Twins Minor League Report (8/8): Saints Bludgeon the Bats

Despite all that action in St. Paul, the Wind Surge also got perhaps their best starting pitching performance of the season, The Mighty Mussels racked up a bunch of hits, and a high school draftee went yard again in the FCL to lead his team to victory. Also, Chris Williams loves hitting on Tuesday’s…

TRANSACTIONS

• After the big promotions last week from Wichita, the St. Paul Saints got even more star power for their lineup in the form of a rehabbing Royce Lewis. He batted second and played third base on Tuesday.

SAINTS SENTINEL
Louisville 4, St. Paul 14
Box Score
While the story for the home town fans was certainly Royce Lewis and Brooks Lee suiting up for the Saints on Tuesday, they had a tall order in front of them from an on-paper perspective. That’s because they were facing the 2023 minor league strikeout leader and Cincinnati Reds number five prospect (according to MLB Pipeline), Connor Phillips. 

Promoted to Triple-A before July, Phillips had been lights out with the Louisville Bats in six starts, compiling a 1.95 ERA in 27 2/3 IP, including 32 strikeouts.

He didn’t even finish the second inning.

That’s because St. Paul's lineup made him work, tossing 52 pitches in his 1 1/3 innings, with just 25 for strikes. He recorded strikeouts on the first two hitters of the game, but like my eyes peeped watching on MiLB.tv (highly recommend if you’re still looking for a baseball fix, and/or are not able to watch the Twins), the lineup figured out he could only throw a slider with two-strikes and didn’t have command of his fastball to make anything else work. He ended up walking three, and allowing five earned runs on three hits, including allowing his first home run at Triple-A to Trevor Larnach in the second inning. It was Larnach's 10th with the Saints.

Yunior Severino also launched his first Triple-A home run, and 25th of the season, in the third inning which made it 7-0 Saints early. Both home runs cleared the home run porch in right field, flying 460+ feet. (of note, the next time he came up Bats pitcher Randy Wynne quite obviously plunked Severino in retaliation and was ejected for it)

Royce Lewis also had no intention of going unnoticed in the first game of his rehab assignment, launching his fifth Triple-A home run of the season in the fourth after a sac fly in the second. He finished 1-for-4 with two RBI.

The Saints really broke it open in the fifth inning after the Wynne ejection and the bases became loaded. Austin Martin delivered an RBI single for one, before Chris Williams delivered a grand slam to make it 13-1.

The Saints even got a solid outing from Simeon Woods Richardson, keeping the top hitting team in the International League at bay for most of his outing. Through five innings, Woods Richardson had allowed just one run on two hits and three walks, and maybe should have been pulled at that point with the big lead. Back out for the sixth, he recorded two more outs, but got tagged with two home runs to dampen his stat line. He struck out three in his 5 2/3 innings, picking up his fourth win of the year.

Austin Schulfer delivered 1 1/3 scoreless relief innings, walking one and striking out two. Cole Sands finished off the final two frames, allowing two hits and notching four strikeouts.

Martin finished 3-for-3 with a pair of runs scored, a double, RBI, walk, and his seventh stolen base. Williams was 2-for-4 with a walk and five RBI. Larnach also collected multiple hits and finished 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored in addition to the homer. Anthony Prato clubbed a double in two at-bats, drew three walks, scored three runs, and drove in one. Brooks Lee picked up his first hit at CHS Field in front of the home fans and finished 1-for-5.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 5, NW Arkansas 2
Box Score
The Wind Surge got a dominant effort from their starting pitcher, Pierson Ohl, on Tuesday, who very well could have gone the distance with 84 pitches (61 strikes) after his eight innings. He allowed just one run in the first inning, scattered seven hits, and struck out four on the night.

Wichita pounced for two runs in the top of the first to give almost all the run support he would need to pick up his fourth win. Yoyner Fajardo led off the game with a single, stole his 35th and 36th bases, and scored the first run on a groundout from Alex Isola. A Seth Gray RBI single later scored Tanner Schobel, who drew a walk, for the early 2-0 lead.

Dalton Shuffield added a sacrifice fly in the sixth, Fajardo an RBI double in the seventh, and Willie Joe Garry Jr. RBI triple in the eighth accounted for all five of the Wind Surge runs. Fajardo (2-for-5, R, 2B, RBI, 3 K), Aaron Sabato (2-for-3, R, 2B, BB, K), and Garry Jr. (2-for-4, 2 3B, RBI, 2 K) had multiple hits in the win.

Miguel Rodriguez pitched the ninth inning, and surrendered one earned run on one hit. He struck out two batters.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 0, Quad Cities 7
Box Score
Cedar Rapids hit the road eastward to the Quad Cities area, renewing the in-state rivalry for their series this week. While the Kernels sit atop the Midwest League West Division standings and the River Bandits the bottom, you can usually throw any of that info out when these teams face off.

Case in point, Tuesday’s shutout of the visiting team.

The Kernels drew seven walks as a team, but combined those with just two hits in the game. They were both doubles (from Ben Ross and Kyler Fedko), but came with nobody on base. As a team they were just 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position, and left nine men on base.

Zebby Matthews made the start for Cedar Rapids and made it through 4 1/3 innings. He allowed five runs (four earned) on six hits and a pair of walks. He struck out six batters. Two home runs allowed did most of that damage. The bullpen trio of Niklas Rimmel (1 IP, H, 2 ER, 3 BB, K), John Stankiewicz (1 2/3 IP, 3 K), and John Wilson (1 IP, H, K) worked the rest of the game.

