team will play their final game of the season on Thursday.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Kris Johnson, Rochester Red Wings

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Jonatan Hinojosa, Cedar Rapids Kernels

THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Rochester @ Syracuse (6:00 CST) – Virgil Vasquez

New Britain @ Binghamton (5:35 CST) – Jason Wheeler

Jupiter @ Ft. Myers (6:05 CST) – TBD

Kane County @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 CST) – Chih-Wei Hu

Kingsport @ Elizabethton (6:00 CST) – Derrick Penilla

GCL Twins @ GCL Rays (9:00am CST) – TBD (Final game of season)

Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Wednesday 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!