Twins Minor League Report (9/12): Kernels Begin Midwest League Playoffs

TRANSACTIONS

• RHP Carlos Luna was assigned to the St. Paul Saints from Wichita, and in his place RHP Alex Scherff was sent back down to the Wind Surge.
• The Minnesota Twins sent RHPs Jorge Alcala and Chris Paddack on a rehab assignment with Wichita. 
• The Twins signed 17-year-old Venezuelan catcher Irvin Nunez. 

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 4, Iowa 1
Box Score
The St. Paul Saints trail the International League second-half leaders, the Durham Bulls, by four games heading into their penultimate week of play. While they lead the West division by one-and-a-half games, only the first- and second-half league winners advance to the postseason in Triple-A play.

The Saints wasted little time putting runs on the board, scoring one in the top of the first and two in the second for an early 3-0 lead. In the first, Trevor Larnach drew a two-out walk before Austin Martin drove him in with a double down the left field line. In the second Yunior Severino led off with his 33rd home run of the season, which is good for second in all of the minor leagues.

Later in the frame, Jair Camargo clubbed his first triple of the season, and two batters later Michael Helman drove him in with a single.

St. Paul went with a bullpen game on Tuesday, with Hunter McMahon working as the opener. He pitched the first two scoreless innings, allowing two hits, walking two, and striking out two. Austin Schulfer then pitched into the fourth inning. In 1 2/3 innings, he gave up one run on three hits and a walk. He struck out two and picked up his sixth win of the season.

In the fourth the Saints tacked on an insurance run thanks in part to an error on the Cubs defense. Camargo reached on that error and then stole his first base of the season to get into scoring position. Helman brought him home again with another single and a 4-1 lead. Gotta love those “firsts” on the season for the sturdy backstop in this one!

Austin Brice went the next 2 1/3 from the bullpen, getting the Saints through the sixth inning. He allowed just one hit and struck out three. Ronny Henriquez went the next two innings, retiring all six hitters he faced, including a pair of strikeouts. Cole Sands finished out the victory with a scoreless ninth for his third save of the season. He walked one and struck out two.

Helman (2-for-5, 2 RBI, SB) and Larnach (2-for-4, R, BB, K, SB) led the way with two hits apiece. Brooks Lee finished 0-for-5.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Midland 5, Wichita 2
Box Score
After pitching 2 2/3 innings for the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels last week, the rehabbing Chris Paddack made the start for Wichita on Tuesday night. He set the RockHounds down in order in each of the first two innings, collecting three strikeouts along the way. After a pair of strikeouts around a single in the third inning, a wild pitch put a runner in scoring position, and another single brought him home for a 1-0 Midland lead. The leadoff man took him deep to start the fourth, but Paddack made it through down 2-0.

In four innings, Paddack was charged with two earned runs on four hits and zero walks. He struck out six in total while pounding the strike zone, with 44 of his 58 pitches going for strikes (76%), including nine swinging.

The Wind Surge threatened in the bottom of the second with runners on the corners and nobody out, but the pair of strikeouts and a groundout that followed led to no runs on the scoreboard.

Another major league rehabber, Jorge Alcala, came on to start the fifth inning, but he did not make it out of it. The first batter lined a single into center field, stole second base, then advanced to third on a balk. After a groundout, Alcala served up a homer for a 4-0 Midland lead before a second groundout finished his outing after 16 pitches. Taylor Floyd got the final out of the fifth and added a scoreless sixth. In 1 1/3 innings, he allowed two hits, walked one, and struck out three.

Regi Grace (2 IP, H, R, BB, 3 K) and Francis Peguero (1 IP, H, BB) finished the final three innings for Wichita, keeping it close to give their lineup a chance.

That lineup scored their first run of the game in the sixth inning, when singles from Patrick Winkel, Alex Isola, and Aaron Sabato loaded the bases with one out. Ben Ross delivered a sac fly to make it 4-1 at the time, but they couldn’t get a big knock to make it any closer.

In the bottom of the ninth they again showed some spark, with Willie Joe Garry Jr., Alerick Soularie, and Yoyner Fajardo hitting consecutive one out singles to make it 5-2. But just as quick as the rally started, it was ended by a double-play ball to end the game.

