Twins Minor League Report (8/29): Saints Win in Extras, Helman Returns With a Bang

TRANSACTIONS

• In Double-A, the Wichita Wind surge were assigned LHP Jordan Carr from Cedar Rapids. RHP Isaac Mattson and SS Ernie Yake were transferred to the development list. RHP Sean Mooney was activated from the 60-day injured list.
• Down in Fort Myers, RHP Jeremy Lee was assigned to the Mighty Mussels from the FCL Twins.
• On Monday, the Saints announced that RHP David Festa was being promoted from Wichita. RHP Alex Scherff went from the Saints to the Wind Surge. 
• In addition, utility man Michael Helman was taken off of the 60-Day IL and assigned to Wichita. 
• RHP Ricardo Velez and infielder Luke Keaschall were promoted to Cedar Rapids from Fort Myers. 
• Of course, the big transaction was LHP Kody Funderburk having his contract selected by the Twins. He took RHP Oliver Ortega's spot on the 40-man roster. Ortega was moved to the 60-Day IL. Bailey Ober was optioned to St. Paul where he will get the chance to rest heading to September. 
• The Twins released infielder Mikey Perez . He had been on the Kernels roster the past month or so. 

SAINTS SENTINEL
Columbus 4, St. Paul 5 (11 innings)
Box Score
At CHS Field in St. Paul, the Saints went to right-hander Blayne Enlow for the start. He finished the first two innings, but allowed a run in each for an early 2-0 Clippers lead. He allowed four hits, walked one, and struck out two.

In the bottom of the second Yunior Severino got him off the hook however, launching his fifth home run with the Saints, and 29th of the season, to put them out front 3-2. Brooks Lee and Trevor Larnach had drawn walks in front of him.

The score stayed that way until the ninth inning, as pitching took over for both teams. For the Saints, that was Patrick Murphy who started the season as a key setup man in the bullpen, but in his last five games has gone at least three innings. He completed five scoreless innings in this one, keeping Columbus in check through the seventh. He scattered three hits, walked three, and struck out five.

Jordan Balazovic came on for the eighth and had a one-two-three inning. Back out for the ninth, he was struck by some bad luck. A leadoff single put the tying run on base, a weak grounder to second advanced the runner, then another weak grounder up the middle found a hole past a sliding Austin Martin’s glove and the game was tied at three.

In extras, the Saints went to Austin Brice and the Clippers struck first with a run-scoring double to make it 4-3 in their favor. He picked up two strikeouts after that to keep the game within one. In the bottom half the Saints took advantage of a little league play on an Andrew Stevenson chopper to first to tie it. It clanked off the first baseman’s glove, he threw it away toward first base to allow Jair Camargo to score, and a throw home was offline allowing Stevenson to reach second. Lee and Larnach weren’t able to bring Stevenson home, and it went to the 11th inning.

Brice picked up where he left off, striking out the first two hitters of the inning, and getting a grounder to give the Saints an easier shot at the win in the bottom half. Larnach started on second base and advanced to third on a grounder, before Severino delivered a sac fly to walk it off.

Brice struck out five of the seven batters he faced in extra innings, picking up his third win of the season. 

Larnach led the way with two hits in four at-bats, also drawing a walk and scoring two runs. The Saints were outhit 11-to-5 on the game and were just 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position, but did just enough to pull out the win late. Willi Castro was 0-for-4 with a pair of K’s in his rehab appearance. Stevenson was 1-for-5 and stole his 43rd base. Martin finished 0-for-4 but drew a walk and stole his 14th base. Severino finished with four RBI and the game winner.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
San Antonio 2, Wichita 5
Box Score
Wichita got on the scoreboard first in this one, putting up a crooked number in the third inning. Jake Rucker drew a walk to lead off and Willie Joe Garry Jr. followed with a one-out double. A fielder’s choice from Yoyner Fajardo led to an out at home, but Michael Helman announced his return to action with a three-run homer for the 3-0 lead.

Regi Grace got the nod as an opener of sorts, his first start of the 2023 season, and went the first three-plus innings. He retired the first eight hitters he faced, before a single was sent into right field with two outs in the third. The runner tried to stretch it into a double however, and Garry Jr. cut him down at second base to keep Grace’s batters faced at the minimum through three. In the fourth inning Grace gave up a walk and recorded two more outs before reaching his pitch count. In 3 2/3 innings pitched, he allowed just one hit, walked one, and struck out four. 32 of his 48 pitches went for strikes (67%) and lowered his ERA to 3.23 with the Wind Surge.