Emmanuel Rodriguez finished 0-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts. Jorel Ortega was 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout. In addition to his double, Kyler Fedko also drew two walks.

MUSSEL MATTERS
Bradenton 13, Fort Myers 9
Box Score
The Mighty Mussels got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the first on Danny De Andrade’s eighth home run of the season that made it 2-0. They went up 4-2 in the second after an RBI-double from Maddux Houghton and a wild pitch that later allowed him to scamper home. Unfortunately, that was the last lead they held the rest of the game.

Fort Myers starter Jose Olivares finished the first four innings and got a lot of swings and misses, but was tagged for five runs (four earned) in his time on the mound. He gave up four hits, walked two, and struck out nine.

Samuel Perez was charged with three earned runs on two hits and three walks in his 2/3 of an inning. Johnathan Lavallee (1 1/3 IP, H, 3 BB, K), Wilker Reyes (2 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, BB, 4 K), and Develson Aria (1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, BB, 3 K) finished out the game for the Mighty Mussels, with the same type of results as Olivares. The 18 K’s from the staff pitching were impressive, but paired with 10 walks and 13 hits, you end up with a result like this.

The lineup added a pair of runs in the eighth inning when De Andrade led off with a single and advanced to second on an error. A groundout from Rubel Cespedes brought him home before Jay Harry’s second double of the season gave them six on the scoreboard. In the bottom of the ninth down 13-6, they added a few more runs but fell short of an epic comeback. A pair of walks preceded put runners on for De Andrade, who drove them both in with a double. Rafael Cruz then scored De Andrade with a single for the final score.

De Andrade (3-for-4, 2 R, 2B, HR, 4 RBI) and Cruz (4-for-5, 2B, RBI) had multiple hits to lead the offense. Each other hitter had one knock, and they totaled 14 hits as a team in the loss.

COMPLEX CHRONICLES
FCL Pirates 2, FCL Twins 3
Box Score
Twins starter Eduardo Soriano delivered a scoreless first inning, but some walks caught up with him in the second. He finished 1 2/3 innings and was charged with two runs (one earned) on one hit and four walks. He struck out three.

In the bottom of the second, the Twins put together a two-out rally thanks to some walks of their own. After loading the bases, Andres Centeno delivered a two-RBI single to tie the game.

In the third, Brandon Winokur raced around the bases for an inside-the-park home run to make it 3-2. It was his second home run in nine games.

That would be all the Twins needed, as the bullpen shut down the Pirates from there. Julio Bonilla (W, 3 1/3 IP, H, BB, K), Jeferson Lopez (H, 3 1/3 IP, 2 BB, 3 K), and Miguel Olivares (2/3 IP, BB, 2 K) all delivered scoreless outings and as a staff the Twins held the Pirates to just two hits in the game.

Walker Jenkins followed Winokur’s blast with a single in the third and finished 1-for-3. Daniel Pena added the Twins' only other hit.

DOMINICAN DAILY
DSL Giants Orange 6, DSL Twins 6 (suspended in the bottom of the fifth)
Box Score
The Giants and Twins were only able to get through four-plus innings on Tuesday before the game was suspended, but in that time there was a lot of action.

Starting pitcher Reynel Garcia got the short end of the stick because of his defense in the first, being charged with three unearned runs on only one hit. Oscar Paredes had a one-two-three second inning, before Adrian Bohorquez gave the bulk of the pitching work. In 2 2/3 innings, he allowed three runs (one earned) on five hits. He also struck out five. Jose Ojo got the final out of the fifth before the game was suspended.

The Twins scored two in the first after loading the bases on a Junior Del Valle two-run single. They added three more in the third on a Moises Lopez double to score Dameury Pena, Jesus Peraza ground ball to score Lopez, and a wild pitch that allowed Carlos Silva to score. They scored their sixth run in the fourth when Pena and Del Valle each clubbed a double.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day - Pierson Ohl, Wichita Wind Surge (W, 8 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 4 K)
Hitter of the Day - Chris Williams, St. Paul Saints (2-for-4, 2 R, Grand Slam, 5 RBI, BB)

PROSPECT SUMMARY
#1 - Brooks Lee (St. Paul) -1-for-5, K
#2 - Walker Jenkins (FCL) - 1-for-3
#3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, 2 K
#5 - Matt Wallner (Minnesota) - 0-for-4, 2 K
#8 - Austin Martin (St. Paul) - 3-for-3, 2 R, 2B (6), RBI, BB, SB (7)
#10 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) - 1-for-4, R, BB, 2 K
#12 - Luke Keaschall (Fort Myers) - 1-for-4, R, BB, K
#13 - Brandon Winokur (FCL) - 1-for-4, R, HR (2), RBI, K
#14 - Simeon Woods Richardson (St. Paul) - W, 5 2/3 IP, 4 H, 4 R (3 earned) 4 BB, 3 K
#16 - Kala’i Rosario (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-3, BB, K
#17 - Yunior Severino (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, 2 R, HR (1), 2 RBI, 2 K
#20 - Jose Rodriguez (FCL) - 0-for-3, 2 K

WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
Louisville @ St. Paul (1:07 PM CDT) - RHP Randy Dobnak (4-5, 4.33 ERA)
Wichita @ NW Arkansas (7:05 PM CDT) - RHP Carlos Luna (1-7, 5.54 ERA)
Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (6:30 PM CDT) - RHP Kyle Jones (5-4, 4.52 ERA)
Bradenton @ Fort Myers (6:00 PM CDT) - TBD
DSL Reds @ DSL Twins (makeup of 7/26 postponement) 

Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Tuesday’s games!

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