The Wind Surge outhit the RockHounds 11-10 on the game, but each of those 11 knocks were all singles, while the visitors had three go for extra-bases, including a pair of home runs.

Fajardo (2-for-5, RBI), Isola (2-for-3, BB, K), and Rucker (2-for-4) all collected two singles to pace the offense. Sabato finished 1-for-3 with a walk. 

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 3, Peoria 4 (Chiefs lead series 1-0)
Box Score
After finishing the regular season with a Midwest League-leading record of 82-50, and winning both the first and second half West Division titles, the Cedar Rapids Kernels drew the Peoria Chiefs as their Division Series opponents.

The Chiefs finished six games back of the Kernels in the second-half, and 13 games back overall on the season, with a record of 69-63.

Right-hander Andrew Morris got the starting nod for the Kernels and retired six in a row after allowing a double to his first hitter of the game.

Cedar Rapids loaded the bases with one out in the second inning, but were only able to score one on a Jose Salas fielder's choice for an early lead.

To start the third inning Morris gave up a solo home run to tie the game at one, then three consecutive singles in the fourth led to a 2-1 lead for the Chiefs. After retiring the first two hitters in the fifth, an infield single was followed by another homer, and it was 4-1 Peoria. Morris finished five total innings, allowing four earned runs on seven hits and a walk. He struck out five.

After Morris’ exit, the Kernels relief duo of Mike Paredes and John Stankiewicz was lights out. Paredes went two innings, allowing just one hit and striking out four. Stankiewicz set the Chiefs down in order in the eighth, needing just eight pitches to do so.

Down 4-1 in the top of the eighth inning, the Kernels finally were able to close the gap, and it took the Midwest League home run king to do so. After a Noah Miller single to put a man on base, Kala’i Rosario launched a two-run homer to dead center that traveled 416 feet to make it 4-3.

In the ninth, the Kernels got their chances. Luke Keaschall and Noah Cardenas started the inning with a pair of walks. Jose Salas was then given the task of bunting them over, which was a questionable choice at that point, as just one of the nine pitches to that point was a strike. Unfortunately he not only failed to do so, but also seemed to swap the momentum. The first pitch was in the dirt, but he stabbed an attempt at it anyway. Then the next pitch he nearly bunted into a double play to the catcher, but it was ruled foul. He then watched strike three go by for the innings first out. 

Kyler Fedko went down swinging next, and it was up to leadoff man Noah Miller. His grounder to third base looked like it would end the game, but almost inexplicably the third baseman went for the tag instead of stepping on third base. In the fray, the ball popped out of his glove for an error, and the bases were loaded for Emmanuel Rodriguez.

On a 1-1 count, Rodriguez made contact, chopping one toward first base. He hustled out of the box but the throw to the pitcher at first just beat him. The Kernels head back to Cedar Rapids down 1-0 in the series, needing to win both games at home to advance in the playoffs.

Of note for this series, is that the Chiefs and Kernels played a total of 21 times during the regular season, and 12 of those matchups were decided by one run. Another three had just two runs between them, so the final score shouldn’t be surprising to either squad. The Kernels will send right-hander Cory Lewis to the mound looking to even the series at home on Thursday.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day - Mike Paredes, Cedar Rapids Kernels (2 IP, H, 4 K)
Hitter of the Day - Yunior Severino, St. Paul Saints (1-for-2, R, HR, RBI, BB, K)

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

#1 - Brooks Lee (St. Paul) - 0-for-5, K
#3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-5, 3 K
#7 - Austin Martin (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, RBI, BB, K
#8 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) - 1-for-5, K
#10 - Luke Keaschall (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-1, 2 BB
#13 - Kala’i Rosario (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4, R, HR, 2 RBI
#14 - Yunior Severino (St. Paul) - 1-for-2, R, HR (9), RBI, BB, K

WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Iowa (12:08 PM CDT) - RHP Simeon Woods Richardson (6-6, 5.07 ERA)
Midland @ Wichita (7:05 PM CDT) - RHP Pierson Ohl (7-3, 2.87 ERA)

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