Jordan Carr came on as a piggy-back for his first outing after being promoted to Wichita, and promptly gave up a double. This allowed an inherited runner to score, but he went on to finish 3 1/3 innings himself. He allowed one run of his own on four hits, walked one, and struck out two.

In the bottom of the fifth the Wind Surge got a run back thanks to a solo shot from Garry Jr. that made it 4-1 for the home team. They added another insurance run in the eighth when Fajardo led off with a single and stole his 47th base of the season, advancing to third on a throwing error on the play. Patrick Winkel then brought him in with a sac fly for a 5-2 lead.

Aaron Rozek finished the final two scoreless innings, picking up his first save with the Wind Surge in the process. He allowed one hit and struck out three.

Both teams had just six hits on the game, but the home runs for Wichita provided enough scoring. Garry Jr. was the only hitter with multiple knocks, finishing 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Fajardo scored two runs and stole two bases.

Top 10 major league prospects, Ethan Salas and Jackson Merrill of the Missions and San Diego Padres organization, finished the game a combined 1-for-8, with Merrill striking out twice. Salas signed in January and turned 17 in June. He is the younger brother of Kernels infielder Jose Salas . 

KERNELS NUGGETS
Lake County 1, Cedar Rapids 2
Box Score
The Kernels got a very solid, if unspectacular, start from right-hander Andrew Morris. In six innings he held the Captains to just one run on four hits. He struck out only two and walked three, working around traffic to win the battles all game. He improved to 5-1 in the Midwest League as his bullpen and a new hitter in the lineup took care of business.

Cedar Rapids tied the game at one in the bottom of the fourth, with Luke Keaschall taking advantage of a pair of walks in front of him to drive in a run with a single in his first game as a Kernel. He struck again in the sixth, driving in Jorel Ortega with another single to give the home team a 2-1 lead.

Mike Paredes came on for the seventh inning and worked two scoreless frames. He allowed one hit, one walk, and struck out three.

Still up by one in the ninth, the Kernels went to Jarret Whorff to close it out. He struck out the first hitter he faced before giving up a single. The Captains got the tying run to third base, but Whorff got both hitters after the single to pick up his second save with Cedar Rapids.

The Kernels had just six hits on the game, but Keaschall came through with runners in scoring position, collecting both their hits in 10 such at-bats. Emmanuel Rodriguez joined him in the multiple hit category, finishing 2-for-4 with a double. Noah Cardenas also added a double to the effort.

Jeff Johnson of The Gazette in Cedar Rapids has been following and covering the Kernels for a long time, including all of the seasons since 2013 when the Twins spent their first season in Cedar Rapids. He notes that this 2023 team is one of the best in the city's vast baseball history. Please follow Jeff on Twitter/X at @jeje66, and check out his article on how good this team has been. 

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers @ Clearwater - Postponed.

As Hurricane Idalia approaches the gulf coast, games in the Florida State League are being postponed and/or canceled. Tuesday’s matchup is currently scheduled to be made up on September 1st, while Wednesday’s contest has been canceled.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day - Austin Brice, St. Paul Saints (W, 2 IP, H, R, 5 K)
Hitter of the Day - Yunior Severino, St. Paul Saints (1-for-4, R, HR, 4 RBI)

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Check out our full top 20 list here and how they performed on Tuesday below!

#1 - Brooks Lee (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, R, BB, 2 K
#3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-4, 2B
#7 - Austin Martin (St. Paul) - 0-for-4, BB, K, SB (14)
#8 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) - 0-for-3, 2 K
#10 - Luke Keaschall (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-3, 2 RBI
#13 - Kala’i Rosario (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-3, BB, 2 K
#14 - Yunior Severino (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, R, HR, 4 RBI, 2 K
#16 - Jordan Balazovic (St. Paul) - 2 IP, 2 H, ER, K

WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
Columbus @ St. Paul (7:07 PM CDT) - RHP David Festa (Triple-A debut)
San Antonio @ Wichita (6:35 PM CDT) - LHP Jaylen Nowlin (3-0, 1.57 ERA)
Lake County @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CDT) - RHP Cory Lewis (4-1, 2.77 ERA)
Fort Myers @ Clearwater - Canceled.

Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Tuesday’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!